brave//5SOS

8

Emily

Ashton didn't lie to Tom. I slept all day. Jake went home before tea, and I was struggling to sleep. Luckily, Tom came upstairs and climbed into the bed- I cuddled into his side and sighed.

"I'm not feeling too great," I said, my voice sounding strained.

"Don't speak, it'll just make it worse... I'm sorry you're so sick,"

I kept my eyes closed. I wished my brother didn't need to pick me up.

"I'm gonna text Ashton," he whispered, "read if you want,"

Tom:
Hey, it's Tom. Emily is just sleeping and complaining right now, but why was she even with you in the first place???

Ashton: Ahhh so she's doing nothing different then... she's been down at hospital everyday for the past two weeks, telling me how bad it is at home so we somehow convinced her brother to let her stay with us.

Tom:
Thankyou, I missed having my best friend. It's scary to see her like this though. She's just spent more and more time alone and I wish she could speak to me.

It was strange to see a conversation about myself, but I was too groggy to think. What they were saying was true.

Ashton: I think she wants to talk to you but she doesn't know how to. Also, make sure she's ok because at the weekend she panicked after not texting you for a week. Are you ok though? You haven't come to the hospital for a while...

Tom:
Yeah. It's just weird and upsetting so I wanted to stay away from it all but I want to go more than anything. I've got my family to support me all the time though, she doesn't

Ashton: It's hard on her but as long as you keep talking to her I know she will get through it. You should come in next week, even if it's only for five minutes. Text me if you need anything else!

"It's nice that you still trust him," I smiled.

"Yeah... do you need food?"

I hadn't eaten all day but my stomach wasn't rumbling. I was quite comfy in bed, and happy to be with Tom. However, a loud knock on the door changed that and I gripped my arms round his body.

"I think that's your brother," he whispered. Slowly, I sat up and rubbed my eyes, anticipating an argument. He could tell I was in pain. Luckily, my bags hadn't been unpacked so he slung them over his shoulder and handed me my shoes.

"Don't come to school tomorrow, I'll see you when you feel better?" he told me. I sent him a small thumbs up before heading  downstairs.

Every step I went down was torture. It rattled my whole body and my head exploded.

"Come on Emily. We need to get home, now," Jack said sternly. I was trying my best. Did he not realise how ill I was?

Tom waited until I was downstairs to give me the bag then lightly squeezed my shoulder. Anything else would make my brother flip.

"Thankyou," I croaked to his mum before roughly being taken out the house. They sent me a sad smile but stayed by the door until we drove off.

"What is wrong with you?" Jack asked as we drove down the highway. I didn't answer.

"I said, what is wrong with you?" he shouted, slamming the wheel.

"Flu," I squeaked. My voice was really not controlled. He pulled a face and dug around for something in the car. If it was medicine, I wasn't taking it.

He hung up a free air freshener he got from the car cleaners- as if that was going to help.

Once we got home, I went straight to my room. It was a nice house because we were in mum's house; I still had my old room.

Laying in your own bed gave you a type of comfort that no where else does and I suddenly felt much better. It didn't matter that the mattress was old, or than the sheets were probably a little overdue for being changed- it felt like I was sleeping on a cloud.

I plugged my phone in and texted Ashton to tell him I was home before putting it down and turning on the tv.

That's when the noises started except today there was no argument. No, nope, not shouting today. They'd most definitely made up... or my brother was just using her. Did they forget I was home already? I scrunched my face up and turned the tv up to drown it out.

Thankfully, it was over when I wanted to sleep. I could get some peace and quiet- so I thought. My body ached, my eyes drooped and I looked like one of my good days during my treatment. I hadn't felt one hundred percent since.

Once I'd got ready for bed, I climbed in and turned my light off. There were an awful lot of cars outside which meant a lot of people inside. Sometimes I forgot my brother was only 18 and still has parties. I never understood why so many people were his friend.

I'd gotten sleepy before the loudness started but when my door burst open, I immediately was awake. A drunk couple stood awkwardly at the doorway before quickly closing my door and giggling to themselves.

It was only 1am. The party was still going strong. At least I was feeling tired and with a bit of music, I was back to sleep. It went like that all night and I kept feeling worse and worse.

By the morning, I felt more awful that I'd ever felt in my life. I'd turned my alarms off because I was too sick to go to school but my brother was still insisting.

"Emily, we are leaving in ten minutes so get yourself up and out of that bed," he grunted, "if I am late to work then you'll face consequences,"

I could've cried right there.