"Luke, get your butt out of bed we're going to be late!" Joan yelled up the stairs to her brother. She returned to the kitchen and sat back down, taking a sip of her juice. "He never sleeps in late."
"Maybe he got your bug," Will shrugged. "How are you feeling, by the way?"
"Good," Joan nodded. "Real good."
"I'm glad," he smiled, patting her hand. "You're finished, go upstairs and make sure Luke is awake."
"Okay," she sighed. Upstairs, she reached the door to Luke's room. "Luke. Get up. Luke!" She called again, this time knocking. She growled, and slowly opened the door, crossing her fingers that he wasn't ill or naked or something. "Hey Luke, wake up."
There was a groan, and then he sat up, yawning. "Joan?" He squinted, reaching for his glasses. "What..."
"You overslept. You have about fifteen minutes to get washed, dressed and have breakfast," She replied, from the doorway.
Luke sighed and shot out of bed. "Why didn't you wake me sooner?"
"I tried," She said, "I called up loads of times. Even banged on your door about twenty minutes ago when I got up."
"Oh. Well you should have come in earlier," he put on his glasses and began to pick out his clothes. "Never mind..."
"You never oversleep," She frowned. "It's very odd for you."
"I couldn't get to sleep last night, I kept thinking and worrying," he admitted.
"About what?" She asked, but Luke just looked at her sadly. "About me?"
He gazed at her for a moment, and then motioned for her to leave. "Can you go, I need to get ready."
"Gladly," Joan replied. "Oh and Luke, don't worry about me. I'm feeling much, much better."
"Weird flu you've had. You kind of missed out on most of the symptoms," he mumbled.
She smiled, and nodded, "Lucky. Well, not lucky. I was still really sick. And the sore throat and aches and pains. I'll see you downstairs."
She closed the door behind her, and Luke smiled and shook his head, starting to get dressed. She was bright and perky today, back to her usual self. "Glynis, you are so wrong."
-
"Miss Girardi, would you care to contribute to this conversation? Miss Girardi? Joan? Off in a dream world," The Chemistry teacher said, shaking her head. "Okay, Mr Girardi?"
"I know this one..." Luke began. He knew the answer - it was easy. He just couldn't focus.
There was a loud bang, and he turned his head to see his sister as she fell backwards, off of her stool, and on to the floor.
He stood up immediately, rushing over to her side before even Adam, who was sat next to her, could do anything. "Joan? Joan?"
-
She was lying on the floor with loads of people gathered around her, and she was trying to swat them away as they attempted to help her. "I'm fine, get off of me."
Luke was one of those people. "Joan!"
"I'm fine, I fell off of my seat. Happens all the time," she groaned. "So embarrasing. I was day dreaming, and then...wham, I hit the floor."
"She's had the flu," Luke informed the teacher.
She looked up and she could see fear in his eyes. Glynis and the teacher were beside him, and Adam was off to the corner. Grace was absent again. They were all looking down at her worriedly, talking all at once. The teacher disappeared for a minute, and then returned. "Okay, Luke, why don't you take your sister to the nurse?"
Luke nodded and he and Adam helped her up. "Can I go too?" Rove asked.
The teacher shook her head, "No, just let Luke take care of it. Now, everyone get back to your seats."
-
"Joan, I'm really worried about you," Luke told her, pacing around the room. He finally sat down in the rooms only chair. "You didn't just fall off your chair. You feinted. Didn't you?"
"Symptom of the flu maybe," she shrugged, as she lay on the bed. "It's the weekend tomorrow. I'll take it easy, stay in the house."
"You should be a lot better by now. I was," he said, scratching his head. "It's a good job mom is off work today or they would have called her."
"Thanks for telling them not to," She smiled. "I don't know how you convinced them, but..."
"When we get home, you're going straight to bed," He commanded, resembling Colonel Jack O'Neill, US Air Force, for a second. She laughed, she loved that t.v show, and so did he. "Okay?"
"Okay."
"The nurse said you should stay here until 3. I'll come and get you then. Just rest, and be glad they aren't taking you to the hospital," he said.
"Well I'm not speaking a weird language, I don't think I'm Catwoman and I can still get my words out right. So I don't think I was damaged during my trip to the ground."
Luke laughed, grabbed his backpack, and left her to rest. "Later."
-
Luke climbed up the stairs, and went in to Joan's room to collect all the glasses from her room. She'd been gathering quite a collection in there, and it included several mugs of half-drank herbal tea, and several empty bowls which once contained popcorn.
She was in the bath, so he knew it was safe to enter. He loaded up the glasses and dishes on to the tray he'd brought up the day before, and headed out of the room. He passed the bathroom, and shook his head. The door was slightly open. He couldn't see anything, thank god, but that wasn't the point. "Joan, could you please close the door in future? No one wants to see..." He began, trailing off as he caught sound of the sound of his sister trying to stop herself being sick. He waited there a few minutes, shaking his head, and thinking.
He walked off with his tray, and went downstairs.
