Carole POV

The night after Jonah's funeral I was restless, throwing myself back and forth in my bed and listening towards the room which Leah had borrowed. I heard her doing something, heard her moving and a pencil making the noises towards a paper.

But somewhere in all of that I must have fallen asleep anyway.

I only woke up when there were new sounds coming in between the walls, sounds of snivels and fast breaths.

Sounds of crying, and Ariel whining slightly, I could hear Leah's voice but not loud enough to hear what she was saying.

I quickly got up from my bed away from Burt who stirred slightly in his sleep and then turned on his other side. Fast I made my way across our room and into the silent hallway, I tried to listen through the door to Lex's room but it was silent also there.

"Leah?" I carefully opened the door to the young girl's room and found Ariel lying in her bed. Leah with her head and her hand wrapped and pushed into the thick, white fur of her best friend. And her cheeks wet and swollen when she looked up on me.

"I'm sorry. Ariel only came up by herself."

I looked to the door that laid with her chin towards her front paws, she was moaning slightly as if she said she needed some help. I couldn't have cared less for where Ariel was or wasn't while I made my way over to Leah and laid my hand on her back.

And that was everything it took for Leah to break down, she sat up at first and then leaned into my lap sobbing beyond control.

"Sch, sch, sch." I wanted to say something but couldn't come up with something that sounded just right. "It's alright honey. It's okay. Just try and breathe… Take a deep breath. It's okay."

"No it's not." Leah whimpered into my night gown. "It's never going to be okay without Jonah."

I so badly wanted to have something to answer. Tell her yes, tell her I knew that everything was going to be alright. Tell her that after everything and how strong she was she could make it without her brother.

But I could think of nothing, only kissed the top of her hair slightly and held her as she cried, for an hour, two… Nothing could make it stop and I wasn't going to try it either, if Leah needed to stop crying then she would work it out herself.

Suddenly Burt appeared in the doorway, then Lex in front of him. I didn't want to talk to them with Leah still in my arms and stress her. So I only sent a meaning look to them and didn't move from where I sat with Leah in my arms and Ariel sighing with her chin against her front paws as if she wanted to be part of it too.

"It's okay." I whispered and stroke Ariel's head. "She's going to feel better soon.."

I didn't know if I was right, but I did notice when Leah suddenly stopped crying and sat up.

Pale as a sheet she looked back at me without speaking, but holding her stomach with one hand she suddenly threw the other hand over her mouth and leaped out of the room and out into the hallway.

It wasn't hard to understand what was coming, so I hurried after and shoved my foot in the way when she tried to close it. Not having the time to protest Leah just threw herself across the bathroom and on her knees by the bowl while opening it.

If it had been half a second more Leah would probably have thrown up right on the floor. It would not have bothered me more than the times it had when Finn was little and had the stomach flu. But Leah looked up for half a second in between the heaves and I was pretty sure she was more relieved than I was. Even though her stomach was cramping so badly she couldn't get one single word out…

"It's okay." I rubbed her back with one hand and held back her hand with the other when Leah once again heaved and sour bile dripped from her mouth and into the porcelain bowl under her. "It's okay…" She made a now weird noise and move as if she tried to swallow what was more coming. "No, don't try and swallow it. Just let it out and you'll feel better."

Leah's hands were so tightly clutched around the toilet bowl her knuckles had whitened, and with how little she'd been able to eat the last week her heaving turned into painful dry heaves in between sobbing and quick breaths.

"It's okay." I tried to reassure her. "It's okay. Just breathe honey."

Then at last she breathed in loudly and, then, as if she was pushed over fell on her side towards the bathroom floor without a care of bacteria when I got a cloth and ran it under cold water from the sink.

"Gosh, stomach flu was the only thing missing now."

"I don't think you have the flu now." I told her carefully and laid the cool, wet cloth against her forehead. "All of that crying has just upset your stomach. Are you still nauseas?"

Leah took one moment to hesitate, then swallowed again while shaking her head carefully and then trying to push herself up towards the bathtub.

"You go back to bed, I'll get you a glass of water and then a bucket just in case."

Leah sent me another apologetic glance, and if I could have just wrapped her in my arms and promise her it was okay and she had nothing to be sorry for.

She didn't seem to be in a state where she was in a moment to hear me, so instead I just sent her a smile back before I went into the kitchen where Burt and Lex sat side by side and didn't seem to be able to sleep. Lex sat leaned towards his shoulder and he was tenderly playing with her hair.

"Is she alright?"

Burt asked the question, Lex only looked back at him- she knew the obvious answer. Burt nodded and stirred into his cup of tea- it was probably about to get cold soon.

"You should go to bed, I'll stay with Leah and there's nothing you can do."

As someone else had just done and would do again they just looked back at me while I poured up a glass of water and took the bucket from under the sink.

"Here." I took it upstairs and more or less shoved the glass in Leah's hands. "Wash your mouth and then spit. I'll get another jug of water in case you need it."

"You're such a mum!" Burt said with a smirk while going back to bed. "Can our daughter borrow your bed tonight?"

I loved any time anyone would say that about me being a mum. Especially when it came down to mention Lex as our daughter. Two years ago we hadn't even known her and she was as much of our child as Finn or Kurt.

Returning to Leah's bedroom with a jug of water I filled up the now empty glass. Leah still had tears leaving and running from her eyes, but the worse crying had stopped and at least the sobbing and thankfully the heaving had stopped.

She wasn't asleep and I was pretty sure I wouldn't take a breath before she had at least. She was just staring at me as if there was something she wanted to say but couldn't.

"You do know Leigh, if there's something you want to say or ask me, you don't have to be afraid to tell me. I have a total of three children and… well, I raised one of them- and they all with their very much different personalities and wishes… There's nothing that can surprise me."

Leah didn't say anything. But she was panting and looking at me for several minutes before her eyelids started closing by themselves.

"It's okay now Leah." I rubbed my hand over her cheek and then pushed one carefully away from her sweaty, clammy forehead. "You can sleep now."

Still Leah kept her look at me with brushing her hand through Ariel's fur. If this was what Leah needed then Ariel could stay in the bed and nowhere else.

"Aren't you tired after everything?" Leah nodded slightly. "Well, there's nothing for you to worry about now. Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Leah didn't answer once again and only looked back at me, then she finally let her voice be heard. But so squeaky and quiet I couldn't get it to any words.

"What did you say honey?"

"Sorry. It was just something stupid."

"I'm sure it wasn't stupid. Can you say it again?"

Leah waited for a second and then breathed in in a way that told me about that she was answer. And at last, when Ariel nudged her arm as if to tell her to speak Leah did.

"I just asked.. Will you still be here?"

"When?"

"When I wake up?"

Now that was one of the most innocent questions I had sawn on her that she wanted me to. But it took quite some bravery to actually ask.

"Of course honey. I'm not going anywhere."

And then finally, during the first night after her brother's funeral Leah Carmichael closed her eyes and her breaths turned slower when she fell asleep

Random fact

I hadn't actually planned all of this with Leah getting sick and everything. But then I just started it and I wanted the chapter and it being from Carole's pov and then then this was how it turned out. I hope you liked it.