Dying and Everything in between

14| Restless and Reckless

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Joy stood behind Lucas gently rubbing his back as he clutched the toilet bowl, body hunched over as he retched the contents of his stomach into the poor unsuspecting thing.

"Hey," Joy said uneasily, handing him a wad of paper towels when Lucas let out a dry cough. "At least you didn't puke on anyone's tits!"

Lucas snatched the paper towel while giving her a nasty glare. She flushed the toilet, whistling a little tune as she went about helping him like it was a normal thing to oversee your friend vomiting their soul out.

"You don't think this is weird or anything?" He asked, throat raw as he dumped the paper towels into the trash bin. Joy shook her head, helping him back to his feet.

"Nah," She said, following him to the sink. "I expected something like this to happen someday."

"How considerate," Lucas said as he washed his hands in the sink, internally cringing at the fact he held a toilet bowl with his bare hands. The things you gotta do when you are sick.

"Oh you know it," Joy patted his shoulder, ignoring the heavy dose of sarcasm his sentence held. "It's no biggie though. Sometimes you just got to stand by and help your friend vomit."

Lucas met Joy's gaze in the mirror. He scowled at her, only to be given a crooked smirk in return and a thumbs-up. He rolled his eyes, but before he could focus on scrubbing toilet germs away, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror, and — it did not look good.

There were good and bad days. There was no doubt that today was the latter, and it was reflected in his face.

His features seemed hollow and gaunt. The color of his skin was a sickly mix of white that glistened with a thin sheen of sweat. The dark shadows that cast beneath his eyes were more prominent in this state, and, he hated every single part of it.

"You good Andrews?" Lucas hated how soft her voice was. Part of him wanted to shout at her to shut up and leave, but deep down he just wanted her to stay.

Lucas grimaced and dried his hands off on yet another paper towel. He could feel Joy's eyes on him, probably waiting for his reaction, the worry settling into the already dense atmosphere.

"Can we forget this happened?" Lucas asked after the two of them walked out of the bathroom.

"Sure, if that's what you wanna do," Joy snaked her hand and snapped her fingers. "Bam! I already forgot it."

"God, you're ridiculous," Lucas snorted as Joy smiled feebly at him.

"No, I'm not. But just 'coz you said that I'm sending good vibes your way, Andrews," Joy raised her hands and wiggled them in his direction. Lucas lifted an unimpressed eyebrow at her.

"The vibes are coming," She teased, reaching over and ruffling his hair. He yelped, swatting at her to stop, only to provoke her more. "There's nothing you can do to stop them~!"

"Fuck you, man," Lucas swatted her away with one last sway, but there was no hiding the smile that unfurled over his lips. "That's probably the most threatening way I've ever been cheered up."

"So you admit I'm cheering you up?" Joy chuckled, coming to a stop, and leaned against the wall before the two could turn and head to the hospital lobby.

Lucas chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest, "What? No? I'm just saying that that's the scariest way to cheer someone up. Threaten them with good vibes."