Suitably Ill – Chapter Four: Arpeggio – Goodbye Forever
Tino was practically carrying Tish as they left the restaurant she was in so much pain. The reverberations in her skull weren't letting up and Tish felt like she was going insane.
"I just have to… make it back home. I gotta lay down," Tish thought.
Suddenly Tish's body spasmed and she threw up all over the sidewalk and Tino's shoes. Tino jumped back in surprise as Tish collapsed to her knees endlessly vomiting. The pain in Tish' head made her feel like she was spilling all of her insides all over the sidewalk. Some part of her even assumed that she was dying at that very moment, but the rest of her fought back.
"No, no, no! This can't be happening! I'm stronger than this. Pull yourself together, Tish! You're more dignified than vomiting on the sidewalk."
Her body became weak as the last of the vomit hit the pavement. Tish could barely keep herself steady, and if it had not been for Tino's quick reflexes she would have surely fallen face first into the puke covered sidewalk.
"My God, Tish, what the hell has happened to you? I really have to get you home. And, uh, not to sound crass or insensitive but if you feel another 'attack' like that coming stick your head out the window. Thanks," Tino said as he helped her to the car.
Tish barely heard anything he had to say. She probably would have been slightly offended otherwise. The only thing that Tish could process correctly was the need to lie down.
"Why does this keep happening? It's going to drive me insane. It's all so sudden too. I can't help it, and I can't seem to stop it. My own body, I can't control it."
The car drive home was exhausting for Tish. Vomiting had lessened the pain but she could still feel it burrowing its way into her very being. It was an indescribable feeling. Every now and then Tino looked over at her huddled together in the seat shivering. He didn't know what to do for Tish. In any situation he was generally too worried to be of any help but this problem was far beyond anything he had encountered before. An illness was not the way he wanted to start off the school year, their first year of real independence.
"Not one day, we couldn't even last one day. The moment we get our freedom something goes wrong. There is no justice in this world. Hmmm, maybe it was a bad reaction to the alcohol. Nah, she only had one drink, she wouldn't have thrown up that bad. What are we gonna do?" Tino thought.
Tish opened her eyes as Tino slowed down and parked in front of their house. She attempted to stand of her own accord but it was of no use.
"Hold on there, Tish, let me give you a hand," Tino said quickly moving to help.
Tish simply groaned in acknowledgment. Her mind was like mush. Mustering all the strength he could Tino lifted Tish into his arms and carried her into the house. His face was bright red as he struggled and strained to hold her up.
"This looks so much easier than it really is."
Somehow though Tino made it to their bedroom and put Tish down.
"Th… thanks," Tish muttered ever so quietly.
Tino pulled up a chair and rest his head in his hands.
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Lor rested her head on the table breathing deeply. Carver sat at another table trying his hardest pick up some girls, completely oblivious to Lor's increasing number of drinks. Lor sat up straight her eyes glazed and her mouth in a crooked smile. The alcohol was pumping through her system draining her of sense and inhibition.
"Look at 'em all, smiling and laughing. That should be me. This smile that I smile is just for me. Why? Cause no one else wants to stick around and share it with me. They all just… run away. Do they think they're better than me? I should show them a thing or two. Nobody can ditch me. We're supposed to be friends anyway. What happened to one for all and all for one? No, nooooooooo! We can't all be together. Little Miss Princess Brain has to get sick. Awww boo hoo! Give me a break. She's always stealing the intention around here. It's all her fault that I'm just smiling to myself. I have a great smile, and she hates it. Yeah, that's what it is. It's so obvious now. Well, I've had enough of that, I'm gonna go back there and give her a peace of my mind. Now or never, and I chose now," Lor thought to herself.
She stood up and exhibited a surprising amount of control by keeping her walking in a near perfect line, but she stumbled enough for Carver to notice out of the corner of his eye.
"Uh-oh, it looks like I left the table a little too soon. I'd better get her back to the house," Carver thought to himself.
He stood and then turned to the two girls sitting at the table
"I'm sorry to cut things short but I've gotta go take care of my friend. I'll make sure to give you two a call sometime," he said tapping his cell phone.
Carver rushed over to Lor and put his arm around her to keep her steady.
"Hey, I thought you were gonna drink in moderation, you're smashed," Carver said to her.
"What? I'm… fine. It's everyone else. They are the ones who can't delight in my smile. Don't show me no pity! You're just like them. You don't care."
"Damn it, Lor, why did you have to drink so much? We don't have the car here."
Carver got Lor outside onto the sidewalk and sat her down.
"Okay, sit there while I call Tino to see if he can come back to get us."
Lor started giggling uncontrollably. It was unsettling to say the least.
