Chapter 7
During the next several weeks while waiting for the Tallest to arrive, Zim spent his time monitoring the various hospitals he's attacked, and occasionally going out to others to spread a new and improved strand of his disease, which would resist attempts by Earth scientists to locate it. He kept watching the news so he could stay one step ahead of the humans. He intentionally chose his victims erratically, so a pattern couldn't be found.
And when he got the time, he would woo his precious mate and they seemed to fall deeper in love with each other with each passing day. They shared many more nights together, and looked forward to that time alone with each other.
Gaz, meanwhile, worked to sabotage her father's attempts to find a cure. She got into his lab under the pretense of helping, but when no one was looking, would conveniently misplace important notes, drop neutralizers into vials, and other such things. None of it would be traced back to her, and she was the least likely suspect anyway.
Dib, of course, knew Zim was doing it by now. But there was nothing he could do to stop him. The disease was already out there. But this didn't keep him from trying to shame Gaz at every turn.
"I can't believe you would support him in doing this," he said to her one day, shaking his head sadly. "All these deaths, and you still don't feel any remorse?"
"I'm not the one killing them, I just gave him the idea. If it wasn't this, it would be something else, something more horrible." Gaz picked up a notebook; they were currently in the laboratory, taking a short break. "As you know, the victims often succumb to regular illnesses way before Zim's disease actually begins to harm them. But what happens as they do? Their bodies go numb. They can't feel it happening. They die as if they were going to sleep. Also my idea."
"It's still horrible. There have been thousands of deaths just this week. Can you imagine the pain that their families are going through? Can't you feel the pain that our entire species is feeling during this tragedy?" He shook her shoulders. "I know you have sympathy in there somewhere!"
She smacked his hands away. "I do have sympathy. But this is what one has to deal with when dating an evil space alien. And I don't have plans to leave him any time soon." She stood, checking the time. "And it's about time you get used to him. You're going to have to in a few days."
"What does that mean?" He got up too, staring at her as she walked over to a table and began examining something through a microscope. "Gaz, what are you talking about? What's going to happen in a few days?"
"You'll find out," she said with a smirk.
Today was the day. It was a cool winter morning, but sunlight was shining through the clouds. It was a nice day, considering the season. It was also the day that the Armada was arriving, and Gaz could finally get off this dying planet with her mate.
So of course, she woke up feeling awful. Her stomach was queasy, and when she got out of bed, nausea hit her. She gagged, covering her mouth as she ran into the bathroom. She had barely managed to fall to her knees in front of the toilet before upheaving whatever was left of last night's dinner.
She coughed, hoping that was it, but then her stomach heaved again, but without anything left to throw up, all it did was hurt so bad it brought tears to her eyes. With one hand, she held her hair back, but the other was wrapped tightly around her middle, using pressure to relieve the pain.
After some more shudders, she managed to spit something that burned all the way up, and the vile taste made her realize that it was stomach acid. What was making her this sick?
She waited for a few seconds, but nothing else came up. She spit a few more times, and stood, flushing the toilet. Then she turned to the sink, looking in the mirror and seeing that there were tears streaking her cheeks. She quickly wiped them off, and then filled a cup with water to rinse her mouth out. But she didn't dare swallow it, for fear that it would just come back up.
"Gaz, are you all right?" Dib asked worriedly. He was standing outside the door, which was slightly ajar, but hadn't pushed it all the way open.
"Just threw up the entire contents of my stomach, but yeah, I'm fine," she replied sarcastically.
"Have you taken any medicine?"
"No, I just woke up feeling like crap, I didn't get time to take medicine before throwing up." She opened the bathroom cabinets, looking for anything that could help.
"Well, hopefully it's just a little bug... and not something else."
"If you're thinking about Zim's disease, no, it's not that. He would never let me near an open container of it. I just got a virus or something, no big deal." She examined the Pepto-Bismol before shaking her head. Not worth it, it'll probably just make her throw up again. But there was some cherry-flavored stuff for upset stomachs that she and Dib used to take when they were younger.
...Did medicine go bad? Well, guess she'll find out. She uncapped it and poured out enough for a mouthful, swallowing quickly. She waited to see if it would be rejected, but it seemed to be staying down. She replaced the cap and put the medicine away.
"Okay, well... maybe you should stay home from school today," Dib said.
She had been planning on doing that anyway. "Yeah... maybe." But when Zim came to pick her up, they also needed to take Dib and Membrane with them. Would they be able to get him from school? Maybe... it'd be extremely conspicuous if they just kidnapped him though.
...She'll figure it out later. For now, she just wanted to rest before Zim arrived.
"If you feel up to it, we can have breakfast."
"No thanks."
"I know you don't feel like eating, but you need to. Especially after that. And you should drink something to stay hydrated."
"Just go away," she replied sourly. Being sick always put her in a worse mood than usual.
"Okay. I hope you feel better soon." He left, and she could hear him return to his room.
Gaz closed the door fully, and then looked back at her reflection. Just what kind of sickness was this? It came on so suddenly. Could it really be a virus? She closed her eyes, focusing inward. Maybe if she paid attention to her body, she could figure out what was wrong. There was the upset stomach. Well, that could be anything. Her throat hurt from the vomiting, and... her abdomen was sore. Most of it was, in fact. Not just her stomach. There was an odd pressure on it, unlike anything she's felt before. Almost like a period cramp, but... not quite.
