Matilda stood in front of Mr. Larson, nervously stepping from foot to foot despite the pain in her stomach. The laxative had done nothing but give her cramps. She had tried to go several times before they left for school, but Matilda was able to produce nothing but small amounts of gas.
"Well that wasn't very smart of you, was it, child genius?" He had the note Miss Honey had written out explaining her situation. Matilda clenched her hands into fists by her sides. "You should have waited until the weekend to flush your system, not midweek when you know you can't leave class. And why was this written by your former teacher?"
"She's my mom." Matilda said through clenched teeth.
"So that's why you had so much special treatment." He sneered, making Matilda begin to see red. "Well a note from mommy isn't going to fly either. Come back with a doctor's note if it's so bad."
Matilda was silently growling now. It was so unfair! She spotted the coffee sitting on his desk. If he wanted to be so petty, then she would be too! She focused her eyes and commanded in her head for the cup to tip over. It wobbled a bit before crashing down as a satisfying wave of brown liquid coated his desk. She let out her held breath and walked to her seat as Mr. Larson scrambled to clean up the mess.
When Matilda took her seat, she turned her head to find Hortensia smirking at her.
"I know what you did." She whispered.
"He made me mad." Matilda muttered. She wasn't in the mood to play innocent. She was worried the laxative would kick in at the most in opportune time possible, even if the cramping had stopped an hour ago. Her stunt had bought them all an extra ten minutes, as Mr. Larson ran back and forth with paper towels while he grumbled about his cheap, uneven desk.
"I told you he's a dick." Hortensia whispered. Matilda nodded her head in agreement, now feeling a tad guilty about not taking her serious before. She had always assumed Hortensia had deserved whatever punishment she was given, minus the chokey of course. While he was nothing compared to the Trunchbull, he was even farther from the kind woman she had grown accustomed to who cared deeply for each of her students.
Maybe there was once a time Mr. Larson enjoyed teaching, but as the day went on, Matilda was convinced he had lost whatever passion he had for it long ago. He droned on in a bored voice that made Matilda feel sleepy.
It was an hour and a half before lunch when one of her fears came to fruition. While it wasn't the worst case scenario, she found her full bladder to be increasingly painful. Matilda tried shifted her weight, focusing on her textbook, and even daydreaming about what she could do to him with her powers when realization dawned that she wasn't going to win this round. The blockage was putting too much pressure on her bladder, and vice versa. The longer she tried to hold it, the more pain she was in and the more obvious she was making her situation.
"Wormwood, sit up and sit still!" Mr. Larson barked. Matilda flinched and instinctively obeyed, but as soon as she did, her body had thrown in the white towel. She tried desperately to act natural as she felt the pull-up under her growing warm and expanding. A mixture of disgust and relief intertwined inside her as the excess pressure eased away.
"That's cheating. Suffer like the rest of us." Hortensia whispered. Matilda could feel her face begin to glow bright red. Hortensia snickered. "I was just joking, but the look on your face says all. Have fun sitting in it until lunch."
If there was one thing Matilda hated more than having to use a pull-up, it was having to sit in it afterwards. She took her frustrations out on Mr. Larson, inconveniencing him in any little way she could manage. If he threw a crumpled up piece of paper towards the trashcan, Matilda would make sure he would miss, if he set anything on his desk, she'd knock it over.
"Someone's feeling a little feisty today, I like it." Hortensia said once they had been dismissed for lunch.
Matilda shrugged and picked up her backpack. The only thing on her mind now was changing. She was almost to the door when she heard Mr. Larson's grating voice.
"Wormwood, backpacks stay in the classroom." Matilda sucked in a breath of air.
"I need something out of it." She said.
"Then take what you need and leave your backpack here."
"It's personal." She said through clenched teeth. There was no way she was going to carry a pull-up around class and down the hall like it was nothing.
"What, don't tell me you're on your period." He said sarcastically.
Matilda bit her cheek in annoyance before dropping her bag back at her desk. She opened it and stared at what she needed. She didn't even have a sweater to hide it in. Matilda zipped up her backpack and put it back under her seat. She'd have to go without and hope she didn't have another accident today.
