Thanks to sunshinetuna1 for this suggestion.
Mariana has a migraine.
8-year-old Mariana's head was pounding. She threw her hands up over her ears and closed her eyes, hoping that the pain would go away. She and Jesus had only been living with the Fosters for a little over three weeks and Mariana still hadn't talked to anyone except whispers to her brother.
"Your head again, hermana?" Jesus asked as he looked down at his twin who was crouched as far back in the closet as possible. She nodded her head slightly and Jesus sighed. He didn't think these new foster parents would do anything to hurt them, but they could never be too careful. When talking with some other kids from the foster system, one of the older kids told them that sometimes the parents won't want you anymore if you got sick too often, so anytime either one of them got sick, they would try their best to cover it up.
"Come on, loves!" Stef called into the room that the twins were staying in. They hadn't gotten the chance to show them their own rooms because Mariana wouldn't stay in a room without her brother.
Mariana squealed slightly, not wanting Stef to see her hiding in the closet, but her head was hurting too much for her to say or do anything.
"Ready for school you two?" Stef said as she poked her head into the room.
Jesus stood up quickly and walked towards Stef. He knew he needed to act fast in order to cover for his sister. "Umm I think I need help." He scrambled to make up a lie, but his mind was only half-focused on the woman. He was thinking more about his sister.
Stef crinkled her brow in confusion. "What do you need help with, buddy?" She asked, happy that he was asking for something; in her past experience, foster children usually weren't comfortable asking for many things right away.
"Ummm it's downstairs." He said before he started towards the door, but Stef reached her hand out to stop him before he got there.
"Is everything ok?" She asked, watching him continuously glance at the closet on the other side of the room.
"Yeah. Can you come with me?" He asked again, trying to get her away from the room, but little did he know, she had a pretty good idea that he was not the only child in the room.
"Where's your sister?" Stef asked bending down to the boy's level.
Jesus nervously looked around and then shrugged his shoulders. "I dono. Maybe downstairs." He tried.
Stef raised an eyebrow and chose her words carefully, "You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?" She started. "Because that's not a very good idea. I know you're smart enough to know better."
Slowly, the boy's face dropped and he hung his head. When he didn't respond, Stef continued. "Do you know where your sister is?" She asked and this time Jesus nodded his head slightly.
"Can you look at me, sweetie?" Stef said gently, still squatting at his level as to not to seem threatening. When he finally lifted his gaze Stef smiled and began to talk again. "You don't have to be afraid here in this house. You may get in trouble for disobeying, but you will never by physically punished and you will never be unsafe. Do you think you can trust me that I am telling the truth?"
Jesus looked into her eyes and slowly nodded his head. He had a gut feeling that Stef and Lena were different than most foster parents, but he was still hesitant.
"Good." Stef said with a bigger smile. "Now can you tell me where your sister is?" She asked again and this time, his gaze landed on the closet door. "She's in the closet?" Stef asked with a questioning tone. After he nodded to confirm she cocked her head slightly. "What's she doing in there?" She asked gently.
"Her head hurts." He said quietly.
Stef nodded as she understood why her twins were being so secretive. She had read online that sometimes foster children will hide when they are sick because they don't want to seem like they are a hassle to take care of. Stef smiled sadly and looked at the boy once more. "Thank you for telling me, baby. Do you think you could go downstairs and ask Lena to get you some breakfast while I talk to your sister?" She asked gently with a smile. "I might have some medicine she could take that can help with her headache." She explained.
"Ok" Jesus responded before turning to walk out the door. Before he reached the knob, he suddenly turned around and threw his arms around Stef's waist and gave her a hug.
Stef was taken by surprise but smiled deeply when she felt the boy wrap his arms around her. "Love you, sweetie." She said as she hugged him back.
Once Jesus was out of the room, Stef took a deep breath and made her way over to the closet. She got down on her hands and knees and pushed the door open slightly before peaking her head in slightly. "Mari, love?" She called out, though she didn't expect any sort of answer. She spotted the girl in the far corner and her heart sunk. "I'm gonna come in and sit across from you, ok?" She asked before slowly inching her way into the closet as well.
Once Stef was fully in the closet, she turned her body to face the girl who still had her hands over her ears and her eyes buried in her knees.
"Jesus told me your head was hurting." She stated, trying to get the girl to at least look up from her huddled position. When she didn't see any movement, she decided to continue to talk. "Can you show me where it hurts?"
This time, Stef saw a small hand move and with the little light from the partly opened closet door point to her head, ears and eyes. "Your head, ears and eyes?" Stef stated to make sure she got the correct information and the girl nodded ever so slightly to confirm.
"Oh baby I'm so sorry. Do you get headaches a lot, sweetie?" She asked, knowing they only had limited access to their health background. When she nodded her head slightly again, her heart broke for the girl.
