#karolina migraine truthers unite

[jeniffercheck]

i come to add another prompt to your list 🧎‍♀️#6 please for shivlina

#6 - "Be gentle, please." & the sickfic request (i hope this hits what u were looking for!!)

It’s late (or early, depending on who you ask), and they’re sitting Shiv’s kitchen table, dissecting Waystar press mentions from the last forty years. Press mentions from the 80s, interviews from the 90s, her dad’s first fucking tweet.

“Of course he called the president a twat,” Karolina says. “I can’t believe they left it up.”

“Yeah,” Shiv snorts, saving the link. “I’m sure it put a real dent on Waystar’s reputation.”

She adds it to the compiled mentions for the memorial video, an end-of-year Waystar Gala, aptly set to honor the Life and Times of Logan Roy. It’s Karolina’s job to approve all of the options, and Shiv somehow convinced Karolina to let her help.

“Busiest man on the planet, yet he always had time for a tweet,” Shiv says. “I’m sure PR was a sanctuary before Twitter was invented.”

Karolina shrugs. “I think I prefer deletable tweets over waking up to New York Times quotes that were never run by the department,” she says, pulling a clipping. “We should burn everything from the 80s.”

“What?” Shiv says, “Dad wasn’t a goodhearted champion in the fight against AIDS?”

Karolina laughs, the noise quickly turning into Karolina clearing her throat as her face falls.

“Are they bad?” Shiv asks. She never had half a mind to seek out her dad’s commentary on devastating social issues, but she can’t imagine that whatever he did say warrants such a grim expression.

“No,” Karolina says. “No, he didn’t—I mean it’s bad, but it’s normal bad. We’ll probably find tweets with the exact same statements. Just won’t use them.”

Shiv nods, not quite believing Karolina as she winces into her computer screen, fingers rubbing lightly at the bridge of her nose.

“You alright?” Shiv asks.

“Yeah,” Karolina sighs. “Just need an eye break.”

She stands and moves into the kitchen, and Shiv can hear the rattling of pills as Karolina pulls out a bottle from her purse. Shiv says nothing as Karolina returns, typing away what’s most likely a note to omit anything and everything from the 80s. They work in comfortable silence for a while, Shiv flagging items they may have missed and Karolina adding them to her folder until Shiv notices Karolina’s hand has returned to her forehead, eyes closed this time.

Shiv rubs Karolina’s knee to get her attention. “Hey,” she says. “What’s wrong?”

“Just—a headache,” Karolina says.

“Just a headache,” Shiv says, “or something more?”

“It’s fine—I-I should go home—” Karolina attempts to stand, her hand dropping and eyes opening slightly, but not without a deep wince that has Shiv immediately pulling her back into her seat.

“Woah, slow down,” Shiv says, hand returning to Karolina’s knee. Shiv looks around her white kitchen, the sun reflecting through the eight-foot windows and hitting every marble surface like a perfect blinding death trap for Karolina in this current moment, unsure how Karolina can even make it through her apartment, let alone outside. “You gonna make it all the way across town with your eyes closed?”

“I’ll just call a car, and wear sunglasses,” Karolina says, her voice getting tighter with every word. Shiv doesn’t think there’s a chance that they get Karolina out of this kitchen if they wait any longer, the time for Karolina to make it back to her own place already passed. She recalls the last time she found Karolina with a migraine—at home “sick” from work according to Gerri, but not having responded to a single message from Shiv in over 24 hours—hiding under a fortress of blankets to shield her from the light and not having had as much as a sip of water in probably a day and a half. Karolina said that one was mild, but that she hadn’t been much in the practice of preventative medicine then.

“No, no way,” Shiv says. “We talked about this already—let me help.”

“Shiv—” Karolina starts, but her fist closes up and she lets out a pained breath, argument forgotten.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Shiv says softly. “Let’s go upstairs. Can you get up?”

Shiv grabs both of her hands, about to pull Karolina up when her quiet voice rings out, “Just—be gentle, please.” Shiv pauses, moving a steadying hand to Karolina’s back.

“I will,” she says. She helps her stand, growing mildly concerned at which the tightness Karolina’s holding onto Shiv. “You took something already, right?”

“Yeah,” Karolina says, her voice shaky. Shiv guides her through the apartment, going as steadily as possible until they make it to the bedroom. She helps Karolina into the bed, and gets to work closing all of the blinds, silently thanking the developer for installing the ridiculously excessive blackout blinds that she’d made fun of when she first moved in. When she’s finished, she kneels next to the bed, relieved to see at least a little bit less strain on Karolina’s face. Shiv grazes a piece of Karolina’s hair, tucking it lightly behind her ear. Karolina sighs in response, opening her eyes slightly. Shiv can see that it’s still painful even with the minimal light in the room, but there’s also a level of defiance that she knows not to press in the current moment.

“Do you still want what we talked about?” Shiv asks quietly.

Karolina had laid out the ground rules for Shiv after the last time—how much light to let in, how much movement to make, what pills to take and when, how loud to talk, when to say anything at all—and she’s determined to follow them, regardless of how much Karolina doesn’t want her to.

“This is more than enough, Shiv,” Karolina says, closing her eyes as Shiv strokes her hair again.

“Well, I don’t mind,” Shiv says. “So, how about I lay down next to you and play with your hair the way you like, and you’ll tell me if you want me to stop?”

It takes Karolina a few deep breaths and a furrowed brow to give in, her voice annoyed as she lets out a light, “Fine.”

Shiv keeps her movements slow as she climbs into the bed behind Karolina, taking care not to disturb her position. When she settles in, her hand returns to Karolina’s hair, massaging the back of Karolina’s head. She stays like that for a while until the light peaking through the edges of the curtains has disappeared and Karolina’s breathing steadies into something more like slumber, and Shiv goes to remove her hand, ready to escape the bed to get them both sustenance. As soon as she pulls away, Karolina speaks up.

“Shiv?”

“I’m right here,” Shiv says, leaning back down. Her hand returns to the back of Karolina’s head, and Karolina sighs again, a sign that it’s been bringing her some sort of relief. “How does it feel?”

“About the same,” Karolina says, her voice tired. Shiv frowns, knowing there’s not much she can do to help. Before Shiv can respond, Karolina’s speaking again, words that Shiv hates she feels like she even needs to say. “I’m sorry, Shiv. This is—”

“This is your life,” Shiv says. “I’m glad I can be in it. Don’t apologize.”

Karolina flips herself over before Shiv can stop her, and she lets out a pained breath before resting her head back down, pressing it lightly into Shiv.

“Even when my head’s exploding?”

“Especially then,” Shiv whispers, settling back into the bed.

She’s starting to think there isn’t anything that could keep her out of Karolina’s life.