Unexpected complications

[Chevi]

September, 77CE

Decimus was still asleep when Aia stirred next to him in bed. Early morning light was filtering through the window panes, and with it the early morning noises of the insula and the street below. Decimus had been on duty the night before, so he had only gotten home an hour or so before dawn. As much as Aia loved sharing a bed with him, she needed to get up, and start the day.

Except, getting up proved to be harder than expected. As she rolled out of bed, the room appeared to be... kind of wobbly. Aia steadied herself, stretching her arms above her head, and almost immediately felt her head spin and her stomach lurch. Dammit. This was not new; she'd felt like that the day before too. Must have been something she ate, but she didn't have time to mull over that as she barely made it to the waste bucket in the corner before she threw up her dinner.

"Shit." she muttered, feeling the room spin and her fingers to numb. She braced herself against the table, splashing water on her face from a pitcher, hoping to make the spinning stop; she even managed to drink some, and yet, it made her feel worse. Breathing heavily, she opted for the next best option: she lay down on the floor where she was, curling up, waiting for the feeling to go away.

@Sains @Sara

[Sains]

The feeling of the covers rustling next to him was nothing new, especially given the recent pattern of nightly guard postings he'd been receiving of late. As such, it was hardly a wonder that he didn't rise immediately with Aia. If he'd been a younger man he wouldn't have minded the assignments as much, but as he aged he couldn't deny feeling Somnus tugging at his eyelids whenever he got anything less than seven or eight hours. Still, he'd try to rise... eventually. 

It turned out that 'eventually' would come sooner than anyone might have expected as he heard Aia's retching from the comfort of their still-warm sheets. He rolled, his mind not quite coming to the realization that anything was truly amiss. Had she really thrown up? It had sounded like it, but from what little information his eyes had immediately gathered upon parting for a brief moment, she seemed to be cleaning up at the pitcher. There was definitely nothing wrong with that. Why should he get up just for that? Surely he could sleep in for a few more minutes... 

Then came the all-too-familiar sound of a body slumping onto the floor. Immediately his eyes opened in confusion and he began to get up and face what he already suspected. All at once he felt the blood rush from his head and his vision went dark for a few moments, soon returning with a few steps forward. The muted rush of adrenaline gave him the illusory comfort of being wide-awake, though who knew how long that'd last. 

"Aia?" he inquired. 

It was a hopeful call to a woman that, he could now see, was curled up in the fetal position and clutching her stomach. 

"What's wrong, are you sick?" 

It was an idiotic question, of course, but he could probably have thought of a better one if he weren't operating on the bare minimum of sleep. 

 

@Chevi@Sara

[Chevi]

"Aia?" 

"Mmm" she groaned. She had woken up Decimus. Great. She deserved to be in bed, after being on guard all night. She wanted to tell him that, but the room was still spinning.

"What's wrong, are you sick?" 

"Mmm." she was still curled up, and she felt her skin covered in cold sweat. Great. "Smthing I ate" she muttered, blinking. It had to be.

@Sains @Sara

[Sains]

Fuck. Well, what was there to do? Of course, Decimus had a rather rudimentary knowledge of what herbs and remedies might help the situation, but he was unsure if they had anything around that might help her while she lay on the floor. As a preliminary effort, the guardsman grabbed their blanket and draped it across her body as she lay there. He'd likely be staying up now anyways, so it wasn't much of a bother for him. 

"What did you eat last night?", he asked groggily. For now, he'd make an effort in looking for some herbs in their humble kitchen that might help the situation. He'd heard somewhere that cumin helped, but he'd never really tried it out for himself. Nevertheless, desperate times called for desperate wives tales and soon he'd kneel by her side to produce the spice in a small clay pot they'd set aside. 

"Open wide." he'd say, holding a pinch of it carefully between his fingers.

@Chevi@Sara

[Chevi]

Aia felt a blanket draped over her, which was nice. At least Decimus was there. She felt embarrassed by her condition. There was nothing lovely about having your stomach upset.

"Dunno... bread and cheese?" she muttered, glancing up as he appeared with... a pot of spice? She sniffed it, registered that it was cumin, and then felt her stomach immediately turn again, so she lunged for the waste bucket. There was not much to throw up now, but she heaved, and the effort made her dizzy. "... shit..."

@Sains

[Sains]

Well fuck; that definitely didn't work. Decimus rolled his eyes in frustration and went about putting away the little pot as Aia went on heaving into the bucket. Who was the moron that had told him that nonsense anyway? He supposed it must have been a Greek muttering or something that an auxiliary had said while they were drunk on whatever swill they could get their hands on. Whatever, it didn't really matter. What mattered, of course, was that Aia was about to puke out her intestines into that bucket. The praetorian began to get ready to step out for a moment, throwing on a simple tunica, but he didn't really know where he should go. He could fetch a doctor, but he'd have to walk to an entirely different quarter to find a good one. There was that one fellow, Carbo, that he knew a couple blocks from their building, but he was a known quack. Why people still wasted their sesterce on him he'd never know. Oh well, forget it. One person he did know was just a few doors away. 

Before he left, he made sure to look back at Aia and shout the only encouragement that was breaking the surface in his fatigued mind. "Don't die!" Oh yeah, that'd do it.

What followed was a brief interlude of walking and cursing mixed with a dash of cursing and walking. Whatever was wrong with Aia certainly wasn't anything that he had any particular familiarity with. Personally he'd never seen her curled up in a ball on the floor after eating the oh-so-dangerous combination of bread and cheese. This, he suspected, was something that he may not be equipped to handle. And so, before too long, he was knocking on the door of her friend Didia. He knew Didia as well, though it was far more tangential than the connection that she had with Aia. He supposed that she'd care enough about the fate of her friend to ignore the small intrusion into her morning. And, perhaps most importantly of all, she was a woman. 

