A Horrible Sickness

Georgie was surprised. Bill had slumped over the toilet and was throwing up horribly. Georgie ran over and tried to comfort Bill by rubbing his back. Bill threw up again; causing Georgie to look away in disgust. When he finished, Georgie looked back and saw that Bill looked horrible. Georgie was concerned, this had never happened before and this was the worst time to be sick. What could've caused this?

"Bill, what happened?" Georgie asked.

"I don't know. I w-w-woke up th-this m-m-morning and I felt h-h-horrible, like I was about to th-throw up." He explained.

Bill threw up one more time and when he did, Georgie saw that it was the contents of yesterday's dinner. Georgie was confused; as grossed out as he was, he knew that Bill's cooking was tremendous. There was no way his cooking could've caused this, especially since Georgie wasn't sick either. When Bill finished, Georgie helped escort him to his bed. When Bill got on his bed, he got horrible chills. Georgie ran to the other side and got on Bill's bed. He covered him with a blanket and sat next to him. Georgie was concerned as he didn't know any illnesses that could cause this. Georgie felt guilty; this was one of the few times he wish he could feel fear again, but couldn't; it was one of the few things Georgie was gonna have to live with. After a few moments, Georgie saw that cool wind was coming from the open window and went to go shut it. When he did, he went back to his bed and sat in front of Bill. Even with the window closed and no a/c on, Bill still had chills. Georgie didn't know how, it seemed like his brother's body was even cold on the inside. Georgie touched Bill's side and felt an icy cold chill coming from him. Georgie was confused.

"How did this happen?" he asked wondering.

"I don't kn-kn-know, Georgie. I w-w-wish I kn-knew." Bill replied.

"Your cooking is tremendous, it can't be the cause of this." Georgie pointed out.

"Aww, th-thanks Georgie. You're right, this wouldn't b-be the c-c-cause, so what w-w-was?" Bill asked wondering.

"Maybe it was the chocolate?" Georgie guessed.

"No, that's not possible. I checked for n-n-needle marks just like dad t-t-taught u-us. There's no way it was that." Bill said.

"True, but maybe it wasn't the old man's fault. Spoiled milk or a bad cocoa bean could've made the chocolate bad. Bad ingredients can make any food tainted." Georgie said.

Bill realized that Georgie had a point. It was true, some food poisons were caused by bad ingredients. No matter if you were following health rules or food safety regulations, sometimes, getting food poisoning wasn't even your fault. As the boys continued thinking, they both thought about what else the boys ate. After a few moments of thinking, Bill looked at Georgie.

"I think it was the chocolate too." He spoke.

Georgie perked up surprised.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Th-th-think about it. The breakfast was good and we both w-w-would've been s-s-sick by y-yesterday. But the ch-ch-chocolate, I only ate t-two. When dinner came about, I was feeling d-d-dizzy. I thought going to b-b-bed would h-help, but it d-d-didn't." Bill explained.

"Why didn't you tell me about that?" Georgie asked.

"Like I said, I th-th-thought they would g-go a-a-away today." Bill answered.

"Do you want me to call mom and dad?" Georgie asked.

"No, they're already in C-C-California, G-Georgie. It would take days for them to c-c-come back." Bill said dismayed.

"But I can't just leave you here, if I'm going to school. Surely, mom and dad can afford a airplane ticket." Georgie pointed out.

"Georgie, mom and dad s-s-still h-have awards to pick up. Even if they could a-a-afford a t-ticket, they couldn't a-a-afford to g-go b-b-back." Bill argued.

"Do you not hear yourself, Bill?! You need to get better! I can't leave you here by yourself!" Georgie argued.

"I guess being s-s-sick d-does that. You c-c-can't th-think straight." Bill said acknowledging.

Both boys looked away for a bit. After a few moments, they looked at each other again.

"I'll call the school and tell them we can't make it." Georgie spoke.

