I'm back. Probly gonna be a double update day. Also... might've broken my foot playing too much v-ball. oops. I love writing this fic.
"Henry… Henry, bud, wake up." Will gently shakes Henry's shoulder and runs his hand quickly through his hair.
"Hmm…" Henry whimpers.
"Hey, I heard you weren't feeling too good." Henry groans. "I'm here to take you home. How about I help you up and we can get you laying down in your bed at home."
"M'kay." Henry sits up with a struggle and Will helps him stand after grabbing his crutches off the floor.
"Hey, thank you for telling someone that you didn't feel good. That is a huge step for you." Will rubs his shoulder once again. "Come on. I've already signed you out." Will leads his foster son to the car and they drive quickly home. Henry falls asleep against the door in the passenger seat but still looks extremely uncomfortable. Will pulls into the garage and debates for a minute whether to let him sleep for a little longer or not. He ultimately comes to the conclusion that Henry would be a lot more comfortable in his bed so he shakes Henry's knee.
"Hen, wake up. We're home." Henry startles awake. "We're home."
"Okay." Henry swallows thickly and they exit the car and make their way into the house.
"Why don't you go get comfy in your room and I can grab the calamine lotion for the hives and the heating pad for your stomach and meet you in there, okay?" Will suggests. Henry nods and begins to head to his room.
Will texts Nico that they made it back home and runs around trying to find the items he had the day prior. He runs to his and Nico's bathroom to find the calamine lotion in the cupboard and the heating pad under the sink. He starts to head to Henry's room but when he gets there, he finds no teenage boy.
"Henry?" He looks around the room in every place he could hide before setting the items on the nightstand and going to search. "Henry?" He walks back down the hallway then hears retching from the bathroom. "Henry?"
Will nudges the door open to find the boy kneeling in front of the toilet with his head practically buried in the porcelain and his hands white knuckling the rim. He heaves forcefully three times more before taking a brief break to breathe then his stomach revolts again.
Will holds the hair off of Henry's forehead and rubs his hand up and down his back in a soothing gesture. Henry finally empties his stomach and falls back into Will's arms, breathing heavily.
The boy starts crying quietly but the wrack of sobs is barely noticeable through his already trembling muscles.
"Hey, hey, hey, you're good. You're doing so good. I know it hurts. I know it hurts, but you would be more comfortable in bed. Do you want to go to bed?" Will asks.
"I'm so tired." Henry whines.
"I know. Let's get you into bed, okay?" Will decides. "Is it okay if I pick you up and carry you?" He wonders.
"Please," Henry agrees. "My ankle hurts." Will nods and picks up Henry in a bridal style carry, hooking his arms under his shoulders and under his knees. He easily carries the boy to his bedroom and lays him down on the bed. "We can put this on later if you want." Will gestures to the calamine lotion. "Right now why don't you get some sleep and we'll see how you feel when you wake up."
"Okay." Henry settles back down and curls around the heating pad that Will gave him. The foster parent stands to draw the blinds and the blackout curtains douse the room in darkness.
"Henry, I'm so proud of you, okay? I need you to know that. I am so proud of you." Will stops in the doorway. "You've made so much progress in the last month, it's not going unnoticed."
— — —
Henry falls asleep quickly but soon wakes up to severe stomach cramps and a coughing fit. It dies down fast once he takes a sip of his water from the nightstand and he lies back down. He looks around the room but panics as he fumbles to place the bottle back on the nightstand.
Henry begins to breathe heavier now that he's registered that he's in complete darkness.
"Oh god. Please no, not again." Henry crawls out of bed quickly and makes the decision to curl up in a ball on the floor between his desk and the wall. "Not again. No, no, no…" He pulls his knees up to his chest and holds them there with his arms while burying his head in his knees.
Flashbacks take over his mind and he starts to tremble at the memory.
"Stop. Stop, it hurts. St-stop. Please. Stop." The man on top of him disregards Henry's requests and continues with what feels like torture to Henry. "Ple-please… Please stop. STOP! IT HURTS!" Henry cries.
"Shut the fuck up and enjoy it!" Sir stops momentarily and reaches over to his side and pulls out a ball and gag. Henry cries harder even though he can't see anything and tries to fight back when the object is forced into his mouth and latched around his head. Sir continues and Henry wants to kill himself to get rid of the agony.
"Stop… stop… it hurts, please… please… stop…" Henry cries quietly. "Sh-shh." He whispers to himself. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shh." He tries to settle down. Will hears some coughing and a struggle so he decided to check it out once he thought Henry was sleeping again so he wouldn't bother him.
"Henry?" Will pushes the door open when he sees no one in the bed. "Henry?"
"Please no. Please. Please. No. I'm sorry. Please don't. It hurt." Henry tucks his knees tighter to his chest.
"Henry." Will flicks on the light and swiftly crosses the room to drop to his knees in front of Henry. "Hen, what's wrong? What's going on?"
