ACETAMINOPHEN FOR THE SOUL
Oh shit, you're feeling it. A familiar headache, that feeling in your joints, chills - rumors about the reaction to the second vaccine shot were true. Your body stands on the verge of the horrifying fever, first one you've had in more than three years. You take a sick day on your job and decide to go to bed early. Bright bathroom lights made your headache worse and you dimmed it. You found it increasingly hard to stand and skipped all of your oral procedures besides brushing. Drug cabinet had a fast release acetaminophen, which you took without hesitation - there was no reason to suffer, as there wasn't any disease to fight.
"I'm going to bed, please type quieter" you said to your gote husband hanging out in the living room
Azzy was busy shitposting at his battlestation, loudly tapping at his clicky mechanical keyboard. Some very important recent events on the opposite side of the planet agitated a lot of idiots whose hobby was caring about things that had no impact on their lives. Azzy seemed to enjoy helping them drive themselves to madness.
"Aww, the idiots are really mad today. You alright?"
"No, I feel like shit. Took acetaminophen, should get better. Good night" you said, disappearing in the dark bedroom
"Oof. Good night"
You tucked yourself under the cold blankets. Everything felt cold and you couldn't warm up your spot. Shivers resonated through your body and you moaned quietly. Pain in your joints left you with no comfortable position and you couldn't stop turning in bed. Sleeping was, of course, impossible and you wished that the fast release was even faster. Bedroom door opened and Azzy slipped under the blankets, cuddling up to your back, his gentle touches distracting you from the suffering. He rubbed your belly, sending shivers down your spine, and moved on to touch your forearms. Goosebumps shortly followed, and it made your fever feel almost pleasant. Being loved and cared for turns illness into something completely different, into a healing experience. You remembered your childhood, when having a fever meant that you didn't have to go to school, and could get all cozy reading a book or playing video games. You never thought that you would be able to feel that good old feverish coziness ever again. You turned to face your gote and put your cold arms and legs against his warm body. All of your feelings were enhanced, stroking the fur on his chest felt unbelievably good. You stuffed your face into his fluff, noticing how cold your nose was all this time. Acetaminophen finally kicked in and you felt a pleasant warmth spread through your body, lulling you to sleep...
It stopped working and you woke up in the middle of the night, feeling like shit again. Your shivering woke up your husband.
"Mmm... you feel hot again. I'll bring more drugs" he said and jumped out of the bed
He brought acetaminophen and water and helped you rise to gulp it down. You wanted to shiver, but his touches calmed you down and filled you with warmth. He got playful and moved down, to hug your butt and kiss your belly - a much needed distraction for the next twenty minutes. You put your hands on his warm horns and stretched your cold legs against his hot body, almost moaning from the unexpected pleasure. The sensation of his warm breath on your sensitive skin covered you in goosebumps. You squeezed his horns and rubbed your legs against him, exercising your tortured joints. You felt warm again and started sweating, as your body worked to decrease its temperature. Azzy noticed that your fever was gone and crawled back up. You patted his fur and noticed that he was thoroughly wet.
"Sorry"
"Huh? I love being soaked in your sweat" he said and kissed you on the forehead
"I love you..." you said, drifting off to sleep... your heavy dreams reflected your thoughts and looked like the biology lessons info-graphics. Some of your cells were turned into the spike protein factories, sending their products into your bloodstream. All these foreign spikes traveled through your body and you were sending squads of leukocytes to eat them. It was a complete mess, with inflammations everywhere, as your immune system, riding police cars, for some reason, attacked everything it saw for no apparent reason. A fast-release bomb exploded over the city of your body, its anti-inflammatory foam filled the view and you woke up.
Next day didn't bring much improvement, you still had a persistent fever and spent a whole day in bed. Azzy kept you company, caring for you, bringing you water, even cooking you soup. You've never been weak around him before, and his behavior towards you at your lowest was a pleasant surprise. By the end of the day your fever subsided and only the mild headache lingered, reminding you of the recent horrors. His many kisses on your forehead seemed to help and you fell asleep with a big smile on your face. You woke up feeling great and refreshed. Azzy woke up before you and was carefully playing with your hair.
"Good morning! How do you feel?"
"Really good. Thanks to you"
He smiled, inviting you to give him a kiss, which you happily did. In the end, you were really glad that you took this vaccine - if this was a reaction to the second shot, what would the real disease be like?