Waking Up in Vegas

Chapter 14

“Okay, we have the icecream and mom brought home the movies. Let’s get this marathon started, shall we?” Rydel asked, looking over at Carly. Carly nodded and picked up her bowl of chocolate chunk icecream. “Ready when you are.” She answered. The boys and Mark were all off on a two day camping trip, leaving Stormie, Rydel, & Carly the house all to themselves. Stormie was already upstairs in bed. Rydel glanced hesitantly at the bowl in Carly’s hands. “Are you sure you don’t want to take it easy? I mean you JUST got over being sick.” She reminded her. Carly glanced down at her overflowing bowl of fudgey icecream. She had been a little bit slower than Riker and Kristen to get over her case of food poisoning. They had been back on their feet in about two days; she had only just stopped her sporadic vomiting about 24 hours ago. It’d been nearly two weeks since they’d all gotten sick. Carly shook her head and started walking towards the living room. “I’ll be fine. I feel much better today.” She assured her. Rydel shrugged as she crossed the room to the television and slid ‘Mean Girls’ into the DVD player. “That’s what you’ve been saying every day. And then a few hours later you’re back in the bathroom. Just take it easy, Carly. I know you’re ready to be all better, but you still have several weeks before school starts.” She reminded her. Carly nodded as she eagerly took a bite of her icecream. “I know, I know. But I’m fine! Trust me. I’ve been living on Gatorade and toast for days. I need real food.” She said hungrily. Rydel looked skeptically down at her bowl. “And icecream is ‘real food’?” she questioned. Carly rolled her eyes and nudged Rydel’s arm playfully. “Just play the movie, would ya?”

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“Okay so we’ve watched ‘Mean Girls’, ‘She’s the Man’, and ‘Footloose’. What’s next? ‘Grease’ or ‘The Breakfast Club’?” Rydel questioned. Carly paused to think for a few moments. “‘The Breakfast Club,’ definitely.” She said finally. Rydel nodded and slid the DVD into the player before coming to sit down next to Carly on the couch. “It’s almost 1:00 in the morning, are you sure you don’t want to go to bed, Delly? You’ve got a show tomorrow night.” She reminded her. Rydel shook her head. “I’m fine. We’ve pulled all-nighters before shows. I’ve got this.” She assured her. Carly laughed and turned her attention back to the television. A few minutes into the movie she began to feel that sickening queasy feeling that she’d grown accustomed to over the past week. She quickly pushed it to the back of her mind, praying that by some miracle it would go away if she stopped thinking about it. It was no use. Five minutes later, she was gripping the arm of the couch, willing the contents of her stomach to stay in place. Rydel seemed to sense that something was wrong. She glanced over at Carly worriedly. “Carly, are you okay?” she asked quickly. Carly slowly shook her head, knowing that if she were to open her mouth she’d lose her icecream all over the Lynch’s leather couch. She quickly stood and bolted down the hallway towards the bathroom, Rydel right on her heels. She made it to the toilet with seconds to spare. “Rydel, get out of here. You don’t need to see this.” Carly moaned as she clutched the bowl. Rydel shook her head as she held her hair gently away from her face. “You know I’m not going to leave you alone.” She said quietly. She quickly stepped over to the sink and dampened a washrag as Carly leaned her back against the bathroom wall. She handed her the rag as she slowly sat down next to her on the floor. “This is ridiculous.” Carly groaned as she wiped the cold, clammy sweat from her forehead. “I shouldn’t still be sick. Riker and Kristen stopped vomiting a week ago. Food poisoning doesn’t usually last this long, does it?” she questioned. Rydel nodded thoughtfully. “No…it doesn’t.” she said quietly. They both sat in silence for a few moments. Suddenly Rydel turned her head slowly to look at Carly. “Carly.” She whispered. Carly glanced feebly at her. “Yeah?” Rydel swallowed nervously. “What if…what if it isn’t food poisoning?” she asked quietly. Carly furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Not food poisoning? Well what else could it be?” she questioned. Her eyes suddenly widened as the realization dawned. “Oh. My. God.” She breathed.