A Boy Called Noah

Chapter Forty-Eight

Noah James

Noah's mouth tastes disgustingly like blood and he sits upright. His stomach suddenly turns over and he quickly grabs the bucket. His stomach empties into it and unfortunately, like yesterday, it was only filled with blood. He wipes his mouth with a clean tissue and looks around the room. Someone tidied it a bit. 

He slowly this time sits upright and manages to keep his stomach in place. He gently lifts to his feet and stumbles the few feet to his cane. His fingers curl around the familiar polished wood and he quickly brings it under his right hand. His weight shifts from his utterly weak legs to mostly be on the cane. 

He limps his way down the stairs and eventually makes his way into the kitchen. Here he finds Jess and Danny having breakfast. Danny quickly perks up and runs to him. He stops short in front of Noah and gently wraps his arms around his legs in a hug, "Noah, are you feeling better? Mom says you weren't feeling nice yesterday." Noah gently smiles, "I'm better now, buddy. Have you finished eating yet?" Danny shakes his head and quickly runs back to his barstool at the breakfast nook. 

Noah turns his attention to Jess, "Where's Vick?" Jess smiles a devilish little smile, "I've sent him on a mission. He has gone hunting with the girls." Noah cocks an eyebrow and leans back against the counter, "Hunting for what?" "They've gone dress hunting and I suspect that we'll be seeing Vick quite late tonight. They left pretty early this morning." Noah heartily laughs for the first time in weeks and throws a thumbs-up to Jess, "Well done on that one, Mom." 

***

Noah's body aches from sitting up for so long and he attempts at gently easing himself back into the couch. A jolt of pain echos through his entire body and he shudders in pain. Jess appears as if out of thin air and Noah suspects that she was watching to make sure that he was okay. "Do you want me to take you to your room?" Noah shakes his head, "I can't do those stairs right now, just thinking about them makes me feel sick." 

Jess's eyes turn glassy but she quickly eases her arm under his shoulder and helps him shuffle toward the downstairs guestroom. They slowly make their way down the hall and stumble into the room. Noah sinks into the bed and groans in pain. "I'll go get Vetro and Peter to bring your bed downstairs." Noah shakes his head, "No, I'm staying in my room. Ah! Call Dr. Brown, something else's is wrong." 

Jess runs out of the room in search of a phone and Noah remains laying on the bed in excruciating pain.

***

Jess re-enters the room with Dr. Brown behind her and Vera-Lee quickly gets up from the chair next to the bed. She wipes the sweat from Noah's forehead with the cold rag once more before leaving and closing the door behind her. 

Dr. Brown's eyes cloud with concern and he quickly makes his way to Noah's side. He places his hand on his forehead, "Noah, you're burning up. When was the last time you kept solid food down?" Noah only groans in pain and Jess quickly makes her contribution, "Two, three days ago. He hasn't been able to keep anything down since you were last here." Dr. Brown's thick eyebrows knit together, "We need to get him to the hospital right now. I fear there is something very wrong." Jess scrambles to find Noah and herself jackets as Dr. Brown assists Noah into the garage to Jess's car. 

As they enter the hospital doors a Gurnee greets them with a red-faced panting nurse, "Is this him, Dr. Brown?" He nods and the nurse escorts Noah away from both of them. Jess's heart drops into her shoes and she quickly sits down in the nearest chair.