Who: Billy and Jillian When: Kryptonite plot Where: Zelda’s house What: Jillian gets ill and Billy plays the knight in shining armor Rating/Warning: Low/Illness Status: Complete
Billy finished his errands as quickly as possible before heading back to Zelda’s place to check on Jillian. It sounded to him like she maybe had flu or a virus so he’d brought a multitude of medicines and things to make sure she was okay. He liked her a lot, she was bubbly and friendly and didn’t treat him like he wasn’t important which he was very grateful for. After all he was just a guy who’d gotten lucky thanks to Zelda offering him a job.
Entering his code he opened the door and went looking for his poorly patient.
Being sick was a thing that didn't happen very often in Jillian's house. No one had time to get sick, and she'd rarely been sick growing up.
The result was that she had no idea what she was supposed to do in this situation, aside from try to keep on going. Which wasn't working out well for her. She'd gotten as far as her bathroom, and was curled up next to the tub, wrapped in a blanket cocoon.
Her laptop was on the floor nearby, which painted a funny picture about the girl's priorities.
Billy was starting to get worried when he couldn't find her until he noticed the bathroom door was open. Moving closer he spotted the laptop and then the blanket shaped Jillian lump on the floor.
"Oh my god, Jillian are you okay?" he asked in concern, bending down to check on her. Placing his hand on her forehead.
She was shivering a bit, even with the blanket wrapped around her, but tried to manage a smile when Billy's face came into view, "This isn't... one of my better moments, no."
Jillian decided to spare him the details of why she was curled up in there instead of in bed. Her stomach was a lot happier now that nothing at all was in it. "Everything is so awful," she added. Her voice was hoarse, and she sounded a bit frog-like.
He brushed the hair back from her face and looked at her sympathetically, he didn't need to be told why she was in the bathroom.
"It's okay, you're going to be fine. I'll look after you" he promised, he'd grown to think of her and Zelda almost like family. He'd always wanted siblings. Putting his arms around her and the blankets he lifted her up and took her into the bedroom. He was stronger than he looked.
She curled in against him on instinct, taking some comfort from his presence, though one of her hands flailed weakly in the direction of her laptop as he picked her up. It was really no use trying to grab the thing and she had other things she needed to worry about, anyway.
"Draco said you would... I didn't need him to say that, because I knew... you're a very good person." He was an angel, as far as she was concerned. Or like a knight in shining armor.
"Thanks Jillian. Now lets focus on making you feel better okay?" he said with a smile, setting her down on the bed gently. "What hurts and how long have you been feeling like this?" he asked, leaning down to pick up the bag of shopping he had with him.
Jillian curled up into a little ball on the bed, trying to get her brain to cooperate with her and come up with answers to his questions beyond 'everything' and 'forever'.
"...my head is pounding and I'm aching all over in general," She finally replied, squeezing her eyes shut, "It's been like this since this morning... it just came out of nowhere."
He removed a thermometer and after opening the packet got her to pop it under her tongue as he’d been instructed by the pharmacist.
“I’ve got all sorts of things here which should help you feel better” he told her patting her hand gently, “We’ll get you feeling better in no time” Once the time was up he removed the thermometer and frowned a little at the temperature recorded, “Looks like you have a fever which explains why you’re feeling so bad”
"OH no..." Jillian groaned, and shook her head, "No... I can't have a fever, I can't. It's not just a cold if it's a fever..."
If she had the flu or something horrible like that, she'd be sick for longer than just a few days. She had so much work to do! But there was no way she was getting it done when she felt like this. She shut her eyes, "It's so cold in here. Do you think... are there extra blankets?"
“Let’s get some medicine down you and see if we can lower your temperature, okay?” Billy coaxed, removing medicine from the bag along with a spoon and bottle of water.
“I’ll see what I can do, but it’s warm in here. You just feel cold because of the fever,” he told her, sitting on the bed to help her sit up a little to take the medicine.
The idea of putting something in her stomach at all made her suddenly feel like throwing up again. She weakly shook her head and squeezed her mouth shut tightly for a few seconds, mentally praying that she wouldn't throw up all over Billy. He was a very nice guy who didn't deserve that.
When the spell passed, she whispered, "I don't know if it'll... stay... but we've got to try."
Billy looked down at her in concern, “Jillian, I’m going to ring a doctor to come out and see you okay?” he said, “I don’t want to try making you take something if you’re feeling that ill” It seemed counter productive to do something which could make her worse.
Doctors were scary. The ones she'd dealt with in the past were grumpy and cranky, and the press liked to swarm them. She knew if Billy was trying to ring one up that this was probably more serious than she thought, and that was also pretty scary.
It won out, and she nodded weakly, "Draco said... he had a list of good ones."
Doctors were scary, Billy thought so too but he didn’t want to take any chances that this was more than just a cold and flu incident. Especially not with Jillian. She had become a great friend and with her career they needed to be careful with anything that could affect her voice.
“I’ll give him a call, get the names from him” Billy said.
Thinking about things like that was exactly what made Billy such a great assistant. Jillian closed her eyes and made a sort of sound of assent. She made a mental note to thank him for all of this later with something really nice, then decided to give in to the need to just lay there like a vegetable for a little while.
Billy managed to get hold of Draco very quickly and contact a doctor, he was fairly busy with patients - it seemed there was something of an epidemic going on albeit on a smaller scale but he told Billy to bring her to the hospital where he had secured a private room where she could be seen and stay if she needed to.
“Jillian” he said softly, sitting on the bed next to her and stroking her hand, “I need to take you to see the doctor” he told her gently.
She let out a bit of a whimper, but didn't think it was a good idea to argue with him. He'd been on the phone with the man, and she hadn't.
And honestly, she was starting to feel worse. She just wanted to feel better, and if going to a doctor would do that, then that's what they'd have to do. She nodded her head a bit, "Need... money? Purse is somewhere."
Jillian tried to sit up a bit straighter so that she could visually locate it. Her insurance card and things like that were in there. She knew he'd need those.
“I know I’m sorry but we’re going to make you better” he told her when she whimpered.
As she struggled to sit up Billy gently put his hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay, I’ll sort everything out. You don’t have to worry about anything okay” he told her calmly, “Just stay here and I’ll get everything we need”
True to his word he did, he located her purse and called a cab to take them to the hospital, making sure they used an unmarked cab and waited by the back exit.
Re-entering the bedroom he had her purse on his shoulder and moved to sit next to her again, “Okay, everything is sorted Jillian, let’s go get you well”
"Billy... you really are the best, you know. Just… the best. Ever. Really going to miss you at the new place… wish I could steal you, sometimes."
Jillian lifted her arm up a bit so that he could help her up out of the bed. She was determined to walk to that taxi if it was at all possible, and spare him having to carry her all the way out.
“Aww well you know I’m sure Zelda would loan me out or something” he grinned kissing the top of her head as he helped her. He’d carry her if she needed him to, he was more than capable and perfectly willing.
"Maybe we can... come up with some kind..." Jillian tried to search for the word she wanted, but her feverish brain felt like it was operating at the speed of a snail. She shook her head, "... sharing-you thingie. Puuu."
She stood up, wobbling in a place a bit, and decided to put a hand on his shoulder to stabilize herself.
"Okay... our chariot awaits us."
Billy smiled, “Maybe we can. I kind of like that idea” he told her before nodding as he placed an arm around her waist. He wasn’t going to let her fall, “Let’s go get you healthy again.”