Max was woken up by the bad pains in his stomach, he wasn't nauseous per say, but he did feel like dying… still. He rolled over, realizing he was sharing a bed with Gwen, which made him feel just a little awkward. He stared at the roof and tried to not make any noise as he felt his insides ripping to shreds and the waves of nausea wash over him. He knew he wouldn't make it till morning, it was only 2 am, but he didn't want to wake anyone up either. Max... being Max, rolled over and tried to ignore everything. He felt tears fill his eyes, but you thought wrong if you thought he was gonna let them fall. Fuck. Max spent a good half hour trying to not cry from pain until he couldn't take it anymore. He had to wake someone up.
"Gwen?" he lightly shook her.
Gwen stirred in her bed.
"Gweeeennn"
She hummed in response and turned towards Max, "What do you want?" She was half asleep, her words barely understandable.
"My stomach hurts"
"Rate one to ten..."
Max groaned and rolled his eyes, "uh, I don't know… seven point three?"
"You fucking little shit. UGH" Gwen got up and threw a shoe at David, "David, Wake up"
David jumped out of bed in surprise, he looked around and saw Gwen sitting on the edge of the bed and Max beside her, "What? Is he dying?"
"Nah, but we should probably take this shit to the doctor before he does."
"WHAT?" Max looked up to Gwen, "I don't wanna go to a stupid doctor, I'll be fine, I'm better now, see." Max lied through his teeth as he got back into bed.
"Considering you woke me up at 2 am, you are not fine" Gwen got up, put on a jacket and grabbed the keys to the car, "Come on, let's go. Put some shoes on."
Max looked over to David who was getting back into bed, "What, you're just gonna let her rob me?"
"She's not robbing you, Max… She's being a responsible adult and taking you to see a doctor. Besides we can't leave the camp unattended... " David covered himself with the blankets and smiled, "So, I'm staying here."
Max got back into Gwen's bed, "No."
Gwen rolled her eyes and walked over to Max, "Are you serious?" She smirked, "Is little Max scared of the doctors?" She chuckled and picked Max up
Max didn't have the energy to protest. "No. Shut the fuck up. Also, Put me down."
"Well, the fact that you aren't squirming around means your subconscious is trying to tell you something." She made her way towards the door.
"Good Job Gwen, that psychology degree wasn't as useless as you thought," Max spoke in a sarcastic tone and had a small smirk on his face.
"You still manage to be a little shit…" She opened the door and called back out to David, "I'll give you a call when we get there"
"Can't call him if he doesn't have his-"
"Max, give David his phone back."
"You see, I would… but… remember how you washed my sweater? Yeah… you also washed the phone."
"Goddammit, Max." She turned to David, "David, keep the Walkie Talkies we never use it for some reason with you, I'm gonna take one." She grabbed one and managed to place it on her pants. She went outside and unlocked the car. She put Max into the car and shut the door. She quickly ran back to lock the door and got in the car.
"This is very unnecessary." Max looked out the window and watched as Camp got further and further away. "I don't need to see a doctor... I'm tired."
Gwen looked back at Max and rolled her eyes. She kept driving until they reached the doctor's office. They sat in a comfortable silence.
Once they reached the office, They walked inside. Max was hesitant, he never liked doctors. They scared him a bit. Gwen told him to sit down while she signed him in, leaving max to take in his surroundings. As soon as she finished the paperwork, she sat down next to Max. There was no one in the waiting room, considering it was like 3 am, but it was a 24-hour clinic and it's the closest they have to medical attention. Gwen looked over to Max who was fidgeting in his seat. Something very out of character.
"So, either you're scared of this place, or you're about to shit yourself… which is it?"
"Shut up"
"Scared it is."
Max was about to make a snarky comeback, but the nurse called his name. They walked into a small room and waited for the doctor to come in.
"This is unnecessary..."
"Yeah, you said that already." Gwen took a notepad out of her pocket and began doodling, sitting down in a chair next to the doctors' table.
Max looked around at the room. He noticed the whitish-yellow walls, a computer screen with an image of a stethoscope and some books. It looked like your average clinic. Max never really liked going to doctor offices, he never really knew why… maybe kids just didn't like going in general.
The doctor walked in, she was pretty. "Hey, my name is-"
Gwen looked up and screamed, "ANDREA? IS THAT YOU?"
"Gwen?" She looked at Gwen and couldn't believe her eyes, "OH MY GOODNESS! IT'S BEEN SO FREAKING LONG!" She went over and hugged Gwen
"Oh look, Gwen, someone who put their degrees to work…." Max rolled his eyes and watched as the two girls relished in each others presence.
Gwen looked over at Max and flicked his forehead, "Shut up."
"Make me"
Andrea walked over to Max, "And this must be Max… What bring you guys in? Also, I didn't know you had a kid, when did this happen?"
