Mercy's All That You Need

Jimmy was true to his word, and he stayed with Mercedes for the rest of the night. She found his presence comforting, but the night was long and hard. She let out a long, drawn out yawn on her twelfth hour of being on the sofa, but cut it short when a wave of spasms racked almost every muscle in her body.

That was a new development. While she still had a headache and her nausea felt like it was subsiding, it seemed as if a new symptom was taking over. A very painful one at that. Fighting a grimace, she stretched her legs down the couch and spread her arms out, finding little relief in the actions.

According to Matt, this was all normal. Unfortunately.

Lacey and Val sat across from her; Val slumped in the recliner while Lacey leaned on the armrest. They'd decided to give Rev a break from his shift. Worried smiles graced their features, and they only tightened upon Mercedes' erratic movements. Up until then, they were trying to somehow help her feel better.

“We're so freaking sorry for last night, Mercy,” Val began, and Lacey gave several quick nods in agreement, her eyes wide and sincere. While she appreciated their effort, Mercy thought the girls were going about it in the wrong way. The last thing she wanted to hear about right then was the events of the night before.

Her eyelids fluttered, and eventually she stared at the two girls between half-closed eyes. She'd never felt more exhausted in her life. “I mean we—I just didn't think anything like that could happen. You were doing so well—I really forgot—”

Val stopped short when Mercedes sat upright in one surprisingly quick movement, her face paling even more so. Knowing what was about to happen, Val was up from the recliner and hoisting the shorter girl up into her arms, just about as easily as Syn and Matt had numerous times before.

In no more than two seconds she was placed in front a toilet. The head rush Mercy obtained from Val moving so quickly didn't help the situation any, and it only made her sudden urge to throw up even greater. But she got there just in time, too, because there was no stopping her from hurling, toilet or no toilet. Normally she would have been embarrassed for the girls, or anyone, to see her in such a state, but when Mercy felt her hair being pushed back all she felt was comfort.

Since the night before, she'd only thrown up once and that was just in the parking lot at the mall. She'd felt queasy, yes, and actually to the point where she'd wished she could throw up. She just couldn't, until then that was. When Mercy was sure she was finished, she reached a shaky hand up to flush the toilet before all but collapsing next to it. She felt so tired she could have fallen asleep, right there on the bathroom floor.

Not so quick this time, Val and Lacey stared at Mercedes in shock. They hadn't been expecting her to just collapse as she had. Her small figured had just crumpled to the floor, and the two girls turned to stare at each other in a daze.

Behind them, the bathroom door was forcefully thrown open further than Val had taken time to herself, and it slammed against the wall behind it. “What's going on?” Matt demanded, and Mercedes made an attempt to get up at the sound of his voice. She had questions, and lots of them.

Of course he would be on the scene, Mercy was surprised he'd left her for the hour he had. His question went temporarily unanswered, but the girl crashed on the floor in front of him was enough of a clue as to what was going on. As soon as he laid eyes on his little sister he was next to her, pulling her further up into a sitting position.

“What happened?” He pressed, looking up at the girls with steely hazel eyes.

“She—I saw that she was going to throw up, so I brought her here.” Val replied, looking a whole lot more upset than before.

Matt nodded, accepting her answer. With one hand underneath her legs and the other supported her back, he lifted Mercy up as slow as possible. He carried her out of the bathroom and into a hallway—Mercedes had thought it was her bedroom's en-suite they'd been in, but apparently not—his pace slow and soothing, almost as calming as Syn's.

Not even twelve hours had passed since she was attacked, but Mercedes hadn't slept so much as a wink. She was really beginning to feel it even more so then, and she looked up at Matt through her eyelashes. “Why... what's happening to me?” If anything, she sounded drugged out of her mind.

Unresponsive, Matt just nibbled on his lip ring; something he did when he was concerned. “Do you want to go back to the sofa? Or your room?”

Mercedes looked around, somewhat frustrated that he'd ignored her question. She wasn't just out of it, she knew this was all supposedly part of the change she was going through, but she wanted more details than that. He carried her down the hallway and stood where it merged with the living room.

