Accepting You

Chapter 40 - Universal, Here We Come!

Lily woke up with a pounding headache. Groaning, she pushes a palm to her forehead to try to alleviate some pressure but quickly pulls away when the action stings her palms.

Squinting through the harsh sunlight slipping past her window blinds, she sees her hand is bandaged up. Her heart pounds in hope when she turns to face the other side of her bed but her heart sinks when she sees it's empty.

She can hear clattering in the kitchen and the smell of bacon wafting through the apartment. The smell immediately makes her nauseous as vile builds up in her throat. A trash can is already next to the bed and she can vomit out her stomach without making a mess in the bedroom.

When her stomach calms, she stumbles out of bed. The headache still pounds against her skull and she can barely think straight, let alone walk straight.

"Babe?" Lily tries to call but the acidity in her throat make it so it doesn't come out. She stumbles out into the living room, having to grip the back of the couch to steady herself as the room spins.

"You're up," a female's voice says and in a few strides, she is next to Lily, patting and rubbing circles on her back.

"Hailee?" Lily questions when she looks up when her vision clears. "What are you doing here?"

"You obviously don't remember when you drunk dialed me to come save you," Hailee tries to joke but it isn't well received.

"Fuck, I'm sorry," Lily says, cursing her sober drunk self for being responsible even in a crisis.

"You were in pretty rough shape," Hailee tells her. "You nearly fell asleep on the kitchen floor so I had to drag you to your room."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Hailee frowns. "We both know how many times you had to take care of me before. Do you want to tell me about it?"

"No," Lily answers simply. All she wanted to do is wallow in her own self pity.

"Well you're going to have to tell me something," Hailee says, helping her to the kitchen and seating her at the island. "When I came in, there were shattered bowls, your crutches were sprawled out on the floor, a dozen empty alcoholic cans around you with some hard liquor, and you were hunched over a trash can. You were practically going to sleep in a pool of your own vomit if I didn't clean you up."

"Thanks for the descriptive image," Lily grumbles, holding her head in her hands as she tried not to throw up again.

"All I'm saying is," Hailee leans against the island across from her, "this is the worst I've seen you."

"Yeah well, my girlfriend hates me and my career is just about as great as as a dumpster fire so," Lily huffs, "I think everything is working out."

"Did you two. . .break up?" Hailee asks hesitantly. The last thing she wanted to do was bring it up but she needed to know the severity of the situation.

"No," Lily answers immediately, but then shakes her head. "Maybe? I don't know. She didn't say she wanted to break up."

"A break?"

"She didn't say that either."

"Then you didn't fuck up as bad as you thought," Hailee sighs in relief. She reaches over and slides a bowl in front of Lily.

Lily shakes her head. "I can't stomach any bacon."

"Bacon is for me," Hailee says. She grabs a spoon from a nearby drawer and drops it into the bowl with a plop! "This is for you."

Lily looks down at the bowl to see a dark colored soup with vegetables and chicken floating around.

Without needing to be asked, Hailee explains, "I stopped by that Korean restaurant with "hangover soup" that you showed me a while ago before I came last night. I figured you would need it."