The Calling (DrTrollinski & Zhai)

[Zhai]

Mia's cheek filled with air and she blew it out sharply, listening to Carl. "Yeah, I'm sure she had to change her underwear after we left." Even though it wasn't true, she knew it was better to pump up her brother's ego rather than break it down. She'd done that once before, a long time ago, and it ended in Carl's nearly tragic self esteem depression. What had it taken to get it back? Ah, she didn't remember but just all of a sudden one day he was back to God's Gift Carl. Mia suspected it was a few looks from girls at school, a good uncensored website at home, and a few extra minutes in the shower. He was right as rain in a week's time. "I wonder how Jen would feel about your womanizing ways."


Mia shrugged her shoulders, shooting him a questionable glance but all in good humor and fun. It wasn't like she was going to go rushing back to Jen to tell her he'd been sweet talking thirty year old women. It would probably freak Jen out since her mother was coming up on her late thirties and even Mia had to admit that the woman had managed to hold herself together nicely. Nearly thirty seven and still looked like she'd was a fresh twenty-something year old.


"You might get stuck next to some mother of seven, but maybe I'll get lucky and sweet talk my way into a better seat. With a hotter guy." Smiling, she bumped her elbow against Carl's side softly, and continued picking away at the layers of the croissant.


By the time they reached what Mia had to assume was the bus stop, her croissant was all but finished and the bus had just taken off. "Shit..now we have to wait." The bus stop looked like a glass box with several old and new posters stuck to it's walls with gum, writing, and other unmentionable things everywhere. The trash can was grossly overfilled, the bench looked it had germs visibly crawling on it, and there was no schedule posted. Well there was but it was colored over in black paint as a part of some graffiti tag. "The woman said every twenty minutes...so we wait." Mia shifted her weight from foot to foot just outside the glass cage of the so called bus stop, refusing to sit on the bench and finding it cooler outside the glass than sitting inside of it.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Jen would be happy, because my ways would have her loving me even more, wouldn't they?" He laughed. "You and I are her best friends, Mia. She'd love my charm - Hell, she clearly does, or she wouldn't have agreed to go on a date with me, would she?" He chuckled a little and then leaned back to stretch his back, continuing to shove the donut into his mouth.


He kept walking with her until they came close to the bus stop and then smiled once it came into view. That was definitely a nice sight to see. "Mother of seven? Heh, no. I'd rather stand." He said. "You and I, we're sitting together, alright? Christ, don't trust anyone on a bus - That's not me being an asshole, that's the truth. Dad had his wallet stolen on a bus by someone who appeared to be a 'really friendly guy'. Would you believe that?" He said with a chuckle.


When it came to standing outside the bus stop, an old man soon walked up and joined them. Something sprung into Carl's mind. They didn't even know where they were going - this old man smelt heavily of whiskey and cigars, but he needed some clarification on... Not on where they were, that would be suspicious. The next town. Right, yeah.


"Uh, excuse me, sir?" He asked. The man whipped out a cigar and lit it, and then turned to glare at Carl. Carl gulped quietly, but still stared into his eyes.


"Mm." He grumbled in response, his voice worn by cigars and alcohol.


".. Where's the next closest town to Clayton?"


The man shot him an even wider glare, but then his face suddenly went into more of a calm expression. "Lakemont." He growled, and then turned away to go and sit down on the bench under the bus stop. Carl sighed and then nodded at him.


"Thank you." He said, hesitantly. The man simply gave him an aggressive dismissive wave as he sat down, and Carl quickly went to Mia's side and took a deep breath whilst whispering to her. ".. Everyone around here's fuckin' weird." He said, as quietly as he could.

 

[Zhai]

Mia hesitated at the whole 'best friends' thing Carl said about Jen. Sure, Jen was nice and she was potentially going to be a long term love interest of Carl's, but she didn't consider them friends in the least. They never hung out. They only spoke in class if they had to. They didn't know shit about each other, and that night she came over the house was mainly for Carl, because Mia disappeared majority of the time. At best they were acquaintances with a common person connecting them - Carl.


"I'm not friends with Jen, Carl. I only know her because she's in love with you and you guys are seeing each other." Mia smiled just so Carl knew she wasn't bearing any ill background to what she was saying, but she was hoping Carl wasn't about to push Jen on her like he'd done with the salad thing earlier. She'd stopped eating salad for the time they were on the run but that was about as much as she was bending for Carl. He couldn't force Jen and her to be together. "I like her, Carl. She's a good person."


