Before You Say Goodbye

CHP 25:- ENIGMATIC

As Cheryl was sitting alone in the evening, leisurely sipping her tea and having a sandwich wondering what had befallen nearly 4 hours ago; she had her first kiss, with a girl! And that too, with the girl whom she almost hated so much! As the truth of what had happened slowly started to sink in, Cheryl started accepting what had actually happened, but she wanted to express her feelings and tell someone about this incident. She thought of talking to Felix at first but dropped the idea since she realized he would be in the hospital all tensed about his uncle. She remembered about his uncle and out of concern texted him "Hey Fe! How're you? How's uncle? Everything alright?".  She then thought of confiding in Oliver or Kate, but then she felt that neither of them would believe her, nor would she be able to trust them so soon and just share her feelings openly like that. So, in the end, she finally remembered her only non-judgemental always ready to listen to her best friend Catherine. She and Catherine hadn't been in frequent contact and even Catherine's health wasn't at its best recently. She used to feel a little nauseated now and then and had lost some weight too. But that wasn't such a big concern because things like these at times happen when you have an irregular period (menstrual cycle). Cheryl then texted Catherine saying, "Hey? Just wanted to talk to you and need to tell you about today's massive last lecture episode. You wouldn't believe what happened!"
"Hi...What is it?" replied Catherine.
"Umm.. can we meet at Pinaco's food joint? I need to talk..." texted Cheryl.
"Sure, will be there in 10 mins" replied Catherine.
Cheryl rushed to Pinaco's food joint where she found Catherine sitting, all disappointed and frustrated.
"So here you are...finally!" said Catherine. "I am sorry Cat, I know I haven't been so free with you lately and you have every right to be pissed off at me, but I just wanted to be alone for a while. I know you understand....Anyways, you won't believe what happened today in the washroom" responded Cheryl immediately on hearing the sarcastic tone in Catherine's voice.
"Okay fine, carry on," said Catherine a little distantly. Cheryl narrated every bit of the story without missing out on any part, which left Catherine utterly speechless. "You did WHAT! Do you mean to say you kissed Jennifer, Jennifer Lampard, that very girl who kicked you out, bullied and harassed you, played with our lives until we dominated her's? Wow, Fantastic! Just Wow...So Ms. Cheryl Mathews kissed her OWN bully and accepted her apologies so easily!?" said Catherine annoyed while sarcastically applauding.
"How could you Cheryl?" asked Catherine. "Cat hey, it wasn't intentional...She literally just held my neck and kissed me. I wasn't willing to do it...heck, I didn't even know that was gonna happen," responded Cheryl. "Then too Cheryl... that was completely ridiculous! Accepting her apology is one thing, but KISSING her! That's just stupid! And *cough cough* You are - aah!"
Suddenly, Catherine felt a sharp jab in her chest and rushed towards the washroom, where she started vomiting. Cheryl ran after her, only to find that she had blood in her coughs and vomit. Cheryl and Catherine were both shocked and scared at the same time...what had happened to Catherine?! The both of them just looked at each other, unsure of what to do next. Then, Catherine wiped her mouth and cleaned the area where the blood was in the basin. She then drank some water to calm herself. Catherine was still feeling an immense pain in her chest and hence, both the girls thought it was best to take her to the doctor. Both of them had at first thought that it was maybe the discomfort, stress, and irregular periods that were causing Catherine to get sick and feel nauseated; but after seeing the blood in the coughs, they knew something was wrong. Catherine burst into tears. She didn't know what exactly was happening to her and got extremely scared. Cheryl comforted her a bit and rushed her home, where she called Catherine's family doctor. Cheryl also called Catherine's parents and asked them to come over and look into this matter as soon as possible, since she knew that Catherine needed her family right now and would feel much better if they were here.
Catherine's mom hurried to meet her.
"It happens sometimes, Mrs. Shawns. When we eat some food that doesn't suit us, maybe we are allergic to it, we tend to get food poisoned. It's okay. No need to worry too much right now. I have given Catherine a mild sedative. Let her sleep, for now, she should wake up in about 3 hours," said the Doctor. "Are you a sure doctor? Catherine is my only child. I can't let anything happen to her. She's my whole life!" responded Mrs.Shawns. Catherine's mom with tears in her eyes.
"Ma'am, we cannot jump to any conclusions as of now. Let us all remain calm and wait for her to wake up. Right now, let us not assume the worst or worry about if or not Catherine has any serious disease. It's just a little blood in the coughs. And since you have told me she has been going through some tensions and also hasn't been getting her period properly, this is maybe all of her exhaustion getting too much and is affecting her body. And, we can always go in for some tests and checkups in case this happens again or she suddenly loses weight, or her chest pain increases. At the moment, just take good care of her and make sure she does not have to face any kind of stress and also, please ask her to rest." said the Doctor while consulting Mrs.Shawns. Catherine's mom wiped her tears and nodded, after which the doctor left.