Trials and Tribulations [Chaelisa]

Chapter 59

“Jesus Lisa!” Jisoo exclaimed, the pregnancy test momentarily forgotten and thrown on to the bed beside her as she stood up quickly and ran over to her friend who was slowly lowering herself fully on to the floor. Lisa reached out a hand to steady herself and she slumped back against the wall beside the waste basket, dropping her head down in an attempt to ease the sudden dizziness which had come over her. “Shit,” Jisoo cursed as she crouched beside the younger girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. Lisa wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, the other still resting on the rim of the waste basket next to her.

“Are you alright?” Jisoo asked her, concern etched on her voice. “Shall I call someone?” she questioned.

“No,” Lisa told her firmly, lifting the hand that she’d used to wipe at her face and placing it on Jisoo’s upper arm reassuringly. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah, you look it.” Jisoo responded, her tone serious yet sarcastic. She rubbed Lisa’s lower back soothingly.

“I really think I should call your mom,” Jisoo said and Lisa, who was twisted slightly so that she was turned towards the bin, rotated back around to meet her best friend’s worried gaze.

“You don’t have to do that,” Lisa said, but the colour remained drained from her face and she was covered in sweat, her skin gleaming brightly beneath the thin layer of it on her forehead. “It’s nothing. My brain and my stomach are just having a misunderstanding. It’ll pass in a moment.”

“You look like crap,” Jisoo told her bluntly.

“I already feel better,” Lisa lied, resting her head against the wall beside her and closing her eyes for a moment.

“You’re such a liar.” Jisoo said, placing the back of her hand to Lisa’s forehead in a half-hearted attempt to check her temperature. Lisa sat back up again in response to Jisoo’s touch and opened her eyes.

“You’re right,” Lisa admitted as her eyes struggled to focus on Jisoo’s face and she lunged forward quickly and leant over the bin, vomiting into it once again, her chest heaving painfully with the effort of being sick as another wave of nausea hit. Jisoo pulled Lisa’s hair out of the way and held it against her back, her other hand helping to steady the waste basket whilst the younger girl retched. “Fuck,” Lisa complained when the hot bile that had been at the back of her throat only moments ago was replaced with nothing more than an agonising muscle spasm in her oesophagus as she dry heaved. Lisa spat into the receptacle a few times as she tried to rid her mouth of the disgusting taste which now occupied it and she slumped back against the wall again, leaning against it on her right side, closing her eyes.

“I’m calling your mom,” Jisoo told her firmly, her own troubles now outweighed by the alarm she felt for Lisa’s health.

“No please,” Lisa said breathily, opening her eyes again and reaching up a hand which she placed on Jisoo’s shoulder. “It’s ok.” Lisa swallowed hard, her throat feeling as though it had been shredded to pieces by a number of very sharp razor blades. “It was just a shock that’s all…” she admitted quietly, closing her eyes again. “I didn’t think it’d be so soon.”

“You mean the trial?” Jisoo asked finally understanding, her eyes still puffy and red from her own earlier anxieties. Lisa nodded her head up and down slowly in the affirmative and Jisoo smiled sadly at Lisa in return, stroking the younger girls’ brow gently with her hand and brushing a few strands of dark hair which had been stuck to her forehead with sweat, back and away from her face. “Lisa it’ll be ok you know,” Jisoo reassured her and Lisa opened her eyes to meet her friends. “He’s going to go to prison. It’s pretty much guaranteed…”