Mia laughed at his comment at their Father having his wallet stolen. "Dad doesn't pay attention, either." That was true. Their Father was the easiest person to distract. Simple conversation about something he was interested in and that was it - you've got the man caught off his guard. "The guy was probably talking about golfing or something, you know how Dad gets. I could believe he got lifted off of." It was a stab at her Father but it was true. Get the man going and you could get him to spill anything.


When the old man came up, Mia didn't interrupt his exchange with Carl - he could handle it. She instead tried to catch a fresh breeze of air that didn't stank of the old man who smelled like he'd sprayed himself with Bar cologne, the thick smell of alcohol and smokes sticking to his every move and breath. When they were done and Carl came close, she nodded in agreement. "At least they're not mean." That was true. Mia would have rather everyone in this town be weird as hell, walking around with their underwear on their heads and sun glasses on the back of their head...rather than them being assholes to them.


Mia shifted her weight around again, snapping her fingers, and whistling softly. How much time had passed? It was still just Carl, the old man, and herself. No one else was coming to the bus stop or even angling toward it, and she couldn't see a bus coming up the lane either.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Eh." He said, simply. He didn't really know what to think - He didn't want things to turn into some rivalry where there was nothing but fighting over this, that, and the other. Christ, if Mia decided to vanish every time Jen appeared to hang out with Carl, how was that going to look? Carl could always discreetly hold a grudge against people without even realizing himself - Yeah, that included Mia. He wasn't holding one now, but he could easily do it. There was that constant meter at the back of his head that ticked around everyone, and... That's what caused it. It definitely wasn't deliberate, though. It was more of a natural thing.


".. She is a good person." He said. ".. I think when it comes to her coming to our house to hang out... We'll sort of need to spend the time together then, won't we? I can't really lock you in a closet and tell her that you're not there, can I?" He chuckled. "But hey, anything other than then is up to you." He said, shrugging a little.


"We just need to be patient for this bus. It's going to be here, just give it time." He said softly, and then looked down at her watch. Eh, what, it had been... ten minutes, maybe? If that? He was a patient person, for sure. Oh, and that little meter in the back of his head told him subconsciously that he didn't mean what he said about Mia and Jenna, but Carl didn't fully know that. It was almost as if there was an outside force that told him to think otherwise.

 

[Zhai]

"If I'm not around then you don't have to worry about the awkward sexual tension between Jen and you if I'm in the room. Then you'd have to figure out a way to kick me out and trust me, I wouldn't go easy if I know what's going on." Mia smiled and rolled a ball of of paper under her foot. "It's just easier if I'm not around in the first place." Besides she couldn't imagine her brother coming up with a very good excuse as to why she would need to leave the room, even with his quick wit and fast mouth. Plus he'd probably be nervous as hell trying to tell Mia to get out because he could possibly be getting laid.


The thought of how Carl would say it made her smile again, and she had to shake her head to dismiss the thought. When they day came, Mia didn't even know how she would react. She'd probably leave the house. Leave the state. Take a cruise or something until it was over.


When Carl looked at her wrist, Mia's head whipped down to see what he was looking at. Oh! She forgot she was wearing a watch. It probably wasn't in her best interest to remember she had a watch on either because now she was looking down at it every two seconds, watching the minutes go by slower than before. Eventually another eleven minutes passed. Then twelve minutes. Twelve minutes passed since she'd stalked her watch, on top of the ten or fifteen minutes they'd been standing at the bus stop already. Bus was late or something.


Mia was considering just sucking up her pride and sitting on the bench, when she heard the loud whining and hissing of the bus turning a near corner. On the outside it looks like...shit; dirty, the writing chipped on the side, and the sounds it was making had Mia thinking it was better to just walk or hitchhike. It crept to a stop in front of the bus stop, a door at the front and a door in the middle peeling open. A few people got off, the old man quickly ran into the middle door, and Mia looked at her brother, hesitating. "I just want this to be on the record between us that if we die on this bus...this was your idea." Mia poked her brother in the chest, smiled nervously, and walked onto the bus through the front door.


The driver didn't say anything; didn't ask for a ticket or acknowledge them. He had a paper spread across the steering wheel and a small television hung on the windshield. Bus safety? - Failed.


