More Josuke whump today.

tw for vomiting / hospitals


Over and Over

Day 8: Everything Hurts and I'm Dying

(stomach pain)

Josuke woke up feeling like crap that morning.

He probably should have begged off school, but he didn't have a fever and he wasn't sneezing so his mom probably would have told him to go anyway. Besides, it was mostly just a stomach upset—probably something he'd eaten the day before or whatever. He wasn't originally going to worry too much about it, but then while he was sitting in the middle of second period, the pain seemed to be growing worse.

By lunch, he really wished he had stayed home.

"You're not eating anything, bro?" Okuyasu asked him as the three of them sat in their favorite spot on the low wall outside the cafeteria.

"Nah, my stomach kind of hurts today," Josuke muttered, drinking some water and trying to ignore the growing nausea.

Koichi frowned at him worriedly. "You look a little pale, are you sure you aren't getting sick or something?"

"Maybe," Josuke said, wrapping a protective arm around his middle. It wasn't exactly uncommon for him to have pain relating to the injuries he'd gotten from his fight with Kira, but…this wasn't in the same spot as the scar tissue that usually gave him trouble. Which made him wonder what the hell this was all about if it wasn't that.

"If you feel that bad maybe you should go to the nurse," Koichi said.

"Yeah, then maybe she'll send you home," Okuyasu added hopefully.

"I'm fine, really. Besides, I don't want my mom to get a call at work. It would just worry her."

His friends were silent. They actually knew more about how worried Josuke's mom had been while he was in the hospital than he did since he'd at least been unconscious for most of it. Still, he knew how much anything having to do with his health sent her off these days and if this was just a stomach bug, there was no point in worrying her. He'd just forget about homework today and sleep it off when he got home.

The nausea, unfortunately, seemed to only get worse as the day went on. Accompanied by the constant ache in his stomach, he was afraid he was going to puke. Honestly Josuke just wanted to lay down. He almost caved and asked to go to the nurse, but he only had one more class that day and didn't think it was really worth it. He'd probably get home sooner if he just waited now.

He breathed an audible sigh of relief as the last bell rang and hurried out of the school, meeting up with the others to walk home.

"You really don't look that good," Koichi told him as Josuke tried not to lag too noticeably.

"I feel pretty crappy," Josuke admitted honestly, and, yeah, he felt even worse than he had that morning. He had that horrible feeling in the back of his throat, like dread, that came before you threw up. Maybe he should stop fighting it so much and just do it. He might actually feel better, especially if this was food poisoning or something. But if it was, wouldn't be have been throwing up way more already? Probably some stomach flu then, unless…

The doctors had said there was a possibility of the scar tissue in his side causing problems in the future, but the majority of the pain was actually focused on the opposite side of his injury, so he really didn't think it was that. Maybe he should just stop eating cheap convivence store food.

"I hope you feel better tomorrow," Koichi told him as he left to split off down his street.

"Yeah, thanks," Josuke murmured, swallowing hard against the urge to vomit.

He and Okuyasu continued to their own street, when Josuke just couldn't swallow down the nausea anymore and staggered toward the bushes to one end of the sidewalk stomach heaving.

"Dude!" Okuyasu cried as Josuke gagged and vomited into the bushes, clutching his stomach as the action sent pain tearing through his middle.

He was forced to his knees as he retched again and Okuyasu threw his school bag on the ground, hurrying to grab Josuke's shoulder before he simply faceplanted in the bushes.

"You all right, Josuke?" his friend asked helplessly, rubbing his back as he kept a firm grip on Josuke's shoulder.

Josuke groaned, and finally managed to catch his breath a little, spitting onto the ground. God, why did his stomach hurt so much? He blinked wetness from his eyes and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand with disgust.

"You feel any better now?" Okuyasu asked hopefully.

"Not really," Josuke groaned, wrapping his arms around his stomach as he tried to breathe through the pain. "Stomach really hurts."

Okuyasu furrowed his brows. "You sure you shouldn't go to a doctor?"

"Nah, I'm just gonna sleep it off." Josuke started to climb to his feet, wincing slightly. Okuyasu helped him up and kept a hand on his shoulder the rest of the way to his house. Josuke was grateful for the support.

Okuyasu walked him to his door. "You sure you're gonna be okay, man?"

"Yeah, I'm just gonna rest," Josuke tried to smile but thought it was probably more of a grimace.

"Okay. See you later then."

Josuke unlocked the door and headed straight to his room, changing into his pajamas before crawling into bed. He felt a little better lying down, but was worried about the nausea coming back. That thought reminded him of the taste of bile still in his mouth and with a wince, he got up and went to brush his teeth, also grabbing some pain medicine.

When he was done, the front door opened as his mom came back.

"I'm home," she called.

Josuke bit his lip. He really didn't want her to know he was feeling so bad. He peeked down the stairs and she stared at him in surprise.

"What's this? Already in your pajamas."

Josuke forced a laugh. "Yeah, I feel kinda crappy, honestly. There's been something going around at school and I think I finally caught it."

His mom's brows instantly furrowed. "You're sick?"

"Don't worry about it, I just feel kind of gross. I'm just gonna sleep it off."

"Josuke, are you sure you're okay?" his mom asked.

