A/N: This fic contains potentially triggering subject matter including but not limited to: suicidal references, gun violence, sexual trauma, homelessness, drug abuse, depression, homophobia, and cancer. It may contain inaccuracies. No copyright infringement intended. Thanks for reading!
BOOK TWO - PART ONE - CHAPTER FORTY
Cat went to Robbie's medicine cabinet and opened the doors just as he was walking up behind her.
"Uh, hey. Looking for something?" he asked curiously.
"Yes. Laxatives. Do you have any?"
Robbie knew this must be for Sam—Cat had never asked him for those before. He decided not to be immature about it and answered her question directly. "Yeah, I do. Is the pill kind okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine, I think," Cat replied.
Robbie reached into the cabinet and pulled out a small box of laxative capsules. "Have her take two. It usually takes a couple hours for me."
"A couple hours?" Cat strongly disliked the idea of Sam being in pain like that for two more whole hours. "Do you have anything that works faster?"
"Well… suppositories usually work in under an hour," Robbie answered, "If that's something she'd be open to."
"What are those?"
"They're like… these little tablets you stick up your butt, and it helps you go," Robbie explained.
"Oh." Cat cringed a little. "I think we'll just wait the two hours. I don't think Sam would be comfortable with that."
Robbie shrugged. "Hey, you could offer. She might, if she's desperate enough. Here." He handed her both the pills and the container of suppositories. "If they don't work, just let me know. There's other… options."
Cat pecked him on the cheek as she rushed past. "Thank you, Robbie."
"Wait." Robbie caught her arm. "Did you see the news? What are you guys gonna do?"
"We're not sure yet. This morning has been crazy. I'll let you know what ends up happening," Cat told him, then hurried back down the stairs, across the house, and into the bedroom. Jade and Tori were sitting on the couch waiting for her, and Cat fumbled to conceal the items she was holding. "Um, just a sec." She rushed into the bathroom without knocking.
Sam was on the toilet, naked, drenched in a cold sweat and clutching her lower stomach with both arms.
"Oh my God, I'm sorry," Cat blurted, turning around to leave.
"Wait." Sam was blushing, but she was in too much pain to care about being seen this way. "It's fine. Did you get the stuff?"
"Mm-hmm." Cat shut the door and put the two items down on the counter. "There's pills and there's suppositories. I wasn't sure which you'd prefer."
"I don't know. I haven't shit since before the surgery, and I feel like my colon's being ripped apart," Sam whimpered.
"Have you been able to go at all yet?" Cat asked.
"No," Sam whined, leaning forward.
"Here." Cat took two pills out of the packaging and handed them to Sam, along with a small cup of water. "Do you want me to sit in here with you while you try to go?"
Sam blushed deeply, but it was strangely reassuring to know that Cat would be willing to do something like that if she needed her to. "No, definitely not. I'll be okay. I'll call for you if I need help."
"Okay. I'll be right outside," Cat assured her, then exited the bathroom. She walked over to where Tori and Jade were sitting. "Um… hey. Sorry about that."
"What's up with Sam?" Jade asked, though she had seen the medicine packaging and already knew.
"Nothing. She's dealing with a private problem. Can we talk about something else, please?" Cat said, and it wasn't a request.
"It's the painkillers, isn't it?" Jade asked knowingly. "It can get pretty bad if you don't drink enough water. Prune juice helps."
Cat blushed. She forced out between clenched teeth, "I said I didn't want to talk about it." She was embarrassed for Sam, and she thought it was rude of Jade to keep drawing attention to it.
"It's no big deal, Cat. I mean, everyone deals with it at some point," Jade shrugged.
Cat looked upset and Tori felt bad. "Jade, she said she didn't want to talk about it; can we please just drop it?" she said exasperatedly. It really wasn't a big deal, but Sam and Cat were a very private couple, and Sam's health problems were an especially touchy subject. Cat had every right not to discuss this with them.
"Whatever. Cat, is Sam gonna be okay on her own for a couple hours? We need to get down to the studio," Jade told her.
"We do?"
"We need to sign all the exit paperwork," Tori explained. "They already scrapped our single."
"Really? There's no way to get a copy of it?" Cat asked disappointedly. She had put a lot of hard work into that.
"Why would we want a copy of it? We didn't finish it," Jade asked in annoyance.
"No, Cat's right," Tori realized, "If we can get our single out there, our fans will know JTC's still together."
"Not a bad idea. But don't you think maybe Cat should release a solo or something first? 'Cause it's not really about JTC—she's the one who everyone's upset at right now," Jade pointed out. Cat had written probably a dozen songs that had never made it onto one of their albums. "Or even an EP?"
"Cat, do you have enough finished songs for an EP?" Tori asked. They only needed four or five.
Cat considered it. "I have at least a few. Maybe we could release JTC's new song as a bonus track on my EP instead of as a single?" She was starting to get excited about the idea. She was finally going to have a chance to speak her truth. "But how are we gonna do all of this without a studio?"
"And how are we gonna get a copy of our song?" Tori added.
"Do we know any hackers? We can break into their system and have someone try to recover it," Jade suggested.
"My friend Dice is really good with computers," Cat told them. "He could probably do it."
"Remotely, or would we have to sneak him into the studio?" Jade questioned. "'Cause that would obviously make things a lot more complicated."
"I'm not sure. I'd have to ask him," Cat admitted. "Should I call him?"
"Probably best to do it before they fully erase everything," Jade remarked. "Yeah, give him a call."
"'Kay 'kay." Cat pulled her phone out and called Dice's number. She waited for a few rings.
Dice picked up after the fourth ring. "Cat? What's up?"
"Come over," Cat told him, leaving no room for argument. "I need you for a… project. Are you busy?"
Dice chuckled. "Uh, no, my schedule's actually pretty open today. What kind of project?"
"You know how to hack into computers, right?" Cat checked.
"Well, it depends on the system's level of encryption, I guess. But I can usually get through, yeah," Dice replied confidently. "Why? Who do you need me to hack?"
Cat hesitated. "It's… complicated. Can you please just come over so we can talk about it?"
Dice sighed. "Alright. Give me, like, half an hour."
"Thanks, Dice. See you soon." Cat hung up. "He's on his way."
Jade nodded and released a breath. "Don't worry, you guys. We'll figure this out. JTC's not dead."
"We'll be fine," Tori agreed. "Now we just need a studio."
"Any suggestions?" Jade asked.
"I have an idea that might work," Cat told them, leading them out into the hallway and to the living room. "You guys wait here while I go find Robbie."
"Robbie?" Jade looked a bit wary.
"Just trust me," Cat insisted, heading for the stairs. "Be right back."