A/N: Phish Tacko beta'd this. Go check out her page, she's an awesome author!
Chapter 38
At the shelter, Tarrant was also having a bit of a mental breakdown. He hadn't seen or heard from Carlie, Alice, or Mirana in days, and was starting to get edgy. Besides that, he'd been having flashbacks, to that night with Stayne. They would happen at the most random times. Most recently, Sam and Mort had been playing cards when it struck. Tarrant had just stood there, staring into space, mentally going back to that time... with Stayne touching him.. entering him...
He'd been staring at the wall for a good five minutes before Mort finally realized something was wrong, and snapped him out of it.
Carlie had once advised him to talk about the situation, to get it off of his chest, and Tarrant was beginning to wonder if perhaps she was right. Maybe he should discuss it with someone. Maybe it would make the flashbacks stop.
He was debating going to talk to Schnabel when there was a knock on his bedroom door.
"Yes?"
The door opened to reveal Carlie, standing there smiling.
"Hello, little brother!" She said, walking into the room.
Tarrant stood up and immediately gave her a hug. Carlie could sense that something was wrong, and held him against her, running her hands through his hair.
"How are you?" She finally asked, pulling away.
Tarrant forced a smile. "I'm fine. And you? I've missed you."
"I've missed you too. Come, let's sit down. I've brought you some things."
Tarrant walked back over to his bed, making room for Carlie to sit near him. She pulled the colorful bag she'd had around her shoulder off, and opened it.
"First, I brought you some Daffodil tea. I can't imagine you enjoy the swill they drink up here too much," She said, handing him a small package of tea bags.
Tarrant's eyes lit up. "Thank you! Yes, these Overlanders have terrible taste in tea. It's atrocious, really."
"I also brought you some fabric, thread, a few things to keep you busy while you're here," She said, pulling several bags of materials."
"Yay!" Hatter said, clapping his hands together. "What else is there?"
"Calm down, calm down. Mirana sent you some things, too."
"Oh? What'd she send?" Tarrant asked, eyes turning a bright yellow color as he became more excited.
"Well, she sent a few copies of Hatter's Weekly magazine."
"Sweet!"
"She also sent you a few books from that series you like... 'The Not-So-Excellent-Adventures of Anne Morris'."
"Awesome! Mirana's the best!"
"And she sent you some vitamins. Those are from Dr. Montgomery. He says you are to take them daily."
"Oh. That's, uh, nice," Tarrant said, scratching the back of his head.
Carlie smiled again at her brother. "So how are you holding up, overall? Do you like it here?"
Tarrant's eyes suddenly turned back to dark brown, and he frowned. "I miss Underland."
"Aww, love, we all miss you too. You'll be back soon enough, though."
Tarrant said nothing, just continued to look sad, so Carlie wrapped her arms around him again. "Don't be sad. It'll all be alright."
Tarrant sighed and leaned on his sister, letting her rub his back.
"It's late, shouldn't you be going soon?" He asked, after what felt like hours just lying in her arms.
"I can stay for a while," Carlie said. "But you look tired. You should try to rest."
She put the bag of gifts that she'd brought on the floor near the bed, and pulled up a warm-looking blanket from the edge of the bed and pulled it around him. Even though he was still in his clothes, he snuggled under the blankets, resting his head on his sister's lap. She held him until he fell asleep.
00
Carlie was walking out the front door, having left Tarrant in his bed, when she almost ran into a dark-haired man who was holding a baby.
"Sorry," The man mumbled, walking around her, before stopping and looking Carlie up and down. She was quite a few inches taller than him, but was very pretty overall.
"It's fine," Carlie said, smiling at the man.
"Do you know if Dr. Schnabel is still up?" He asked.
"I think he's awake. Did you forget your clothes inside?" Carlie asked jokingly, noticing that the dark haired man was only wearing a set of blue pajamas and slippers.
"No... Alright, thanks," The man said, opening the door. "Having a good evening."
Carlie nodded and continued on her way while the man walked inside. Mort was sitting on the couch with Edward and Anakin, watching television.
"Ichabod?!" Edward asked, surprised to see the constable there.
"Hey," Ichabod replied.
"What are you doing here? Nice PJs, by the way," Mort said.
"I needed to get away. Katrina... she's on her monthlies, and... I'm starting to get it too, and it's just better if we're apart for tonight."
"Say no more," Mort said, moving over to make room for Ichabod on the couch. "I feel your pain."
"There's more chocolate ice cream in the freezer," Edward added. "If you want some."
