Call In (Community, Frankie/Britta, F)

[90percenthoneydew]

So I wrote a thing! This is very much not my usual writing style and contains things I don’t usually include in my fics. That’s what happens when I write at 4am. Consider it an experiment. 

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“ESSshhh! Hh-hhn’EXSsshh! Huh-MMmPSH! Hh’ISHhh!” 

Britta sighed as she stared up at the dark ceiling, feeling the mattress shudder as her girlfriend attempted to muffle a series of wet coughs into her pillow. Frankie had been fighting a particularly messy head cold for 4 days, and it was starting to shift to her chest. 

Britta winced as Frankie sneezed three more times. They were heavy and throat scraping, and Britta’s heart ached just thinking about how much pain her partner must be in.

She heard her girlfriend grab a tissue, one of hundreds she had used over the last few days, and blow her nose. Britta frowned with worry at the thick, gurgling sound and protectively wrapped an arm around the brunette. 

“Please call in tomorrow,” she whispered. Frankie had been powering through the last few days, refusing to take time off for a “simple cold”. While that was fine back when it was just a sore throat and sniffles, Britta didn’t think she should be working now that she was this sick. 

“I’mb fide,” she replied, voice still painfully congested despite the incessant nose blowing. Her voice cracked slightly, and she started coughing again. The fit was relentless, and Britta could feel the vibrations of the mucus crackling in her lungs. 

She helped Frankie sit up and gently rubbed large circles on her back, hoping it would help ease the coughing. 

When the fit finally ceased, Frankie was left hyperventilating. 

“Hey, hey. You okay?” Britta asked, still rubbing her girlfriend’s back. 

“Yeah. I’mb sorry,” she replied, barely understandable due to the heavy congestion. 

“Blow your nose, Babe,” Britta commanded, grabbing the box of tissues from the nightstand and placing it in front of them. Frankie complied, giving another stuffy blow. She lethargically turned her head away from Britta as she began coughing again. 

“You really don’t sound good, Franks,” she frowned. 

“I’ll- hhhnn- call in- hehh- kt’sCHOO! Ei’KTChh! ingg the morningg… ESCH-SHIEW!” She sniffled miserably after and wiped her nose with another tissue. 

“Oh, Hon. You’re really not feeling well, huh? Come here.” Britta pulled her closer, allowing her to rest her head on her chest. Frankie wrapped her arms around her and nuzzled in, making Britta frown. Frankie wasn’t usually a very cuddly person. She must have been feeling absolutely awful. Britta gently brushed her hand across her forehead, but she didn’t feel a fever. 

“Huhh- huh’ktschh! ei’tsshh! kn’nXGghh!” she sneezed miserably into Britta’s chest. 

Britta sighed and reached for a tissue. She held it up against her girlfriend’s nose, taking note of the chapped skin she could feel through the paper. 

“Blow,” she said softly. 

“I- EISChhh! Eh-ehhh-ei’ISHhh!” Even through the tissue, the sneezes sounded sickly. 

The two of them continued to lay there, Frankie sniffling, sneezing, and coughing, and Britta rubbing her back and handing her tissues. After about an hour, Frankie finally fell asleep. Britta pushed a piece of hair out of her face and looked down at her sleeping girlfriend. The older woman was breathing through her mouth, her nose far too drippy and congested to get any air through. Britta stayed awake for a bit longer, stroking her hair and listening to her periodic sniffles and congested snores. Truthfully, a part of her enjoyed seeing Frankie like this. She was always so organized and high strung. Sick or not, the poor woman deserved to take some time off to rest. 

Britta closed her eyes and thought about the next day. Her classes weren’t that important. She could take the day off to stay with Frankie. She reached to her side, careful not to wake her partner, and grabbed her phone. After turning off her alarm, she finally let herself begin to fall asleep. She had already warned the Dean ahead of time that she was going to try to convince Frankie to take a sick day, so there was no reason to wake up early. Yes, they would stay in bed together as long as they needed. 

[noroomfordoubt]

So sweet! I haven’t seen Community, but I loved this. 

[Likesn]

I consider it a pretty successful experiment. Would love to read more about these two, preferably with Brita catching Frankie's cold.

[sneezysunshine]

Very sweet and nice! Thank you for the experimenting