Mia continued slowly up the short steps onto the platform, pushed through a gate separating the seats from the driver, and was surprised to find the bus didn't look like it'd never been serviced. The seats looked clean - new, even - and there were plenty of them empty. It was cool on the bus, more like cold, but it was better than being stuck in the heat. There was the old man from the bus stop, seated in the far back corner. A mother and her children, not seven but a mere two in the same seats. A man asleep in the first seat by the window...and that was all.

 

[DrTrollinski]

Carl didn't really say anything else until the bus arrived. He kept up small talk and all that, but didn't really comment on anything they discussed until they were finally up on the bus. Carl dragged her over to the middle seats and sat down, but gave her the opportunity to sit by the window like a defensive brother would. What would be better than sitting between her and any other mad sexual predators that decided to get on the bus with them? This was better than nothing, but there was no way that Carl was letting up up.


As the bus' wheels screeched on the road, and the engine hissed alongside the doors creaking shut, Carl lied back in his seat and took a deep breath. He didn't really like the fact that Mia was instantly assuming that all he thought about was sex. Sure, he made a lot of jokes about it, but that wasn't what he was in it for. He loved Jenna because of her kindness, and her personality and ability to understand... pretty much anything.


"I hope you're not implying that all I want is to get laid." He said, a little defensively. "When I said about us hanging out, I meant it in more of a neutral way... As in... You know, the night she came over, and we sat there and had a laugh and spoke for a while... I like to hang out too, you know. Not just sit there and kiss and all of that other stuff... Not really a relationship if you're in it for the sex, to be honest... It's just more of a--.. Booty call sort of thing." He shrugged a little and then set his head back and shut his eyes.

 

[Zhai]

"Carl I..." Mia paused, biting her cheek, inhaling a deep breath, and softly letting it go. It seemed that since they started this little runaway journey Mia and Carl weren't on the same page in most of their conversations. It was a pain in the ass and it only made being close to each other tense and calculated. Mia's eyes glanced over at her brother, watching his closed off expression. "I didn't mean that. I know you really like Jen and I respect that but you can't say that you'll never..y'know.." Mia's eyes jumped up a little and she cleared her throat. Carl knew what she was getting out and she hoped she didn't need to say it aloud. "One day it'll happen. That's all I'm saying."


She let her words simmer between them, and she didn't have much else to say about it. One day it was bound to happen and Carl knew, Mia knew, and maybe even Jen was thinking about it. Mia didn't want to be the third wheel to her brother and Jen, and she wasn't going to let Carl badger her into it, either.


Mia angled her body towards the window, leaning her head against the glass, bringing her legs into her chest and folding her arms. This was probably going to be a long bus ride, and she could tell just by the first thing they saw leaving the town - woods. More trees. More forest. More nothing. Mia's eyes stayed open for at least an hour, watching tree after tree until she was lulled to sleep by the lack of change in scenery.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. I never said it wouldn't, I just--.." He sighed and then set his head back against the seat. ".. That's not what I mean." He mumbled. Christ, this wasn't right. He didn't want things to be this way. He never wanted things to end up like this. This wasn't what life was meant to have in it - there wasn't supposed to be anything like this in the relationship.


Was Mia stubborn?


Was Mia jealous?


He didn't know. And he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. He shook his head and then set the side of it down against the back of the seat so he could stare around for a few moments. He looked at the back of the bus at the woman and her children, the youngest boy (who couldn't have been older than five or six) gave him a little wave and shy smile once their eyes met. Carl couldn't leave him sitting there, so he gave a little wave and smile back, and then turned back to face the front and set his head back again, yawning.


He wasn't going to be able to sleep. His stomach was killing him. He needed to find a bathroom, ASAP. He'd wake Mia up when they got there, and when they did, he was certain he was going to have to run to the nearest restroom. That was the thing he was most sure about, definitely. He just hoped he could make the journey that was going to go on for maybe a couple of hours, especially in this old bus.


He sat there, awake.

 

[Zhai]

The bus hit a bump, Mia's head popped up from the window and back into it, knocking against her temple. She squinted at the small sting of pain, and lifted her wrist to look at the time. Twenty minutes hadn't even passed since she'd closed her eyes and now she had a lingering headache, had to pee, and was tired. Sleeping on the bus is impossible, especially with the driver running over every pothole, bump, and log on the road. Mia had to count her blessings that the children in the back of the bus weren't screaming and throwing a tantrum. The loudest thing on the bus was the air conditioning, the engine, and the old man in the back snoring.


