Say Love (Chicago PD)

I Don't Know

Rounding the side of the couch, I noticed Eva sprawled out on the couch. Trying my best not to disturb her, I was about to grab the blanket from the back of the couch when Eva raised her head up from where she had been laying. "Morning. Did I wake you?"

"Kind of." She pushed her arms against the couch in a stretching motion before laying back down. "I was half awake. How long have I been asleep?"

"The last time I checked, you were asleep in your bed. So, I'm guessing about twelve hours. Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah. I think I came out here when you were on the phone." Eva croaked, her voice still thick with sleep as she continued to lay there with one side of her face squished against the cushion. "Who were you talking to?"

"Eliza. Are you sure you don't want to go lay back in bed for a while?"

"No." Eva let out a big yawn before closing her eyes again, almost as a reprieve from the growing heaviness. Still, she was trying to fight to stay awake but I could tell she was quickly losing the battle.'"What are we going to do today?"

"I really don't have anything planned other than staying home," I told her, now grabbing the red tight knitted blanket and draping it over her. "We can relax a little more today,"

"Okay." Her words came out softly as her body finally stilled. I decided that while she was still trying to wake up, I would pay a few bills while I was thinking about it. I was just about finished when Eva quickly sat up and dashed down the hall towards the bathroom. I didn't think much of it but as I heard a gagging sound, I thought maybe there was something more going on than I had originally thought.

"Eva? You alright?" When I heard no response back, I started making my way down there so I could gauge the situation of what could be happening and how I could help if need be.

"Hailey, I need you," Eva called out in a panicked, almost scared tone as I stepped just beyond her bedroom. When I peered into the bathroom a few seconds later, I found her sitting on the edge of the bathtub.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"I keep feeling like I'm going to throw up." She said weakly, trying hard to hold back the tears as she clutched her arm against her stomach. Letting out a sigh, I sat down next to her and she clambered into my lap. "Is it just your stomach that's hurting?"

"Just my stomach." Laying at an angle to release some of the pressure, she let her head rest against my shoulder. "It's hurting a lot now."

"All over, or in one spot?"

"All over."

"When you say all over, does it feel like there are butterflies in your stomach? Or does it feel sharp like someone is poking you?"

"It kind of feels like butterflies when I'm at school, but I don't know what it feels like now. It just hurts."

"Okay. Why don't we lay down for a little while and see if that helps your stomach feel better? Have you eaten anything today?" I told her, running through what I knew so far which wasn't much. Before now, I had considered her stomachache to be solely because of anxiety or grief. I had never considered there could be another reason for it. For a moment I thought about calling Natalie after her words floated back to me about letting her know what she could do on her end, although I highly doubted this is what she had in mind when she said it.

"I'm not really hungry." She shook her head back and forth against my shoulder, not answering my suggestion about laying down. I figured I would give her a few minutes but we would have to get up soon because this wasn't the most comfortable spot to sit in.

"How are you feeling?" I checked again after silence fell between us and I felt a wave of relief when she relaxed into me a little.

"Okay. My stomach doesn't hurt as much as it did a few minutes ago."

"What about when you're laying down?" I could feel her muscles tense at the mention of laying down. "Do you feel like you're going to throw up more or less?"

"Less." She stated, thinking about her response for a moment. "Will you lay down with me?"

"I can." She held on as I shifted towards the edge. I tried my best to stretch out my legs without tipping Eva off my lap. The last thing I wanted to do was make jarring movements that could further her nausea. "You still feel like you're going to throw up?"

"A little."

"Tell you what. If you're ready to lay down, I will grab you something if you do feel like throwing up, and then I can come lay down by you. Deal?"

"Mhm." Slipping off my lap, she walked slowly over to the sink and quickly washed her hands with soap and dried then on the dark blue hand towel. While I was waiting for her to finish, I stood up and felt some of the circulation return to my legs. A few minutes later I was tucking her in and she curled up on her side under the covers.

"I'll be right back." Running my hand over her forehead, I made sure she didn't have a fever before making my way out of the room. When I was far enough away from her hearing me, I scooped my phone up from my nightstand and walked into the garage to look for a bucket. Against my better judgment, I realized I had no idea what I was doing and automatically dialed Natalie's number. After a few rings, it was obvious she wasn't going to answer and my call went into voicemail.

"Hey, Natalie, it's Hailey. Will you give me a call when you have a minute?" Moving things around on the shelf, I suddenly realized how that sounded and backtracked a little. "Nothing serious. I have a couple of questions that maybe you can help me answer. Thanks, Natalie." Just as I finished the call, I found a small white bucket near the back of the shelf and made my way back into the house.