Fighting Society

let it all out kiddo

TW: emetophobia warning for practically the whole chapter :)

A sudden dip in the bed beside her woke Leah up with a start, as she heard the rush of some small footsteps round the side of the bed. They paced swiftly into the bathroom, giving Leah some time to rub at her eyes, gathering awareness of the situation as her attention was caught by the rising sound of gagging. She found herself fully awakening, jumping out of bed to race into the bathroom, following after the young girl. Throwing the bathroom door open, she spun her head round to find Jessica.

The small girl had her head in the toilet bowl, emptying her insides. Soft tears were rolling down her face as she just kept going, her hands clutching around her stomach. Leah raced to kneel down beside her, using her left hand to hold her golden locks back, her right hand to slowly rub the young girls back.

"Let it all out bug, it's okay."

Her heart broke as she simply watched the young girl be sick, just moving her hand in the same movements up and down her back, hoping to offer any form of support for the clearly unwell Jessica. They remained on the bathroom floor, Leah simply comforting her baby sister who all but emptied her insides, her head practically inside the toilet bowl as the soft tears continued flowing down her face.

Neither of them had any awareness of the time passing, as Jess slowly had nothing else to throw up, instead just gagging, forcing anything from herself as the feeling of sick would not leave her. Her body felt weak, as though she had nothing left in her, slumping from leaning over the toilet bowl so that her entire body fell to lean against the bath tub, taking everything in her to hold herself up. She felt so tired; so unwell, but more than anything so confused. Her body shivering, she wrapped her own arms around her stomach, a stabbing sensation running across it that was so unbearable she couldn't help but let out the small sob in response to it's shooting pain. 

"Oh bug..."

Leah moved to wrap her arms around the young girl, who dodged the movement, albeit slowly with how low on energy she was running, shaking her head as she did so. The older woman didn't take any offense to the movement, instead shuffling so that she was sat beside the vulnerable young girl; it wasn't uncommon for the girl to reject physical touch when in some form of sensory overload, and this was definitely one of those times. Instead, she stood from her space, give a comforting nod to the young girl who looked up with widened eyes, all but begging her sister to not go, and quickly grabbing the bottle of water and ear defenders on the bedside table, before racing back to the bathroom, her sister still in the exact same position.

Slowly lowering herself against the wall, Leah placed herself so that she was beside the young girl, but not touching her, as she passed across the water and ear defenders. The time read 4:30am, the sun slowly rising as it's rays began to break through the textured bathroom window, her sister making grumbling noises.

"What was that Jessie?"

"Make it stop Le... I don't like it..."

She sighed as the tears began to fall from the young girl once more, who's hands had moved to her head, clutching onto it with a deepened grasp.

"I don't like it Le, please make it stop-"

"What is it kiddo?"

"I don't like it, I don't like it-"

The repetition of the young girls words began to instil to Leah just how much pain she was in, her confusion furthering her illness. 

Since a young age, Jessica had always struggled with illness. It was tough enough feeling unwell, and suffering the symptoms, but it was always immensified for Jess. She never seemed to understand why, or what was happening to her body, her senses constantly at a heightened experience that couldn't be brought down. It was tough enough on a daily basis, fighting society as a neurodivergent, but it was always the worst when she was unwell. It wasn't just the physical aspects, but the emotional and mental. When unwell, the young girl could never find a way to regulate, finding herself at a constant heightened state of overwhelm, that wouldn't go amiss. It seemed that today, was a clear example of that.