Crystalline Heart

Chapter Nine: Instinct

Hope hadn't heard anyone get up, but from somewhere upstairs, she heard a terrible, violent coughing. She looked up, bleary-eyed from exhaustion and lack of sleep, and realized that Blue was missing from the other end of the couch. Dream and Ink were still fast asleep on the floor—they'd all decided to sleep in the living room after Hope's panic attack since staying with her in her room felt too invasive. Anxious, she slipped off the sofa with a thin fleece blanket over her shoulders and crept up the stairs. Don't let them hear your steps, stay quiet, you'll be safe.

The sound was replaced with quiet groans. Silently, she followed the sound down the hallway towards the bathroom door. Hope paused. Why was she up here? She'd get in trouble, she knew she would. Nobody wanted to be bothered this late—or early—so she should just... leave, right?

And yet... she couldn't. She was too worried, and she couldn't leave him alone after hearing that dreadful sound.

"Oh, stars," she heard him gasp. That did it. Hope knocked.

"H-Huh...? Who is it...?"

Something was wrong. His voice was exhausted and hoarse, as if he'd spent the last several hours yelling at someone. It didn't sound like that earlier in the evening. Was he sick? It would explain the coughing for sure, but he didn't even show any sign of malaise before everyone fell asleep.

She tapped the door twice.

"Who...? Hope? Is that you?"

One tap. A minute passed, and then she tapped the doorknob. Would he let her in?

"...I... Y...You can come in," Blue croaked.

Hesitantly, she turned the doorknob. Blue was kneeling in front of the toilet, one arm bracing himself against the bowl and the other wrapped around his stomach. He gave Hope a weak smile before sighing and hanging his skull with a nauseated groan. She knelt down beside him and directed her restrained curiosity and concern to her expression and stare alone.

"Don't worry too much, friend. I think I just ate something bad and it upset my stomach. It happens."

He... ate something bad? But they'd all had the same dinner... Sure, Hope's stomach had grown used to keeping down bad food (if only just barely, and when she was actually fed), but she wasn't as sure about the other two skeletons. Why didn't Ink or Dream react? Why didn't she? After all, she'd still feel very, very sick, regardless if she vomited or not.

"You're probably wondering what it was..." Blue said. "I finished off the almost-empty milk carton at dinner and opened the new one for the rest of you, remember?"

She nodded.

"Well, I... I noticed the old one smelled a little sour, but it wasn't rancid. It tasted fine, too. Not perfect, but fine. I guess I should have thrown it out anyway..." He drew in a deep breath and groaned. "I think... I think I'll be fine once I get it all out... Oh, stars..."

His spine arched as he curled into himself, presumably in pain from the strained whimper that snagged in his throat. It must have been a particularly bad cramp. Stomach discomfort tended to come in waves, after all.

How long had he been sick, anyway? Hope noticed a little rectangular shape in Blue's pocket, and she touched his shoulder and pointed to it. Blue pulled it out, looked at the time—3:18am—and groaned. The smaller skel pointed to the time next with an inquisitive expression and a glance at the porcelain in front of them.

"...I don't get it... Here, let me just..." Blue typed a pattern before the screen shifted, and he tapped one of the icons. When he handed the phone to her, the screen had a little keyboard, and a cursor blinked nonchalantly back at her. "You can type what you want to say."