The Laws of Emotion

Chapter Sixteen

Sunday morning, I thought I had died. The fundraiser went great yesterday, and I felt fine. However, today I woke up vomiting all over my room. My stomach kept rolling and rolling, and I was so nauseous. I could barely keep anything in, even if I hadn't eaten today.

Mom told me that I had food poisoning or something close that. She said it was something I ate, but I couldn't think of anything that would have given me food poisoning. I couldn't really think, though. My head was pounding and my stomach was cramping, and I couldn't focus on anything. 

Mom and Dad didn't want to go to church and leave me alone, but I forced them to go. I told them that I could take care of myself, so they took Beckett with them. Before they left, Dad gave me some food to try to eat with a bottle of water. 

I had lied to them. I couldn't take care of myself when I had to vomit every two seconds. When I wasn't vomiting, I was laying on the bathroom floor, curled up in a ball. My hair was piled on top of my head so it wouldn't get in the way. Sweat coated my skin, but I shivered against the cold floor. 

I reached across the floor and grabbed my water bottle. I was dying of thirst, but I didn't think I could keep that down either. I still sipped some of it and swallowed hard. My stomach cramped again, and I groaned. I shivered, my teeth chattering. I should've grabbed a blanket, but I didn't think I could get up now.

"Cat!"

My eyes fluttered open. The bathroom light was bright, and I squinted against it. No one stood outside the bathroom. I didn't hear anything else after that. Great, I was hallucinating now. 

"Cat! Where are you?"

Okay, I wasn't hallucinating. That sounded like Harvey, but I didn't try to get up. "I'm in the bathroom," I called feebly. "Upstairs."

Opening my mouth made the nausea go full blast. I stuck my head into the toilet and let everything come out. There wasn't much left now, but my stomach still wanted to spew more. I forced it down just as Harvey came into the bathroom. He had a bag in his hands, but he dropped it when he saw me on the floor.

"Cat," he said, bending down toward me. He pressed his hand on my forehead and shook his head. "Your mom called me and told me to check on you."

"Of course she did," I managed to say. I swallowed again. 

"You're not doing so well, are you?" Harvey asked.

I shook my head. I didn't think I could open my mouth without spewing all over him. He took notice of that and helped me sit up. He hands rubbed lines across my back as I dry heaved in the toilet. 

I leaned against him when I was done, breathing heavy. I could barely move now. "This sucks," I said, closing my eyes.

"At least you don't have diarrhea," he said with a small chuckle. "When I got food poisoning, I had both vomiting and diarrhea. I had to vomit in the sink while I sat on the toilet."

"TMI," I muttered. He laughed. He kept moving, and I was getting really annoyed with him. I wanted to stay still, to try to not upset my stomach by moving. He didn't get that, though. "Could you quit moving?" I asked.

"Oh. I'm sorry," he said, ceasing all movement. "I'm just trying to find the nausea pills I bought at the drug store. They have to be somewhere in this bag."

"What else did you buy?"

"Some food that will be good on your stomach," he said. "I also bought a movie that I thought we could watch together."

"I don't think I can leave the bathroom," I said, my stomach rolling. "My room is a mess."

Harvey tried to peer into my room from here. "You vomited in there, didn't you?"