"Hehehehehehehehe HEE HEE HEE ahahahahaa! Hey wanna hear a secret about Tino? It's a really cool secret. Maybe the best secret ever. I bet Tish wants it a secret, keep it to herself. Let me tell ya."
Lor stood up again and leaned in close Carver. She cupped her one hand around her mouth.
"Tino's got a big dick!" she practically shouted into Carver's ear, and then began laughing uncontrollably again.
Carver cleaned out his ear a bit and then shook his head.
"I never, ever should have left that table. Somebody needs to hose you down. Now please be quiet while I make this call."
Lor put her hand over mouth to hold back laughter. It looked like her face was going to pop. Carver shook his head again.
"Hey Tino. Look could you do us a favor? Lor had too much to drink and I was wondering if you could come pick us up?... Really? That doesn't sound good. Hmmm, oh yeah there is a pile of vomit a little ways down……….. I don't know, never heard of anything like that………… Maybe, I'm not sure………… I'm sure we'll think of something…………. Just try not to worry…………. We'll discuss it more when I get back……….. All right, well thanks anyway, later days."
Carver hung up the phone and looked at Lor who was bobbing her head to some song only she could hear.
"Well, it looks like it's you and me. This might be even worse than driving with you."
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Tino wandered back and forth in the house mulling over Tish's condition. He wanted to be in the room with her and give her comfort but at the same time he couldn't bring himself to face her. His inability to really help her made it hard for him to watch her.
"Should I take her to the doctor's? She could be seriously ill. But then what if it looks like we're completely irresponsible? We get by ourselves and she's overcome with the worst sickness she's ever had in her entire life, yeah that looks real good. Then what if they blame me? Maybe they'll try and say somehow I gave her something. The people closest to a person are always the first suspects. We just have to keep this quiet for now. All right, Tino, just calm down, take it easy. You gotta stay cool and calm. If you can overcome this you can overcome anything."
Just then Tino heard Tish moan loudly and it made him cringe. He knew he would have to go back into the room and see her lying there looking like death. Tino rubbed his face with his hands and swallowed to compose himself. Each step towards the bedroom felt like a step towards his grave and he wasn't even sick. Tino entered the room and grimaced. Tish lay there pale as a ghost, hair a mess, and her mouth half open as saliva dribbled down her chin onto her neck. Tino sat down on the chair next to the bed and looked at her wishing for it to go away.
"How are you?" Tino asked quietly.
Tish didn't respond. She simply moved her eyes to gaze at Tino. Her eyes alternated between looking sad and looking vacant as if she had no idea who he was or why she was there.
Tino wanted to cry but for some reason he couldn't. The tears just didn't come. His face burned and nothing was there to cool it down.
"Don't leave, Tino. Please stay here. I need some one to stay here otherwise I don't know what will happen to me. I feel like I can't function any other way now. Please just stay put." The thoughts echoed in Tish's mind but she couldn't bring them to her lips to speak.
Only Tish's head hurt now and it was just a slight throbbing instead of a sharp pain tearing throughout her. Tish was no longer concerned about the pain nor was she worried about the possibility of vomiting nor did she really care that she had very limited movement of her body. It was her inability to talk that scared her most. She wanted to confide in Tino how scared she was that was really sick, she wanted to tell him to stay, she wanted to tell him to not freak out, but she couldn't. To make up for her lack of speech Tish felt it best to keep her eyes on Tino. She figured that maybe that would give him some level of comfort.
"I wish I could read her mind. She wants to tell me something I know, but I can't figure out what. Her eyes, she's staring at me. What does she want? I-I can't help her. Is she accusing me? Does she want some type of comfort? I don't know,' Tino thought.
Her eyes penetrated him and he couldn't take it. He looked away trying to hide himself from her gaze.
"Look at me, Tino. Look at me. I want to see your face. I need to know that you can still see me. Please!" Tish yelled inside.
Her eyes began to water as she tried to cry. A tear rolled down each cheek but that was it, her eyes just stayed watered. Her body would not cooperate.
"What is wrong with me! I need to express myself. I can't take this. I have to get Tino to notice me. I need to know that I'm still here and that he's okay!"
Tino stood up as if to leave.
"No! No! Don't go, Tino! I'm afraid! Why are you leaving me again? I need you to stay. If you leave then who is still letting me know I'm here," Tish thought. She could her voice inside her full of tears, crying loudly.
Tino walked towards the door.
"No!"
He stood in the doorway only glancing back at Tish quickly.
"NO!"
Then he walked out of the room closing the door halfway.
"DON'T GO!"
Tino slowly shuffled towards the couch in the living room when he was startled by a loud banging on the front door. He took a few steps back and tensed as if to run. Suddenly the door burst open and Lor fell into the house taking Carver with her.
"Geez, guys, you scared me half to death."