Outside the glass there were more trees. They were still no closer to a town, she could see. Mia kept staring out the window until the sky grew into a dark blue and eventually the black of the night. Looking into the forest now she sighed softly against the glass. once against counting blessings that they weren't roaming the forest in the dark again. Lost, looking for a way out, and having to bash themselves in the face with rocks - well Carl had to do that. Mia just had to rip her clothes up and avoid being attacked by spiderwebs.


At some point the bus slowed, hissed as the driver turned, and the bus leaned into a turn. Mia straightened in her seat, glancing towards Carl to see him awake. She continued looking around the bus windows for a sign or something to tell them where they were. "Do you think this is our stop?" Mia spoke low, still searching through the window for a sign.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. We haven't had any other stops, so it has to be." He sighed and slowly rose up, alongside the old man who came hobbling down the isle after him. Carl went to the bus driver's little section and leaned towards him, sighing a little. "Excuse me... Is this Lakemont?" He asked. The driver gave him a nod and then Carl sighed with relief as he turned back towards the back of the bus and quickly ran to Mia's side, tugging on her arm. "This is our stop!" He said, smiling a little excitedly. He was more excited about finding a bathroom, because right now it felt like his stomach was about to explode.


As soon as he hopped off of the bus, he took a deep breath of fresh air and whipped out his phone, opening up the 'Maps' app.


The next town up was Clayton.


They were almost home.


"The next town up from here's our hometown, Mia." He smiled and then patted her shoulder, followed by taking a deep breath. "Now, if you don't mind... We really need to go and find a bathroom. I don't care what it is. Diner, town park, a new motel room - Anything. Let's just--.. Let's just find one, eh?" He asked, looking incredibly uncomfortable. He was starting to feel dizzy now, and that was a perfect sign that he needed to locate a restroom ASAP.

 

[Zhai]

The bus hadn't made a full stop before the old man in the back was out of his seat, making his up quickly up the bus aisle. The man stopped at the middle door to the bus, but when it didn't open, he quickly turned, squeezed past Carl and out the front door. In a rush, much? The mother in the back as quietly waking her sleeping child in her arms, and didn't look like she needed much help. Mia rose out of her seat, into the aisle, and was still looking out of the bus windows. It was dark out there, barely any lights except the few street lamps around the bus stop.


Outside Mia could see that they were just were she figured they were - empty bus lot. A few street lamps. Across the street from a tree line. Sighing softly she looked towards a sprinkle of lights; maybe a diner, a motel, or a gas station. Smaller than the last stop but viable. Mia was about to start walking towards the lights when she heard Carl's voice, stopped and turned to look at him.


"There's a tree over there. Oh, and over there, too." Mia smiled, biting her lip to stifle her amusement at her brother's discomfort. She could tell Carl was a second away from doing a dance in the bus parking lot, or just pissing his pants altogether. Mia turned in circles, searching for something; there were lights but they were distant, at least five or ten minutes walking from the empty bus lot. Mia was starting to get serious about the tree idea and was prepared to offer him privacy. "Okay, let's just..walk quickly then."

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. For fuck's sake, Mia... I don't need to pee, alright?" He said, nervously, and then began walking towards the town. Jesus, when did it get so dark? Why did it turn so dark so quickly? He didn't know. That honestly wasn't his main focus right now. The long walk to the town that was a lot more modern and more fancy than the one they were in before was probably the most grueling walk that Carl had experienced in his life. He was trying not to just pass out from the dizziness. Christ, there must have been a diner around here somewhere. There must have been something. Seeing as it was so dark, running to the local park to use the public restrooms there was no longer an option - there'd probably be drug-addicts in there, or something.


The town was a relieving sight to see, and the lights of buildings glimmered in his eyes like the flame of a candle. He could see several little diners, and so on, all with only a couple of people in them. Christ, this was really horrible. He hated using public restrooms, but there was no choice here, unless they managed to find the motel in time, book themselves in under a fake name, and then go up to the room so that he could use a bathroom there.


The urge to not shit himself was the worse feeling he'd had today.


".. Let's hurry this up... One of those little diners for a snack and the bathroom, eh, is that alright?" He asked in desperation.

