Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All rights are where they should be. I just wrote something for enjoyment. Enjoy!
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"How long is the drive back?"
"About two hours and thirty minutes."
I lean my head against the cold glass of the window and shut my eyes.
"What are you doing?" he questions.
"I'm using the vibrations of the Bentley to lull me to sleep. Yourself?"
The car stops.
"Why isn't it lulling anymore?" I question. I don't open my eyes. I don't think I really can, unless I really tried.
"You've just put a hand to your stomach. Get out and puke."
"I'm not going to puke. I think I can make it home. I'm going to force myself to sleep anyways." My head is pounding, and my body is shivery. I think I have a fever, but I want to keep all these to myself.
I hear a shift in movement and his seat reclines back. If I'm imaging correctly he is putting his hands behind his head and settling in.
"Really!" I exclaim.
"I want to hear the sound of retching, the whining to follow, and the window down with your head on the sill the whole way home begging to get chopped off."
"Funny. I'm only just starting to get sick. Besides, my stomach is too empty to even have anything to come out. I'm really hungry. If you want to buy me something to eat you can. That'll get you brownie points."
"I'm getting points for letting you lean there like that. Where is your hair tie?"
"My wrist."
"Take it off."
Curse him. I feel it bubble up. The pain in my stomach, more like side, throbs. Ugh, I hate throwing up. I open the door and mainly water comes up, but not even much of that. It is mostly dry heaves. When I can't do that anymore I shut the door and lean against the back of the seat. I hear the window go down.
With the strength I have left I use it to take off my jacket and use it as a blanket.
"Still comfortable?" I question, but my answer comes when he starts the car and we are on our way. I don't want to reopen my eyes again. The pounding in my head needs to stop. I must be severely dehydrated. I just need my bed, a glass of water and something to put in my stomach.
111111
The lull drifts me to sleep for some amount of time, but I'm awakened to the sound of the radio, and to him singing along as if he's part of the band.
My stomach feels funny. Heavy. I don't know how to describe it. I just need to put something in it. I have to open my eyes. I do it slowly, and push the button on the glove box.
"I can't believe you are still thinking about food."
"I need to put something in my stomach."
"So I can have the chance of seeing it twice?"
"Just once. You won't see it go down my throat."
"Just as I won't see it come back up. Just go to sleep. I'll sing you asleep with my amazing talent."
"Ugh, I think it's coming back up," I snark. I wish the smile I'm feeling on the inside could make it to my face, but it doesn't. I huddle in my coat even more. The cold air feels amazing on my face. If only the pounding behind my eyes could stop.
I feel my neck and my cheeks. I am really burning up. What is wrong with me? I had the best time kicking ass and taking names. We did a really good job this time, so why is this happening to me?
The song on the radio is a good one, so I don't mind too much. His voice gives me a distraction. I can fall back asleep, and I do.
1111
The next thing I know, I am being unbuckled and hauled up into his arms. I am wrapped in a blanket. I don't know where we are, or what's going on. The pain in my side has gotten worst. Sharp pain races through me. I think I go in and out of consciousness.
"I gotta walk Xena. She hasn't been fed yet…." I'm going on and on. I don't know half the things I am saying, or what the sounds around me are.
"Valkyrie. Your appendix has burst," a different voice says, "we have to operate now."
"No. No. No. I have to go home. My dog, she needs to be fed. I have to take her out. Where's Skullduggery?" I'm trying to fight, but I am not getting anywhere, and that makes me nervous. I try and try, but I am losing strength fast. "Skullduggery!" I call.
"He's in the hallway. He cannot be in-"
I think I make contact with someone, and the matter gets crazier because there is so much jumble. But, even so, I hear his voice. I hear his reassurance that he is here, and that he isn't going anywhere.
He better not.
111111
My head isn't pounding, but I am heavily sedated. I know this because my body is so heavy. I try to sit up but I realize that I am handcuffed to the bed. I use my other hand to rub my eyes open. Skullduggery sits next to the bed. The book in his hands is set aside and his attention is on me.
"Can you handle this?" I jangle the cuff.
He does.
"Thanks. So why am I handcuffed, and what happened?"
He bursts out laughing. I wait for him to stop. He does. Eventually.
"You didn't take well to the anesthesia. You took out two nurses and a doctor. Even in your weakened state you were pretty strong. But, for what happened, you didn't want to wake up. You started shaking, and you were holding your stomach tightly. I brought you here instead of taking you home. I used your phone and let your mother know that you were working late, and that you needed someone to walk Xena."
"She really doesn't take to my mother. She does like you though."
"But I told you, I wasn't going anywhere."
"Thank you." I try to get comfortable. I really want to lay on my side, but I know that isn't going to happen.
"What are you going to do now?" I question, "I bet you have a load to get done. I bet you have a lot of paperwork to complete."
"I am going to watch you sleep, and make sure you don't take anyone else out. After that is complete, WE have a lot to, and WE have paperwork to finish."
"This recovery might take a while."
"The paperwork isn't going anywhere."
111111
Thank you for reading.
