The Innocent Can Never Last

Ruby Soho

Billie's POV
"Hey, man, are you gonna be okay?" Tre shouted from the other side of the locked bathroom door.
"Come back in a few days and we'll see how I'm feeling then," I replied weakly, sliding the rest of the way down onto the cold tile floor, and resting my head on the edge of the toilet.
"I'm serious, Bill, are you okay?" Tre asked, and he sounded worried.
"No," I answered, quickly closing my eyes as another wave of nausea passed through my body, and the room started to spin.
"Well, will you at least unlock the door so I can come in? I'm afraid you'll pass out on the floor and choke to death on your own vomit," Tre said, banging on the door a bit.
"What a lovely way to die," I said sarcastically.
"It's happened before," Tre said. "Now open the door."
"Fine," I said, scooting over to the door and unlocking it so that Tre could come in.
He came barreling into the bathroom, frowning sympathetically when he saw me sitting on the floor, one hand on my knotted stomach, the other on my aching head. "Are you alright?" Tre asked.
"I already said I wasn't," I answered, moaning as my head started to pound even worse.
Tre knelt down beside me and said, "Do you wanna go back to bed? It's better than laying on the floor all day."
"Yeah," I answered, and Tre began to help me to my feet.
It was the morning after my 'initiation into the real world, ' as Tre had called it, and I was definitely feeling the aftereffects, as I experienced the first real hangover of my life. My head hurt, I felt more nauseous than I ever had before, and I was so tired and out of reality that I could hardly move. To say the least, I thought I was going to die.
Our trip out of the bathroom and back to my 'closet' was not fun. Tre was supporting me, but we still had to stop every five seconds so that I could keep my nausea under control and try not to puke all over the floor. When we finally did make it to the room, I fell heavily on top of my bed and closed my eyes, not even noticing as Tre covered me with several blankets, and moved a trash can over to the side of the bed. "The first time's always the worst, man, now get some sleep. Let me know if you need anything."
With that said, Tre closed the door behind him, as I rolled over onto my side and fell into a fitful sleep.
Several hours later, I woke up with a start, as a terrible shot of pain surged through my head, making me jump out of my bed and go sprinting down the hallway to the bathroom, where I puked out what felt like the majority of my internal organs.
When I was done, I sat down on the floor with a moan, struggling to control the chills that kept running through my body in tremors. This was the worst that I'd ever felt in my entire life, and as I sat there on the floor, I began to wish longingly for Emma. I knew that if she was there, she could make everything better, the way she had so many times before. When you're in love with a woman, there's no ailment that her touch can't cure, and I was quickly figuring that out.
With another low moan, I slumped over onto the floor and pressed my feverish head against the cool tile. Another shot of pain went through my head, and I let out a short gasp, curling up into a ball on the floor and cradling my head in my arms. I let out several more moans of pain, before drifting off into a kind of half-sleep.
The next thing I knew, I became slightly aware of a continuous heavy banging sound on the bathroom door, along with the monotonous drone of voices from outside the door. "Billie! Billie!" was what it sounded like they were saying. All of the noise hurt my head, so I curled up into a tighter ball, mumbling, "No... Go away."
The voices, along with the banging of the door continued, however, and a few minutes later, the bathroom door flew open with a crash, and Tre and Roan both entered the room and fell to the floor next to me. Roan put his hand on my forehead and said, "Billie? Are you okay, man?"
I was still half out of it, so my only reply was yet another moan of pain. "He doesn't look good... We should probably get him back to bed," Tre said nervously.
"Yeah, good idea," Roan replied. "Hey, Billie, we're gonna take you back to bed, okay?"
I heard him say it, but I didn't respond, and the next thing I knew, Roan had scooped me up into his arms, and was carefully carrying me down the hallway. He carried me back to my 'room, ' and laid me down on the bed, and he and Tre covered me with blankets, as I whimpered and moaned for the pain in my head. Roan sat down on the edge of the bed, as I mumbled, "Emma... I want Emma."
"I know man, I know," Roan said, putting his hand on my head. "Try and go to sleep."
Roan used his thumb to gently rub my forehead and lull me off into sleep...