The Van Dort Family

Strange Feelings

It's been over a year since Victor Van Dort and Victoria Everglot were married and they couldn't be any happier. They moved out of their parents' houses and bought a charming two story house that sat at the edge of a large meadow that was right next to the forest; their house was a good mile or so away from the village they used to live in and they had a couple of servants to help them with chores and other things around the house, but Victor or Victoria didn't mind. In fact, they were perfectly happy with their new life together. But little did either of them know that things were about to change for the couple... and soon.

One cool autumn morning, Victor was sitting at the table in the dining room and casually reading one of his favorite books, "Les Miserables" while waiting for Victoria to come down for breakfast. Victor waited for a good fifteen minutes; he was so enthralled with his book that he didn't even see Mrs. Lillian Robinson, the cook and housekeeper, enter the dining room.

"Mr. Van Dort?" She asked.

"Oh!" Victor cried, nearly dropping his book onto the table. "Oh, pardon me, Mrs. Robinson. I didn't hear you come in, you startled me."

"Oh, sorry about that, sir. Do you know when Miss Victoria will be coming down for breakfast? It's already a quarter past nine."

"Is it? I didn't notice."

Their short pause was suddenly interrupted by Victor's stomach letting out a low hungry growl. He blushed in embarrassment and looked back at Mrs. Robinson with a curious look.

"Hmm, I wonder what's keeping her." Mrs. Robinson remarked before shrugging her shoulders and striding back into the kitchen.

"Me too. I hope nothing's wrong." Victor added, setting down his book on the table.

Finally, Victoria entered the dining room. Victor looked over his shoulder and smiled at his wife, but he was surprised to see that she had dark circles under her eyes and she almost looked as pale as a ghost; this immediately concerned him. As Victoria approached the table and sat down across from her husband, Victor asked her,

"Victoria? Are you feeling all right? You don't look so well."

Victoria looked at Victor with a tired look in her eyes, as if she was suddenly and rudely woken up from a very drowsy slumber. Within a few seconds, she responded with a small moan,

"Oh, Victor... I don't think I feel so well at all."

"What's the matter? Is it a cold?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Well, tell me what's wrong."

"Alright. When I was about to go to bed last night, my stomach felt strange. Then I felt very dizzy, as if I was going to faint."

"Anything else?"

"Actually, yes. Earlier this morning, my head felt like it was pounding when I woke up and I also had a rather difficult time going down the stairs. I was so dizzy that I was almost convinced that I was drunk, I can't explain it."

"How curious..." Victor pondered. "How long has this been going on for?"

"A few weeks, I think. Strange, isn't it?"

"Indeed, it is... Do you think we should visit the doctor, just to see what could be the problem? You never know."

Victoria thought about her husband's suggestion for a good few seconds; that did sound like a very good idea. Before she could respond however, Victoria's stomach suddenly lurched and a wave of nausea overtook her almost immediately; she put a hand to her abdomen as she shakily stood from her chair. Victor's eyes widened as Victoria leaned on the table, desperately trying to keep her balance; in his eyes, she looked sick and very pale, almost... green.

'Green? Oh no...' Victor thought.

Victor quickly realized what was going to happen about two seconds before it did. He quickly stood from his chair, reached out, and put a hand on Victoria's shoulder, meaning to lead her to the nearest powder room as quickly as possible, but he didn't make it. At that very moment, Victoria turned around and vomited all over the floor in front of her.

There was a very long pause. Victor covered his mouth with his other hand and said nothing.

'Wow...' He thought, his eyes wide with shock and worry.

After a moment, Victor pulled himself together enough to rub Victoria's shoulder as he grabbed a couple napkins from the table. Victoria quietly coughed and panted a few times before her eyes widened at what she had just done.

"Victoria..." Victor said sympathetically, handing his wife the napkins he just grabbed.

She nodded her head thanks and then set about wiping her mouth of any leftover vomit.

"I am... I'm so sorry..." Victoria mumbled into the handful of napkins.

She was blushing just the slightest bit, but Victor gently patted her back and gave her a sympathetic smile as he sat her down back into her chair.

Then Victoria nodded her head again before looking at Victor and saying, "Perhaps you're right, Victor. Maybe we should visit the doctor. For all we know, this could be something important. Should we go later this afternoon?"

"Of course, my dear. Whatever you think would be best."

Later that afternoon, the couple rode off to the doctor's office in town. When they arrived, Victor explained Victoria's current condition as well as her symptoms to the doctor. However, Dr. Nathaniel Lester decided to take Victoria to the back room to give her a proper check up to see what was wrong while Victor was left to stay in the waiting room for a bit.

About thirty-five to forty minutes later, Dr. Lester and Victoria reentered the room. When he looked up, Victor was relieved to see Victoria giving him a smile as she walked over to him.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"I'm fine, dear; never been better." She replied simply.

During their carriage ride back home, Victor and Victoria sat in a rather awkward silence, which was pretty odd because they always had something interesting or silly to talk about during these rides together. But to Victor, it almost seemed like Victoria was in some sort of daze, as if she were hiding something.