Vikk's P.O.V.
I sighed sympathetically as Lachlan groaned, his face pale and sweaty. It had been a few hours since the start of his last episode and I knew the next phase could be minutes from the starting, and the next phase was always the worst.
Lachlan had Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome otherwise known as CVS and he had episodes of vomiting and fever that could last days. He did YouTube when he could, pre-recording videos when he felt well enough to do so and releasing one a day.
There was medication you could take to stop the episode from moving into the next phase but he only took them if he was showing signs of the episode being really bad or if he wasn't up to it mentally. If you took the medication to many times the genes that started the episode would develop a resistance to the medication and it would no longer work.
He was in the first phase, the prodromal phase is what his doctors called it. In the prodromal phase he was nauseous and sweaty and it was quite often accompanied by fever, which was what he had then.
He could get an episode a month and often it rendered him helpless for up to a week. He wouldn't eat or drink, couldn't get out of bed and needed help with everything. Several times his episodes had ended up with him in hospital from dehydration, unable to keep anything down.
Beside me Lachlan retched and his body jerked up, his limbs no longer under his control. He groaned, his hands now on his stomach and I gently rolled him onto his side. This was the worst part because he could be unresponsive for hours at a time, the pain to intense for him to respond.
He retched again and I heard choking noises, signs of the vomiting that would probably come in an hour or so. I heard the door open and I looked up to see Rob poke his head around the door holding a cold cloth.
He glanced at Lachlan, clearly concerned for his younger friend who was in such a vulnerable state. He handed the cloth to me and sat on the other side of the bed, jumping when Lachlan retched twice and his body jerked again.
I sighed and ran the cloth over his forehead. The fever was going down but that wasn't always a good thing. Quite often the fever masked some of his abdominal pain and stopped some of the vomiting and retching, making the episode a lot easier to deal with.
"How's he going?"
"Just going into the second phase now and I think it's going to be about a middle of the road episode." Rob nodded, running his fingers through Lachlan's hair to get it out of his face.
"Do you want a book?" I nodded.
It was almost a tradition, every time Lachlan had an episode I would read to him. He could hear me but just could respond and he claimed reading distracted him from the pain.
Rob came back with the first Harry Potter book, a favourite of Lachlan's and one I had read to him several times before. I smiled and thanked him, opening the book to the first page and starting to read.
Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number 4, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people...
Two hours later I was half way through reading the book when Lachlan first started vomiting. The retching had continued throughout the time I was reading the book but he didn't start vomiting until about 10 at night, 3 hours since he started showing signs of an episode.
He retched, but that time it was different. His chest heaved and I reacted fast, pushed his body to the edge of the bed and holding his head above the bucket that was there for that very reason. The splattering noise was horrible but I had heard it so many times I didn't react.
I placed one hand on his forehead, holding it up and the other on his chest, holding his body in place so he didn't fall off the bed. Rob and Preston rushed into the room, Preston still with headphones wrapped around his head from the hurry.
I waited until he had stopped retching before moving him back and leaning him onto my chest. He was unresponsive still, eyes closed and breathing like he was sleeping. Rob sighed and took the bucket away, moving another one to replace it and taking it into the laundry room to wash it.
Preston moved into my spot, holding Lachlan up as I reached for the tissues, wiping his chin and face with them. Preston smiled at me, it was definitely easier with more people.
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Six hours later and at least 5 rounds of vomiting, it was about 4 in the morning. Rob had passed out on the bed at about two, having still been on Canadian time and absolutely exhausted.
After the last round of vomiting there was a half an hour gap before something changed. Lachlan started to stir a little and he opened his eyes. Preston had been holding him at the time and jumped when Lachlan's head rolled to the side and a groan echoed from him.
The blues of his eyes were faded slightly and he looked utterly exhausted, barely able to keep his eyes open. I smiled gently at him, pressing a kiss to his forehead and running my hand along his forehead.
He leaned back against Preston and closed his eyes, colour starting to flood back into his face as his head dropped. The episodes normally took all of his energy and he spent several days recovering afterwards.
Preston gently lay back with Lachlan wrapped up in his arms and I lay down beside them, wrapping my arm around Lachlan too. He opened his eyes and blinked up at me and I gently placed my hand behind his neck and pulled his face closer to me, kissing him gently.
"I know this is your moment here, but I'm tired and I want to go to sleep please."
The complaint came from Preston, who was glaring tiredly at me over Lachlan's shoulder. I smiled apologetically at him and pulled Lachlan close, holding him carefully. He nuzzled his head into my neck and I laughed quietly, kissing his forehead and again.
"You're my sick baby, aren't you."
