Theo's Troubles

Chapter Two

The rest of the journey was much the same, the same splitting headache cause Theo to writhe in his seat. The painkillers didn't help, and Theo's mum could only look on helplessly.

A sense of relief overwhelmed Theo when they eventually returned home, they were greeted by his brothers babysitter, who informed them that they were all tucked up in bed. Meanwhile, Theo clambered around the kitchen, filling a jug of water before hastily dispatching it. The jug came down with a loud clunk.

"Theo, don't disturb your brothers" she ordered quietly, "would you like me to get you something to eat?"
He thought for a moment, before shaking his head, "I'm just going to head up to bed, hopefully it will have all cleared up by the morning."
"Ok, love you honey."

Theo walked up to his room, still being plagued by the nauseating headache. Without much thought, he stripped down to just his boxers, and plonked himself down in his bed. Falling asleep barely as his head hit the pillow.
As his mum came up bed, she snuck in, delicately replacing the duvet over his exposed body before turning off the light and shutting the door.

With a shiver, Theo stretched, rubbing his eyes and groaning. He pulled his duvet down, and stepped out of bed. His boxers fell to the floor, he reached down and pulled them up again but to no avail, the same just happened, he shrieked in surprise. His mum quickly burst through the door, ready to battle whatever challenge her son was facing. Only to be met with a leaner, slightly shorter boy then the one that she had seen to bed the night before.

"Are you alright?" She enquired, a sense of urgency in her question.
"No. No I'm not alright. I must have put the wrong pair on yesterday. They weren't this loose I swear."
"If your sure Theo, but you don't look too well, get changed, I've made us all a nice breakfast."

Tearing his wardrobe apart he scouted for something that fit, all his clothes would just slide off, or would sit far too baggy.

"Mum" he called "can you get some of my old clothes out?"

A short while later, his mum came through, carrying a small box of clothes from when he was younger, scouring through, he found stuff from when he was leaving primary school, and hurriedly chucked it to the side, searching for some more mature items. Finally, he settled on a pair of camo shorts, a plain t shirt and some plain boxers. Although none of the clothes were too humiliating, he couldn't handle the fact that here he was having to wear his old clothes, things he'd grown out of both mentally and physically, years ago. How was he going to go to school like this on Monday?

Once he had plucked up the courage, he wandered downstairs, eyes firmly fixed on the floor to save his blushes. He could hear his babbling brothers, being as mischievous as ever. "Why's Feo small?" Jake asked innocently to his mum. She quickly quietened him before glancing up towards Theo.

"I'll give the doctor a call" she said defeatedly before handing him a plate. "You watch the boys while I go and call them."

He sat down opposite his two brothers, they were twins so had been inseparable since birth, he never really understood why his parents had had them so far apart but he never pressed the matter too far. He poked at his American style pancakes, entirely uninterested. Meanwhile Noah, the quieter of the two, was was getting stuck in, pieces of pancake falling down onto his bib. Normally he would have gone over to help but today, he just did not have the energy.

"Feo Feooooo, I gone potty" Jake exclaimed, seemingly uncaring.
"Wait for mum to come back down" be brushed it off, not wanting to have to have to deal with another stinking toddler.
He put his head down, and focused on his food, prodding and pushing the food around the plate.

His mum walked through the door, "Theo, I've had a quick chat to the doctor and he would like for you to come in so they can just run a couple of tests, ok?"

He just nodded, not wanting to have a doctor invade his privacy.

"I'll just quickly change Jake and then we'll head out" she said as she picked up the messy toddler, his soaked nappy on clear display.

Theo say and waited in the car, anxious for this all to be over.
When they arrived, they made there way to the waiting room, surrounded by the polar opposites, the old and the young. The children sat around, playing with toys together on the floor. Promptly, he heard his name called. They were taken into a room adorned with animals and rainbows on the walls, a childish feel to the room.

"Firstly..." he glanced at his clipboard "Theo, I apologise for being in this room, all of the others were taken today so we have to make do." He took a long pause before continuing "so your mother has explained some of your symptoms to me. She has said that you had a tremendous headache yesterday and that you suddenly seem to have lost a significant amount of weight, is that all correct?"
Before waiting for Theo to answer he continued, "so I would just like to run a couple of quick tests and then you can be on your way."

The doctor ordered him to strip just to his boxers before taking his height, his weight, his shoe size, his waist circumference amongst numerous other measurements before eventually asking to draw some blood. The entire time, Theo sat clenching the arm of the chair with his other hand. His naked skin sticking to the cold chair but the hot summer air keeping him warm.

"Ok Theo so that should be all done, we will give you a call back fairly soon with the results, it all should be done fairly promptly."

"You were so good in there Theo" his mum said as they left.
"Mum" he groaned "I'm not a little kid anymore, you don't have to praise me for the tiniest little things anymore."
"So does that mean you don't want to go into town to get you a PlayStation game then?"
"Maybe I'll let you get away with it this time" he grinned cheekily.

They headed to a large shopping centre, near where they lived in the city, expecting it to be very busy as it's a Saturday afternoon.

Unsurprisingly, it was as busy as they'd anticipated, crowds filling the shopping centre floors. "Theo, just walk in front of me so that I know where you are ok honey?" Theo nodded, as they entered. Slowly they worked there way through towards the games shop, Theo's mum guiding him with a hand on his back. He wandered through the store, eventually deciding on the Call of Duty game that had come out fairly recently. As they got up to the check out, his mums phone began to ring.

"Just stand to the side Theo, I need to quickly answer this and then we can pay." Theo nodded and she headed outside, in a passionate conversation with the caller, a mixture of both surprised and horrified expressions.

As she approached, he nervously scratched his shorts. "What is it mum?"
"I'm so sorry Theo, you've caught the Virus." She embraced him, "I understand how hard this must be for you."
"So I'm gonna be stuck wearing nappies for the rest of my life as a little baby?"
"Not exactly Theo," she explained "he's said that the whole process can take anywhere from around 9-18 months, and you will stop regressing at some point and from there, you will begin to age again naturally. Like Thomas, he's currently a toddler, but his parents think he's still regressing slightly."
Theo looked away helplessly, he hadn't even thought about Thomas. He was going to become what had previously disgusted him.
"So Theo, you are going to keep getting smaller, I'm going to apply for the Virus Grant tonight and that hopefully should cover everything for you."

Theo lashed out again, the paw patrol plaster slapping off his finger on impact with the wall. He looked down at it, realising that he was doomed to a life of watching kids TV shows and wet nappies.

At home, his mum sat down Jake and Noah, "I need you to be serious boys," she said sternly " Theo has caught the regression Virus, so in a few months, he will be likely a similar age to you too."
"So I'll we be able to play with him?" Jake asked innocently, Theo stared at the floor, his cheeks becoming rosy.
"If that's what he wants then yes, anyway, you two go into your room and get ready for nap time, I'll come and tuck you in a couple of minutes. They rushed off, and his mum turned to him.

"I know it's not what you want to hear Theo, but I think it would be best if you had a nap too, your body's changing and that will be tiring." Theo nodded, surprised with how tired he actually felt.

He settled down into bed, his mum popped her head through once she'd finished getting the twins ready. "Have a good nap Theo." But Theo was already fast asleep.