Once in the bathroom stall, she got to work trying to clean herself up. She wished she had a wet wipe instead of the cheap, single sheets of school toilet paper. She looked down at her dress. It was going to feel weird going without underwear. Maybe she should stay inside in case it gets windy.
"Yo, runt, that you?" Hortensia called out.
"Yes." Matilda grumbled. She heard footsteps approaching her stall door before a hand slid under the bottom holding… oh no! She yanked the pull-up out of Hortensia's hand. "Did you pull that out of my backpack? Did anyone see you?"
"No one saw, relax. I put it under my shirt when no one was looking."
Matilda was about to snap at her for going through her things, but stopped. She looked at the pull-up. She really did need it. "Thanks." She bent over to try and put it on, but groaned in pain. How was she going to get this on? After stumbling, banging into the wall and dropping the pull-up several times, she groaned in frustration. "I can't do it!"
"Sorry, my help stops at delivery." Hortensia said. "I'm not diapering you."
"I wasn't asking you to." Matilda said. She sat on the toilet and tried to catch her breath, feeling weak and dizzy from not eating. Even sitting down, she couldn't reach far enough. Now what was she going to do?
"I'll be right back." Hortensia called.
Now what was she up to? Matilda sat, feeling angry and frustrated. She was tired of being in pain, and she was tired of dealing with one adult after another who treated kids like trash. Matilda froze when she heard the door open again.
"I brought reinforcements." Hortensia called.
"Sweetie, is everything okay? Hortensia said you needed my help with something." Miss Honey's voice called out.
"Hortensia!" Matilda groaned. "It's nothing, mo- Miss Honey." Matilda sighed, this really was what she needed, she'd better not send her away. "I can't get a new thing on. My stomach hurts too much to bend over."
"Can you open the door?"
Matilda slowly got to her feet and unlatched the door.
"Dear, you look awful." Miss Honey said. "Why are you so out of breath? And you're all sweaty."
"From trying to get it on." Matilda mumbled.
"Come on out, let's go somewhere with more space. Where is it?" Matilda pointed to a corner in the stall.
"Sorry, I dropped it and couldn't pick it back up."
"It's all right, I got it. Let's go in the big stall, and I'll help you." Miss Honey ushered her in and closed the door behind them. She bent down and held the pull-up open. "Can you step in?" Matilda did, and Miss Honey hoisted it up her legs for her. "There, all done."
"Thank you." Matilda mumbled.
"Matilda, did you have an accident during class?" She asked softly. "What about the note? Did you not give it to him?"
"I did, but-" Matilda hung her head.
"He was a total dick to her. I saw." Hortensia called out. Matilda could see Miss Honey's naturally gentle expression begin to harden.
"How so?" She called back out. Matilda winced as Hortensia filled her in. Miss Honey let out an angry sort of huff, before her expression softened again. "Was it from the laxative?" she whispered.
"No, it just hurt too much to hold, I'm sorry. It wasn't on purpose."
"Sweetie, You don't have to apologize. I know it wasn't on purpose. I'm concerned because the medicine from last night didn't work like we expected." Miss Honey sighed. "I'm sorry, Matilda, but I need to take you into the doctor today."
"What? No! I'll be fine!" Matilda insisted, unlatching the stall door and stepping out.
"Matilda," Miss Honey said softly. "Something's wrong, you couldn't even put on a pull-up by yourself. I need to get you checked out."
"You do look like shit." Hortensia chimed in.
"Language." Miss Honey said, but her eyes never left Matilda's face. "Let's go talk to Mr. Trilby and see if I can leave early."
"Can't we give it another day and try the medicine again tonight?"
"Honey, you look like you're about to collapse at any moment. You're not eating, you can hardly move, in fact here," Matilda whimpered in pain as Miss Honey picked her up, but rested her head against Miss Honey's shoulder as her mom walked down the hall.
Matilda couldn't help but tense when she saw Mr. Larson coming up the opposite way. She was about to ask Miss Honey to put her down, but he had already spotted them.
"Miss Wormwood, what do you think you're doing? You should be in the cafeteria, you can't just run to your mommy every break."
Matilda could feel Miss Honey tighten her grip around her.
"She's sick."
"That's no excuse, Miss Honey, we have rules in this school. Maybe if you hadn't coddled her in your class she'd adapt quicker."
