The Ghost Face Murders in Fall River

Ch. 30

The next day, Autumn was quiet and distant. She stayed curled up with her back to Kim and Richard. They didn't try to get her to talk to them because they didn't want to stress her out. The doctor came
by and tried to discuss what happened the day before, but Autumn wouldn't talk, she wouldn't even look at him. And much to Richard's satisfaction, the doctor banned her from having any other visitors besides them. He prescribed her a different anxiety medication for the time being and set her up to be seen by their Psychologist. Depending on how well she recovered mentally would determine when she got to leave the hospital.

It wasn't until the next day that they found Autumn sitting up, eating pancakes and drinking ginger ale. She seemed to be doing fine, but ended up vomiting in the middle of eating which got her upset. Now that Autumn had a more clearer mind, she was back to worrying about the baby. Not keeping food down meant there was no nutrients going to it. Kim was able to calm her down before she got too upset like Wednesday afternoon and managed to talk her into taking a shower. That made Autumn feel better and when her meds kicked in she felt pretty good.

Later on that day, she requested a strawberry milkshake, and Kim told Richard to get her Nintendo Switch. Her and Autumn sat in her bed and played Mario Party and when she got too tired to play, she watched Kim play Animal Crossing until she fell asleep. Autumn was only asleep about 20 minutes before she awoke abruptly and began throwing up. This was becoming a serious issue that the doctor didn't take seriously until Friday when he put her on something to keep her from vomiting, but Autumn continued to puke violently and frequently. By Saturday, she was almost too weak to even open her eyes. The doctor finally diagnosed her with Hyperemesis Gravidarum. He speculated that her extremely high levels of stress had made it worse. There was no other option but to insert an NG tube. Things just kept getting worse... Autumn wondered if there would be an end to this misery...

While Autumn struggled with her despair at the hospital, Danny was at her house replacing the back door. While he was at it, he bought her a new front door as well. The old one had a piss poor lock on it and the knob felt like it was about to fall off. Danny also purchased locks for her windows and installed them. He then cleaned up her bedroom, discarded the stained bed sheets, washed her plushies, and decided to purchase her a new mattress since there was blood soaked into the other one. Before he went mattress shopping, he cleaned the bathroom and took down and threw away everything that had blood on it. He had no clue when she'd be home, but he ordered her a new pink shower curtain with rabbits on it and matching floor mat and towels. He didn't want anything there that might remind her of that horrible night.

The hardest thing Danny had to do was clean up the remnants of where Autumn had attempted to take her life. It hurt, but he did it with love and care. When he was finished, he went out and shopped for a mattress. Danny spent an hour or so laying on and trying out different mattresses. He purchased one that would be comfy for her when she was far into her pregnancy, granted, the little speck made it through after she face planted Wednesday. Danny still felt horrible for that, especially for not going back to check on her. He lost sleep over her cries and screams, begging him to not leave her. Danny wasn't doing well himself, but he was staying strong and playing this charade for Autumn. He hoped they could be civil while he worked on a plan to get out of this.

Halloween came and it was spent in the hospital. To give Autumn a bit of joy, Richard carved Autumn a jack-o-lantern and placed it on her bedside table. They dressed in character PJs, including Richard who purchased a pair to make Autumn happy. They watched Halloween, drank apple cider and ate candy, well, Autumn only had two pieces. She was finally given the OK to go home the following Monday as long as she agreed to continue seeing the therapist and that she would stay with someone she trusted for a little while. Richard volunteered to have her stay with him, that's where Kim and Bowser were staying anyway.