Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Another week of school had almost come to an end, Reese sat in 6th period on Friday, patiently waiting for the end of the day. She was overly tired and just wanted to go home. 10 minutes after class had started, she began to feel nauseous. Her head started aching and she couldn't keep her eyes open. Eventually, she asked her teacher if she could go to the restroom. On the walk there, she felt the familiar, dreadful lurch in her stomach, and started running. She made it to a stall just in time to empty her stomach in the toilet. After a few minutes, she washed her hands and made her way to Taylor's classroom. She was hoping it was her lunch break so she could take her home, but it was doubtful she'd be that lucky.
Taylor heard a knock on the door and a student got up to open the door. She saw her foster daughter with tear tracks on her face and jumped up from her desk. She took the girl into the hallway and closed the classroom door. "What's wrong, babe? What happened?" "I threw up." the teen whined. "Okay, um, do you wanna go home now? There are only a couple more periods left, but if you threw up-" Taylor was cut off by the girl in front of her running to the nearest trash can and spilling her guts. "Okay, let's get you home."
Reese lied in bed with a heating pad on her stomach and about 7 blankets wrapped around her body. In the past couple hours, she had gotten progressively worse; chills, a fever, and a splitting headache. Taylor entered the room with two bottles, one filled with water, one with Sprite. "You need fluids, which do you want?" Taylor asked. The girl made a face at the thought of consuming anything and shook her head. "You need to drink, babe." "I can't," Reese whimpered with a pained look on her face. "You poor thing," Taylor places her hand on the girl's forehead, feeling the radiating heat, and pushed the kid's sweaty hair from her forehead. "When was the last time you threw up?" Tay questioned. "At school. But I have no appetite." "How about you try and eat something in a little bit? I'll have Karlie bring you home some medicine and maybe some soup."
A couple hours later, Karlie returned from work and the drugstore. "How is my girl?" she asked, walking into her and Taylor's room, (Reese was situated in their bedroom because she insisted it was more comfortable in there.) Karlie earned a sad look from the kid. All of a sudden, Reese jumped up and they both knew what was about to happen. Again, she made it to the toilet just in time. Karlie ran after her, holding her hair and rubbing her back. After the girl was finished, she collapsed into Karlie's arms and let out pained sobs. "Oh, honey." Karlie scooped her up and rocked her back and forth as an effort to calm her down. Taylor must have heard the crying because she now joined the two on the bathroom floor, placing kisses on the teen's head. "Let's get you back in bed, hon." Karlie picked up the small girl and returned her to her spot in the bed.
The night continuously proved to be a bad one. Reese laid in between Taylor and Karlie in their large bed, wearing just one of Karlie's t-shirts because she was now burning up. Around 2 a.m, Reese sat straight up in bed. She knew what was about to happen and tried her best to ease out of the bed and not wake the other two. But to her dismay, her stomach did not allow for a slow approach. She jumped up and ran to the bathroom, emptying her stomach, once again, in the toilet, for the sixth time that day. She couldn't help but burst into painful and frustrated tears; all she wanted was sleep, but was woken up every couple hours.
As Reese predicted, the two women soon found her in the bathroom, laying on the tile floor. "Oh, my poor baby." Taylor pulled the sick teen into her lap. "If she keeps throwing up Tay, we might have to take her to the hospital. She can't keep anything down." Karlie said with a worried tone. At this, Reese sat up. "N-no! Please, p-please I don't wanna go to the hospital," she cried. "I know, love, but you're dehydrated. You can't even keep water down, babe." Karlie gently pushed some hair behind the girl's ear. Taylor carries the kid back to bed. The sweating child, now down to just a sports bra and underwear, settled herself almost on top of Taylor. She pressed her cheek to Taylor's chest, trying to slow her breathing. Between the slow ride and fall of Taylor's chest and Karlie tracing shapes on the girl's back, she was able to fall asleep in a few minutes. Fortunately, there was no more puking the rest of the night.
The next morning, Reese woke to an empty bed. The unhappy teen slid out of bed and went to search for the couple. The house was almost completely silent, Taylor and Karlie seemed to be nowhere to be found. Reese, still weak from the night before, collapsed on the couch and cried for the couple. The girl had a rough night and just wanted held. After a few minutes, the side door opened and Taylor came into the house from the balcony. She noticed the upset girl and rushed to her side. "What happened, honey? Did you throw up again?" The teen did not answer, and continued her sad sobs. "Hm?" Taylor tried again, lifting the lightweight teen onto her lap. "I couldn't f-find you." she whimpered. "Oh, baby, I'm sorry, Kar and I were having our coffee on the balcony. It's okay, honey. I'm right here." Taylor placed gentle kisses to the girl's head and she eventually calmed down. "Where's Karlie?" Reese wondered, looking up at Taylor. "She's still on the balcony, she had to take a work call." "Oh. I wanna see her." the girl mumbled. "She'll be done in a little bit, babe."
It had been over 12 hours since Reese had last thrown up. Karlie and Taylor desperately tried to get her to eat, only succeeding with a couple crackers and some gatorade. "I wonder if she just had a bug or what?" Karlie wondered aloud, looking at the small girl, asleep in her lap. "Yeah, must've been just a 24 hour thing." Taylor said. "Hey, what was that call about earlier? It sounded important." "I got a job offer in California." Karlie stated. "What? Why didn't you tell me?" Taylor asked concernedly. "Well, I'm not taking it, obviously. I mean, our whole lives are here- we can't just pack up and leave." "I know that, Karlie, but don't make any decisions too soon, we have to do what's best for our family." Taylor advised. "So you want to move to California?" "No- I mean, it could be a better position, and now that we have a kid..." "I don't know, Tay. Let's talk about it later."