Matilda could feel herself practically getting squeezed now. It was as if Jenny was afraid he would pluck the girl from her arms.
"I'm taking her to the doctor, she can hardly move. And I wasn't coddling her, do you really expect someone with her intellect to sit there and listen to me teach the class their Abc's when she can already do long division in her head? And what's this I hear about you not honoring my note?" Miss Honey said, her tone growing lower and more dangerous.
Mr. Larson scoffed. "Who gives a child a laxative on a school night? Why couldn't you wait until the weekend? Or how about waiting until after school to take her to the doctor? Do you always set such a poor example? Don't you have a class to teach? Shirking your responsibilities for the whims of one child." He shook his head.
"Wait until after school?" Miss Honey's voice was rising now. "For all I know, her god-damn appendix is going to burst!" Matilda whimpered. Her appendix? She hadn't even thought of it being anything serious! And wow! She'd rarely ever heard Jenny swear before and never at a teacher! "My responsibilities are to her first, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to Mr. Trilby's office, telling him I'm leaving, and then we are going to get on a bus and go to the hospital."
"There's no need." A voice said from behind them. Matilda could feel Jenny tense as she slowly turned to find Mr. Trilby standing there. "I'll give you a ride."
…
"Thank you, sir." Miss Honey said. "I'm sorry for all the commotion, that really wasn't like me and-"
"We'll talk about it later." Mr. Trilby said as he pulled into the hospital parking lot. "I hope everything is well."
"Me too." Miss Honey said quietly, before collecting Matilda from the back seat and carrying her inside.
…
"Well, the good news is her appendix is just fine. " the doctor said. "There's no sign of a fever or infection, and the ultrasound came back normal."
They both let out their held breath. Matilda had spent the entire ultrasound looking at the screen trying to tell if anything looked like it was going to blow.
"So it really is just trapped gas?" Miss Honey asked.
"Well, no, it's not that either."
"Then what is it?" Miss Honey asked.
"It's nothing serious, she's just constipated. It's common in young children, especially if they've been through anything stressful recently. Usually, I'd just send her home with recommendations on dietary changes, things like eat more fiber, drink more water, and suggest an over the counter laxative."
"Oh, I'm so relieved." Miss Honey said. Matilda winced. Why had he said "usually"?
"In her case though, I don't like a few things here. One being the fact that she hasn't been able to eat, and two, how distended her belly is." He lifted Matilda's gown and pointed out the raised areas.
"She's not going to need surgery, is she?" Miss Honey asked.
"Oh no, no nothing like that, but we are going to help her get all that nasty stuff out of her system before she leaves. A nurse is going to come and perform a simple irrigation of her bowels."
"No!" Matilda nearly shouted. "Not that, please!" She made herself into a ball despite the pain and hugged her knees.
"But, Matilda, sweetheart, once it's over you're going to feel a lot better." Miss Honey stood up and began to gently rub circles on Matilda's back.
"You promised!" Matilda said, whose voice now cracked with sobs. "You promised they wouldn't!"
"Sweetie, when did I promise that?" Miss Honey asked gently.
"Last night!" Matilda choked out. Miss Honey thought back to their conversation and cringed with realization.
"Oh, Matilda, I thought you were talking about that test with the camera. I didn't realize you were referring to this."
"Please, don't let them." Matilda begged. Miss Honey bit her lip. She had never seen Matilda like this, and it broke her heart.
"Is there any other option?" Miss Honey asked. "Something less…invasive?"
"I mean, I could recommend over the counter laxatives, but that would take several days to clear the entire thing, and to be honest, I wouldn't feel right sending her home like this. This really is the fastest and safest method."
Miss Honey pinched her eyes closed before stroking Matilda's head. "I'm sorry, baby, but it needs to be done." she whispered before nodding her approval to the doctor. She would have normally taken Matilda's wishes into more consideration, but it was clear she wasn't acting herself. "It'll be okay, sweetie, it will! You've been through so much worse than this." Matilda didn't say anything. "Compared to everything else, this is nothing." Jenny whispered as she continued to stroke her back. "And I'll be with you the whole time, okay?" She smiled as she saw Matilda slowly nod her head. "There's my brave girl. It'll all be over soon."
