You Make Me Sick

"Pierce! Pierce!" Abbigale emerged from the water sputtering and wiping her eyes so she could see. She tripped while trying to rush back to shore, calling for her companion all the while.

The moment her feet were planted firmly in the sand, the earth began to quake. The water seemed undisturbed, but the ground was making her unsteady until she finally fell over.

A scream pierced her ears that seemed disembodied.

"Abbigale!" Her name sounded in the back of her min. Unsure of where it came from, she called out, again.

"Pierce?"

Her eyes seemed to push back into her brain, forcing her to cover them and rub them, in attempt to make the feeling go away. "Abbigale, you have to open your eyes!" Hands took hold of her wrists and gently tried to move them away from her face, but she resisted.

"Stop! Leave me alone!" Her skull burned, pulsating in pain.

"Abbigale, listen, it's me. Michael. Just relax." He placed a cool wash cloth over her forehead.

After a few minutes she finally put her hands down and was able to sit up a little. Michael brought her iced water and cold wraps to lower her temperature.

"What happened?" She whispered. "I feel like I've been hit with a bus."

He crouched by the side of the sofa, putting his hand on her forehead to take her temperature, then pressing two fingers to her neck to take her pulse. "I don't really know what happened. You fell asleep and a couple hours later I noticed that you were beginning to sweat, the next thing I knew you were screaming.

"I am so sick of this."

Michael looked at her questioningly, as if he could not imagine what she had to be "sick" of. "What do you mean?"

"Well, no pun intended," she chuckled lightly and a sharp pain caused her to gasp, "but I'm sick. I cough up blood, and throw up blood, and I become dehydrated easily, and I have dizzy spells all the time. I seem to have developed narcolepsy, if that's even possible, and I can hardly walk to the bathroom without becoming exhausted, and still, with all that, I have to deal with having a damn period. My mother never visits, she only throws money at me and my father is in jail, and you doctors have no idea what in the deep pit of hell is wrong with me. Frankly, I'd rather be a vegetable or dead."

They sat in an awkward silence for a long while, not quite looking at each other, not quite avoiding each other's eye. "Can I ask you something?" He broke in.

"I don't see why not."

"Who is Pierce?"

Abbigal sucked a long breath in through her nose and exhaled. Just hearing his name made her heart flutter. "He is.. He's my-- friend. I don't know about him. Why?" She feared to ask.

He shrugged. "You were calling out for him in your sleep. Seems like a li-ttle-bit more than a friend to me, but I wasn't sure because you didn't have any visitors while you were in the hospital."

that's what you think Abbigale toyed. but her was there.

Emily did eventually come to relieve Michael of his duties. The two girls watched romantic comidies and talked about boys, and Abbigal even dared to tell her about the man in her dreams (although, failing to mention that he was only in her dreams).

"When do I get to meet this guy?" She asked excitedly.

"I'm not sure... I'm not even sure when I get to see him next."