"Sorry, but it's not easy keeping Lor in line. She is really trashed, but at least we only had to stop twice for her to throw up. She's still pretty out of it though."
"Weren't you watching her? What happened?"
"Yeah I know, I'm sorry. I got distracted by some girls."
"What? Oh c'mon Carv, this is serious."
"I know, I know! Really, I'm sorry but look can't change the past so let's just take care of the girls."
Tino sighed.
Tino and Carver helped Lor to her feet while she mumbled something about smiling. They each supported her as they tried taking her to the couch to lay her down.
"They'll sea. I'll sea too. We'll all be happy. My smile, that's the ticket. As soon as she nose then everything will be fine. I have to end this… with my smile," Lor mumbled.
"What is she talking about?" Tino asked.
"I don't know, she's been like this the past ten minutes or so," Carver responded.
Lor stopped moving on her own and both Tino and Carver stumbled a moment as they lifted her back up.
"That's it! My smile!" Lor suddenly shouted forcefully shoving away both Carver and Tino.
The two boys went hurtling into the couch knocking it over. Neither one expected the outburst nor did they realize just how strong Lor was. Lor laughed a bit and then stumbled as best she could towards Tish's room.
"My smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, look at my smile. Look, look, look, look, look, my smile is so beautiful, so pretty, so wonderful, so breathtaking, so absolutely stunning. They are all waiting for my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile, my smile."
The words came a mile a minute and time felt like it was crawling. Tino turned to Carver wide eyed.
"How much did she have to drink?"
"I have no idea. I've never seen anyone this out of control. Something must be wrong."
"Lor? Lor? Lor! Answer me! What are you doing?" Tino called out.
Lor did nothing to acknowledge the calls. She got to Tish's room and kicked the door open with all her might.
"What the hell is she doing?" Tino wondered aloud feeling it best to follow her.
Lor's glazed eyes were locked on Tish's and somehow it gave her the ability to walk straight not losing a single step. Lor's eyes were devoid of all feeling and logic, they were just cold, and it scared Tish.
"Do you like my smile, Tish?" Lor asked calmly.
Tish wanted to answer but her voice still wasn't coming to her.
"Too good to answer? Not a surprise," Lor said still calm.
Lor stopped at the head of the bed just staring at Tish. Tish's eyes watered again this time out of fear though. Without warning Lor grabbed Tish by the shoulders and pulled her out of the bed onto her feet. At the same moment Tino entered the room.
"Lor! What the hell is your problem? What are you doing to her?" he yelled.
Lor still didn't acknowledge him. Instead she pulled Tish's face to her own.
"My smile, they'll love my smile," she whispered.
The universe seemingly turned upside down and Lor reared back and came forward full force punching Tish in the jaw. Tish saw the whole thing happening, she knew it was coming but her body still didn't let her move. She felt the impact and then everything dark. Tino stared slack jawed at the doorway as he watched Tish hit the floor with blood coming out her mouth now.
"Why?... Wha?... What's happened? Why is this happening? Has everyone gone insane?" Tino wondered.
Over come by some unknown force, perhaps rage, Tino charged Lor with all intents of tackling her. But before he got there Lor whirled around with another devastating punch and connected hard with Tino's face sending him to the floor. Lor looked at both her friends lying on the ground, unconscious by her own hand. It didn't bother her, not even in the slightest bit. A sharp pain had arisen in her head and that was her primary concern. Behind her she heard the footsteps of Carver entering the room.
"What the hell happened in here? Lor, did you do this? I think you need to see a doctor, something is wrong with you."
Lor silently walked up to Carver and stopped in front of him just staring back at him.
"Are you calm now? Look, let me help you get-"
Carver didn't get to finish as Lor let loose another punch and sent her final friend down for the count. Lor stepped over Carver and walked out to the living room. Her eyes still remained as clear as her conscience. She stopped in the middle of the room and turned in a full circle looking all around. Her eyes turned angry.
"Now you're supposed to see my smile! You've all left! MY SMILE! WaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A sharp pain shot through Lor's head and she feel to her knees, smiled, then hit the floor with a sickening thud.
End of Chapter Four
I know it's been awhile but hey a new chapter. Most people have probably forgotten what has been going on in this story, can't blame ya. I had forgotten myself. As I look over this chapter I can't help but feel that no one will like it. I realize it's not too Weekenders. Well, here's some bad news then, it won't get better. At least not in this story. There's one chapter left here and then this story is finished. I've dropped a lot of this story in favor of simply finishing it. I'm hoping to get Oblivion done soon and then head onto the finale, but we'll see what happens. Oh yeah I uploaded two chapters at once, this one and then the final chapter so make sure to read both. Then review, even if you despise it. I encourage it in fact. I'm done now.