 

[Zhai]

This must be serious. Second time today Carl's cursed at her and she had to suck back air, bite her cheek, and remain in silence the entire walk towards the town. The closer they got to the town, the bigger Mia realized it was; from afar it looked like three buildings and that was it. Up close it was a thicker stretch of town, and she couldn't help but slow down behind Carl to look around better. It definitely looked like people actually live and populated this little place.


"That one looks good." Mia pointed towards an empty diner, pushing into the door and relieved that the waitress was much like the previous one - didn't care. She barely flinched to even look at the door but continued talking on her phone, barely hidden around the corner she was leaning against. Okay, so Carl could do it in here and the waitress probably wouldn't even notice they were here.


Mia pulled out a bar side stool, slid onto it, and put her bag down in the seat next to her. Angling towards her brother, she reached for his bag. "I'll wait for you here."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Thank you." He said, and then quickly but as casually as possible made his way off to the bathroom at the far end. There were a few stalls in here, as well as some urinals that looked like they hadn't been cleaned for weeks. It was a horrible place, but there was something that was even more horrible as he made his way over to the end stall and pushed the door open.


The main door of the restroom creaked open. He looked over his shoulder as he went in and saw that a boy had entered. For fuck's sake! Why was a kid even out with his parents at a diner at this time? Like, what the fuck, shouldn't a kid his age be in bed for school tomorrow? He was like, five, and now Carl had to wait.


If he went now, the kid would run out once he was done and announce the bad smell and noise in the restroom. Fucking hell, this was bad. He figured the kid was just in here to pee, and then he'd leave Carl in peace and--


He went into the stall beside the one Carl was in. Carl was just sat there on the toilet that felt damp and cold, and also felt like it hadn't had a scrub down for quite some time. Desperate times call for desperate measures, but seriously, was this kid having him on? He thought it might have been alright until he leaned over and peeked at what was going on under the stall wall. Great. The kid was here for the same reason he was. This was really awkward. He decided to wait, doing his best not to listen to everything - He couldn't understand why this kid wouldn't just hurry and fuck off out.


When he finally did. Well. Hell was unleashed.


After five minutes, Carl exited the bathroom, and was quite sad that he didn't have any deodorant with him. That place was going to need it. With a sigh he went over and sat at the breakfast bar with Mia and nodded at the waitress.


".. A glass of ice water, please." He gulped, and then rubbed the cold sweat from his forehead. Carl was pale, and looked pretty sick, too. ".. Mia... After this... I really need to get some sleep... If you need anything to eat, just... Go ahead, and I'll hang on." He gulped.

 

[Zhai]

Carl is taking an awful long time in there, isn't he? Mia felt her hoodie pocket for her cell phone, disappointed by the absence of the little device. Great, she didn't have a phone to call the police and fire department with just in case her brother never came back out of the bathroom. It had been that long already.


Mia sighed softly and lean back in her chair, once again slowly reading every item on the menu and stirring her water with the straw. When she looked up and around the diner, there was a steady increase in customers. Geez, it seemed every place they went to started empty and ended up full by the time they came in. The bar side was nearly full; all of the seats occupied by smoking men in flannels and ball caps, a cup of coffee or a piece of cake in front of them. One thing everyone had in common in the diner was no one had food. The waitress was still roaming around somewhere, probably on her phone, and the only thing she'd done was pass out menus to everyone that came in.


"Awesome.." Mia muttered under her breath, fanning herself with the menu and once again glancing over towards the hallway with the bathrooms. No Carl yet. Great. Maybe she should send someone in to go check on him discreetly, just to make sure his body was laid on the stall floor. Mia was looking around for someone to send in after him when she heard him take the empty seat beside her and order a glass of water. In the back of her mind Mia expected him to have a nosebleed or burst some veins in his head from stress, but he was sweaty and pale as hell. He looked...sick, actually. Not like he'd just unloaded a truck load of shit.


Mia couldn't stop looking at Carl, waiting for him to pass out on the counter or something. She shook her head when he said she could eat, but after all the thoughts had gone through her mind of what he was doing in the bathroom, suddenly she wasn't hungry anymore. "I'm...I'm not hungry." She cleared her throat and nervously rubbed her temples, "We can just leave. Are you..uh...okay? You look..sick."

