Protective Love

Ch. 17 - The Circus

Don't forget ALL NEW chapters are completely rewritten! This is a new and freshly published chapter! Please re-read as the second book has been written based on this NEW EDITED book #1. Enjoy! 

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A loud groan from across the bed wakes me up in a fright. I sit up quickly and turn my head to see Dean tangled up in the bed sheets, one arm and leg hanging off the bed and the other sprawled across the mattress close to where I was laying down just a few seconds ago. A sharp throbbing in my head has me moaning out loud to myself as I clutch my temple and close my eyes. I start to sniffle as I feel the congestion blocking my nose and cause my headache to worsen. My throat feels swollen and scratchy, trying to swallow my saliva has my wincing in pain. I take a deep breath to try to soothe my burning throat, but the cool breeze makes me wince once again. I open my eyes and try to shake Dean away to no luck. He's dead asleep and looks as if he won't wake up for another few hours. I slide my aching body off the bed and slowly make my way to the bathroom where I do my morning business. I climb on the stool to wash my hands and look at myself in the mirror. I see a pale 8 year old staring right back at me, hair slick wet from sweat and clinging to my head and face. My eyes are bloodshot red as if I haven't slept at all. I splash some water on my face and carefully step off my stool that my brothers have in their bathrooms for I can access the sink better since I'm so short. I tiptoed out of the bathroom, past Dean and into the hallway. Clutching my stomach in pain, I head down the stairs slowly. I descend each step one at a time with short pauses in between maybe every 4 steps to catch my breath. The closer to the bottom of the steps I get, the louder the voices get as well.

"....and on top of everything else, she's getting worse!" I hear what sounds like a coffee mug being set down on the counter a little too hard.

"Maybe we should get them out of school and look into homeschooling them?"

"Actually..." A short pause, I am near the bottom of the steps now and I am quietly waiting to hear what is said. "We can keep an eye on her better, she can come to our classes also when she feels the need to, or when we are watching her. I can talk to the principal today or tomorrow and try to set something up."

"Hmmm.. yes. Set something up. We will have to discuss this together further."

I try to figure out who is talking, normally I know exactly who by the tone of their voice, but I feel so exhausted and sick that I can barely recognise my own voice! And I'm not even talking out loud. Just in my head.

"Well, one step at a time. She's a few months in now, and we also have Cody to think about. Talking about Cody, have you noticed him around? He woke up at the same time I did today."

"Yeah, he's outside playing with Zeus."

Nausea starts to creep into my body and I feel wobbly. My legs start to shake and I start to black out. I regain my consciousness slowly, gripping onto the railing hard. I walk down the rest of the steps and pop into the kitchen to see William and Sam leaning against the kitchen counter facing each other with coffee in their hands. William quickly puts his mug down and comes over to me, kneeling to be at my level.

"Vi? What's wrong, sweetie?" William whispers to me as one of his arms holds me up by my waist and the other takes hold of my right arm which is trying to soothe out my headache by painfully rubbing my forehead.

I shut my eyes as pain erupts through my head painfully, my throat hurting bad and this nausea getting worse. I start to shake my head 'no' as tears stream down my face. My soft whimpering turns into full sobs as William pulls me into a hug and picks me up. My legs swing around his stomach and my arms circle his neck as I bury my face into his shoulder/neck. William walks around the kitchen and living room as he attempts to calm me down. One of his arms is under my butt to hold me up, the other is rubbing circles into my back as I cry on him. I start to smell something delicious from the kitchen and as William makes his way back to the kitchen, I peek over his shoulder to see Sam cooking eggs and pancakes. He notices me looking and gives me a wink, smiling. William's slow walking and rubbing has calmed me down so much that I'm now in a brain fog. I can't remember and don't care about the conversation between my two brothers earlier. I can't even really remember what I did last night. I am feeling so weak and sick that all I care about is William's warm embrace, the delicious food I'm smelling and going back to sleep.