Mort paled at the mention of chocolate ice cream, and Ichabod gave him a strange look, but said nothing.
The group watched the television for a while before Ichabod spoke up again. "What exactly are we watching?"
"Teletubbies," Mort answered, staring at the screen as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.
"They're kinda creepy..."
"Their dancing is almost hypnotic."
Edward smirked. "I think you need to get some sleep, Mort."
"Sleep. Yes. Sleep. But first, Teletubbies."
Ichabod sat there for another few minutes, before deciding that the Teletubbies were, in fact, scary and too much for him to take right then, in his highly emotional state. "Anyone know where Dr. Schnabel is?"
"He was in his office on the phone with Becky before," Mort said, shifting Anakin around so that the baby was sitting on his other leg. "I heard there's a lot of problems with Tommy, that he's always screaming."
"Don't talk about others while they're not here," Edward said to Mort, glaring at him.
"I'm going to go find him, and see if he'll let me and Jackson spend the night," Ichabod said, ignoring them both.
"Good luck," Edward said as Ichabod left the room.
00
Ichabod walked into Dr. Schnabel's office just as he was finishing his conversation with Becky.
"Uh huh. No, I understand, I can imagine that it's frustrating... Yes, you can bring Tommy in, I'll look him over, but if he's being good for you than it's probably not a physical-"
Ichabod could hear Becky talking on the other end, but couldn't make out what she was saying. When she finished, Dr. Schnabel sighed. "Yeah, I'll see what I can do. Tomorrow morning at ten is fine. You have a good night too," He hung up the phone. The doctor jumped a little when he saw Ichabod and Jackson standing in front of his desk.
"Oh, hi, Ichabod! What brings you here at... Nine o'clock at night?"
"I need an evening away from Katrina. We're both... our cycles are kind of... coinciding, and it's just not working. We're both too emotional and I really need to be somewhere else. May we stay here tonight? Just for tonight, we'll leave tomorrow."
Dr. Schnabel stared at Ichabod, listening to everything he had to say.
"You can stay. Your old room is still free, actually. I'll have Ashley move a bassinet in so Jackson can sleep near you."
"Thank you! It's just... it's so hard," Tears began to fill Ichabod's eyes. "It wasn't this bad before I got pregnant!"
"Pregnancy often messes with your hormones. It may just be harder each month from hereon out." Seeing Ichabod begin to cry, Schnabel pulled a tissue out of the box on his desk and handed it to him. "Here."
Ichabod took it, wiping his face with his free hand. "Thank you," He sniffed.
Dr. Schnabel nodded. "Is there anything else you need?"
"Do you have anything I can take for a headache? I've felt one building since this afternoon..."
"I have some Tylenol. Go to your room, and I'll bring it to you."
"Thanks," Ichabod said, turning to leave.
He found his old room quickly, and took a seat on the bed. It was made up, but with different sheets and a different comforter than he'd had while staying there. He cradled Jackson in his arms, hoping that Ashley would come with the bassinet soon. He was starting to feel really horrible, very sick, like he was going to throw up any second. Ichabod groaned, resting a hand on his stomach, rubbing it to try to make the sick feeling go away.
Ashley appeared a minute later, with the bassinet and a bottle of Tylenol.
"Here you go," She said, taking Jackson from Ichabod's arms and tucking him in.
Ichabod opened his mouth to thank her, but before he could get any words out, he felt bile rise in his throat. Immediately, he fell to the floor, grabbing onto the wastebasket and throwing up everything he'd eaten that day.
"Well, that's not good," Ashley said, bending down to rub Ichabod's back. "Guess I'll go get the doctor, then."
00
Dr. Schnabel walked into the bedroom, with Ashley following him a few minutes later. Ichabod was still on the floor, curled up next to the wastebasket. He was conscious, but his eyes were closed.
The doctor knelt down next to him.
"Ichabod?" He asked, softly shaking the constable.
"Make it stop..." Ichabod groaned, raising a hand to his head.
"Your head hurts? How long have you been feeling sick like this?"
"Nauseous since this morning, headache since this afternoon."
Dr. Schnabel sighed. "It's probably related to your cycle. Ashley, help me help Ichabod onto the bed. Are you going to be sick again?"
Ichabod shook his head. "I don't think there's anything left..."
"Alright. Ready?"
Ashley nodded, and she and the doctor helped Ichabod up. As soon as he was on the bed, he curled up again, groaning, one hand on his head and one on his stomach.
