In the Woods When First We Met

111. Health Effects

On Tuesday, Anne and Gilbert went back to school, and Anne brought her card to give Diana, but Diana was still out with her cold. Anne was disappointed, and she felt sorry for Diana.

On Wednesday, Diana still wasn't back.

After Gilbert dropped her off at the edge of the meadow on Wednesday afternoon, Anne thought she'd walk over to Diana's house for a moment and drop off the card...but the thought of walking alone outdoors made her anxious.

That's ridiculous, she scolded herself. Diana's house is the closest house to Green Gables out of anyone's, it's hardly a long walk at all!

But she couldn't.

And then she began to get angry that the outdoors had been ruined for her. She loved being outdoors. Now she felt panic.

That's got to go away, she insisted. Don't be upset over it now. You'll be able to be outdoors all you want. Every awful thing will go away. ...Sometime.

She decided that she'd wake up earlier on Thursday to see if she and Gilbert had time to drop it off before heading to school, and if not, if he'd mind to head in that direction after school so she could stop in for a moment and see Diana.

She felt it was unfair for her to rely on him so much, but she didn't know what else to do.

She didn't eat her dinner that night. She cut food into little pieces and pushed them around on her plate until it looked like she'd eaten a little.

She felt guilty about the trouble she had to be causing Gilbert, and he didn't need any more worry, what with his father to take care of.

She felt anxious about being alone, though, and she felt anxious about being anxious. It sounded laughable to her, but it was true: she didn't just have anxiety about places, people, and events...she felt anxiety at knowing that she was going to feel anxious.

Lying in bed at night, her stomach growled and her throat was parched. She didn't get up out of bed to get any water because she didn't have the energy to.

Thursday morning, she didn't wake up early like she wanted, instead, Marilla had to come wake her up, only to find Anne pale and sick.

"My goodness, you're shaking," Marilla asked her. She felt her forehead. "You don't have a fever."

Anne didn't say anything. She tumbled out of bed and reached desperately for her chamber pot. Marilla kept her from falling over as she dry-heaved into the bowl.

Marilla went to get Anne's washbasin and pitcher from her dresser and cleaned her face.

Anne's hands were shaking. "I think I'm going to throw up," she said.

"Do you think it's something you ate? ...But you haven't eaten since dinner. Come to think of it, you hardly touched your dinner." Then she thought, "It's your sugars," she decided.

"My what?" Anne asked, feeling her stomach turn over. She swallowed. She didn't understand why she needed to throw up when there was nothing in her to come out.

"I noticed you hardly ate last night, but I didn't think much about it, because when you've got the choice between using your mouth for eating or using your mouth for talking, eating takes second place."

"I still don't know what you mean," Anne said, feeling like she was about to die.

"When a person goes too long without eating, they get shaky. Or when they've eaten too many sweets. In your case it's that you didn't eat. ...It all affects your sugars. You need some soda crackers and water. It'll settle your stomach. If this ever happens again, that's what you must do...or drink some juice."

Anne wasn't listening. But once Marilla put a glass of water to her lips and helped her take a few crackers, it was only a few minutes before she was fine again.

"I don't feel sick anymore," she said.

"Good. Don't go so long on an empty stomach and it won't happen. And be sure you're getting fluids."

After she washed and dressed, she sat down to breakfast, with Marilla pushing her to eat more than she really wanted.

But Anne ate it all, never wanting to experience that shaky, lightheaded, nauseous feeling again.

She wondered if what Marilla had said about "your sugars" was true. She hoped that that was all it was. Mrs. Hammond's morning sickness was fresh in her mind.

Because she'd taken longer to get ready that day, she knew she and Gilbert would not have time to drop the card off at Diana's house. Oh well, maybe Diana would be in school today. She hoped so.