"Hello?.. It's Decimus." 

 

@Sara@Chevi

[Sara]

Didia Nonia

"Titus Didius Nonius get back here!" She screeched at the little boy, her nephew who had been dumped upon their families doorstep shortly after his birth by his good for nothing father (and Didia's brother). Her father chuckled, "Don't mind him, he'll tire himself out soon enough-" Didia cut him off with a glare, "Not before he wastes all of the good salt which we need..." She finally managed to wrestle the pot out of the boy's hands and he giggled, running to find something else to steal and play with. Like father like son. Did huffed, setting down on a top shelf that she had to stretch to reach and glanced at the mess already overflowing in the cramped apartment. Between her parents, herself, her younger brother and two tiny nephews, the place was in perennial disorder. Which she didn't have time to fix before heading out for the day's work. 

"I'm going to be late..." She muttered as she tied her hair up in a practical bun with a scrap of linen. "Mother, can you please make sure that..." She was cut off again by a sound on the door and huffed, moving to pull it wide and see a praetorian staring back at her. She had to plant a hand on the back of Titus' tunic to keep him from bolting from the door and mercifully her younger brother was there  to take him. "Morning..." She grumbled with a wince, "You caught me heading out, Appius and I have deliveries...all alright?" She arched a brow. She knew Decimus of course, but it wasn't exactly a common occurrence to have the man banging on her door. 

 

TAG: @Sains @Chevi

[Sains]

It was difficult not to crack a smile as the door opened and the first thing to meet his eyes was, of course, Didia herself and the young boy who seemed ready to bolt. He would have been ready to catch the boy himself if it had been warranted, but luckily another young man was hot on his heels. While it was well known to most that Decimus was a member of the guard, he hardly appeared the least bit prepared for the role. Clad in a simple tunica and bearing the eyebags of a man who'd not seen a bed for the better part of eighteen hours, he might've surprised anyone else with the fact. 

"Paenitet Didia, I know you're busy. I was wondering if... Er, I was wondering if you could come by. It's Aia; she's ailing. I don't think it's common." 

He didn't quite know how else to put it, especially in the company of so many others that drifted just behind her. He expected she might continue on and say that she's too busy, in which case he would go for a doctor, but he'd rather not if it all possible. 

 

@Sara@Chevi

[Sara]

Didia Nonia

Didia was immediately all action stations, huffing at Decimus; "I'm a fruit seller, not a medicus but I'll do my best...Appius!" She bellowed and her bleary eyed younger appeared, "I'll meet you at the magistrate's house, you can handle the first couple on your own?" The man nodded sleepily. She didn't trust him to run a relay race by himself, but she wasn't going to leave Aia ill upstairs with her Praetorian. She liked Decimus, he seemed a decent man and her friend clearly cared for him but what Aia clearly needed was some good practical women's help if the man was banging on her door at this ungodly hour. 

With a nod of approval, she ducked past Decimus and ventured up to their place. "How long has she been unwell?" Didia frowned, throwing a look over her shoulder as she climbed and then without warning, swiftly pushed open the door to their little apartment. Her hand flew to her mouth in shock to see Aia, pale as a ghost, curled up on the floor. The tang of vomit hit her nose and she grimaced, "Be a good husband and clean that up...Dis save us..Aia?" She hurried through, moving to kneel next to her and planted a hand on the woman's forehead. "What happened?" 

 

TAG: @Chevi @Sains

[Chevi]

Don't die.

Aia loved Decimus fiercely, which was good, because his advice in this case was useless. The world was spinning with her so she curled up again, vaguely aware that he'd left. Probably to get help. If they were lucky, the medicus that lived upstairs would be home... what time was it anyway? Aia tried to calm her breathing. At least she didn't have anything left to throw up.

A few minutes later there was another voice in the room.

"Didia?" she muttered, looking up. She was covered in cold sweat, but not feverish. "I... ugh. I must have eaten something?... I woke up like this."

@Sains @Sara

[Sains]

Decimus swiftly followed Didia back towards the disheartening scene that was still unfolding in his own apartment. Now that his body was truly awake to the situation that his wife was in, curled up on the floor like a sick animal, did he fully appreciate the fact that she might actually be in some sort of mortal peril. Her skin was pale, or at least far paler than usual, and for a few moments he began to wrestle with the idea that she might die from whatever great illness had invaded their home. Before he could move to her side, however, he was compelled to not interfere and do what he could with his limited knowledge of the situation. Reluctantly, he kept his trap shut and let Didia set about giving whatever care she could. 

Cleaning up vomit was a task that he'd undertaken occasionally as a lowly milite, so the familiar feeling of a wet rag and the smell of bile wasn't particularly new. He just hoped that Didia might know how to deal with these illness better than he. In earnest he believed he might as well fetch the medicus after he was done with this poor assignment. 

 

@Sara@Chevi

[Sara]

Didia Nonia

Didia dutifully ignored Decimus and hurried to kneel at Aia's side. She wasn't feverish, which from her limited knowledge, was good. She sat back on her heels with a slow exhale, looking at her. "What did you eat? You didn't get that chicken stew from Marius' did you? You know he undercooks it!" She huffed and glanced at Decimus. He seemed fine and...if it was just vomiting then eating some badly cooked chicken well...there would be other symptoms. 

"Have you felt sick before now? Anything?" She bit her lip. "Any other symptoms either of you have noticed? Anything at all?" This was far more Theo's bag than hers but she was trying to think what he'd ask. "Can you get back to bed if I help you? This floor has gotta hurt."

 

TAG: @Chevi @Sains