When she appeared twenty minutes later, in her pyjamas and dressing gown, he was waiting for her on the couch. The t.v. was off, and the expression on his face was deadly serious. "What's up?"
"Feel better, after your bath?" He asked.
"Yep," she smiled, sitting down in the chair. "Much better, thank you."
"I didn't want to believe her, Joan," he said after a moment's silence. "I really didn't."
"Who? What? Where? Why?"
"Glynis warned me. Told me I knew she was right, and that I just didn't want to believe it," Luke was entering babble teritory now.
"Oh, so this is about Glynis. Spill it...you guys still in love or something?" Joan blinked.
"No, it isn't about Glynis. Not really. It's about you."
"Why are you guys fighting over me?" She asked, faking confusion.
"She came to visit me after she ran in to you in the bathroom the other day. Remember?" He said, still looking at her intensely.
"Yeah. Weird conversation we had."
"Yeah, ours was too," she nodded.
"She told me she was worried about you."
"I know. She told me that too. I'm worried about her...maybe she should talk to someone..."
"I snapped at her. I said, no way. I told her she was crazy. She was making things up, she was wrong," he paused. "But then last night, I was lying there, worrying. For weeks now, I've been worrying. I've been taking care of you. And I realised, just now, really, that you don't have the flu. You've been lying to me, deceiving me."
"What are you..." she began, standing up.
"You weren't in the bath Joan, you were throwing up again," he blurted, waving his arms around like a mad man.
"Okay, fine. Then I had a bath. What's the big deal?" She shrugged.
"The big deal is that you're ill, and I want to help you. How can I help you?"
"You can leave me alone!" Joan snapped, taking a couple of steps back.
"No. I can't do that, you are my sister."
"Yeah, I am."
"You don't have the flu. I think I knew it all along, really. Just couldn't accept it, didn't want to," he sighed, scratching his head.
"I'm nearly better, it's nearly gone. Maybe it isn't the flu, just a bug. I don't know..."
"It's not a bug, and it's not the flu, damn it. Admit it," he was shouting now, although he really didn't want to be.
"Admit what?"
"That you have a problem!"
"You have the problem," she cried.
"I want to help you. Just admit it, admit that you're bulimic and let me know how I can help you," he pleaded, moving toward her.
"I'm not!"
"Joanie, I'm not an idiot. I know all about illnesses - eating disorders, I know all this kind of stuff. And you are suffering from bulimia. I can see it, and so can even Glynis!" He said, more gently now. She could see that same fear in his eyes again, but it was so much greater now.
"No!"
"Yes you are." He repeated.
"No...I'm not...I'm not..." she cried, as he put his hand on her forearm.
"Why are you doing this? You're so pretty, so thin. You're so perfect. I don't get it. I want to understand."
"I...I...leave me alone!" She yelled, moving his hand off of her.
She stood there for a minute, and then pushed him, and ran up the stairs.
-
She came back downstairs, later, eyes bright red from crying. She sat down beside him on the sofa, turning to face him. "Luke, I have a problem. Please help me."
"I want to. I will," Luke nodded.
"I just got so stressed out, you know, and...I had to be perfect. I knew what I was doing, Luke. I know what I'm doing. And the thing is, I can't stop. I know what I'm doing and I can't stop," she sniffed.
"Oh god, Joan. I'm so sorry. I'm always here for you," he told her gently, pulling her in to a hug.
"I know," she said, breaking down again.
"Was someone picking on you?" He asked, a couple of minutes later.
"No...yeah...a couple of girls at school, and just comments, and..."
"Like 'you could eat for the Olympics?'" He felt awful now.
"Yeah, maybe. But it wasn't your fault. That was one instance. But people kept on at me. At first I ignored it, but it got to a point where I couldn't. One day, I...but there were so many things that I don't know how to explain. I can't really tell you why...just that I'm really sorry that I lied to you like that, and that I really want your help. I don't know how or why this whole thing...it just did," she said, sitting up and wiping her eyes with her hands.
"I'm here," he said, taking hold of her hand.
"What do we do?"
"Tell mom and dad?" He suggested. The truth was, he didn't really know what to do. He considered calling up Glynis. She seemed to know more about this kind of thing than him. He'd only read about all these illnesses, never actually delt with one before.
"We can't! No! Please. I mean, I've been acting weird, and I think if I tell them, they might send me away or something."
"I won't tell them..." he sighed.
"You won't?"
"If you promise me to speak to someone. Get help, and I will be there for you," he finished his sentence, and looked her in the eyes. She saw his desperation, and nodded.
"I promise."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"Good," he smiled.
"Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you," she smiled, taking a tissue from the box on the coffee table. "Thank you so much."
"Anything for you," he nodded. "We'll go and see Glynis tomorrow. Her cousin had the same thing, and she might know of someone who can help you."
"Okay," she agreed. "You're a great little brother, you know."
"I know. I rock."
Okay that's the last chapter for a little while...other stuff to do, other fics to write! But it will be back soon - a couple of weeks. Please visit my archive at http:www.bringethiton.tk and post your work.