Brian caught her eye almost instantly as he walked past the two, and she looked his way in hope, a small smile actually forming for the first time all night. He refused to even make eye contact with the girl he'd helped patch up, and continued on his way as if he hadn't even seen them.

She dropped her smile and let out a small sigh, wondering what had changed in the last few hours to make him treat her as if she didn't exist. She'd taken all the blame for last night's mishap—wasn't that a good thing? Her brother surely would have flipped if she hadn’t.

Just another clue to add to the mystery that was Synyster Gates. “My room,” She said with the shake of her head and Matt frowned down at her, noticing her disappointment.

“Alright, but we have to change your bandages before I can let you go to sleep.” She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut for a moment at the painful thought of having the bite picked at again. A meek nod was all she could give in agreement.

Since he was walking at a normal pace, Mercedes found herself dozing in and out of sleep during the time it took to get to her room. He set her on the toilet like he had weeks ago when she'd gotten the nasty scrap down her back, unaware of exactly how drowsy she was. Mercy nearly fell forward when he let go to find the first aid kit. If it weren't for Matt's reflexes and quick thinking, she would have been face-first on the floor.

Alarmed, Matt grasped her shoulders and steadied her, a look of understanding crossing his features after another moment. “Sorry,” Mercedes said, her thoughts scattered and confused. She was apologizing for something that wasn't her fault, again. He only let her go again when he was sure she could hold herself up, and quickly grabbed the first-aid kit from under the counter where he'd left it.

He gently cupped Mercedes' face in one large hand, opposite to her wound and tilted her head to the side. Knowing what was coming; Mercy balled her fists and held her breath, only to let it out when the gauze was peeled back. She grimaced as the air came in contact with her still-fresh wound. A long mirror took up much of the opposite wall, but she was too afraid to look and see exactly how bad it was, opting to stare at her hands and try and ignore the pain while Matt replaced the bandage.

She did, however, get a look at the gauze before Matt tossed it into a wastebasket; it was blood-soaked to the point where it was almost coming through the cotton cloth. In an attempt to both distract her from the pain and keep her awake, Matt unwillingly began speaking.

“Your sleeping pattern's changing,” He answered her earlier question, and she popped her eyes upon as soon as she heard that. Whatever he was going to say next, he stopped short to let out a deep chuckle at the look on her face. It was easy to tell that he wouldn't have even brought it up had she not been fighting for consciousness. Otherwise, he hated talking about her change.

“What?”

“You're becoming nocturnal, basically,” He elaborated, and then ruefully smiled. “Like us.”

Such a fact had immediately caught the inquisitive girl's attention, and was as alert as she could have been at that moment. “So—so I'm going to be staying up all night, with you and everyone else?”

It was a nice thought. The latest Mercedes had been able to stay up was about midnight, usually, and she hadn't been able to see too much of anyone. Now, hopefully all that would change.

“Yep,” He said, but didn't sound half as excited as Mercedes was feeling. “Now, that's finished. You think you can walk?”

And save whatever dignity you have left?

She stood, albeit wobbly, but she stood. And that could only have meant that she was feeling better than before. On the way out of the bathroom, he held her forearm, just in case she decided to take another fall. “What else is going to happen?” She asked, sitting at the edge of the bed. This seemed to worry Shadows, but she ignored that as best as she could.

“Well, not much really. This stage will only last a few weeks. You'll continue to have headaches, but being sick like this doesn't last long at all. By tomorrow you'll be fine.” Matt was reassuring with this and it eased Mercedes' own worries, at least temporarily. She still had questions, questions about the rest of the change and what else she should expect. But for right then, the information Matt gave her was enough for her fatigued mind to process.

Mindful of the new bandage, Mercedes climbed under the covers, breathing in the scent of Syn's hoodie again. She didn't want to take it off, as it was so comfortable, and decided to keep it on while she slept. “Are you going to be alright here by yourself?” Matt wondered uneasily, and continued when Mercy nodded. “Well, all you have to do is yell if you need anything alright?”

She didn't want Matt worrying over her, at least not anymore than he normally did. So she gave him a firm nod and said, “I will. I promise.”

Matt left after giving her a sweet kiss on the forehead and Mercedes hunkered down within the confines of her blanket even further, and fell asleep still wearing Syn's hoodie.