 

[DrTrollinski]

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just--.. I don't know. Stress." He sighed and then rubbed his forehead, nodding at the waitress as the ice water was placed down in front of him. He took the water and quickly took a few gulps of it, and then took a deep breath. He rubbed his forehead with his hand and then shook his head. He didn't feel good at all. He still felt faint, he still felt dizzy, but at least he didn't feel like he was about to explode - He wasn't sure if he was going to pass out yet, but for now, he'd be fine.


".. Let's just go, can we?" He asked. ".. We'll find that motel just into town, or wherever it is... We'll get two rooms this time." He chuckled weakly and then gulped down all of his water in one shot, and then put the glass down on the counter and slid it towards the waitress again. He looked at Mia, took another deep breath, and then wiped his forehead again and brushed his hair to the side.


".. All good? How do I look?" He asked, hesitantly. He already knew what the answer to that would be - He looked like shit. He felt like it, so he looked like it. That was always the assumption that he made whenever he felt sick.

 

[Zhai]

"Mmm..." Mia's teeth caught the bottom of her lip, looking at Carl. Really looking at him. "..You still look like shit. Let's just get out of here, okay?" Mia tried to smile, grabbing her back and her brother's, shouldering both and walking toward the exit to the diner. The door opened just as she got there, an older man stepping aside and holding it long enough to let both of them out before he went in. Mia turned left and right, trying to find a sign or something that indicated a motel. No sign. No blinking lights or arrows that says 'Hey over here! Sleep in our beds!'.


She sighed, turning back to look at Carl. Damn it, he looks like he's about to roll over and die right there on the pavement. The next person that walked by, Mia quickly stopped them, asked for the nearest hotel or inn, and found out it was ten minutes up the road. She walked quickly back to Carl, staring in his face and searching for signs of life that meant he could make it an extra ten minutes walk. "You've just got to not pass out on me for the next fifteen minutes, okay? Don't you fucking pass out, Carl." Mia left out the part where she could have mentioned that she can't carry her brother. He wasn't fat but he was a guy and heavier than her. They were twins but they damn sure didn't wright the same.


Mia started slowly up the road, continuing to glance back at Carl to make sure he was still there. He was walking a little slow but other than that, he wasn't staggering or having to lean against walls to support himself. That was a good sign. A few minutes and more worried glances behind her later...finally, the hotel. An actual hotel it looked like, or maybe just a fancied up breakfast and bed. Mia held the door open for Carl, ushered him to sit in a love seat by the door, and left to the front counter. The woman behind the counter kept looking over Mia's shoulder at Carl and it was hard to tell what she was thinking; there was shocked on her face but calm at the same time. She issued Mia two keys for rooms across the hall from each other, gave her two booklets with information, and bid her a goodnight.


"C'mon, Carl. We're on the second floor. She said we could take the elevator." Mia hovered over Carl, moving his damp hair from his forehead and looking into his face. Good. Still signs of life in his eyes.

 

[DrTrollinski]

"I'm not gonna' pass out, alright? I just feel faint." He said in defense, but that was a lie that was hard to believe. He was certain that he didn't believe that himself, either. The walk was a bit of a struggle, and he couldn't say that he enjoyed it. The fresh air made him feel better, but it made him feel worse at the same time. Just what the hell was the idea of that? Carl did try to look a little inconspicuous, but he wasn't very good at that. He was like a white sheet that stood out in the middle of a dark street.


When they asked someone about where the nearest motel was, he did indeed try and hide how sick he looked, but he was getting some pretty dodgy looks from people as he walked by them. When they finally got there, Carl was relieved. He didn't know what to think about how she got two rooms. Did she not realize that their money wasn't exactly tight in funds? Oh well, it's fine, Carl knew where they could get some quick money when they got home, and that was that. That was all they were going to need for the whole journey. Mom and Dad wouldn't be too happy, but it was necessary if they wanted any hope of ever finding them.


".. I feel sick, Mia." He sighed. ".. We shouldn't--.. We shouldn't have got two separate rooms. We should have got one room with two bedrooms in it. It--.. That would have saved us a lot more money." He sighed. This place was a Bed and Breakfast, indeed. It was definitely a lot nicer than the last place they were staying in.