"Ok well how about we get you some medicine to make you feel better?" Stef asked. "And I can stay home with you today and you can sleep." At the silent response, Stef started to move back out of the closet. Once she was halfway out, she extended her hand out to the young girl and gently said "Come on, baby."
Slowly, Mariana picked her head up and reached her own hand out towards Stef.
"That's it. Good job, sweetie. Take your time." She praised as the little girl slowly made her way out of the closet.
"Oh baby." Stef gasped when she was able to see her foster daughter's state. She was a sickly pale color and had beads of sweat on her hairline. "Come here, love." She said, holding her arms out for the girl and praying that she would allow Stef to pick her up.
Before Mariana was able to lift her arms up towards Stef, she threw her hand over her mouth and tried to get up to run to the garbage can, but couldn't find her footing, as she had been crouched in the closet for a half hour. She stumbled and as Stef reached her hands out to catch her, Mariana threw up onto the carpet.
Tears began to flow from the girl's eyes. Partly because she felt so sick, but partly because she just threw up on the carpet and thought she was going to get in trouble.
"Ok. Ok sweetie. You're ok." Stef said as she quickly grabbed the garbage can and brought it to the girl before reaching down and gently picking Mariana up. She carried both the garbage and the girl over to the bed and placed the can on the ground and Mariana on the bed. "Shhh, my sweet girl." Stef cooed as she pushed some sweats strands of hair off of the girl's face and some tears from her cheeks.
Mariana tried putting her hands over her ears, as the light and sound were making her head pound, but she felt another wave of nausea and had to remove her hands in order to lean over the side of the bed and empty the rest of her stomach.
"It's ok. Get all the yuckies out." Stef said as she held Mariana's hair back and rubbed soothing circles on her back.
Once she was done throwing up, Stef gently pushed her head back towards the pillow and put her hand on the girl's forehead to see if she had a fever.
Before Stef could determine whether or not she was warm, Mariana grabbed the blanket and threw it over her head before curling herself into a tiny ball.
Stef smiled sadly but made her way around to the other side of the bed, lifted the covers, and joined the girl. "Feel a little better?" She asked, hoping that after throwing up, she would feel even the slightest bit better.
Mariana didn't respond, and she kept her hands over her ears and her face buried.
A soft knock on the door caused Stef to peak her head out from under the covers and she saw Lena standing in the doorway with a confused look. "What's going on?" She whispered to Stef as the blonde slipped out of the covers and made her way to her wife.
"She was hiding in the closet, with a headache, and when I got her to come out, she began to throw up." She said, glancing at the vomit that was still on the rug by the closet door. "She also told me her eyes and ears were hurting." Stef said as they both thought about what could be the reason.
"Migraine" Lena said suddenly. "My friend used to get them all the time." She explained. "Lights and sounds made her head hurt like crazy and sometimes if it got too much, she would throw up."
Stef nodded her head and looked at the bad, where she could see a small ball shaped figure.
"Ok well I'm gonna stay with her, I'm off anyway so it's no problem. Are the boys ready?" Stef asked, realizing it was almost time for them to leave for school.
Lena looked at her watch and sighed. "I sent them to brush their teeth when I came in here." She explained. "They should be done."
"Ok. You go get to school and I'll stay with our little one. Hopefully get some toast into her and some pedialite." Stef whispered.
"Call me if you need anything." Lena said as she kissed her wife. "And make sure she drinks water. If nothing else, water. Even if she throws it up." Lena said, knowing dehydration was very possible.
"Ok, love."
Lena walked over to the bed and crouched down next to where she thought Mariana's head was. She whispered, "I love you, sweetie. Feel better. Mom is gonna stay with you but I'll come check on you as soon as I get home from work."
Lena stood up and kissed Stef once more before slipping out of the room, closing the door behind her to keep out as much light as possible.
Once Stef heard Lena explaining that Mariana was sick and that Stef was going to stay home with her to the boys and then their voices fading down the stairs, Stef walked back over to Mariana. She knelt down, much like Lena had done earlier and began to whisper to the girl. "My sweet baby girl. We're gonna get you all taken care of, ok?" She said as she pulled the covers off of the girl. She didn't want to hurt her anymore than she was already hurting, but she wanted to get her into the shower and out of the clothes she was in.
"Come here, baby" Stef said, pulling the girl gently out from under the covers. Letting only a small whimper from her lips, Mariana wrapped her small arms around Stef's neck and the mother lifted her off of the bed, placing her own arms protectively around the girl's back. "We're gonna make you feel all better, my sweetie." She said as she stroked the girl's brown hair. Stef smiled when she felt Mariana relax in her arms and rest her head in the crook of Stef's neck.
Stef kissed the girl's forehead, but left her lips lingering there for a few seconds before pulling away and rubbing more circles on her back. "You're ok. You're safe."
Thanks for the reviews and suggestions!