...Wait. She opened her eyes, frowning. When was the last time she had her period? It had to be more than a month ago... almost two. It was a while before the first time she and Zim...
Oh. Could she be-
No. No, he told her that it couldn't happen. That they were far too different. He had seemed so sure of himself when he said it. Her cycle had probably just gotten a little irregular. It happened sometimes. Nothing to worry about.
Except she did worry. She worried because of the possibility. Maybe she should check. That way she'll know one way or the other for certain, instead of panicking over what-ifs.
Returning to the medicine cabinets, she hunted for a particular item. Though she doubted they had one. No one in the house ever figured they'd need one. And sure enough, couldn't find it.
She'll have to go to a store.
Gaz returned to her room, quickly dressing and grabbing her purse. As much as she wanted to just stay inside today, she had to know. She ran over to Dib's door. "Dib, I'm going to the drugstore to get medicine, I probably won't be back before you go to school. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
Of course, he opened the door. "I don't think you should go anywhere if you're sick. What if you get nauseous while driving?"
"Then I'll pull over to the side of the road and put my head between my knees until the feeling passes," she recited, recalling a health textbook she had read a long time ago. "Or just get out in the grass, puke, and then keep driving. That works too."
"There isn't anything here you can take?"
"It's all baby medicine. Come on, I need something for adults. I feel better now, I'm sure I can get there and back without trouble."
"Well... I guess I can't stop you... but I'm staying home with you."
"Why?"
He shrugged, smiling a little. "I kinda wanted a reason to stay home from school. I won't miss anything important."
"Okay, fine. You can stay, but you better have breakfast ready for me by the time I get back," she said, turning to go.
"Whatever you say, little sis."
The drive to the little drugstore in town didn't take long. Gaz parked, flipped off someone that had almost ran into her trying to park in the same space, and headed into the store.
It was almost as cold in here as it was outside, and she decided to make this as quick as possible. She browsed the shelves before finding what she wanted. Pregnancy tests. She just needed one. It didn't have to be anything fancy... as long as it could tell her yes or no. She took one down, reading the box. This could detect even the earliest signs of pregnancy, so it could tell her. One stripe would mean no... two meant yes. Simple enough.
She took it up to the counter and set it down, waiting for the cashier to finish talking to someone on the phone. Finally, he finished and hung it up, then turned to her. "Will this be all?"
"Yeah, this is all I need," she replied, digging out her debit card.
He scanned it, then examined the box. "What are you hoping for?"
"I'm hoping it gives me a nice, single line so I can stop worrying."
The cashier put it in a bag and handed it to her. "Maybe you wouldn't have to worry if you had used protection." He gestured toward the shelf stacked with condoms.
She resisted the urge to throttle him, but made sure she took the bag as roughly as possible. "Well forgive me for thinking I'd be fine if I had unprotected sex with something that isn't even from this planet and therefore shouldn't be able to impregnate me." Without bothering to wait for a response, she turned and left the store.
She couldn't wait to get away from judgmental idiots like that one...
Once back home, Gaz hurried through the living room and upstairs, stashing her purchase under the sink. Then she went back down, entering the kitchen to find that Dib was holding true to his promise of making her breakfast.
He was attempting to scramble eggs, which he had never been good at. But she loved eggs, so he was doing it for her.
"Don't hurt yourself," she said, coming over to the stove to watch.
"Oh, you're home. What'd you buy?"
"Um... just some pills that relieve stomach pain and stuff," she lied. "I took some, hopefully it helps."
"That's good." Dib beat at the eggs some more with a fork. "You better appreciate this, eggs and I just don't get along."
"Why are you scrambling eggs with a fork?"
"Because... shut up." He noticed that the eggs were starting to turn brown and crispy, and decided that was enough. "Okay I'm done here." He turned off the burner. "I'm sure they're still edible. And here's some bacon." He gestured to a plate sitting nearby, which already had warm, crispy bacon resting on it.
"Mmm." She helped herself to some food, and he walked over to the toaster. "Want some toast?"
"Sure."
"What kind of jelly?"
"Strawberry."
He started making some for her, and she went over to the table to eat. Okay, it was nice getting to stay home from school and eat a proper breakfast besides cereal like she normally does. The eggs were crunchy, but with some salt, they tasted fine. And slightly meaty... apparently Dib cooked them in the leftover bacon grease. Not that she was complaining.
After a few minutes, he came over with his own plate, and passed her a slice of toast.
They ate quietly, and Gaz's thoughts kept wandering upstairs, to that pregnancy test hidden under the sink. As soon as she was done eating, she needed to go take it. She wasn't sure what she would do if the answer was yes. The idea was almost unthinkable to her. She's never wanted to have kids. Not even one. So she hoped it would be no.
At least her food was staying down. Her stomach churned a little, but she pressed against it and it stopped.
"Maybe you had food poisoning before," Dib suggested. "That usually doesn't last long. Did you eat anything weird last night?"
"Just that pizza we ordered. And you ate it too."
"Oh, yeah... And I feel fine. Um... did you get any snacks? Maybe you ate something that had expired."
She rolled her eyes. "Nothing in that snack cabinet expires soon. Not with all those preservatives."
"It had to have been something. Spoiled milk? No, you would have noticed that..." Dib shrugged. "Maybe you just picked up something from a classmate. Lots of people get sick during this time of year."
"Yeah, maybe." Maybe that was all it was. Having a bug was much better than the alternative. Because the alternative would be completely life-changing. All she could do was hope it was not what she thought it was.
