Carmilla picks up a bug and does not plan on letting anyone take care of her. Especially when things around them start going wrong… (AU where Carm is still a vampire after s3) (Sick!Carm)
Note: This is about 3200 words. It took me 3 weeks to write and edit. I don’t want you to feel obligated to like it, but if you do like it, I’d appreciate hearing from you so I know what you guys want to see more of in the future <3 You can submit asks with reviews too, just reference which fic you’re talking about please and thanks. I hope you guys like it!!
The two had been working on some vampire-related biology… thing for about two weeks now, and Carmilla was getting pretty tired of being poked and prodded by an overly enthusiastic bio-undergrad. That said, it was an awesome distraction from the crazy curly-haired redhead bustling about the house demanding her to clean all day. So she continued to go.
“Look at you! Doing something good for the future of a whole species!” she’d said before handing Carm tea in Laura’s favorite TARDIS mug for a sip. (They’d long forgone the idea of separate mugs when neither of them stuck to their own anyway.)
But when Carm woke up on the last day of this “study”, she found herself still tired. A bit… off.
She couldn’t quite place the feeling, but it was something she had felt before…
She shrugged it off and went downstairs where Perry was already finished cooking breakfast. Laura was sat at the table eating something so covered in whipped cream, you couldn’t see what it was.
Perry stepped in front of the vampire holding a plate with a Belgian waffle on it. “I made breakfast!” she said in a bright cherry voice.
Carm took the plate and sat across from Laura before beginning to pick at the soggy thing.
“Already dressed?” said Laura with a mouthful of cream.
“Last day of LaF’s study.”
Perry wiped up a bit of cream that had fallen off Laura’s plate with a paper towel. “Tell her to keep the blood samples at work tonight. I’m getting tired of finding them in the fridge.”
“I’m not,” Carm said with a shrug.
Perry glared, and Carm just looked at her seriously. After a few minutes of this, Perry said, “Fine. I’ll tell her myself.” and stormed off.
Carm smirked and poked at her waffle some more. Laura polished her’s off quickly and stood. “I gotta get to class. See you later, okay?”
Laura smiled, haphazardly tossed her plate and silverware into the sink, picked up her backpack, and ran out the door.
Carm cleared her own plate then and pulled on her leather jacket before leaving as well.
LaFontaine was used to Carmilla being pouty, brooding, and just plain annoying.
This, on the other hand, was different.
LaF had gotten to the lab early to check on everything they’d set up the day before. They put down notes on all the subjects currently a part of experiments and checked inventory to make sure nothing had been stolen. This was just a science room of the local college after all. (After acing all their tests, LaF only had a semester of classes before graduation and had been given full access to all the laboratories, something they were going to take advantage of.)
Carmilla came in just as LaF was finishing inventory. They didn’t look up straight away, but when Carm didn’t give so much as an unsatisfied grunt, LaF turned with confusion.
She was standing at the table, watching LaF. A hand pressed against the counter, the other held protectively over her abdomen. She looked almost… innocent.
“Hey,” said Carmilla. With this small cue, she sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs nearby.
When inventory was finished, LaF started pulling out today’s supplies. It was simple today, just a few blood tests and-
They turned to put the supplies on the table and saw Carmilla with her brows knit, curled slightly in on herself.
“Carmilla?” LaF said. They put the things on the table and went to their friend. “What’s wrong?”
Carm was breathing heavily. “Nothing… Jus’- Just need a sec-“
It didn’t look that way to LaFontaine. Something was wrong. Hurriedly, they went back to their notes from this morning and yesterday. They hadn’t noticed anything strange. Looking at it closer, Carmilla’s white blood cell count was on the higher side of normal, but LaF hadn’t thought anything of it as it still fit into the normal range. Plus, you know, she was dealing with a vampire.
Looking back over at said vampire, though, LaF instantly knew she’d made a mistake. That wasn’t a normal blood cell count. Carm was sick.
