Ch. 4: I'm Fine

"Joey!" a sweet and welcomed voice called out later that afternoon.

Joey perked up from his position on the couch to see Serenity rushing through the front door towards him. He smiled. This was one thing he had been waiting for; to see Serenity. The second she got to the edge of the couch, Serenity embraced Joey in a hug, a long awaited hug. This only made Joey's blissful grin even wider.

"Hey sis," he greeted cheerfully.

"Welcome home," Serenity smiled as she pulled away.

"Good to be home," Joey agreed. "This is truly home."

"Move your legs," Serenity requested as she patted the lanky set in front of her.

"Why?" Joey asked teasingly.

"Why?" Serenity playfully crumpled her nose and stuck out her tongue. "So I can sit down silly."

"Who said I was going to let you? Who says I want you to?" Joey wondered, his eyes sparkling.

"Why wouldn't you? I'm you beloved sister, and I want to sit," Serenity chuckled a little.

"And what will you do if I don't let you? What will you do if I don't move my legs?" Joey challenged.

"I'll sit on 'em," Serenity stated confidently.

"Go ahead," Joey offered, waving a hand towards his legs nonchalantly.

Serenity stuck out her tongue at her brother again and proceeded to sit on his shins. The second she had her weight on Joey, Joey cringed in pain and shot up suddenly, a groan of pain escaping his mouth and causing Serenity to jump up just as quickly.

"Oh Joey, I'm sorry," Serenity apologized frantically.

"I think your butt's gotten bonier," Joey forced a smiled through gritted teeth.

Serenity couldn't understand what happened. She had sat on Joey's shins many times, for they played this game many times, and the result was always the same. Joey would force Serenity to sit on him, and then he would complain about how heavy she was and how his feet were going to sleep and then she would get "fed up" and stand up and allow him to move his feet. But this time was different. Never before had she ever got such a negative reaction. She had never hurt Joey before, though he complained long and loud. That made her wonder, was something wrong?

"Joey, I've gotten you a doctor's appointment for next Tuesday. The doctor said that you are to stay home until then," Mrs. Wheeler walked into the living room. "Oh, hi Serenity."

Joey gave a sarcastic 'Thanks a lot mom,' look. Now Serenity knew too. The one thing he didn't want them to know about, they did.

"Joey, what's wrong?" Serenity asked, turning back to Joey.

"Nothing," Joey snapped, laying back down and rolling onto his side, tucking his legs up so Serenity could sit, which she did.

"If it was nothing, you wouldn't be staying home for five days," Serenity pointed out.

"The doctor doesn't know what he's talking about," Joey countered. "I'm fine."

"Joseph, if you were fine you wouldn't have collapsed in school!" Ms. Wheeler defended, catching Serenity's gaze.

"You collapsed in school?" Serenity asked in horror, whipping her head around and back to Joey.

"Great goin' Ma!" Joey growled as he angrily stood to his feet, much to his mother's protest. "Now Serenity's worried too. Why don't you just go ahead and worry the whole town or better yet, worry the world freakin' world?" Joey nearly yelled as he stormed up the stairs.

"Joseph, get back here and lay back down!" Ms. Wheeler demanded.

Joey just kept definitely charging forward and soon after he had disappeared from sight, Serenity and Ms. Wheeler heard the slamming of a door, signaling that Joey was in his room and didn't want to be disturbed.

"Mom, what's going on?" Serenity ventured, turning back to her mom.

"Don't worry about it," Ms. Wheeler instructed.

Though Serenity wanted to check on her brother, Ms. Wheeler wouldn't let her. The elder mom knew that Joey just needed some time to cool off. Joey was, after all, by nature brash and hot-headed. His temper could also be a little sort at times. Though Ms. Wheeler hadn't seen her son in nearly seven years, he was still the same kid that she left, only more so.

No one worried when Joey didn't come down for dinner right away. For one thing, he still might be angry at the two females. For another, sitting down at a table and eating dinner with the rest of the family was probably a foreign concept to Joey and Ms. Wheeler knew it would take him a little time to get used to it. However, when Joey didn't come down for dinner at all, both the females began to worry then. It wasn't like Joey, the bottomless pit, to miss a meal.

When the clock struck eight, Serenity looked over to her mother and asked, "Should I go check in on him?"

Ms. Wheeler was silent for a moment as she thought about it, and then shook her head, "No, let me," standing to her feet and ascending the stairs, she moved quietly to Joey's room.

Timidly, she knocked before opening the door to see Joey lying on the bed, back turned towards the door. Ms. Wheeler took a step forward. She couldn't tell whether Joey was asleep or not.

"Joey?" she called softly, not wanting to wake him if he were asleep.

"Yeah?" Joey replied, his voice revealing no emotion.

"Aren't you going to eat?" she wondered.

Joey paused momentarily, and then answered, "Not hungry."

Ms. Wheeler's face clouded over with concern. This wasn't like him. She knew her son was always hungry, always willing to eat. For him to not be hungry, to refuse a meal, was a big thing signaling that something was drastically wrong. Keeping this in mind, and her worry under control, she crossed the room to Joey's bed and gently sat down beside him on the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling Joseph?" Ms. Wheeler asked softly, all anger from that afternoon forgotten.

"I feel weak ma," Joey moaned. "I'm so weak. I can barely move my legs. I've never been this tired before."

"Do you hurt?" Ms. Wheeler asked, concern for her eldest child growing.

"A little all over," Joey confessed timidly, almost as if he were afraid of the words.

Ms. Wheeler touched Joey's cheek in silent sympathy. She knew it must be horrible to be in pain, and she couldn't do a thing about it. Joey rolled his head to look at his mom in response. He knew she understood; he could tell by the way she was treating him. He could also see worry. He saw worry grow greater when she shifted her hand from his cheek to his forehead.

"Joey, you've developed a fever," she stated.

Joey groaned. It figured something like this would happen. Now he had one more thing to worry his mom, something he did not want to do. His new life with his sister and mom wasn't beginning so well. He was worrying his mom on his first day in his new home, and that was the last thing he wanted.

Joey's thoughts were cut short as he felt his chest began to squeeze. The feeling of binding that had become all too familiar was returning.

"Oh-no," he whispered as he realized that his mom was about to witness one of his attacks, something his father had never done, nor any of his friends.

What was worse was the fact that he could do nothing. He could do nothing to stop the attack. He had tried numerous times before, but even the small ones couldn't be stopped. The only thing he could do was listen to his mom's terrified and fuzzy screams. He could hear her calls, but he couldn't understand them. The only option he had was to take it, just like always, and hope that it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He hoped he would come through without blacking out, and that his mom wouldn't take him to a hospital. Still, he knew he was deceiving himself.

Please, he thought as he weakly cringed in pain on his bed, blackness seeping into his vision, his mom's calls becoming fainter. Please, don't let me wake up in a hospital. Let me wake up, but please let me wake up anywhere but there. I don't want to go there, he pleaded as he plunged into darkness.