 

[Zhai]

"Ugh, you said two rooms!" Mia whispered, just a little irritated, squeezing the keys in her hand. "Just hold on." Back at the counter, Mia explained to the woman she needed a switch, and while the lady was going through her log book, Mia glanced back at Carl. Maybe she should go to the store and get him something for...for what? Was it pain or discomfort Carl was feeling? Mia couldn't even think of what to get him to make him feel better because she didn't even know what the hell was wrong! The woman tapped her shoulder, they exchange keys, and Mia was back to Carl.


"One room, two beds." Mia grabbed her pack and her brother's pack, shouldered them again, and waited for Carl to get up before she started walking past the front desk and through a heavy curtain. Okay, so this must be the first floor hallway then. Mia looked left and right, finding that the inn was a lot larger than it looked on the outside. There had to be at least ten rooms on each side, and three floors worth. It was surprising this place wasn't booked.


Turning left, walking until they were at room five, and gingerly shoving the key into the door - Mia quietly pushed into the room, feeling the wall for the light switch and throwing it up. Wow. Inside looks..amazing. The colors are dark and smokey, but everything blends together perfectly. There's a little living room area with a television and sofa; and off to the right, the door to the bedroom with two full sized beds. Great.


"Okay, Carl. Are you going to shower or..." Mia paused, looking at him again and finding herself praying he doesn't pass out so close to the bed. "Or...do you just want to sleep?"

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. You know what I meant!" He said, almost instantly. Why would he mean two separate rooms when his only concern on this whole thing was money? Wouldn't simply logic sort that out? He didn't sound aggressive when he said it - It was just more of a 'Let's stop caring and get it over with' sort of tone, once she returned, he gave her the most friendly smile he could manage and then took a deep breath.


He allowed himself to be guided into the room, and then took a look around. It was nice place to be, definitely nicer than their old place. He was happy with this, but he soon pulled away from Mia and then took a shaky deep breath. ".. Excuse me." He choked, and then quickly made off to the bathroom and then collapsed in front of the toilet after barely managing to close the door over.


He threw up.


No, he threw up a lot.


When he was finally done, he flushed the toilet and then collapsed against the wall beside it, his head soaked with cold sweat. He sighed, took a deep breath, and then called out.


".. Mia... I need some water..." He gulped.

 

[Zhai]

The sound of someone retching was only worst next to the sight of a lot of blood, and Carl throwing up in the bathroom was loud. Mia starting grinding her teeth, her eyes closed tightly as she paced around the living room. There was nothing loud enough she could turn on to drown on Carl's retching in the bathroom - and she just had to let the sound scratch the inside of her ears and stiffen her spine.


When the sound stopped and the toilet flushed she paused, exhaling a deep breath she didn't realize she was holding. Great. Now that was over, she crept towards the bathroom, peeking through the crack in the door and into the mirror to see Carl. She didn't want to open the door just in case he'd...he'd..Ugh. Mia gagged quietly just thinking of Carl throwing up on the floor. So, she stood just outside the door, waiting for..a sign that he was okay.


She was about to call out to Carl when he said something first. His voice was raspy like he'd been breathing in frigid air, and she had to concentrate to listen to him after he called her name. Water. Right. "Hold on, Carl." Mia went back to the living room, finding a wet bar in the corner. Plastic cups on the counter. Oh, there was even coffee. Carl definitely didn't need that right now and the reason he was probably sick as a dog right now.


Mia ripped a cup out of it's plastic, filled it with water, and walked back to the bathroom. Okay, Mia...you can do this. She pushed quietly into the door until it opened jsut enough for her to slide in, and she turned around to look at Carl. She was holding her breath again but she exhaled a little, offering the cup to him. "Maybe we should go to a hospital or something, Carl. This can't be normal. What if you have food poison or something, y'know?"

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Thank you." He said, reaching out to quickly take hold of the cup of water. He gulped it down and then set the little cup down beside him, sighing as he did so. The fear of food poisoning - He'd suffered from it before, and he got over it with the care of his mother. It was a risky move, but he wasn't bad enough to need the hospital. He didn't know how bad it would be this time, though. He just needed to stay hydrated. For all he knew, it was just because of all the coffee and lack of healthy food. It might have just flushed him out alongside all the shock and stress that was caused over the last two days.


"I'm fine, Mia... I promise." He said, and then held out a hand towards her. ".. Can you help me to my room? I'd like the one closer to the bathroom, if you don't mind." He said, taking a long deep breath while taking a glance around the bathroom. ".. I'll be fine, alright? If I wake up thinking that I'm too sick during the night, I promise that I'll wake you up right away, okay?" He said.