By now, Carmilla had managed to calm down and now just looked exhausted. LaF didn’t know what that last episode was, whether it was something respiratory or maybe it was nausea? Whatever. She just needed Carm to cooperate.
Well, there was no use in trying to hide what they were doing as Carmilla was too smart for her own good.
“When was the last time you were sick?” they said resolutely.
Carm blinked her tired eyes. “Sick? What are you talking about?”
“You look like you’re about to drop dead on the lab floor. I can’t do tests on you! The results would be invalid!”
Now she looked mad. “I’m not sick! Do you have any idea how difficult it is for vampires to get sick? I’ve been sick twice in three centuries! And I was a sickly human, so even that’s more than most vampires.”
“But it is possible then.”
LaF walked over and pressed their hand on her forehead, which made Carm flinch. It was warm as expected.
Camilla rolled her eyes and stood, a bit unsteady. “I’m fine. If you don’t want to do the tests, I’ll just go home.”
“Yeah, you do that. Maybe rest in bed for a while.”
“I’m serious! I’ll call Perry on you.”
That seemed to get Carmilla to take it seriously. “I thought we agreed not to do that.”
“If the other person was safe, yeah. But with a fever and a will like yours? I’m pretty sure only Perry and Laura together could help here.”
“Help with what? I’m fine!”
LaFontaine rolled her eyes and took out their phone.
Okay, she was lying. As soon as LaFontaine suggested she might be sick, Carmilla realized what was happening. Even though she hadn’t been sick in a very long time, she did recognize the symptoms. She felt dizzy. She had no appetite. She had a headache. She was having bouts of nausea. And she was cold. Like, winter cold, not like the lab’s air conditioning.
So she followed LaF’s order and went back to the house. There, she was met with a pacing Perry, already loaded up with blankets and medicine and a pot of soup warm and ready on the stove.
Camilla took one look at this horrifying set up and said, “Definitely not.”
Perry heard this and turned. One hand was clutched around an old glass thermometer. “Sit. Down.”
Only because of the building dizziness from the long walk, Carm did.
Within seconds, the thermometer was under Carm’s tongue, and a blanket was snapped over her knees. Perry ran off to check the soup.
Once she’d let the room, Carmilla took the thermometer out and inspected it. She’d seen them before, but that was many many years ago. She was a bit surprised to see they hadn’t changed.
Footsteps approached, and Carm shoved the glass under her tongue again.
Perry came in with a bowl of soup, saying something about how it would help in this or that way. Her watch beeped, and she pulled the thermometer out. She looked at it and frowned.
“Barely higher than normal. LaFontaine said she was sure you had a fever.” She felt Carm’s head. “You feel warm. Huh.”
She didn’t seem to question it any more though. Instead, she wiped the thermometer on one of the napkins set out on the coffee table and handed Carmilla the bowl of soup.
“It’s homemade. I used to cook homemade soup for LaFontaine.”
There was a long hesitation.
“Eat it. It’ll make you feel better.”
Camilla looked down at the watery meat and lumps of… veggies? Potatoes? Her stomach churned and she winced. She wasn’t eating anything.
“I’m okay. Thanks.” She put the bowl back on the coffee table.
“No. Still good from breakfast.”
“You didn’t finish breakfast.”
Curse her habit of not clearing her plates.
There was another long hesitation before Perry continued her motherly rampage. Carm had barely gotten Perry to leave her alone for five minutes before the ginger came back in a panic.
“We’re out of tylenol, and you feel warm! I know the thermometer said you don’t have a fever, but you might have one later. Or a headache. I’m going to run to the store and be back in a half hour. Okay?”
The door opened in the other room and Carm sat up to listen. A set of keys clanged as they hit the coffee table. They slid a bit as they landed, telling Carm that they were tossed instead of placed. It must be Laura.
Carm pulled herself out of bed. She was pleasantly surprised to find the sickness seemed to have faded during her nap.
She entered the living room to see Laura pulling off her thin sweatshirt, facing the jacket hooks. She took off and hung the coat in one motion, then turned.
