I had a really hard time with this chapter for some reason, so hopefully it's ok and you'll all enjoy it!
She somehow managed to drag him into the apartment where he quickly disappeared into the bathroom. Not wanting to just listen to him heave she tried to make herself useful by tidying up his apartment. She opened the blinds and windows, and threw out the one can of expired soup. She went to his room and picked up the clothes and everything that had been thrown around. She found clean sheets and remade the bed. Finally looking around and seeing nothing else to occupy herself with she knocked on the bathroom door.
"Priestly, you doing ok?"
"Not really" he croaked back. He felt like he had been sick for days not hours. After throwing up all the alcohol and his lunch he had begun throwing up stomach bile. He leaned forward and placed his forehead on the edge of the cool porcelain bowl. He was shaking, and could feel the beads of sweat collecting on the back of his neck.
"Can I come in?"
"No" came the immediate response. No one should see him like this, especially Tish. He forced himself off the floor and splashed some water in his face, trying to wash away the sweat that had developed on his brow. When he felt like he was at least half way presentable he opened the door and walked past Tish without a word and collapsed onto the couch, throwing his arm across his eyes.
She sat on the edge of the cushions and placed her hand on his leg. "Do you want water? You're probably dehydrated."
"No point, it's just going to come back up anyway," he rasped. "Tish you don't have to be here, I can do this alone. I'm sure you'd rather be somewhere else." The words felt sour on his tongue, but needed to be said.
"There's no where else I'd rather be. Whether you realize it or not you need help Priestly, let me help you."
He bit the inside of his cheek nervously and spoke in an apprehensive voice, "Tish, things might get bad tonight or tomorrow. I just want you to be prepared."
"Worse than right now?"
Priestly removed his arm from his face and forced himself to sit up a little, holding his breath when a wave of nausea hit him. When the feeling finally passed he explained further, "Ya, a lot worse. Just whatever happens, remember you can't call anybody ok?"
Tish nodded, "Priestly what exactly are we talking here?"
"Lots and lots of throwing up, the shakes, sweating. The worst thing though, I might hallucinate. If that happens just please, leave me alone. I don't want to hurt you."
Tish nodded thoughtfully trying not to look horrified at what he just told her. "You'd never hurt me Priestly, remember?"
Priestly answered in a low hesitant voice, "Tish, I might not even know it's you."
Deciding they needed a change in topic she asked, "You want to watch tv or anything?"
Priestly just stared at her with an expression she couldn't quite decipher before he lunged off the couch and disappeared into the bathroom. Tish could only watch helplessly as he disappeared behind the closed door. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water before finding herself knocking, again, on the bathroom door.
"Priestly, you need to drink something, even if you're going to throw it up." When she received no response she knocked again. "Priestly?" Still receiving no answer she entered the bathroom and found him sprawled on the floor, one arm over the edge of the tub keeping him upright. His eyes were closed and his breath was coming in short pants. He was shivering slightly, and there was something on his lips. Blood? She set down the glass and quickly dropped down next to him grabbing his jaw.
"Where did this blood come from? Talk to me."
His eyes slowly blinked open, "It's fine, everything's fine."
"It doesn't look fine, it looks like you're vomiting blood which is definitely not fine."
"It's fine," he repeated "it's just busted blood vessels in my throat. Everything's fine Tish, remember what we talked about?"
You can't call anybody. "Ya I remember" she resigned.
Knowing he was scaring her Priestly forced himself off the floor and over to the sink. He spit the excess blood from his mouth into the sink, the bright red blood contrasting harshly with the white porcelain before it was washed down the drain. Staring into the broken mirror, gotta fix that, he could see his sallow appearance.
Still bracing himself on the sinks edge he asked Tish, "What time is it?"
She glanced at her wristwatch, "A little after eight."
"If it's ok, I think I'm going to go ahead and get ready for bed."
She softly patted his back, "That's fine, I'm going to go get some food and swing by my house. I'll be back soon."
When Tish returned she listened intently for movement but heard nothing. She set her bag by the couch and put away the groceries before quietly padding into Priestly's room. He was sprawled out face down on top of his comforter snoring softly. He had showered; his natural brown hair sticking up at odd angles, and changed into a pair of sweat pants and a plain white t-shirt. Tish smiled and let herself out of the room before getting herself ready for bed and lying down on the couch. She waited for sleep to come but found her mind would not stop thinking. She couldn't believe how much everything had changed in the last week, from the attack to Priestly's confession to dumping Tadd. She finally felt the tug of unconsciousness and gave into it willingly.
