Chapter One-Hundred and Twelve

Claire woke in the middle of the night to John's quiet moans of pain, slowly crawling out of her bed to check on him. She knocked on his door, knowing how much he valued his privacy and how he liked to have a warning that someone was coming inside. She pushed the door open, looking at John's body as he curled into the fetal position with Clarissa pressing a cool cloth to his head. "What's wrong?" She asked, crawling onto the bed beside John and taking over trying to cool his temperature.

Clarissa breathed a sigh, pressing her hand between John's abdomen and his thighs that were tucked tight to his body. "It's bad…" She stated, feeling how the soft portion of his stomach tightened with every strained breath and whimper of pain. "I'm not sure what caused it though."

Claire nodded, watching as his face screwed up in pain. "Maybe if we got some heat on him that would help." She brushed her fingers through his hair, trying to coax him back to sleep.

"He's too hot… and I'm afraid to use anymore heat on him." She motioned to the heating pad on the foot of his bed, moving her hand to let Claire see the red skin of his stomach. "I don't want it to burn him."

"Did you try the peppermint tea?" She asked, knowing that usually helped with his stomach issues.

"I couldn't get him to drink it…" Clarissa lifted the cup of tea; the drink having gone ice cold. "I'm wondering if it might be something more serious than we think…"

John gave a short cry as he felt something burn inside of him. "Hurts…" He croaked, his hands moving lower on his hips as the burning moved toward his groin. "Burns…"

Clarissa's brow furrowed, placing her hands on either side of his body and pressing her fingers into his stomach, finding a small hard circle just above where his bladder was placed. "I found it. It's a kidney stone." She forced him to sit up, looping his arm over her shoulder as she led him to the bathroom. "Let's see if we can get you to pass it."

John groaned, relieved that she was helping him to the bathroom so that he could at least take a piss. Though he knew it would burn and hurt like hell. He stopped at the toilet, pulling his sweatpants down as Clarissa filled a glass of water to try and get more fluid into him to make him pee more and pass the stone faster. He took the chance to relieve himself, his face screwing up in pain as his insides burned as the stone moved. "Fuck…." He breathed, yelping as a sharp pain burned before he was able to finish peeing.

Clarissa opened her eyes as he finished, smiling at the little black stone in the toilet relieved that he'd passed it without needing to be knocked out and taken to a urologist to have it taken care of. "That's it."

John leaned his head on her shoulder, letting her guide him back to bed as he sipped on the glass of water, she'd given him. "Hurt…"

She nodded, taking the glass from him and tucking him into the bed beside Claire as her daughter snuggled up to him. "I know baby… I used to get them a lot. Especially when I was pregnant with Claire and was craving those Tums acid reducers."

Claire shushed her, pointing to John's sleeping form as he began to snore. "Did he pass it?" She asked, kissing his neck as his arm twitched as a reaction from whatever he was dreaming about.

Clarissa nodded, touching John's stomach again to see if there were any others that she might be able to feel. "Yeah… he did." She kissed their heads, turning John's lamp out as she headed back to bed. "You going to sleep in here?" She asked, yawning as her daughter shook her head.

"I'll keep an eye on him." Claire smiled, resting her head on John's chest as she began to dose off. "I'll come get you if anything weird happens."

Clarissa stretched her arms over her head, turning down the hall back to she and Thomas's room. "Goodnight."