I wake up feeling my stomach churn so violently that I vomit all over the blankets. The abrupt illness and sour taste of dinner, mouth wash, and stomach acid has me too distracted to be embarrassed. Kaiden swears and nearly falls when his foot gets caught as he tries getting out of bed.
Groaning and clutching my stomach with one hand and my back with the other, I feel a second wave of nausea coming on strong. Tears stream down my face as I lurch over the bed, this time into the waste bucket Kaiden puts in front of me just in time.
“Jesus, Em,” he murmurs, staring wide-eyed at me. He cradles my head, but his touch doesn’t ease me.
I empty my stomach and cry. If Kaiden wasn’t holding the bucket, I would have dropped it. My arms feel like lead at my sides.
“S-Something’s w-wro…” I whimper when I’m finally able to breathe. All I want is water to rinse my mouth, but my body is completely drained of everything.
“Shit. Okay.” He looks around. “Do you think you’re going to get sick again?”
I shake my head, letting the tears hit my thighs. The room smells horrible and I need to change before I do puke from the fumes alone.
He quickly gets rid of the bucket in the bathroom, the toilet flushing and the shower turning on soon after. My eyes slowly drift to the clock.
Two twenty-seven.
I groan again and feel the need to close my eyes, my body swaying to the side that I know is covered in something I don’t want to lay down in.
“Whoa,” he says, catching me. “I need to get you cleaned up. Can you walk to the bathroom?”
I’m barely able to nod but stand with his help and shakily walk to the bathroom with him. My right leg drags behind, leaving Kaiden taking a brunt of my weight. He supports me as he peels off my pajama pants and tries getting my shirt over my head. I attempt to help him, but my arms aren’t moving easily on their own.
“My right arm,” I cry, realizing that my entire right side is numb and unmoving.
He keeps cursing as he practically picks me up and carries me to the tub. He steps in fully dressed, instantly getting soaked. The water isn’t too cold or too hot as he grabs the loofa and starts rinsing me off. My back sinks into his front, one of his arms wrapped tight around my waist as he lets the water run through my hair.
He’s talking to himself, but I can’t make out his muttering. I should be embarrassed that I’m completely naked and smell, but I can’t muster the energy to care.
That’s when I know.
“Wrong,” I repeat. “S-somethi…”
“I know, Mouse,” he rasps, reaching over to the faucet and turning it off. We’re both dripping wet as he carefully grabs a towel and starts drying me. I’m not sure how he manages it since I’m no longer standing on my own.
He ignores drying himself off as he carries me out of the tub and sets me down on the closed toilet lid. Once he sees I’m not going to tip over, he quickly peels off his drenched shirt and pajamas pants until he’s just in his boxer briefs.
“Hold on,” he says, rushing out of my bedroom. I hear him rustling the blankets and sheets, probably peeling them off the bed.
Closing my eyes, I rest my head against the wall, slumping down. The bathroom is cold and the towel he wrapped around me does little to warm me up.
Kaiden starts shouting for Dad and Cam. I flinch over the desperation in his tone but do nothing about it but sit there.
Helpless.
Did Lo ever feel this way?
So defeated? So…
Warm hands are on my arms, then soft material slides over my head, shoulders, and torso. He’s careful to slide my arms through the holes, then kneels and slides sweatpants over my feet one at a time.
“Not…used…to…this…” My tongue is heavy in my mouth.
Having you dress me, I want to elaborate.
I can’t though.
Once I’m dressed, I hear Dad’s booming voice from my bedroom. Cam gasps loudly, probably seeing the state of disaster that my room is in. Kaiden tells them we’re in the bathroom, and suddenly everything gets chaotic.
“What happened?” Dad demands, replacing Kaiden’s position in front of me. He puts his hands on my face and forehead, looking frantic. “She’s burning up. Emery? Baby…”
“I tried rinsing off the puke,” Kaiden tells him, his fingers dragging through his wet hair. His voice is hoarse as he stares, Cam next to him with her hand on his shoulder.
“She needs to go to the hospital,” Dad says, carefully putting one arm behind my back and the other underneath my knees. He huffs when he picks me up, holding me to his chest and walks us through my bedroom.
Cam and Kaiden are close behind as he walks downstairs. Kaiden has the car keys to Cam’s vehicle in one hand and my jacket in the other. When we get outside, the night air brushes against me and feels oddly welcoming to my overheated body.
“D-Dad,” I croak, not knowing what to say.
“We’re going to get you help,” he promises, opening the back door.
Kaiden offers to sit in the back with me, but Dad practically barks at him to drive. I only then realize that Kaiden is in gray sweatpants and a black hoodie with no shoes or socks on.
He and Cam take the front, while Dad holds me in the backseat. It’s probably a funny image, a man his size squeezed back here. He brushes his hand across my cheek as he stares at me intently, his eyes glassy until…they’re emerald.
“Da—” I try again, but the word slurs.
“Shh. Try resting.”
My lids grow heavy. “Tire…”
“Rest,” is the last thing I hear.
Chapter Forty
My ears throb with the noise of high-pitched beeping coming from somewhere close by. It echoes in my skull, causing me to wince and whimper until something tightens around my arm.
Where…？
“Henry!” a different high-pitched voice calls out. It’s a mixture of desperation and relief and…fear?
My eyes crack open to darkness. The large rectangular light above me is off, which I’m grateful for based on the pulsing pain in my temples. A sharpness in the back of my eyes has them watering as I try moving.
“Sit still,” Cam insists. She doesn’t have to push me down because my body never lifted. There’s no willpower, no energy, to even fight off the unfamiliarity of my surroundings.
The words are there, circling my mind. I can taste them on my lips, but nothing comes out. I try opening my mouth…and nothing. Instead, I focus on Cam, on the room, on anything that could tell me where I am and what’s happening.
Her light hair and kind eyes greet me with the slightest comfort, though not enough to feel like I’ve made it out of the woods. I may not know what’s happening, but after a long moment I’m familiar with the feel of a firm mattress and scratchy sheets. The thin white one covering me is no better. The material is rough not soft and hurts the skin that isn’t covered by the hideous paper-thin blue gown.
Glancing down at myself, I see wires upon wires hooked to me everywhere. There are two different needles in my arms, a monitor attached to my finger, and black cuffs on one of my arms and legs. Something is coursing through my veins, a potent drug that eases a majority of the pain I’m almost certain I should be feeling. It leaves me warm and tingly, eased but not eased enough so I’m unaware.