NUMB

Day Twenty-Two (pt. 1) - Elyse

The next morning, Edie is awake before me. She is getting dressed and turns to me when I sit up. "Hey. Did you not sleep last night? I could have sworn I felt you get up once or twice."

I shake my head. The motion makes my body lurch forward, tipping over the edge of the bed. I brace my hands on the mattress to keep from falling forward all the way.

Edie takes a step towards me. "Are you okay, Elyse?"

I open my mouth to say I am fine, but instead of speaking, I vomit. It splatters against the floor and I heave again. Edie runs to our door, slams her hand against the pad on the wall, and it whooshes open. She goes into the hallway and I can hear her asking for someone to bring a Warden or a nurse to our room, quickly. I cough and heave one more time. My hands are trembling where they are gripping the blanket on the bed.

It smells awful in our room now and I cannot look at the puddle on the floor. I lean back, sure that I am finished emptying my stomach, and drag the back of my hand across my mouth. Edie comes back into the room and clamps a hand over her mouth and nose.

"A Warden will be here soon. I'm having you taken to the infirmary." She steers clear of the vomit and sits on the bed next to me. "We'll figure out what just happened, okay?" She tucks a strand of my hair behind my ears and then wraps her arm around my shoulders.

I am only aware moments later that I am crying because my vision blurs more than usual. I reach up and touch my face, holding my fingertips in front of myself to look at the wetness on them. "Edie, I'm crying." I dry my fingers on my blanket. "I do not feel sad or like I am in pain. I still feel nothing. Why am I crying?"

Edie looks up at me and shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know, Elyse. Maybe throwing up triggered a reaction that caused your body to produce tears. I think it is fairly common for people to cry when they vomit."

I can only assume that Edie's information is correct. I do not recall ever vomiting before in my life, so I am not sure if crying is a normal reaction from my body. I watch the tears drop onto my pants, the liquid spreading across the fabric when it lands.

A Warden finally shows up and I am escorted to the infirmary. Edie comes with me and pets my hair as we wait for a nurse to clear a room for me. There are a few other Numb who look like they have been sick like me. Most of them are Threes.

A nurse approaches us and the Warden explains what happened. As I am taken to a room, I see Jet come into the infirmary. His face is flushed with color, his hair matted to his forehead, and he is gulping in air. He spots me and comes towards me, but I am being ushered into a room and then the door is shut behind me.

I sit on the bed in the room and my examination begins. I am poked and prodded; thermometers stuck into my mouth and sticks pressed to my tongue. The nurse takes my pulse and draws my blood to use for tests. She shines lights in my eyes and checks my ears.

Edie watches from the corner of the room, sitting up straight in the plastic chair. She won't stop chewing on her nail. The nurse tells me that I am to stay in this room while she goes and runs blood tests. They are to make sure I am healthy and not infected by anything. She also tells Edie that she is able to stay here with me.

A message will be given to Mrs. B about our absences from class.

As soon as the nurse leaves, Edie slumps in the chair and blows a strand of hair away from her face. "Do you think you will be okay? I mean, why would you be throwing up? Did you eat anything bad yesterday?"

I shrug and look at her. "I wouldn't know if I did. I wouldn't be able to feel it if I were experiencing stomach pains or any of the signs of food poisoning. Do I look like I am ill?"

Edie stands and comes over to stand in front of me. She brushes my bangs out of the way and presses her hand against my forehead. "My mother used to do this to me as a child to check for illness." She pulls her hand back and glances at it. "I'm not sure what the purpose of touching the forehead is, but you do not feel any different than usual."

"Then I am not ill? Maybe it is a reaction to the antiviral I was given yesterday."

Before Edie can give her thoughts on the idea, the door cracks open. Edie moves away from the bed, back towards the corner. But it is not the nurse who pokes her head through the door.

It is Jet.