There was a hesitation. Then Laura said, “I actually am only here to grab some food. Then I have to go out again.”
It took only a moment of thought for Carm to realize this was her escape. “I’ll come.”
Laura shrugged. “Sure. Hey, where’s Perry and LaF?”
“LaF’s at the lab. Perry’s at the store.”
“Okay.” She snatched a hair tie off the coffee table and pulled her blonde hair back into a high ponytail. A few strands didn’t quite make it and instead haloed her face. She noticed Carmilla staring and looked up. “What’s wrong?”
“You look broody. But, like, in a weird way. Did something happen?”
She shook her head, which brought some of the dizziness back. “I’m fine.”
Laura didn’t look convinced, but she let it slide. She went to the kitchen and made herself a PB&J with a side of cookies. Carm claimed she’d already eaten, a big lie.
In all honesty, she actually did feel hungry. But the nausea she’d felt earlier made her wary of eating anything. Maybe this was false hunger, something she remembered hearing about from Laura once when she was sick. Maybe she felt hungry, but it was actually her stomach trying to find something to bring up.
It took about fifteen minutes before Laura was ready to leave. The whole time, Carm was listening carefully for the door, waiting for Perry to come and ruin it. She didn’t want to be coddled, and she certainly didn’t want to worry Laura. Perry was supposed to be back ten minutes ago…
Luckily, Perry never came. They were able to leave without incident.
The car ride felt long and made Carm’s stomach feel weird, but she tried to distract herself by watching Laura. The radio was turned up loud enough to make Carm’s head hurt, but Laura was happy to sing along.
They pulled up to the drugstore, and suddenly, thoughts started pouring in. She knows. She brought me here because she knows. Perry called. Or LaF. Now I’m worrying her more by showing her that I can’t take care of myself. I didn’t mean to worry her. That’s exactly why I’m here. It’s not even that bad. I don’t feel that bad. There has to be some way out of this.
“I just have to pick up some more allergy pills,” said Laura. “We’re almost out, and LaF keeps swiping exotic flowers from the Freshmen…” She scrunched her nose that this and pulled the keys out. “Coming in?”
They walked around a lot. Laura compared bottles of allergy pills. She googled some things (with a little help… I mean come on, creampuff. 17th century girl works electronics better than you? But yeah.) Finally, they walked out with a little box and two bottles of vitamin water.
Laura cracked the seal before starting the car and took a sip. One side of her mouth turned up and the other down as she stared at the open bottle in her hand. “Huh. Weird. Try this.”
“No. I’m good.” Carm opened her own bottle. She felt the slight strain on her muscles, but even a weakened vampire is stronger than a human. It didn’t show.
“C’mon. It’s dragonfruit. I dunno what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.”
Carm took a sip of her orange vitamin water. It wasn’t her taste, but if she made a face, Laura would want to-
“How’s yours? Can I try it? I’ve only ever had the blue ones.”
Laura’s phone rang then, maybe saving Carm? Or making things worse? Laura wouldn’t catch this anyway.
“Hello? … … Ohmygod! Are they okay?” Laura looked to Carm with a shocked expression on her face. Carm felt her stomach flip. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll be there in like, um, forty minutes? I think? … Yes! I’m hurrying! Update us.”
She hung up, tossed her phone onto Carm’s lap, and started the car.
“What’s going on?” asked Carm.
“There was an explosion in the lab. LaF’s in the hospital.”
They went over a speed bump, making Carm’s stomach churn unhappily. Maybe that vitamin water was a bad idea… But that wasn’t important now. “Are they okay?”
“Perry says she thinks so, but the doctors don’t know for sure yet. They’re in pretty rough shape.”
Camilla opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by a gag. She pulled in a breath and swallowed quickly. It was just the turns. Once they got on the highway, she’d be fine.
The panic of the moment had kept Laura distracted, but Carm didn’t want to cause anymore stress over a simple little illness. She was really starting to feel sick though.
“Hey, hey…” Laura glanced at her then back at the road repeatedly. “They’re okay.”
