Len felt a touch on his shoulder. He looked up to see Rin staring down at him, worried. She grabbed his hand and held it gently, squeezing it to show affection. Len sat up and leaned against her, too tired to stand, but wanting to be with his sister. Rin knelt down next to him and gave him a hug. Their mom sighed at the whole scene and waited by the door for a while to give them some time to be with each other. She knew very well how close the twins were to each other. She knew that Rin could do things that medicine couldn't. After a while of watching them hug, she walked over to Len and put her hand on his back. He groaned, knowing he'd have to get up. His mom put her arm under his legs and around his waist and lifted him up slowly. She didn't want to jostle him around too much, fearing it would make him feel worse.
Len rested his head against his mother's chest, more tired than ever. He groaned when she set him down in the car, putting his hand on his neck. His muscles were stiff and sore. He tried going back to the position he was in before, but the motion hurt worse and once he had lied his head down on the back of the seat, it was a searing pain. He wondered if he had slept on it wrong.
The ride to the hospital was torture. With every bump in the road his body moved, hurting his neck. He groaned and tried not lying with his head down, but he was too tired for that. Rin frowned while she watched him. She unbuckled her seat belt at a stop light and moved seats to the one right next to him rather than the front seat. She had chosen the front because she thought he might want some space to lie down, but he just looked so uncomfortable back there by himself. She carefully lied his head down in her lap and stroked his hair as they drove, shushing him and whispering comforting words to calm him down. He still felt the movement, but it was less than before now that he had Rin to rest his head on.
When they got to the hospital, Rin helped Len sit up first before getting out of the car. Len felt his neck crack and winced. He hated that noise, not to mention it hurt a lot. Rin grabbed his hand and helped him out, then wrapped her arm around his shoulder to aid him in walking. They made it to the door when Len put his hand on his stomach and sighed knowingly. He tugged on his mom's sleeve to get her attention. She looked at him and asked what he needed.
"I have to use the restroom again," he mumbled, embarrassed. Their mom hurried them inside and looked around for a bathroom. When she didn't find one, she told Rin to stay with Len by the chairs, telling her not to have him sit down, because he may not stand back up again since he's so tired, and asked the lady at the reception where the rest room was.
"There's one around the corner to the right, third door," she replied. She noticed the twins behind her and changed her mind. "Ah, the men's room is the fourth door." Their mom thanked her and went back to get her son to the restroom as quickly as she could.
Len took less time than before, which was good, maybe he was getting better. He came out looking very pale though. His face seemed to be drained of all color. His mom kissed his forehead, frowning when her lips touched the burning skin and she held his hand as they walked back into the waiting room. They sat down and waited for a doctor to come assist them. Len tried to lay his head down in his sister's lap again, but the chairs had arm rests that made it just about impossible. Rin scooted closer and leaned over so he could put his head on her shoulder, but they were still a little far apart for that. Len put his hand on his stomach and closed his eyes, leaning forward a bit. His mom took the hint and searched for a trash can. But like the search for the bathroom, she found none. She grew worried as she looked at him, his face becoming even more pale that before, if that was even possible. A doctor smiled at them and walked over to them. Relief came over her as he shook her hand.
"Hi, I'm Doctor Phillips, am I seeing this young man over here?" He looked at Len, who still had his hand over his stomach and a pained look on his face. He nodded, wincing as the motion burned in his neck. Doctor Philips knelt down in front of him and looked up at him. Len tried to stay calm as he talked to him.
"How are you feeling?" the doctor asked. Len frowned and spoke in the loudest voice he could muster, which was but a small whisper despite his efforts.
"Not good," he said, pressing his hand into his stomach. His belly grumbled loudly, and he held it tighter, growing more pale.
"Does your tummy hurt?" Doctor Phillips asked, pressing his hand to Len's forehead. Len nodded, feeling the crack in his neck again. He winced. The doctor noticed this and thought to himself. He thought he might know what's wrong with him. He began asking questions, despite the fact that he was supposed to wheel the kid to a room and not do this in the lobby. "Have you been having diarrhea?" Len flushed red. He hated talking about it, or even mentioning the word. He slowly nodded, not looking at the doctor. Dr. Phillips noticed his discomfort and put his hand on his arm saying, "Hey, don't be embarrassed. I've heard it all before, it's nothing new to me. There's not a thing you could do to surprise me." He smiled warmly. Len sort of returned the smile, feeling a little more comfortable with it. I mean, he is a doctor. The doctor isn't going to judge you for your symptoms. Len quickly lost his smile, however. He leaned forward more, holding his stomach tighter and seething. Doctor Phillips stood up and put his hand on his back to help support him, looking around for a nurse as he did so. He saw Shelby and made eye contact with her. She started walking over when he signaled her to get a wheel chair. She nodded and turned back grab one. Once she turned the corner, he focused his attention back on Len, who seemed a little bit flustered. He saw his sister also put her hand on his stomach and was rubbing it for him. He gasped and looked at Dr. Phillips from where he stood in front of him, still hunched over. He frowned apologetically.
"Any nausea? Vomiting?" he asked, though he thought he might know the answer. And he got his answer soon enough.
Len heaved and barfed all over the doctor's shoes and the bottom of his pants. The doctor waited for him to finish before helping him stand and motioning for Shelby to help him into the wheel chair. He looked at the doctor with sad eyes and tried to say sorry, but his voice just wouldn't let him. Shelby wheeled him into a room and they waited for the doctor to come back, this time wearing different scrubs and shoes. Len had gained a bit of strength from resting while the doctor was gone and had the voice to apologize to the doctor for throwing up on him. Dr. Phillips was quick to forgive him. He sort of noticed he looked pale in the first place, it was his fault for not moving. Len still stared at the floor in shame.