"Ashley, go get me a shot of Reglan and a shot of Sumatriptan," Dr. Schnabel said, taking a seat on the bed next to Ichabod.
"Sure."
Dr. Schnabel looked down at the suffering man who lay before him. "It'll be okay soon. I'll give you some medication, and when you're better we will discuss various options to deal with this."
Ichabod nodded, but the movement was too much, and he was immediately overcome with nausea. He shoved the doctor out of the way and dove for the wastebasket again. He felt horrible, but nothing seemed to come up, so Ichabod spent the next few minutes dry heaving.
And then, if things couldn't get worse, Jackson began to cry. Ichabod groaned upon hearing this, the sound was making his head hurt much worse.
Ashley returned shortly after, thankfully, handed the medications, and a few alcohol wipes to the doctor and picked Jackson up. "I'll just go take him outside," She said, bouncing the baby up and down gently as she walked out of the room.
Once Ichabod seemed to be done throwing up, Dr. Schnabel once again helped him onto the bed.
"Just lie back. I'm going to give you some medication for your headache and nausea. It'll be two injections."
"Okay..."
"Let me see your arm."
Ichabod held his arm out, trembling as he did so. The doctor steadied Ichabod's hand, cleaned his arm and injected him with the medication. "It'll only take a few minutes," Schnabel explained, putting the syringe down on the bedside table. "Only one more."
Ichabod didn't even flinch as the doctor used the second needle. He felt so horrible that anything he had to go through to end his misery was worth it.
The meds worked, and within minutes, Ichabod felt almost a hundred percent better.
"That was amazing," He said, sitting up. "I feel great!"
"Yes, well, I gave you some strong stuff. Lie back down. You still need to rest, and we need to discuss this."
Ichabod laid back down. "What's there to talk about? You made everything better."
"I cannot give you injections of medications like this every time you feel sick because you're on your... monthly cycle. Obviously you're having some problems with your hormone levels, so perhaps it would be best to discuss some options for birth control that can regulate that."
"They all have a lot of side effects, though!"
"And being violently ill at least once a month is better?"
Ichabod pouted, knowing that the doctor was correct.
"You're not any good to Jackson if you're sick like this, you know," Schnabel added.
Ichabod sighed. "I know. Katrina's been pressuring me about it too. I suppose, if you can recommend something, I'll look into it."
"Good, good. I'll write up a prescription for you tomorrow. Unfortunately, though, you'll have to go through this cycle as you normally would. So, that said, you may as well prepare for the worst for the next few days."
00
The next morning, Dr. Schnabel had a busy schedule. He had given Ichabod a thorough exam around eight, and had prescribed him birth control pills. After that, he'd checked up on Sweeney, to make sure that his blood pressure was normal. He also made plans to take Sweeney's cast off the following day. At ten, Becky, Gilbert, and Tommy all came in, in the hopes that Dr. Schnabel could find out why Tommy was behaving as he was.
The doctor had to admit, that Gilbert looked worse for the wear. He had bags under his eyes, his hair was sticking up in various directions, and he looked like he hadn't changed his clothes or showered in days. Becky seemed all right, and so did Tommy. Becky was holding him, and he seemed to be behaving fine.
"So... Becky explained that Tommy is having some behavioral issues?" Schnabel began, once everyone was seated.
"He's good for her but he's horrible with me." Gilbert said. "And I watch him all day while she's at work... he's always screaming, always crying... It literally does not stop!"
"Hmm, would you mind holding him, so I can see how he reacts?"
Gilbert sighed, but held out his hands so that Becky could pass him the baby. The second that Gilbert had him, Tommy started screaming at the top of his lungs. The sudden sound made the doctor jump.
"Okay, okay. May I hold him?" He shouted over the crying.
Gilbert handed Tommy to the doctor, and the baby immediately stopped crying.
"What the hell?!" Gilbert asked, frustrated. "Why does he do that?!"
"Odd. I'm going to do a physical exam," Schnabel said, getting up from his desk and bringing Tommy over to an exam table. "Becky, hold him please?"
Becky nodded and took the baby, sitting on the table with Tommy in her lap.
Dr. Schnabel checked Tommy's ears, eyes, throat, reflexes... everything that he could think of. Finally, he came to an conclusion.
"Well," He began. "I'm not sure how to say this nicely, but nothing is wrong with your son physically. It appears as though he simply does not like you, Gilbert."
"Seriously?" Gilbert asked.
The doctor nodded. "I'm sorry."
"Wow," Gilbert replied. "Well, I guess it's going to be a long few months, then."