Third person POV
5 weeks later...
Days passed without any real issues. Ever since Jewel got sick, Eric jumped back and forth between being concerned and being upset. His mood swings were hard to keep up with. She never quite knew who would be coming home every night.
Usually the decent Eric would show up but if stress from the job got to him a little too much that day, he would be a raging ball of anger.
Jewel had been keeping to herself mostly. Jake and Addie came to see her every now and then but Eric didn't much like them being in his apartment.
After Eric had left early in the morning, Jewel snuck off to go see Addie.
"I don't feel well." Jewel complains while lying back against the soft pink sheets of Addie's bed. Addie turns from her seat at her make up counter and stares at Jewel for a long moment before speaking up.
"You've been saying that. Have you even tried going to the infirmary?" Her annoyed tone makes Jewel shy away from wanting to continue the conversation.
"Maybe I should go..." She trails off. Jewel throws her legs over the side of the bed and stands slowly, feeling a jolt of nausea hit her. She almost loses her footing and falls back against the bed but she catches herself quickly and begins walking towards the apartment door.
"Let me know what they say." Addie says before Jewel exits.
*******************************************************************************
Take care of it. Take care of it. Take care of it. Take care of it.
Those four words reverberate through Jewel's mind as she waits for Eric to walk through his door. She cringes at the thought of him and shrinks back into herself while on the couch.
Jewel rocks back and forth, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. Hot tears begin to fall down her face. A feeling of complete horror and dread passes through her.
Why? Why now?
Why him?
There are of course options to fix the problem at hand but Jewel can't bring herself to think about those types of things. They seem wrong. They are wrong. But what if Eric makes her act on it? What then? Shouldn't she have a say?
The sound of the door unlocking makes Jewel flinch back and she digs her nails into the skin around her calf.
Eric walks through the door with a solemn look on his face. He doesn't glance in Jewel's direction but continues to walk towards the kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge.
He pops the cap off quickly and guzzles down the light brown liquid, not even trying to savor the taste. Tensions between him and Max had been high that day. For some reason, Max insisted on talking about Ryan's death and Eric wanted no part of it.
