Chronicles of a Fat Teenager (Complete - Sequel coming soon)

Chronicles of a Fat Teenager - Chapter Twenty Four

Beth nervously walked into the bathroom and the heavy door closed behind her.  Jessica was slumped on the floor with her dress fanned around her on the cold bathroom tiles. She leaned up against the wall on the far side of the bathroom and Beth could see her face was ghostly pale and distorted in pain, mascara streaked down her beautiful face.  

Beth crossed over to her and quietly knelt down beside her. 

"Jess, honey. Danny came to get me, he said you'd called an ambulance."

Jessica solemnly nodded and then winced, face contorting with the pain in her stomach and she doubled up, crying, "Oh Beth, the cramps suddenly got worse ... I ... I " and she winced again, wrapping her arms around her waist and drawing her tiny legs up to her chest. 

Beth looked down onto the dark bathroom tiles and thought for a moment that a tap had leaked, spotting a small pool of liquid that glistened under the strip lighting. She then saw the colour of the liquid and how it appeared to gather underneath Jessica's dress. She knew at once it must be blood.

"Jess, love. How long have you been bleeding, sweetie?"

Jess shook her head weakly, her eyes hooded with fatigue, "About half an hour, I think. At first I thought I'd wet myself so I ran in here ... Oh God ... and Jez and I had been getting on so well, he must think I'm a freak ... I sat on the loo and the pain really started. Oh God, Beth. It feels like someone is squeezing me from the inside, it's like I'm trapped in a vice. Oh shit, Beth, another one's coming ..." and she screwed up her eyes and howled with the pain.

"I'm going to ring your parents, Jess. Oh shit ... where's my phone?" and Beth searched for her bag on the floor. She remembered she had left it with Miles, "Jess honey. Can Miles come in here? He's got my bag with my phone in. I'm going to ring your folks."

Jess nodded, face still marred with the pain.

"Miles! Miles! I need my bag! I need my bag!" Beth shouted through the door. She heard a commotion outside and raised voices. Up until that point they'd been oblivious to the outside world, but Beth could hear more raised voices and a girl shouting. Suddenly Miles burst in through the door, his blazer ripped at the shoulder seam and a red mark on his cheek. He held the bag out for Beth as he hurried over to them.

"Sorry," he gasped, "Had a bit of trouble outside. All sorted now, though."

Beth grabbed her mobile from her bag and quickly looked for Jessica's home phone number, she hurriedly hit the call button and waited.

"Hello, Frank? It's Beth. I ... I'm fine thanks. .. Listen ... yes, I know you were about to come to collect her, that's not what I'm phoning about ... Frank! Listen! Jess has called an ambulance, she's lost a bit of blood and she's in pain. She thinks .... yes, yes I know. Miles is with me, we're in the bathroom with her now. She won't let anyone else in. I'll put her on now ..." and she passed the phone to Jess. The pain seemed to have subsided and she weakly spoke to her father.   

Beth looked at Miles who had kneeled in front of them. He too had spotted the pool of blood on the floor and looked up at Beth, "The ambulance will be here any minute, if I call dad before he leaves to pick us up, he might be able to hurry them up, or something. He'll need to know what's happening. You go with Jess in the ambulance?" 

Beth nodded numbly, she hadn't thought that far ahead. Right now, all she wanted was for her friend to be OK. 

Miles walked to the other side of the bathroom, quickly tapping his mobile. 

"Dad! Aah, I caught you! Where are you? On hands free? Excellent, so you're just around the corner did you say? Sorry, it's echoey in here. Dad, I can't hear you properly so I'm just going to talk at you and hope you can hear me OK. Jessica, Beth's friend has taken really ill. She's called an ambulance herself and she's on the phone to her parents. Beth will go with her to the hospital so should we tell her folks to go straight to the hospital?"