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Lin opened the door to a quiet, mostly dark apartment. Lin knew Kya wouldn’t be doing much today but assumed she would have gotten up from bed at least to eat and feed their cat by now.
The older woman had a tooth extraction the day prior. The surgery had gone well, but the hardship began after the anesthesia wore out. She had to be very careful with her movements to not pull the stitches accidentally and hurt herself. Finding a comfortable position to sleep in was complicated for Kya as well. Lin had fallen asleep earlier than her and wasn’t sure how late Kya had stayed up last night just sitting on their bed and reading a book, avoiding having to lay down. Even the ice cream they had gotten for dinner on their way home was hard for Kya to eat with the limited movement her jaw had now, likely for a few more days.
After Lin turned on the lights in the living room and left her keys and bag by the door, she spotted their cat, Maki, sleeping peacefully on the couch.
Of all the cat beds she had around the house, Maki still preferred the couch to sleep in. Lin rolled her eyes at the sight and quickly went to the kitchen. Maki’s bowl was half full, which had to mean Kya had gotten up at some point in the afternoon. But the space was clean and there was no sign of Kya out here.
Lin ventured to their bedroom after briefly checking on the cat. The door wasn’t completely closed and she quietly pushed it open the rest of the way. The sun was setting but there was still some light filtering through the window and the small table lamp was also on, illuminating the room. She saw Kya curled up under the blankets in what was typically Lin’s side of the bed. Kya’s face was still a bit swollen from yesterday’s procedure. Lin could also see the tear tracks on her face. She knew that, apart from her tooth, Kya’s jaw was also sore and it was difficult to swallow. All Lin wanted to do at seeing her girlfriend in such a state was grab her in her arms and make all the pain go away
Kya didn’t seem to have noticed Lin getting home. Her eyes were closed even though her body was facing the door. Lin knocked softly to alert Kya of her presence, in case she wasn’t asleep, and turned on the main bedroom light. The older woman opened her eyes and slowly turned her face up towards the door. But the happy expression of seeing Lin home quickly disappeared into a grimace of pain, a hand going to cup her jaw.
Kya let out a weak sound as a greeting instead.
“Hey, love. How are you feeling?” Lin checked in on her as she took off her blazer jacket and went to sit on the other side of the bed. Kya stuck out a hand from under the covers in a thumbs down gesture. She placed a hand on Kya’s forehead to check in case of a fever, but it was swatted away.
“Am fine,” Kya grumbled. Lin could see tears rapidly forming again and Kya closed her eyes. “Tooth hurts.”
Lin hummed in acknowledgment, ignoring Kya’s reaction. She knew her tense mood was more than likely caused by the pain and what it brought with it.
“Have you taken your pain meds?” Lin asked instead, grabbing Kya’s prescription with the instructions from the bedside table to take a look at it. “Here it says you can take it every six hours if the pain is too much.”
“Time is it?” Kya asked weakly. She couldn’t speak much or the stitches could come undone, as well as the pain it caused if she opened her mouth too much.
“Uhh... a little after six.” Lin replied after a quick glance at the clock.
“At eight again. Took it with the-” Kya paused, cupping her jaw again. A tear slipped out and her voice cracked as she finished her sentence. “antibiotic at two p.m.”
Lin wanted nothing more than to wipe the tears away and hug her close to her chest. But stayed where she was in the bed in case Kya still didn’t feel like being touched. For a nurse, Kya didn’t really like people taking care of her when she was sick. Especially when she was feeling this terrible.
“Is there anything I can get you?”
“Heating pad? For this.” Kya replied after quietly pondering for a moment. A finger lightly tracing the swollen side of her face to indicate what she wanted the pad for.
Lin quickly got up to retrieve said item. Katara had given them two pillow-like pads a few years ago. They were heavy compared to a normal pillow and were filled with something that Lin still didn’t know what it was. Kya insisted that it was rice but, judging by the texture through the fabric, Lin wasn’t convinced. But the pads were effective when needed and could easily be heated in the microwave in a couple of minutes.
She handed one to Kya when she reentered their bedroom and received a grateful noise in response.
