Every night this week had ended the same way, with Barry laying on the couch with stomach cramps after dinner and Iris massaging his belly. For the past month Barry's digestive system had been on the fritz. When he mentioned it to Caitlin two weeks ago, she ran some tests and took some blood, the end result showing no serious heath issues. He was just constipated.
"Sometimes", she said, "when you're feeling stressed or anxious this type of thing can happen."
See, Iris was almost eight months pregnant with twins, and although Barry was excited, he was also nervous and stressed about becoming a dad.
Caitlin had him lay down and lift his shirt over his stomach. She gently massaged his stomach until he felt the urge to use the bathroom, which he did, and he felt much better after, but it hurt as the hard stool worked its way out of him, so he hadn't forced himself to finish. So three days later he was back in the medical bed again while Caitlin got to work on his cramping stomach. He had to eat a lot of food every day to keep up with his metabolism, so the more he remained constipated, the worse his stomach felt. He was so bad off this time that Caitlin decided he was going to need more help than just a stomach massage. Barry was extremely embarrassed when he saw the box of suppositories in her hand, he wanted to tell her he didn't need it, but the truth was he did, and the idea of being able to poop without pain and feeling better after outweighed the embarrassment he was feeling right now.
It was quick. Caitlin had him pull his underwear away from his butt and spread his legs and before he could blink, she had gently pushed the small capsule into his rectum. He pulled his underwear back on, and while they waited for the suppository to work she massaged his stomach. This time when he started to feel the urge to poop she hadn't allowed him to run to the bathroom because the instructions for the medication called for the patient to hold the medicine in their rectum for at least fifteen minutes. Barry's stomach was rumbling, Caitlin could feel his muscles tighten under her hand, she knew he was ready to to have a bowel movement now, and hopefully this time he could evacuate fully without too much pain.
"I can't hold it.", he said urgently.
She stopped rubbing. It had been more than fifteen minutes now. "Go ahead.", she said
He couldn't get to the bathroom out of earshot this time, he would have never made it, even with his speed, so he quickly went into the one that was only about ten feet away.
The cramps were bad now. He sat on the toilet and started to push a little bit, his rectum urging him to do so, but all that came out was liquid, the medicine he figured. He pushed again, the cramps getting worse by the second. More liquid started to come out, which was followed by gas, and even more liquid. He could feel the hard stool trying to move inside of him. Finally with another push a hard piece of stool started to push through. It didn't hurt like it had last time as it made it's journey from his rectum to the toilet, the medicine Caitlin gave him must have lubricated him he figured, because it felt just as hard now as it did then.
"Cramps!", he breathed out with another push, both of his hands on his belly. This time it was a much bigger piece of hard stool working its way down. He grabbed his stomach and clenched, trying to help the stool move. He let out an unintentional audible cry. Between the cramps and the hard stool working to break free, he could hardly breath.
"Barry?", Caitlin knocked. "I have something that will help."
He pushed again, his body in charge now, loose stool dripping down over the hard stool this time, the hard stool still coming slowly.
"I'm going to come in and leave a bottle by the sink. Do you want to try it."
"Yes.", he said softly.
"It's magnesium citrate.", she placed the bottle on the sink.
"Drink it Barr." It doesn't taste good, but it will loosten you up and it works fast."
He stopped the unproductive pushing, wiped quickly, flushed, pulled up his pants, and washed his hands. He was so constipated, his stomach cramped, and his rectum hurt. He opened the bottle, held his nose, and swallowed it down as quickly as he could without throwing up from the taste.
"It could take about thirty minutes.", Caitlin advised. Barry sat dow next to the sink with both arms wrapped around his stomach.
It couldn't have been more than ten minutes when the medicine started to work. Barry got up and ran into the stall. Caitlin must have heard him run because she called to him asking if he was ok, but he didn't have to answer, she heard him moan and then she heard the poop he had been straining to get out hit the water.
Barry sighed in relief. He rubbed his stomach and pushed, more of the backed up stool started to evacuate his bowls. It was much softer then what had just come out. His stomach muscles and rectum working to keep the flow moving. More and more soft stool falling into the toilet. It felt so good as he continued to go. His stomach urged him to push again, so he did, and then a flood of diarrhea started.
Barry moaned, it felt so good to be ridding his body of all this waist finally.
"I'll be in the cortex when you're done Barr."
He moaned again as a large amount of diarrhea burst out of him.
Caitlin hadn't expected him to answer her, she could only imagine how much pain he must have been in.