"Do you think she'd be able to make it to the bathroom in time?" A nurse asked, wheeling in an IV pole with a bag and tubing attached.
"Probably not."
"That's alright, It's a little far from here for this anyway." Miss Honey had noticed that too. Matilda would be a wreck if she had an accident out in the hall. She shuddered to think what her powers might do. "Unfortunately, the bathroom isn't a sterile environment, otherwise we'd do it there. It would make our jobs much easier." Miss Honey watched as she fiddled with the equipment, before donning a fresh pair of gloves. "Alright, Matilda, are you ready?" Matilda shook her head and whimpered.
Miss Honey walked to the other side of the bed, and took a seat, so she was now face to face with the terrified girl, before scooting up as close as possible. "Give me your hand. It's alright, you can get through this." Matilda reached over and grabbed onto Jenny's outstretched hand and squeezed. "That's it."
The small girl let out a loud whimper and grimaced.
"You're doing good." The nurse said. Jenny's eyes shifted from the bag as it slowly began to empty and back to the trembling girl's tear streaked face. "Now you're going to feel the need to go right away, but I want you to try and hold it for at least five minutes." Matilda clutched her stomach and let out a panicked sounding moan. "The bag's almost empty, you're doing great."
"Mommy!" Matilda began to cry. "I can't!"
"Yes you can. I'm right here, just keep squeezing my hand." Miss Honey said. Gone was the overly mature child genius and in its place laid the trembling and terrified five-year-old girl. Jenny watched as sweat began to mix with the child's tears.
"You did it, it's all gone. I just need you to hold it in a little while longer." the nurse said, removing the cord.
"I can't!" Matilda cried. She was writhing and twisting on the bed, and judging by the smell, some of the concoction had already begun to leak out. Jenny's heart ached. No wonder she didn't want to do this.
"You're halfway there, sweetie. Just a little bit longer." Jenny said. She looked around the room. Where exactly were they going to have her release it? She was going to blow any minute. Jenny met eyes with the nurse with the stopwatch before noticing someone coming in with a familiar looking plastic object. Oh, Matilda wasn't going to like this, Jenny thought as she took in the moaning girl on the bed. Then again, she might not even care at this point.
Jenny watched as the second person lifted Matilda's gown, which was now clearly soiled and stained. "Let's just take this off you, actually." He quickly untied the strings and threw it in the laundry hamper, before rolling Matilda onto the bed pan.
"One more minute. You can do it."
"I-I can't!"
Jenny watched the clock in the corner of the room. 50 more seconds. 45 seconds. 40 seconds. But when the clock hit 37 seconds, Matilda's body said, "no more" and began to release.
"It's alright, that's close enough." the nurse said. "You did good, kid."
"That's it, you're doing great." Jenny said, giving Matilda's hand a squeeze. "It'll all be over soon, just let it all out." But it was clear to Miss Honey, and anyone within a 20 yard radius, that Matilda couldn't have stopped it even if she wanted to.
"How are you doing there, mom? You're looking a little green."
"I-I'm okay." Miss Honey said, fighting the urge to gag. She had seen more than she ought to have when they had switched out the pans and the smell was nearly unbearable. How had all that come out of such a small girl? No wonder her stomach had hurt.
"Feel free to step out into the hall if you need to for some fresh air. These clean outs are never pretty. Some of these have even turned our more seasoned veteran's stomach's to putty. One older gentleman we had insisted he could make it to the bathroom, only made it halfway, and one of our orderlies slipped in it and fell."
"Oof." Miss Honey groaned, that story had done nothing to help her stomach.
"But seriously, the worst is over now." Jenny looked down at Matilda, who laid out on the bed looking shell shocked and exhausted. The episodes were coming further and further apart now.
"I think I will get some air, thank you." Jenny said. She stood up to leave, but found Matilda's hand still gripping hers tightly.
"Please don't go." Matilda mumbled.
Jenny immediately sat back down and clasped Matilda's hand in both of hers. "I'll stay as long as you need me to." She pressed Matilda's hand to her lips and gave it a kiss.
Once things had all calmed down and Matilda had fallen asleep, Jenny turned when she heard one of the nurses speak to her.