"By any chance, have you eaten any dairy products by the company Tasty Treats?" Len looked confused. He never paid much attention to brand names, he just ate what his mom bought. But she luckily did pay attention.
"Ah, yes, we bought an ice cream cake from them for his birthday a few weeks ago," she informed the doctor, putting her hand on Len's shoulder. The doctor sighed and ran a finger through his hair. Len became worried.
"Well, we've been having a bunch of people coming in here complaining of abdominal pain, fever, muscle aches, and other like symptoms," he explained. "We believe there's been a listeria outbreak in that company from their dairy products. In your case, I believe it is from the ice cream in the cake." Len's mother frowned and rubbed Len's back, feeling sorry for her poor baby. She felt somewhat responsible for his pain, since she was the one who bought the cake for him.
"So he has food poisoning?" she asked. The doctor sighed again.
"It's a possibility," he said. "He may not have it, but I highly doubt it, since he ate food from that company. I'd like to take a blood test just in case though." The doctor got out the piece of rubber and asked Len to hold out his arm. He did so and held out his left arm. The doctor tied it around his arm by the elbow and found a vein, then swabbed his arm with disinfectant and inserted the needle, taking out the amount of blood he needed, then quickly put a cotton swab on it and a band aid over that.
"You may experience a bit of bruising where I put the needle, don't worry, that's totally normal," he explained to Len, who seemed a little shaken up. He must be afraid of needles.
Len's mother talked to Dr. Phillips as he worked. "So is there anything we can do to help him?" she asked. She didn't want him to suffer.
"Well, there's antibiotics that he can take and that'll help him heal up," he replied. "But I can't prescribe them unless I know he has it." She frowned and kept rubbing his back.
Len's eyelids drooped and he had trouble focusing on what was going on. He was really tired and wanted to go back to bed. Rin wrapped her arm around his waist, pulling him closer to her. He laid his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes, slowly falling asleep. Their mother noticed how tired he was and paused in talking to the doctor, just watching them. They were always so close. It seemed like nothing could pull them apart. Rin didn't mind that her brother was sick, in fact, she's trying to make him feel better. She tried to take care of him. She didn't stay away from him, she wanted to be closer than ever. It was so sweet to watch her be his nurse. Their mother smiled at them as Rin slowly kissed the top of his head and stroked his hair.
"Can we get him any over the counter medicine to help with the symptoms?" she asked Dr. Phillips in a soft voice, trying not to wake him.
"Try things like pepto bismol, tylenol, that sort of thing. But not too much, there are certain things in tylenol and other medicines like it that can hurt you if you overdose. Be very careful," he answered. She nodded and noted that. Dr. Phillips said he would contact them when the blood test results came in and wished that Len would be feeling better soon. Their mother smiled at him and thanked him.
Shelby came in with the wheel chair and offered to wheel him out to the car so he didn't have to wake up. Rin was hesitant, but agreed. She'd rather carry him.
When they got to the car, Rin helped him in and let him lay his head in her lap on the ride home again. He was asleep most of the way. But before they got home, he woke up feeling very ill. He sat up slowly with his hands over his stomach, hunching forward. Rin put her hand on his back and told Mom he looked like he would be sick. She pulled over and opened his door, helping him out of the car. She walked him to the side of the road where he proceeded to vomit once again. His mom rubbed his back patiently. She made a mental note to drive to the store once they were home and he was settled and in bed to get some ginger ale and leave Rin in charge of him. She trusted her to take good care of him, and he needed liquids in his system or he would get dehydrated fast.
He was done after a few minutes, but stayed hunched over with his hands on his stomach. His stomach gurgled and groaned. He burped a few times from the nausea, almost throwing up again. His mom pat his back some more, feeling sorry for him. He clutched his stomach tightly as it gurgled again.
"I have to use the restroom," he told her, in an almost panicked voice. He did not want to evacuate his bowels on the side of the road. His mom quickly grabbed a few tissues, wiped his face, then got him back in the car as quickly as she could and started driving. Len was too uncomfortable to lie down again. He needed to go badly. His family didn't necessarily mind when he let out some wind, since they knew he wasn't really in any position to use his manners and was in a lot of pain. Rin rubbed his back again and tried to relax him. He was in too much pain to be relaxed though.
They made it home just in time and Len burst into the bathroom immediately. Rin waited at the kitchen table for him to come out. Their mother decided to talk to her then.
"I'm going to run to the store to pick up some medicine and ginger ale and rice crackers, will you watch him while I'm gone?" she asked. Rin quickly nodded, wanting to help him out as much as possible. Her mom smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "Thank you so much, I'll be back as soon as I can, alright? Be good and help him out if he needs anything. I love you, I'll be back soon."
"Bye!" Rin shouted to her mother as the door closed. She decided to get Len a more comfortable place to sleep on the couch and dug out the old humidifier from the back of the closet as well as filling up a water bottle with hot water for him to hold on his stomach to make him feel a little better. She got some soft pillows and grabbed the thick duvet off of her bed and lied it on top on his blanket that was already on the couch, that way he didn't have to lay on the leather, which didn't have good temperature control. She was almost finished setting up when she heard her name being called. She rushed to the bathroom to see what he needed. The door was partially open, so she pushed on it and poked her head in, not bothered by the smell. Len was in the assumed position for using the toilet, well, the position for if you have a stomach ache anyway; hunched over with your arms around your stomach, chin above, on, or between your knees. Rin wondered what was wrong before she realized what had happened. She wondered why she didn't hear it. Len had thrown up on himself while he was using the restroom. She sighed and grabbed a few paper towels and began cleaning him up. It wouldn't be long before their mom returned home. She just needed to last a little over a half an hour. She nodded to herself. She could do it.