 

[Zhai]

Mia reached forward, took Carl's hand, and leaned her weight back to pull him up. She stepped around him, looking him up and down. Literally. No blood. No broken bones. No cuts. She could see his lip was barely swollen now but still bared a distorted coloring from the trauma. Maybe his lip was infected? Mia had read before that even the smallest cuts could get infected and lead to people getting sick. Seriously ill. Kind of how Carl looked right now. Pale and sick, throwing up and weak.


"How are you going to get up to wake me up if you can't even stand be yourself, Carl?" It wasn't meant to be a stab at him but the reality of how much worse whatever this was that he had, could get in the middle of the night. Mia wasn't referring to him dying in his sleep and she hoped that wasn't what he thought she meant, but that he could get weaker. He might no be able to sit up in the morning, let alone roll over and call out to her or reach her bed.


Mia helped Carl to the bed closest to the bathroom, just like he wanted. She went to get the trash can from the living room, set it by the bed; and opened the bathroom door, leaving the light on just in case.


"I'll just stay up and watch you some more, okay?" As tired as she felt before, there was a new surge of energy in her that she suspected came after Carl throwing his guts up recently. "Just drink this. Lie down. Do you need help getting undressed?" Nothing weird, of course, and Carl should know that. Mia retrieved the cup from the bathroom, filling it with water from the faucet and bringing it back to him.

 

[DrTrollinski]

".. Don't worry about it. I've got too much going on to just lie in bed, no matter how bad things get for me." He sighed a little, and then allowed her to near enough carry him through to the bedroom. It was a nice room with a much more comfortable bed. He sat down on the edge of it, took the water from her, and then took a few mouthfuls of it before setting it down on the nightstand. It was lucky that he had Mia with him, Christ, if he didn't have her, he didn't know what he'd do. He'd probably still be on the bathroom floor, and probably would have passed out by now.


".. You don't have to sit up and watch me." He said, softly. He didn't want her to sit up all night and watch him. There was a chair in the room that she could sleep in, but he didn't want her to be in pure discomfort. Perhaps it would have been better for them to be sharing a double bed, after all. "You've... You've been through a lot, Mia... It's been me dragging you around for this whole thing..." He sighed and then pulled his shirt up over his head. "You need the rest a lot more than I do, trust me." He said.


He leaned over to try and untie his shoes and instantly felt like he was going to vomit, so he quickly sat back up and then slowly lied down across the bed. ".. I'm going to throw up if I bend down like that again." He gulped. "Help me get my shoes, socks, and pants off... Please." He said. He didn't want Mia to feel uncomfortable, but he didn't want to sleep in his clothes, either. He just wanted to get down to his underwear and then go to sleep.

 

[Zhai]

"Christ, Carl." Mia rushed over, gently helping to push Carl back on the bed, grabbing another pillow and pushing it under his head. "You haven't been dragging me around, seriously. Don't get all sappy on me, okay?" She smiled, laughed nervously, and worked as gently but quickly as she could to untie Carl's shoes. Setting the shoes down besides the bed, she took both his socks off and stuffed them inside his shoes. At his pants, she hesitated. This was going to be weird but whatever.


The button she undid as gently as she could without touching anything more, and pulled the zipper down slowly. Instead of pushing his pants down from his waist, she went to his ankles and pulled them down little by little until they gave in, slide down his legs, and right off. Mia folded them and sat the pants on the edge of the bed. At his shirt, she rolled it up until it was nearly under his arms; one arm at a time she slipped off the shirt, and finally off his head. The shirt was folded, coupled with the jeans, and sat on the edge of the bed.


"There.." At this point, she felt like she'd done a shit ton of work when really she'd just worked up a sweat trying not to jiggle her brother so much that he'd need to vomit again. Now she couldn't tell what the room temperature felt like but she had to assume Carl would get chilly with all that sweating he's doing. There was an extra blanket folded at the edge of his bed, and she unfolded it across Carl's body.


Okay, he looked comfortable now. Better now that he wasn't upright anymore. Mia pushed a chair to the side of his bed, taking a pillow from her bed and using it for a cushion instead. Finally sat, she sighed and watched Carl. "Just go to sleep, okay?"