"Max isn't mine" she awkwardly chuckled, "You know I'm not one for kids, I kinda hate them, and this one… he is most definitely not mine...just here because I don't want to lose my job."
Max listened as Gwen tried to tell her long lost friend she hated him and was forced to bring Max here… He already knew he wasn't wanted, not by his parents, and apparently not by Gwen, "We get it, I'm not yours, can we get on with this bullshit so we can leave?" Max sounded more irritated than he intended to be.
Andrea looked over at Max and smiled, "yeah, that's a good idea, so… What seems to be the problem?" She sat down on the small wheel stool chair thing and rolled over to Max.
"I'm dying."
"Max, you aren't dying…" Gwen rolled her eyes and explained the situation to Andrea, Max just sat there and watched. Occasionally she would turn towards him and inspect him, and turn back to Gwen.
"Okay, it sounds like a common stomach bug, what did you eat?"
Max took a moment to think about it and shrugged, "I have no idea, I don't know what we eat half the time."
"Hmmmmm, interesting. Does it hurt right now?"
"Nope, but I can guarantee that as soon as I leave this shit hole it'll start hurting again, cuz that's what always happens."
Gwen turned towards Andrea, "Is there anything I can give him? Like, to calm the pain down? Because like he said, it doesn't happen continuously, it's periodically."
"you see, that's what is concerning me, it's not supposed to happen periodically, Max sweetie, can you describe the pain?"
"Don't call me that, and it's like I'm being stabbed from the inside out, except, instead of dying like I would have liked, I'm alive and I can feel it and I don't like it… Can we leave now? I'm fucking tired." Max yawned and stretched to emphasize his point but that was a mistake. The pain he was describing came back and it took Max by surprise. "fuck." He doubled over and squeezed his eyes shut.
Andrea looked over at Max and wrote down Something on her notes. "Okay, yeah, I wanna take a look because this isn't a stomach bug. How long are you guys willing to stay here?"
"depends on-"
"Shut up, Max," she looked at the doctor, "don't worry we have time" Gwen glared at Max and smiled at Andrea.
Andrea chucked and walked closer to Max," okay, Max, do me a favor and open your mouth please." Andrea got closer and took a look inside his mouth, she noticed his throat looked irritated, which was concerning because who knows what his esophagus looked like, "does your throat hurt?"
Max shook his head, "No, it just feels like I'm being stabbed over and over and over"
She nodded and grabbed a swab, "Okay, I'm going to steal some cells from you now." She took a sample of cells from his cheek and placed it in a small bag.
Max looked at her, "Are you gonna do one of Neil's stupid science shit where he looks under the microscope?"
Andrea laughed, "Ehh, I have no idea who that is but if we are talking what about the swab, in a way, yes, but my way is wayyy better." She gave Max a small smile and left the room, "I'll be right back"
Max was left alone in the room with Gwen, who went back to doodling. Max looked over to her and felt stupid. He felt for thinking Gwen actually cared, he felt ridiculous for letting himself grow fond of her. It was bullshit. Seeing Gwen dismiss Max like he was nothing hurt. He knew he didn't have a place to begin with….
"Max? You okay? You seem lost in thought." Gwen sounded concerned but didn't take her eyes off of her sketchpad.
Max didn't answer.
A few minutes went by and the doctor came back, "okay so… I ran some test and apparently… You have some acidic component that is eating away at your stomach lining. That's why it feels like you're being stabbed. No worries though because the acid found isn't that harmful, it's like those that you can find in your basic mouthwash, so you'll be fine. I am gonna give you some buffers and antibiotics to help your stomach get better."
Gwen looked over at the doctor and furrowed her eyebrows. "so wait… He-"
"I ate acid?" Max was confusion. He needed explain. "Wow… Just as I thought... the camp IS trying to kill me."
"What?" Gwen looked over at Max and then grabbed the prescribed pills, "okay thank you, Andrea, I'll keep you updated and sorry for having you wake up so early."
Andrea smiled, "oh no, it's no problem at all! Take care Gwen, it was nice seeing you again, and take care of your son please, make sure he doesn't eat acid or something."
"He isn't my kid and yeah no I have no idea how this happened but thanks"
Max and Gwen walked out of the room and into the lobby, Gwen quickly paid and they went towards their car. "alright… Let's go back to camp."
"I hope it burned down..."
"Goddammit, Max."
A/N: I know I know, I'm late. Shhhhh. So I've kinda been slacking with updating this story... which is why I'm taking not one, not three, but a two-week break! I'm super busy with applications and this stupid Senior Exit Project and as much as I want to write and upload... I can't find the time to... don't worry tho, The story is almost done and as soon as these two weeks go by... I'll be back to normal I promise! Reviews and comments are welcomed and I will see you all in Two Weeks! YAY!