The cramping was almost gone, but he could feel that there was still a lot more to come out. He cleaned himself up, stood up and flushed the toilet three times. It emptied just in time. His stomach letting him know he was right, he wasn't done yet. He sat back down, he didn't have to push this time, as another large amount of diarrhea shot out of him. He closed his eyes, his hand massaging his belly slowly while more and more diarrhea hit the toilet. Each time his body feeling more and more relief.
When it finally ended he felt drained and kind of sick, but his stomach felt one hundred times better than it had in weeks.
"Your gonna have the runs tonight.", Caitlin said sadly. You have to stay hydrated and you have to eat. I was hoping we wouldn't have to use that laxative, but I'm glad it worked so well."
Barry understood, he was so happy to have gotten it all out of his system the idea of feeling a little bit sick tonight didn't bother him.
The first thing Barry did when he got home was head to the bathroom. The diarrhea wasn't as copious as it was earlier, but it was still coming out like water. His stomach felt so empty now, he really did feel kind of sick, the way one might feel after a bought with a stomach virus. Iris was home now, she had stopped working last week. She had been napping when Barry arrived, so when she woke up to the sound of sickness coming from the bathroom she started to panic. Barry didn't get sick since the lightning bolt, so who the hell was in her bathroom. Before she could react the toilet flushed, the water ran for a few seconds, the door opened and Barry walked out. The first thing she noticed was that he looked extremely pale.
"Barr!"
He smiled at her the best he could.
Iris placed her hand on the bed next to her "Come here babe."
Barry sat down. It was obvious that he wasn't feeling well.
"You're sick?", Iris asked concerned. Until this moment he had managed to hide his stomach issues from Iris, but now there was no way he could continue to do so.
"No."
"Yes."
"Kind of.", he answered.
Iris was confused. "You're warm Barry.", she said feeling his forehead. "What's going on?"
"I've been having issues with constipation, and Caitlin helped me out tonight.", he blushed.
"She gave you a laxative?"
"A suppository first, but it didn't work like it should have, so then she gave me a strong laxative."
He put his hand on his stomach. "I was pretty backed up."
"My poor baby.", Iris said moving her hand through his hair.
"I have to go again., he moaned" He stood up quickly and headed into the bathroom.
He sat on the toilet and moaned as the diarrhea started to flow. Iris sat and listened horrified. Not because he had diarrhea, but because he sounded really sick and it was scaring her.
When he came out this time he sat back down and leaned into her arms. "I need to try and hydrate, but I feel dizzy right now." Iris rubbed his head and his cheek. She had been pretty tired the past few days, but her health had been terrific. Luckily she was capable of taking care of Barry, because he looked like he felt really lousy right now.
"Lay down Barr. I'll be right back."
Iris sent Caitlin a text so she could fully understand the current situation. She didn't know how she could have missed it. He must have had intense stomach cramps the past few days. That was Barry though, never concerned about himself until there was no way around it. He had been waiting on her hand and foot lately. It didn't matter that he hadn't felt well.
Barry was laying down when she got back to the room. His forearm over his eyes and his other hand on his stomach.
Iris took a seat next to him. "Sit up Barr."
Once he did she handed him a glass filled with pedialyte. They had it in the house from when she had morning sickness, she was thankful they hadn't given it away.
"You're dehydrated babe, sip slow or it may come right back up." He did as she said. Once he finished the glass, he actually did feel a little bit better.
Iris took the glass and placed it on a dresser, Then she got up on the bed and laid down next to him. "Nap before dinner?", she asked rubbing his cheek.
"Sounds good to me.", his stomach feeling calm now. Barry cuddled into Iris's arms, quickly falling into a deep sleep. Iris wondered if he hadn't been sleeping well due to his stomach issues. She gently kissed the top of his head. They both slept for almost two hours. Barry had to use the bathroom right away when he woke up. He still had diarrhea, but not quite as bad.
They went downstairs, he knew Iris was starving, and he knew he had to eat, but before he started dinner he poured himself another glass of pedialyte. Halfway through his dinner he had to go back to the bathroom, but after another bought of diarrhea he went back to the table and continued eating. He needed to have food in his stomach, and thankfully most of it stayed with him.
Things went well for him the following week. His digestive system returned to functioning normally and he felt healthy again.
Fast Forward seven days.
Monday night Iris had what the doctor called, "false labor pains." It must have effected Barry much more than he admitted because he hadn't been able to really poop since Monday afternoon.
Caitlin had explained to Iris how to massage his stomach in hopes that he wouldn't need to put his body through taking a laxative again.
So now, every night, Iris spent close to an hour massaging his stomach. The effort helped give Barry the urge to go, but it was painful and he could never completely finish. So tonight, four days later, he had decided to take the laxative again, but this time at home. He drank it slower tonight and it hadn't taken immediate effect the way it did last time. Hoping to get it working as fast as possible, Iris was lightly rubbing his stomach.