With a gasp she woke from her deep sleep. Taking a minute to realize where she was she finally recognized her surroundings. She looked at her watch, which read 2:45 and sighed. Why am I awake? Her question was answered a minute later when she heard a cry from the bedroom. Throwing off the blanket she ran to his room, ignoring his earlier request to sat away. He was curled up in the fetal position whimpering, trying to protect himself from an invisible intruder.
"No, no…please…"
Tish walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. It seemed to work as his body slowly uncurled and his face went slack. She stayed a few more minutes, making sure the nightmare had passed before retreating back to the couch.
She was awoken the second time to a banging sound. Trying to wake up she again looked at her watch, 6:53. The early morning sun was peeking through the blinds giving the room a warm, muted glow. Rubbing her eyes she walked to Priestly's room to see what was happening now. Entering the room she realized he was not anymore in the bed but sitting huddled in the corner, banging his head repeatedly against the wall. Shocked she ran over.
"Priestly, stop that!"
Instead of acknowledging her presence he sucked in a wheezing breath and seemed to try to burrow into the wall. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't hurt me, I'm sorry." He sounded so frightened and weak. Tish not knowing what to do simply backed away slowly and left the room. After closing his door she leaned back against it, trying to make sense of what was happening. Coming to the conclusion it was a hallucination she took in a deep shaky breath and walked to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. After downing her second cup of coffee she decided to check on Priestly again, hoping he would be coherent. Reaching his door she heard the low sounds of a tv and entered to find him propped against the headboard.
"Hey Tish" came an exhausted voice from the bed.
Walking over to get a better look at him she could see he was shaking violently and sweating profusely. She walked to the window and opened it to hoping the light breeze would help before disappearing to the kitchen and returning with a glass of water. She climbed onto the bed next to her ailing friend and tried to pass him the glass of water.
"You need to drink this."
"I know," he responded not taking his eyes off the television "but I don't even think I can hold it." He hated feeling like this, pathetic, weak, a burden. He couldn't understand why Tish was even here even though he was grateful.
"You can do it, and if you spill it it's just water."
Priestly grabbed the glass, fully concentrating on trying to still his trembling hand before forcing himself to drink the clear liquid. Seeing he was finished Tish took the glass back and watched him carefully, hoping he could keep the water down. Her hopes were shattered a few minutes later when Priestly jumped from the bed and ran out of the room. She waited patiently for him to return wondering if he was going to be in there for very long. About 30 minutes later he entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall with a far off expression. Tish crawled over to him and sat next to him, legs dangling off the high bed.
"I was going to ask you if you want breakfast but I can see now that's probably a no."
Priestly let out a humorless laugh, "Definitely a no, why don't you go eat though? I'm sure you're hungry."
Tish regarded him carefully, "Ok, but call if you need anything."
Priestly offered a small smile, "I will."
After finishing her eggs she put the plate into the sink and walked back to the living room trying to figure out what to do now. As soon as she sat on the couch a terrified scream sounded from the bedroom. Leaping off the furniture she sprinted into the room only to find Priestly trying to wrestle himself out of his shirt.
Alarmed she shouted to get his attention. "Priestly! What's wrong? What's happening?"
Finally freeing himself from the offending object he threw it across the room and began frantically swiping at his arms. "You don't see them? God they're everywhere!"
Seeing nothing on him Tish ran over to him and grabbed his face, forcing his attention to her. "There's nothing there. You need to calm down."
The hysterical man tried to jerk his head out of her grasp, "How can you say that! They're everywhere, they're biting me!"
"What is, what's biting you?"
"The spiders they're everywhere!" He shouted, eyes jerking back and forth still seeing the invisible insects.
"Focus Priestly, there's nothing there. Look at me, there's nothing there." She was so frightened, she had no idea it was going to be this bad. All she could do was try to get him focused, try to get him to come back to reality. As her arms began to shake from fighting Priestly he finally relaxed into her grasp. Their eyes locked before Priestly removed himself from her hands and dropped his gaze to the floor, ashamed.
"Sorry"
"Don't apologize, you good now?" she panted, worn out.
"I think so," he whispered before climbing back into his bed exhausted and ashamed. Tish took the hint and excused herself from his room.
The next two days passed without incident.