"Please don't. No. Don't. Please. Stop. I said no." Henry trembles in fear.
"Henry, it's Will, I'm not gonna hurt you." Will tells him. "Tell me what's wrong. I can try to help."
"W-who?" Henry starts to break free of the flashback.
"Will. Will Solace-di Angelo. You've been staying here with me and my husband, Nico. He's your ASL teacher. You came home early from school today and I'm assuming you just woke up from your nap since you didn't feel good." Will explains.
"Will? A-are you gonna tou-touch me?" Henry asks in the smallest voice possible.
"Um, only if you want me to. If you're uncomfortable with it then I won't." Will assures him.
"Are you lying?" Henry asks.
"No. I don't have a lying bone in my body. Ask Nico, I'm terrible at it." Will chuckles. That earns an exhale that's supposed to be a laugh from the boy. Henry sticks out his hand and Will takes it to put on his chest to help regulate his breathing.
Henry takes the first deep breath he'd taken since he woke up. His chest starts to relieve pressure and it feels slightly easier to inhale. He musters up the courage to release tension on his legs and he straightens his right leg out in front of him.
"You're doing good Henry. Nice, deep breaths." Will encourages him. Henry takes that and straightens his left leg slowly after so that he can finally inhale fully and let his chest expand.
"Good. Are you feeling better? Do you wanna talk about it?" Will asks, rubbing circles on Henry's knuckle with his thumb.
"I-I don't want to." Henry says quickly. "Ca-can I go back to bed?"
"Sure. Let's get you back over there." Will helps Henry up carefully and gets him back in bed. Henry lays down and resumes his fetal position with the heating pad cradled over his stomach. Will asks if he needs anything more but he can barely register that he's still awake and in his room. The foster parent turns off the light and starts to shut the door but Henry snaps back to the present.
"Wait. Please don't shut the door. C-can I turn on the lamp?" He asks, small flutters of hope flying around his chest.
"Sure. Here," Will walks back into the room and turns on the lamp for him. "There we go. Leave that on as long as you need. If you want a light for at night that isn't as bright, we can get you one, you just have to let us know." Henry nods and Will leaves the room for real this time.
He picks up his phone soon after though, and calls Nico.
"Hey, what's up? How's Hen?" Nico answers.
"He's… I don't know. Getting back to bed right now. He took a nap right after we got home and he threw up. He woke up and I found him having a panic attack in the corner next to his desk." Will explains.
"Oo, oh no. Did he tell you what it was about? Does he need anything?" Nico starts to grow more concerned.
"I think he's fine for right now. If you want, you could pick him up a treat or something. Oh, wait, the reason I called you was to pick up some more of those lights that turn on at night and sit low on the floorboards, the same ones we have in our room." Will suddenly remembers.
"Okay, I'll pick those up on my way home in about an hour. Do you need anything else?"
"No, we should be good. I'll text you if I think of anything else." Will says. "I love you, see you soon."
"Love you too. See you later." Nico hangs up the phone.
— — —
Sally grabs the soup that she'd made for Henry off the counter where she put it and heads downstairs to the car then makes her way to the Solace-di Angelo's. She pulls into their driveway and quickly gathers her things so that she can ring the doorbell. Sally juggles the container of soup, her purse, her keys, and the beverages she bought.
"Hey mom, come in." Nico welcomes her in and he takes the Gatorades from her.
"Hi honey, how's Henry doing?" She sets the soup on the counter and Nico places the drinks in the fridge.
"Better I think. He's sleeping it off now and hopefully will be better when he wakes up." Nico tells her.
"Good, good. When I got your call I felt so bad, I just wish he wasn't so scared to tell me. I would've changed plans, it wouldn't've hurt my feelings or anything. I brought over soup because he's sick and I had no idea what to do." Sally says.
"Soup will probably be good for him. Should be pretty easy on his stomach." Nico says.
"I hope so. Paul and Estelle wanted to come over to make sure he was okay but I didn't think he would like that." Sally states.
"I'm sure not." Nico agrees. Will walks into the kitchen at the very end of the conversation.
"Hey, oh… Sally, hi. I didn't know you were coming over." Will sits down on the island next to his husband.
"I'm so sorry, I barely gave you guys a heads up. I told Nico I was coming to bring over some soup and Gatorade for Henry since obviously his stomach isn't feeling too good." Sally explains.
"Oh okay, that sounds good. He's still sleeping, and I think he'll be out for a little while longer, he was pretty exhausted when we got home." Will says.
"You can stay if you want, but I don't think he'll wake up any time soon based on what Will said, and we don't really have any plans for the rest of the day." Nico tells his mom.
"I think I'm going to head home and start making supper, and maybe run a couple of errands on the way back." Sally says as she grabs her purse and keys off the counter. "Please call me when Henry wakes up, and tell me how he's feeling. I'll see you both on Sunday." Sally kisses Nico on the forehead, and he returns with a kiss on the cheek as always. Mrs. Blofis then moves to Will to give him a motherly hug.