The medicine was taking much longer to get him moving this time. He wondered why, since he was way more backed up the last time he used it then he was now. His stomach started gurgling. He felt bloated and gassy now. He closed his eyes as Iris continued to rub.
"You ok babe?", Iris asked concerned.
He wanted to lie, he really did, but lying wasn't going to get him anywhere, it never did.
"My stomach feels sick and it hurts.", he replied honestly. Iris looked at him sadly. She had been trying to get him to talk about his fears and concerns. Hoping that if he talked about them this may not keep happening to him, but he said he didn't really know what was bothering him, and that he just felt anxious.
Iris felt and heard a loud gurgling sound and then she felt his stomach muscles clench. Barry sat up quickly. "Finally.", he said before he flashed to the bathroom.
He sat on the toilet, gas escaping first, hands wrapped around his stomach again. He pushed hard trying to get the bowel movement started. He knew once it did it would continue on without much effort on his part. The cramps were really bad again, so much so that he let out an audible cry. Only Iris wasn't Caitlin, Iris was his wife, the woman who loved and cared deeply for him. She didn't knock when she got to the bathroom door, she just opened it and walked in. Barry was on the toilet, bent over in pain, sweat on his forehead and bare chest while he desperately tried to get his bowels to move.
She stood next to him moving his sweaty bangs out of his eyes. He wanted to be horrified at having her there, but he wasn't. His stomach gurgled loudly, he grasped his belly and pushed. Iris heard as the first burst of poop landed in the toilet. She rubbed over his back. She could tell he was in a terrible amount of pain. Barry let out another cry when more of his hard stool broke through. He had told her how painful it had been when Caitlin gave him the suppository to try and get things started, but she never pictured it being this bad. Sweat was pouring down his cheek, his face was beat red and his arms clung tightly around his stomach.
" I know it hurts, but you have to breath baby."
He took a breath and pushed again, more hard stool pushing through. The suppository Caitlin gave him the other day must have softened him up, because going now was much more painful then it had been last time he had taken the laxative. The softer poop he had experienced was non-existent this time.
He wanted to stop going now, it was too painful to continue, but the laxative wasn't going to allow for that. His stomach and rectum were working together, urging him to keep pushing. Iris stood right next to him, rubbing his back, wishing she could take the pain away. She watched as his stomach clenched tightly I get his arms as he pushed, sounds of pain escaping his mouth. Iris had tears in her eyes, seeing him in so much pain made her heart hurt. A long hard stool started to pass. Barry pulled his head into his arms close to his stomach. Being constipated was painful for a normal person, but for Barry, the pain must have been excruciating. It was difficult for her with her belly, but she had to do something, so she kneeled down, placing her free hand on top of his on his stomach.
"Breath Barry."
He took a breath and quickly pushed again. She heard the stool hit the water and she felt his stomach muscles start to relax. Barry let out a sigh of relief. Iris carefully stood up. She moved her fingers through Barry's hair as he worked to catch his breath. He laid his sweaty head on her belly, put his hand on his stomach and pushed slightly, opening the flood gates. He moaned at the feeling as his bowels started the process of evacuation. Iris held and rubbed the back of his head. "There you go baby." He stomach urged him to push again, this time producing a copious violent spurt of diarrhea.
"How's the pain Barr?" He picked his head up and wiped his eyes with his hand. "I still have bad stomach cramps, but it doesn't hurting to go anymore. His stomach continued to work diligently now forcing him to keep pushing as the diarrhea continued.
Iris wasn't leaving and he didn't want her too, he felt better just having her there.
When the diarrhea let up Iris quickly flushed for him, she could tell this had taken a lot out of him again. He looked pale and sick now.
He rubbed gently over his stomach, his Stomach still urging him to push, the diarrhea still coming out in quick sickly bursts.
"We can't let this happen to you again baby."
He laid his head on her big belly again.
"I know.", he said softly
She felt his forehead he was really warm."
"I think you're dehydrated again Barr."
Luckily the cramps were almost gone now and his stomach was starting to relax.
"I'm gonna clean up. "I'll meet you in the kitchen Iris."
"No Barr. Go lay down, I'll bring you something to help you hydrate." He agreed, and as soon as Iris left the bathroom he did what he had to do and then headed to the bedroom.
He laid down, he felt really sick again, and his butt hurt a lot worse then it did last time.
He knew he had to come clean with Iris. He had to tell her his fears involved with his children being born. It was obvious that his feelings could not be muted, doing so was making him physically sick. For now though, he closed his eyes, and rubbed gently over his sore belly.
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