Lin changed from the rest of her work clothes then and into a pair of shorts and a tank top. Lin had not wanted to go to work that day, preferring to stay home to take care of her girlfriend. Kya had already been in pain after the anesthesia from the surgery wore off and, given that it was a molar from the bottom row she had extracted, the day after the surgery wouldn’t be any better.
But when she woke up in the morning and checked her phone, she found various texts from her coworkers. Two people were sick and one had woken up late. The latter had a commute of one hour and a half to the office. Meaning they were short staffed for the day and so she had to go and cover for the people that were missing. Leaving Kya alone in their apartment. Lin knew Kya would be fine and would text or call her to let Lin know if anything happened. But she couldn’t help but worry when she knew what Kya was going through.
Lin decided to skip a shower for now and got back in bed to make Kya company. She felt a hand tugging lightly at her to get closer as soon as she got under the blankets. Lin rested her head on the pillow next to Kya’s. Lin’s gaze was examining Kya’s face for any sign of discomfort. She noticed her lips were chapped but the small wound the dentist had left on the corner of her mouth was less irritated. Kya must have been applying ointment on it.
Kya’s eyes were focused on their hands as she lazily played with Lin’s fingers, but she looked back into green eyes before speaking slowly. “Sorry for snipping at you earlier. The pain...” she sighed and gestured to the side of her face that was now covered by the heating pad. Her speech was more fluent now, at least. “It’s no excuse and you didn’t deserve it. I know you only worry about me.”
Lin brought the hand that was between them to her lips and kissed Kya’s knuckles, never looking away from her blue eyes. She squeezed lightly and ran a thumb over the knuckles when she returned their hands back down. “It’s fine, darling, I know. What did you do today?”
“This,” Kya said with a roll of her eyes. “watched a few episodes of The Good Place , too, with Maki. But she left me hours ago.” Kya pouted.
“She’s sleeping on the couch now. You’d think she’d prefer one of the perfectly comfortable cat beds or even the scratching post, but no” Lin rolled her eyes and Kya let out a soft laugh at the last part. Lin mentally pumped a fist in the air for getting a laugh out of her. “The Good Place sounds nice. Could you eat the mashed potatoes I left you for lunch?”
“Yeah, took me like thirty minutes. But it was good. Thanks, my love.”
“Of course. And how are you feeling now?” Lin asked this last question hoping all the inquiring didn’t cause Kya to push Lin away again. Thankfully she didn’t, although the tiredness she clearly felt was written all over her features.
“Still hurts. I was fine in the morning but it began to be painful again not long ago. Wanna believe this helps.” Kya gestured to the heating pad. “You being here now helps, too.” Lin rolled her eyes again but smiled anyway, another quiet laugh leaving Kya’s lips.
Lin moved the hand playing with Kya’s knuckles to caress her hip comfortingly. Kya’s hand moved to rest on Lin’s arm.
Kya closed her eyes and yawned as best she could with the limited jaw mobility she had. “I’m tired. Wake me up for my meds?”
“Sure. At eight, right?” Lin made sure and Kya hummed in confirmation, another small smile appearing on Kya’s face for a moment.
A few minutes of silence had passed when Kya whispered a quiet “I love you.” without opening her eyes and continued trying to fall asleep.
Lin placed a kiss on her forehead and squeezed her hip gently. “I love you, too. Sleep now. You need to rest.”
It wasn’t long until Kya’s breath evened out. Lin reached out for her phone that she had left on the bedside table once she was sure Kya was asleep and set an alarm for eight p.m. Just in case Lin fell asleep, too, before then.
Lin lightly traced Kya’s features with her finger. She had been worrying about Kya all day and was glad to be home with her again. She knew she couldn’t make Kya’s tooth pain go away overnight. But it made Lin feel better to be with her now to take care of Kya in case she needed anything. It also appeased her anxiety a little that tomorrow was the weekend and she didn’t have to go to work. It is now just a matter of a few days until Kya should be feeling better without any medication.
She felt Maki jumping on their bed and settling at the foot to continue sleeping, purring softly. That’s when Lin decided a short nap wouldn’t hurt. The alarm was on anyway for this very reason.