“I- I know.” Camilla pressed her lips together once the statement was out. Her voice had come out strangled, and she felt desperate for air, but with every intake she felt her stomach cramp. That stupid health water!
They hit a pothole, and her stomach and head seemed to take the momentum and run with it. Her head was spinning and her stomach was flipping violently. She felt sweaty and hot but cold at the same time.
Laura glanced at her. “Are you okay?”
Laura pulled over and Carmilla stumbled out of the car, falling immediately onto the sidewalk as her trembling legs couldn’t support her.
It took a moment, but soon Laura was kneeling beside her, rubbing her back. “They’re okay. Everything’s going to be fine.”
She still thought this was about LaF. Maybe that was a good thing. She shouldn’t find out-
A gag shook her thin frame again, ending unproductively in a cough.
Her arms trembled so violently beneath her weight, she fears they might give out. She didn’t dare lean on Laura though. Laura had enough to think about.
Another gag took over and this time brought up a tiny bit, likely little more than the vitamin water and her few bites of waffles.
As soon as she felt somewhat finished, although her stomach still ached, she shifted backwards so all her weight was on her knees. She put a hand in her hair and took deep breaths.
Laura’s hand still rested on Carm’s lower back, and she watched Carm in silence. Clearly, she was very worried.
“I’m okay now,” Carm said.
She nodded and used the car door to pull herself up. “Maybe we can dig up that trash bin from the back seat just in case?”
As Laura began to do that, Carm climbed shakily back into her seat. Her head throbbed, and she knew she needed water and blood. Both of which her body would likely expel. She couldn’t worry Laura anymore than she alrea-
A cold but light shape touched her legs and she opened her eyes to see Laura handing her the bin.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You look really pale.”
“Shut up. You know what I mean.” Before Carm could process the action, Laura reached out and felt her forehead.
“Carm! You’re burning up!”
But exhaustion was taking over now. She couldn’t keep this up. She let her eyes close again.
“What’s going on? What can I do?”
“Perry’s with LaF. You’re not okay. We need to get you home right now.”
She tried to explain to Laura that she could just stay in the car if need be, but she kept forgetting where she was going. Finally, she just muttered a curse word to herself and let the sleep envelope her.
“-if she’s up to it, okay? … Oh yeah, I know. Believe me. … Yeah. … I know, okay! You focus on LaFontaine. I promise I’ll do the dishes. … Okay, I’ll call you later. … Okay, bye.”
Something cold and wet applied pressure over her forehead. Light refracted through the drapes.
Carm felt a little better than when she’d fallen asleep, but not by much. When Laura came in from the hallway, it still looked like she was walking on a ship’s deck, and it still made her stomach cramp. She still had a pounding headache too.
“Hey,” Laura said. She sat gingerly on the side of the bed.
Laura smiled a little. “Maybe.”
Carm tried to think of a witty response but instead just yawned. The movement hurt her head.
“Oh! Before you go back to sleep, you should take something. Your temperature’s pretty bad. How much should it be for a vampire? Is it just like a human? Cause if so, it’s pretty bad. Actually, it’s really bad. It’s 41. Or it was when I checked last. Oh, here!”
Laura picked up a glass of water and a pill bottle, considered this choice, and put the water down to open the pills and pour two into her hand. She then put the cap back on the pill bottle and switched that for the glass of water.
“It came on really fast,” Carm said.
“You liar. LaF says you were sick this morning.”
Laura nodded. “Yup. They’re just keeping them overnight for observation. How come you didn’t tell me you were sick?”
“I didn’t feel that bad… I mean, yeah. I felt bad. But I felt better after a nap, and when you came, I just didn’t want to be looked after by Betty Crocker. So I went with you.”
“But that doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me.
Carm swallowed the tylenol and a single sip of water before placing aside the glass. “Didn’t want you worried.”
Laura shook her head. “That’s sweet, but don’t do it again.”
“Just drink your water so I can cuddle you to sleep you big softie.”