For a brief second, Josuke thought about telling her how much his stomach hurt, but He still didn't think it was anything more than a stomach flu—the vomiting had pretty much confirmed that—so he didn't want her to get worked up over nothing.

"Yeah, nothing a little sleep won't fix," he said tiredly.

His mom sighed. "Well, all right, but tell me if it gets worse? I'll make sure to call into the school for you tomorrow."

"Thanks, mom," Josuke said and retreated to his room.

He flopped down on his bed and curled up into a position that hurt the least. After that he fell asleep pretty quickly.

XXX

He must have been out because he didn't wake again until next morning when his mom came to see him before work, pressing a hand worriedly to his forehead.

"Hm?" Josuke murmured, groggy.

"You're a little warm. I've left some medicine for the fever on your bedside table. There's also some soup in the fridge. Make sure to stay hydrated, okay?"

"'Kay," Josuke replied as his mom ran a hand briefly through his messy hair before she left.

Josuke took a deep breath and rolled over to sit up and take the medicine.

Pain ripped through his right side and he gasped out loud, doubling over.

"Shit," he hissed, swallowing down the instant nausea that welled in his throat. It wasn't going anywhere though and Josuke finally forced himself up and staggered across the hall, just barely making it before he threw up in the toilet.

The pain that resulted in just about made him pass out. He ended up lying on the cold tile floor, clutching his stomach and feeling like he was dying.

He was still there when the knock came on the door.

He groaned, but finally peeled himself off the floor and rinsed his mouth before he staggered downstairs and went to see who it was—if they were even still there.

It was Koichi and Okuyasu.

"Wow, you look awful," Koichi said worriedly as Josuke leaned against the door frame, a hand pressed to his stomach.

"We figured you probably weren't coming to school today, but we wanted to see if you needed anything," Okuyasu added.

Josuke shook his head. "No, I…I just need to lay down."

His knees shook and the urge to vomit was back. "Sorry," he gasped and hurried to the bathroom again, retching up bile since he had nothing in his stomach. As soon as he got his breath back he was sobbing from the pain.

"Josuke, you look really sick," Koichi said worriedly as he and Okuyasu appeared behind him to help steady him. Okuyasu handed him a cup of water and Josuke took it shakily, rinsing his mouth. "Did you tell your mom?"

"Didn't know it was this bad," Josuke muttered. Not exactly the truth, but maybe it was his fault for the denial.

"I really think you should see a doctor," Koichi said.

Josuke sank down until his back was against the wall, knees pulled up to his chest. "Don't want to go to the hospital again," he said truthfully, rubbing at his eyes. "I hate it. And I can't stand seeing my mom worry."

His friends took seats on opposite sides of him.

"What about if we go with you?" Koichi said.

"Yeah, you can get checked out and if it's nothing, your mom doesn't need to know," Okuyasu added.

Josuke wiped a hand under his nose. They were right, he knew it, but still…

"You'll miss school."

"It's all right, we'll just say we were helping a friend. I know my parents won't get mad about that," Koichi told him with a smile.

Josuke let out a shuddering breath and finally nodded. "Okay. I'll go."

They took a taxi and Josuke somehow managed not to throw up in the car. The nagging pain had turned to a constant ache now, and Josuke leaned against Okuyasu's shoulder while they sat in the waiting room, exhausted and hurting.

"Josuke Higashikata."

Dread welled up in his throat as he heard his name called. Koichi and Okuyasu gave him encouraging looks as Okuyasu helped him to his feet and Josuke followed the nurse.

Luckily, he didn't have to wait too long for the doctor who came in to examine him, asking Josuke about when he'd started feeling the pain.

Josuke nearly bit through his lip as the doctor felt his stomach, it hurt so bad.

"And the pain is concentrated around here, correct?" the doctor asked as he pressed the area to the right of Josuke's belly button.

"Yeah," he gasped.

The doctor nodded and took a few notes.

"So is it just a stomach flu?" Josuke asked half-heartedly.

The doctor looked at him. "No, I'm afraid not. But the good news is that I do know what it is."

"W-what?" Josuke asked.

"Appendicitis."

Josuke felt his heart sink as the dread sank back in. That would mean more surgery. Shit. Tears welled in his eyes and he tried to blink them away, but the doctor saw them anyway and reached out to rub Josuke's shoulder comfortingly.

"I promise it will be all right. It's a simple procedure and not at all an uncommon problem. We'll have you taken care of by tonight. I'll have the nurse get you settled. Would you like your friends to come stay with you?"

Josuke nodded gratefully. "Yeah, and…can I call my mom? She's at work."

"Of course."

Josuke dreaded making the call, but knew it would be better for his mom to hear it from him instead of someone else. Koichi and Okuyasu sat there with him for support when she showed up at the hospital, demanding to know why he hadn't told her it was so bad. Josuke didn't have an answer and instead just started crying. He blamed the pain and fever for it but it was still embarrassing.

His mom stopped talking though and simply pulled him into a hug, holding onto him until the doctors came to prep him for surgery.

It wasn't nearly as bad as the last time. They promised he would be out in a couple days, and he had to admit that between the lack of an infected appendix and the pain medicine he felt a lot better now.

Plus, he also got to eat all the jello and ice cream he wanted. That definitely made up for some of it.