𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑 ☽ Adam Banks

1; nightly sickness

𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 | 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗺 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀
𝗂. 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜
"𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟, 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑠..."

•••

THE BATHROOM FILLED WITH STEAM FROM THE HOT WATER POURING FROM THE TUBS FOSSETT. The thick substance clouded the room so that no one could see inside. It almost burned the skin with a light touch. But it didn't bother 11 year old Aaliyah Klaasen, who sat on the floor, her hand on her stomach, while she groaned in pain hoping that someone could hear her through the large house that was all new to them. She was to weak to do anything, even too weak to continue groaning.

   The girl became silent. She hung over the edge of the bathtub in her pajamas that were drenched with the sweat she produced from the boiling water. Her head rested on her left arm that rested on the edge of the tub, her body facing the door she watched intently.

"Please.., s-some..., one," she panted heavily. She knew it was no use, knew no one could hear her and that everyone was probably fast asleep in their knew home. This isn't the way Aaliyah wanted to remember her first night in a new home, but it's the poor fate that met with her. It had only been a few months, and she wanted it all the end already.

Aaliyah and her family had moved back to Minnesota earlier that morning due to the sudden diagnosis of leukemia Aaliyah had been faced with. They loved it in Florida, loved the people there and most of the environment, but they all knew that family is what the young girl needed the most right now, so they came home.

With the help of her two older and protective brothers, Aaliyah managed to get her new room exactly to her comfort. She got the second biggest bedroom in the house with her own easy accessible bathroom so at times like this, things were a bit easier for her. This feeling happened every so often when her meds started to run out and with the move, she was scared she wasn't going to get what she needed, but she sat back and prayed for the best.

"Little Klaasen! I just got the best news ever!" The voice of her oldest brother Cooper grew louder as he entered the girls room. He was excited to tell her about her old best friend from before they moved still lives right across the street. He knew the sweet childhood love the two had for each other and he also knew that she needed someone like him to be around to keep her spirits up. Cooper entered the bathroom with his head hung low, not even realizing his sister on the floor. He was greeted with the steam that was so thick and dense it burned his eyes and made him cough dramatically. "Phew, Liyah, it's boiling in her-"

"Coop-" she panted weakly. Suddenly, the boy kicked her leg on accident not realizing she had been laying there. He immediately started to panic. Cooper dropped the photo album he had carried in his hands letting the pictures fall out of the slips and scatter all over the tiled and wet floor. He jumped over his little sister and made it straight to the window where he pried it open. He scurried back over to the tub and shut the boiling water off. He could feel immediate relief.

"Mom!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, panic growing inside of him, "dad!" While he bewilderedly screamed for his parents, he kneeled down the the floor and carefully picked up the fighting girl that was practically as light as a feather. He stared down at her pale face where sweat beads formed on her face. He brought his free hand forwards and moved her wet hair out of her face in hopes to cool her down. "Come on, Liyah, stay with me," he pleaded over and over again. The older boy carefully ran to his sisters bed, setting her down lightly and unzipping the sweatshirt she had been wearing trying to cool her down any way he could. He kept glancing back and forth to the door and back to his sister wondering why in the world his parents were taking forever.