"I noticed she was wearing a pull-up when she came in. Has she been having trouble with toilet training?" Miss Honey shook her head.
"Bed wetting mostly, and some issues at school. Her new teacher is…" Miss Honey clenched her fists and made a frustrated grunting sound. "He doesn't let students use the bathroom during class."
"What kind of teacher doesn't let first year children use the bathroom? Does he really expect them to hold it?"
"She recently transferred to year five, and he won't make an exception to the rules for her. Her body just isn't developed enough to compare to the older children. I don't know what he's thinking."
"Year five?" The nurse asked wide-eyed. Miss Honey smiled and nodded. "She should actually be in year seven, but I'm not ready for her to leave the school I teach at. I want to keep her close just a little while longer."
"What school is that?"
"Crunchem Hall."
The nurse's eyes went wide. "You haven't heard? They haven't announced it yet?"
"Announced what?"
"My husbands a member of the education board. They've been trying for years to build a secondary school in that lot across from it, but that headmistress kept refusing. She was out voted last month. They haven't decided if it will be a separate school, or an addition to Crunchem Hall, but if it is, you'd be able to have her there with you all the way to year 13."
It was the first Jenny had heard of this. Could she really watch over Matilda until she was done with mandatory education? At the rate she learned and absorbed information, she'd be done and off to university before she was even ten. They'd cross that bridge when they came to it. "That would be wonderful."
"And not to change the subject, but you might see an improvement with the bed-wetting now. The impacted stool could have been putting pressure on the bladder. It's another common symptom."
Could it really be so simple?
"But this has been going on for months."
"That blockage didn't form overnight either."
Could this really not be my fault, Jenny wondered. Was it possible it was nothing overly complicated as a psychic connection after all, but just run-of-the-mill constipation?
"Last month she was sick with the stomach bug. Wouldn't that have cleared a blockage though? The bed-wetting has been going on long before then."
"It's possible it went around, but I'm just speculating."
"I certainly hope that's all this was. She's very self-conscious about it."
…
"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that." Miss Honey said, hugging the girl in her lap to her chest as they rode the bus back towards home. It was clear Matilda was still cross with her over the whole situation. The diaper Miss Honey had requested in case another episode struck while on the bus wasn't helping either. "I bet you feel much better though." She kissed the top of the girl's head.
Matilda grumbled something Jenny couldn't quite catch, but didn't try to pull away. After another twenty minutes, she was sitting sideways, with her arms wrapped around Jenny's stomach and her head resting on her chest while Jenny stroked her back.
"You did so well in there. I'm so proud of you." Miss Honey whispered in her ear. "How about we stop at the store on the way home and pick up some ice cream?" Matilda grunted into Jenny's shirt. "So you don't want any ice cream?"
Matilda pulled her head away a few inches. "I didn't say that."
…
After dinner, ice cream, and a long soak in the tub, Matilda climbed into bed without bothering to put on a nightshirt and turned off her bedside lamp.
"You don't want to read tonight?" Miss Honey asked. Matilda shook her head. She was too exhausted. "Should we just go to sleep then?" Matilda nodded before she noticed Jenny doing something out of character. She eyed Miss Honey out of the corner of her eye as she began to undress for bed, something she had always done in the privacy of the bathroom. Instead of putting on one of her nightgowns, she slipped under the covers next to Matilda and gave her a shy sort of uncomfortable smile. "Do you want to cuddle for a bit?" Matilda did. Very much so.
"I hate it." Matilda mumbled, now spread out and relaxed in Jenny's arms.
"This?" Miss Honey asked confused.
"Mr. Larson's class." Jenny sighed. The kids hadn't been exaggerating. He really was, a, a- well, that thing they had drawn.
"Well, now you have all the necessary doctor's notes, and I have a meeting with Mr. Trilby first thing in the morning."
"Us?" Matilda asked.
Jenny sighed again. "No, me and Mr. Trilby. He set it up. I think I'm in trouble for leaving, but you know what, I'd do it all over again." She squeezed Matilda tight. "But you better believe I'm going to give him an earful about that teacher of yours."
Matilda smiled in the darkness as she felt Jenny's chest rise and fall with every breath. Miss Honey sure had come a long way.