Bill gave a short nod and Georgie got off the bed. He left Bill's room and walked downstairs. Georgie wasn't keen to the idea, he still believed that he should call him and Bill's parents, but Bill gave good points. Georgie reached the bottom of the stairs and went to the phone. He grabbed the phone, dialed the number, and waited while the phone was ringing. A few weeks had passed since Bill got sick and he wasn't getting better. For the last few weeks, Georgie had to stay home from school and take care of Bill. He tried everything: medicine, giving him warm foods and even trying to turn the heat up in the house, but nothing worked. After two weeks of phone calls to the school, the teachers were either worried or didn't believe them. So two different teachers from Bill and Georgie's school came to their house and when Georgie opened the door and let them in, he led them into Bill's room and they saw what Georgie was talking about. The teachers left the house and told their bosses on what they saw. They agreed to sent home the homework and assignments to the boys and have their teachers try to explain the topics. It's worked well, for awhile, but there were some days where Bill couldn't be able to reach a pencil. There were days where Bill would have some strength to do some chores, but then there were days where Bill would be too weak to do anything but sleep. This would follow by chills, heat flares, vomiting, coughing, high fever, and sometimes, sores around the body. The school tried to get in contact with Bill and Georgie's parents, but because the boys didn't know the hotel's phone number and the school couldn't afford long distance calling, they agreed to tell their parents when they got home. For now, the boys managed to catch up on their assignments and homework and they gave it to their teachers. When they left, Georgie made hot chicken soup and put the bowl on a tray and took it upstairs. He went into Bill's room and Bill was still laying on his bed. He was getting worse, he looked deathly cold and looked really tired. When Georgie slept, Bill would have vomiting fits and it would cause him to not get any sleep. Georgie placed the tray on Bill's bed and climbed onto it. He sat down, grabbed the spoon, scooped some soup, and tried to give it to Bill, but he kept moving his head to not get soup in his mouth playfully. Georgie was playfully annoyed and tried to get Bill to take a bite.

"Come on Bill, take a bite." Georgie said urging.

"But I don't want to." He complained teasing.

"You have to eat, if you wanna get better." Georgie said; getting a bit serious.

"Fine." Bill said defeated.

He opened his mouth and Georgie gave him the spoonful of soup. Bill chewed the chicken and vegetables and then, swallowed them. Georgie gave Bill a few more spoonful's until Bill motioned for Georgie to stop.

"That's e-e-enough, Georgie." He said.

"Come on, just a few more." Georgie said urging.

"N-No Georgie. You remember the last time I a-a-ate the wh-whole bowl. Let's take a br-br-break." Bill reminded.

"So you threw up…I guess you have a point." Georgie said agreed.

He put the bowl back on the tray and moved it, so it wouldn't fall off the bed. Georgie looked and saw Bill turn on his side. He looked at Georgie with a weak smile.

"I'm impressed, you're c-c-cooking skills are a-approving." Bill complimented.

"Well, I learned from a great chef." Georgie said smiling.

Bill chuckled in amusement.

"But seriously, it's the only thing I know on how to cook." Georgie said.

"Well, when I g-get b-b-better, maybe I could give you c-c-cooking lessons." Bill said.

"I wish grandma was here, she'd know what to do." Georgie said depressed.

"I know Georgie, me too, but grandma's d-d-dead, and we c-can't c-c-change that." Bill replied.

Bill was right, you can't change the past. Georgie knew this too, but it didn't hurt him to wish what things were like if Audra was still alive. She would be here, taking care of Bill while Georgie was at school and their parents wouldn't be in California. Georgie felt depressed as he remembered the night Audra died. The blood, the mess, her last words…it was all too much to bear. It was already bad enough that Georgie had lost his grandmother, but the thought of loosing Bill didn't scare him, but it made him upset. So upset that tears were forming in Georgie's eyes. Bill rose a bit slowly and looked at Georgie concerned.

"Georgie, are you o-okay?" he asked.

Georgie leaped on to Bill and gave him a big hug. Bill hugged him back and was confused as he felt tears on his shirt and heard crying coming from Georgie.

"Hey, Hey, what's w-w-wrong?" Bill asked concerned.

"I don't wanna loose you, I don't want you to die! We already lost grandma, I can't loose you too, I just can't!" Georgie cried.

Bill understood and sighed. He rubbed Georgie's back a bit for comfort and felt a bit upset himself. Georgie had every right to be upset, Bill looked deathly sick and he wasn't getting any better. He wondered if this had anything to do with God punishing him for killing his grandmother. He didn't mean to and his grandmother did forgive him, but maybe God didn't and was punishing him for it. No…No that couldn't be the reason. God was forgiving, there's no way that could be it, but what if it was his grandma? But she forgave Bill for his mistakes, why would she give him a sickness? All these thoughts went into Bill's head fast and while it should've scared him, it didn't. Bill wondered if he was ever going to feel fear again, but deep down, he knew he wouldn't. Bill felt like he was giving up, but he didn't want to, he would keep fighting until his last breath.

"Shh, it's o-o-okay G-Georgie, it's okay." Bill whispered comforting.

Tears formed in his eyes as many thoughts that were in the back of his head came into thought. What if he's really going to die? What if his grandma was really punishing him? What if God wasn't done punishing him? Bill knew that these thoughts weren't true, but the thought of him about to die did concern him. He allowed Georgie to continue crying as a tear streamed from his eye.

"Please Grandma, don't let me die now, it's too soon." Bill pleaded thoughtfully.