When All Lights Go Out I (TFP)

Chapter 71

It has been two days since the incident with Airachnid, and Azura's illness has not shown any signs of going away. Azura has become a mess as she has been coughing and sneezing multiple elements each day. She's set off the sprinkler systems multiple times unintentionally, she's caused burns to Optimus's arms and chassis, and she has also burned some of Ratchet's equipment. All of which has not been under her control unfortunately. On top of that, the heat around her crystal hasn't gone away either, and her whole system was now hot to the point she has been soaking in icy water just to cool her system down.

Optimus has already lost a lot of recharge due to this. And it hurt him. He and Ratchet had a stern word with Arcee about her irresponsible judgement that put both Azura and Jack in danger of Airachnid. Arcee was no longer trusted to keep an eye on Azura moving forward for a while. At least, not on her own. Arcee accepted the consequences of her actions, and she's apologized profusely multiple times. But as Azura has been so sick, Optimus really didn't want to focus on what happened, but rather that he wanted to be by Azura's side.

Holding her gently as Azura grasped a bucket, purging violently into it, Optimus rubbed Azura's back gently as she struggled with purging. That was the next issue. She has been purging a lot, and it has made getting her to ingest medicine hard. Plus, she now has to deal with diarrhoea on top of that, which Ratchet was less than pleased with when Azura woke up a mess she hadn't expected, and Optimus had to show the medic the new symptom. It was just a downside of having a slightly different system to them where toileting was a normal and necessary thing for Azura.

Because of this, they had to figure out how to manage it, and now Azura was made to essentially wear a diaper. She felt it was undignified, but it wasn't exactly something she could disagree with either. She was an infant Cybertronian after all, though she still disliked wearing one. Nonetheless, it just added to the responsibility that Optimus had to endure while she was so sick. Even if he didn't particularly enjoy that fact, he did not complain at all.

Azura groaned, leaning back as she took deep intakes, feeling awful that she has been very sick for the last couple days. "I wish this would go away...I feel so horrible..." Azura turned her head, looking up at Optimus with a sad expression. "I'm sorry that I'm keeping you from recharge. I don't mean to wake up and be sick...I'm just so sore and hot..."

Optimus smiled at her as he rubbed his thumb along her back gently. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Azura. Being sick is not your fault. It will get better, it's just an unfortunate situation." Azura sighed as she really still felt guilty for being sick. "I know you are just as tired as I am, if not more. You haven't recharged much either. And your body is fighting an infection, and we only can wait until it wins. And, as your system is weak, I wish I knew how long it would take. Not even Ratchet knows."

Azura knew she was in for being sick for a long time, given that Ratchet has been monitoring the infection during this whole time. She sighed, looking down at the diaper she was wearing. It was not a regular human diaper, but Ratchet had managed to create something rather quickly. It was still bothersome to Azura, since she knew she hasn't worn one since her was much younger.

"I wish I didn't have to wear this though. It's embarrassing...I stopped wearing these when I was so much younger..." Azura knew that Optimus did not have any complaint when she needed a change, but she still hated it. "My tank really is gurgling though...even though I haven't had any water or ingested much energon." She let out a light whimper and looked at the bucket again. "I don't think I'm going to be purging again for a while...hopefully..." She flinched as he grabbed the bucket and placed a new, clean bucket by her instead. "Ugh..." She let out a yawn and rubbed her optics as she was still so very tired from lack of sleep and just being terribly sick.