Chapter 3

The next morning 2-D went to wake Noodle and get her up for school. He knocked on her door.

"Noodle love? Time for school. Rise and shine!"

There was no reply. 2-D found this baffling. Noodle was always up for school by now, he nudged open the door and peeked in. Before going in he covered his eyes and asked "Are you descent?" he didn't want to scare her. He opened his eyes and saw she wasn't there.

"Noodle?" He questioned. Needless to say there was no reply.

"Maybe she's in the bathroom." He thought to himself.

He walked out of Noodles room closing the door behind him. He turned on his heel and headed towards the bathroom. He knocked twice before entering. As he opened the door, it hit something on the other side. He looked through the gap and screamed. Noodle was lying on the floor. She had dry blood on her face and around her eyes. She looked as though she had been beaten. 2-D screamed again, louder this time.

"What is it man?" Russel asked.

2-D was stood, frozen by the bathroom door.

"Noodles in there." He stammered.

"You mean you've just seen her naked and she hit you?" Russel laughed jokingly.

"Look for yourself." 2-D grabbed Russel and held his head to the gap.

"Oh man." Russel groaned. "This isn't good."

Rather than bashing Noodle with the door Russel tore it straight off its hinges. Both men ran in, 2-D stood above her shaking. Russel knelt on the floor next to her and put a hand on her forehead. She was stone cold. Her face more pale than usual.

"How long do you reckon she's been here?"

"All night I'd guess D. She's still wearing what she wore to the party."

"Is she drugged?" 2-D shuddered at the thought.

"I don't think so; we need to bring her round. Pass me some water."

2-D filled up a nearby jug with water and handed it to Russel silently. Russel dipped his fingers in the water and began flicking Noodle with little splashes of water. 2-D sat on the floor and held her hand. He shivered. She was freezing. Several minutes later Noodle let out a weak cough. She groaned and tried to lift her head.

"Where am I?" She muttered weakly.

"You're in the bathroom baby girl."

"Why am I here Russel-san?"

I don't know Noods, you tell me."

Russel picked her up and carried her down stairs.

"No school for you today." Russ said as he laid Noodle on the sofa.

"OWW!" Noodle yelped. Grasping her stomach, tears began falling down her face.

"What the hell's up with her?" Murdoc rudely sneered.

"We don't know muds, 2-D found her unconscious on the bathroom floor."

"Whatever."

"You could be a bit more considerate muds, she's not well." 2-D braved, stroking Noodles face and wiping her eyes.

"Shut it face ache or you'll be the one who's unconscious!"

2-D cowered and took all his attention to Noodle. She was still crying and staring at the wall in the distance. Dried blood around her eyes and streaked in her hair. It was then 2-D noticed she wasn't wearing any panties. He kept this to himself as he didn't think it would be any use to mention it and he didn't want to embarrass her.

He went to grab her hand but she batted it away. This confused him greatly. He may only be simple in the head but he knew something was really wrong with Noodle. She loved him and would never object to a hug or him holding her hand. He looked at her face; she was looking straight through him.

"Here you go baby-girl."

Russel put a glass of water on the table next to the sofa and two painkillers. This reminded 2-D of his headache.

He'd had no time for self pity this morning and had forgotten about his own issues inside his head. Noodle looked at the painkillers and sighed. She couldn't tell them what had happened; the guy in the park had her mobile and her address. He could come after her, possibly kill her. 2-D pulled her upper body up.

"Here you go love." He said solemnly, positioning the painkillers in her hands.

"Thank you 2-D-san."

She swallowed the painkillers and downed the water in one go. The painkillers could take away the pain in her stomach but they couldn't get rid of the horrible memories in her head. She sat right up and tucked her legs up to her stomach; she could hear Murdoc and Russel fighting in the kitchen. She couldn't tell them, they wouldn't understand. The gorgeous aroma of pancakes filled the TV. room. Noodles stomach groaned.

"You hungry darling?"

"Yeh."

