•Bittersweet (Ryan Sitkowski)• COMPLETED

Get Down With The Sickness { 16 }

1 week later:
Jessica

"Here," Ricky says, handing me three little pills and a glass of water. Silent, I take them from him and down the pills.
He stands there, hovering over me, searching to make sure I'm okay.

"I'm fine," I sigh. "I'm not just going to keel over and die."

Ricky's eyes flash.
"But you almost did."

My gaze drops to the ground.
"I know."

****
Sitting in the hospital waiting room, I waited to be called back. Beside me, Ricky sat reading a magazine about pregnancy.

"Having fun there?" I tried to joke to lighten the mood. Ricky rolled his eyes before giving a fake, shiny grin.

"Yep! This has so much information! I can't wait for the day I have a baby!" He squealed sarcastically.

I chuckled weakly.

"Jessica Jones?" A voice calls.

Gulping, I glanced at Ricky as I stood up. He gave me a worried look.

"Don't worry. I'll be right here waiting. It's going to be fine."

****

I grimace, tossing the pills into the nightstand beside me. Keeping my eyes lowered, I let out a depressed sigh and shake my head. Ricky sits down beside me. My head drops down into my hands. He rubs my back gently, pausing at my wincing.

"Sorry... my lungs are sore and you touching my back right there hurts like fuck," I breath, closing my eyes. Ricky's hand drifts down onto my lower back and rubs soothing circles.

"It's fine. But... what are you going Alex? You have Tuberculosis. She's going to notice something's up."

My lips twitch downwards as I attempt to make a joke. "I personally like to call it Consumption because that sounds cooler. And I don't know. I- I don't want to tell her."

Tears fill my eyes. "Ricky," I croak. "I'm scared. I'm so so scared."

I curl into his chest. The slight smell of vanilla and cigarette smoke greets me as I dig my nails into his chest. "You can't tell Alex... or Ryan. He'll tell her."

Ricky sighs. "I- I won't, but Jessica, you're going to have start taking top notch care of yourself."

I shakily wipe my tears. Even if I did, it wouldn't change anything. I didn't tell Ricky what the doctor's said about my chances. I couldn't hurt him and... if I didn't say it out loud, it wouldn't be real.

"You're my best friend, Jess. You've always been there for me and Alex. Who else would eat my broccoli and steal my beanies? You're going to beat this. You just. You just need to start treatment."

I nod. "But, what if it doesn't work? What if- what if-" I start sobbing. My body curls into a ball as Ricky wraps his arms around my body gently and rocks me back and forth. Everything hurts. My lungs burn and it hasn't let up.

***
The young woman proceeds to cry into the goth male, not knowing about the presence hovering outside of the door. Ryan stands there, confused about what was going on. Clearly the two were hiding something. But what they were hiding, he didn't arrive early enough to hear. It pissed him off slightly. Why would there be any need for them to hiding stuff. Did something happen? Did she break her nail? Was Jessica pregnant and they didn't want to tell anyone?!? All these thoughts ran through Ryan's head as he tried to come up with scenarios to explain their actions.