weak | choni

10: "All Or Nothing"

Toni woke up to a shivering body pressed against hers, and she quickly turned over, realizing Cheryl was still asleep. Even in her sleep, her face was drained of color and she looked so, lifeless. It made Toni feel sick to her stomach.

"Cher," she whispered. Smoothing out the girl's hair, she couldn't help but be relieved when the small girl let out a sleepy sigh and her eyes fluttered open. She didn't even try to be beautiful. She just was.

Cheryl mumbled something inaudible and buried her head in her hands. She'd always been difficult to get out of bed, but as soon as her feet would hit the floor, she became an energizer bunny until the moment her head hit the pillow. That's how Cheryl was. It was all or nothing for her. Toni wondered if that was how she ended up in her current situation.

"The girls are coming to see you today," Toni said softly after checking her phone, finding a message from Josie to confirm what time they'd been there. "They insisted they see us one last time before they fly home." She heard Cheryl groan and could tell the small girl was growing nervous.

Toni sat up, pushing herself up to her feet. Seconds later Cheryl attempted to do the same, not wanting to be left alone. But when she sat up, she became increasingly dizzy and had to grab a handful of the blanket with one hand while pressing the other one to her forehead.

Instantly, Toni grabbed Cheryl's shoulder to steady her. "You okay?"

"Fine," Cheryl mumbled. She shook Toni's hand off of her and pushed herself up to her feet, wobbling a bit when her knees locked. Toni had to stop herself from scooping her up into her arms and just carrying her wherever she needed to go.

"Do you think you'll be able to eat something before the girls come over?"

Cheryl just shrugged and squeezed her eyes shut. Seconds later, she was already out of the bedroom door and Toni had to hurry to follow her. When Toni turned the corner into the kitchen, Cheryl was peering down into the small crate. She let out a sigh of relief when the small bird made a peeping noise and stared up at her intently.

"He's alive!" Cheryl turned to Toni, who was leaning on the counter next to him. "He actually survived through the night."

Toni bit her lip. She realized the way Cheryl talked about Elvis was the way she felt about Cheryl. It was scary for her, feeling so much responsibility for the younger girl. She didn't know if she was cut out for the job.

Flashback

Cheryl had just gotten out of the hospital a week ago. It'd been seven days since she was discharged. Seven days since she left her second visit at the rehab center. Seven days since she'd had a full meal.

The small girl was curled up in a blanket, her body nestled in a whirlwind of sheets to try and keep herself as warm as possible on the tour bus. She hated how the girls insisted on keeping it freezing cold. It was practically the North Pole in there, at least for Cheryl.

She'd been scrolling through her phone for the past hour or so. She'd slipped out after rehearsal, trying to best to remain unnoticed. No one made a habit of checking where she was, luckily, so she'd spent her free time on twitter, scrolling aimlessly through her tweets.

"Cheryl?"

The small girl's head shot up and she held her breath. She recognized Toni's voice coming from the front of the vehicle. Maybe if she just stayed quiet enough, the girl would assume she wasn't there. She thought wrong.

Seconds later the curtain to her bunk was thrown open and there stood Toni. Cheryl thought Toni looked a lot like her mom did when she did something she wasn't supposed to. The brown-eyed girl had her arms crossed and was looking suspiciously at her. Cheryl didn't like where this was going.