The truth was she felt empty inside, not even Russel's delicious pancakes could make that feeling go away.

Russel came into the TV room carrying a tray two foot high of pancakes.

"Here you go guys, just try and eat something Noods. Ok?"

"Yes Russel-san."

The pair began tearing away at the stack eating noisily. Noodle suddenly stopped, without warning she puked all over herself. Her eyes wide, she was shaking violently- uncontrollably.

"Noodle?" 2-D sat and stared in shock.

Her eyes went white and she fell onto the floor still shaking violently.

"NOODLE!" 2-D screamed and burst into tears.

"What's that racket?" Murdoc grumbled running into the TV room.

"Bloody hell!" Murdoc stood in the doorway, his eyes fixed upon Noodle who was still shaking violently, her face ghostly pale, eyes white.

"LARDS! GET IN HERE NOW!"

Russel leapt down the stairs and raced into the room.

"Oh man, this aint good at all. She's having a fit."

The two guys stared at him with blank expressions.

"So what do we do?" 2-D stammered, choking on his tears.

Without answering Russel moved the table and pushed the sofa back. He told the others to stand back; he turned to Noodle who was still convulsing on the floor. He walked slowly up to her and put her in the recovery position.

"If she's still doing that in five minutes we gotta call an ambulance."

"Shit, this is scary."

2-D and Russel stared at the Satanist. It was an odd remark even for him. All eyes then fell back to Noodle.

She'd stopped shaking, but was deathly pale. Her eyes were open, and still white. Russel knelt down next to her. He waved his hand slowly in front of her eyes. They didn't move.

"She's not conscious guys."

Gently, he moved her over onto her side and put her back into the recovery position.

"We need to find out what happened last night. This shouldn't happen; she seems to be hiding something from us."

Murdoc and 2-D sat down on the sofa in silence. They weren't entirely stupid, they knew Russel was right.

Ten minutes slowly passed before Noodle finally came round. The guys just sat on the sofa keeping a close eye on her. She tried to get up; a fiery pain in her abdomen stopped her. She let out a muffled sob. The guys tensed, they thought she was having another fit. 2-D slid off the sofa and sat next to her on the floor. He wrapped his arms around her around sat her up. She winced in pain. Spots were starting to appear in front of her eyes.

"2-D-san, I'm going dizzy." She slurred, clutching 2-D's shirt for support. He picked her up and sat her on the sofa in between Murdoc and Russel.

"What just happened?"

"Trust me Noods; I think it's best if you didn't know."

She sighed.

"I'm scared." She mumbled, tucking her legs up to her chest.

"It's all right now love, do you want to go for a lie down?"

"Yeh, I still don't feel normal."

"Noodle sweetheart, you never were normal!" Murdoc laughed at his own joke.

"Very funny Muds. You're well harsh."

2-D scooped up Noodle in his arms and carried her up to her room. She was very light for a sixteen year old, very skinny too. When he got to Noodles room he sat her on the bed and began rummaging for some nightclothes. After rescuing a nightshirt from Mike's basket he turned round and began to undress her. After all, he'd seen it all before. He undid Noodles jacket and was shocked to find that she wasn't wearing a t shirt. He knew she wasn't wearing a bra because he saw her get dressed last night. He suggested she go bra-less with a strapless top. He looked into her eyes and was about to question why no panties or t shirt, he saw that absent look on her face. She seemed to be on a different planet. He quickly put on the nightshirt and found her a clean pair of panties.

He lay next to her in silence. Why is she like this? He thought to himself.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

"A bucket would be a good idea 2-D-san, I think I'm going to puke again."

2-D ran down the hall as fast as he could, grabbed a bucket and dashed back to Noodle's room. He gave it to her just in time. 2-D shuddered at the horrible sound coming out of Noodle's mouth. When she'd finished he wiped her mouth and cleaned out the bucket.

"Bye love."

2-D kissed Noodle on the forehead and left the room in silence. She was left alone.