Unexpected

Part 20: Making Time

She's gonna be sick.

It was too much.

She feels it rising in her throat.

Please...please don't. Just stay down.

She pleads with her stomach, but she can't get it to obey. Going to the bin, she spews into it just as Max opens the door.

Well...this looks bloody perfect!

Bile follows her brief dinner into the bin and it burns her throat and causes tears to prick up in the corner of her eyes.

Going to her, he holds her hair back and rubs his hand up and down her spine as she becomes violently sick. After a few minutes, she releases the bin and sits back on her shins with her eyes closed.

"Helen..."

"Max- I'm not anorexic or bulimic." She says tiredly and he releases her hair and rubs his hands up and down her arms.

"I believe you...but Helen- this is serious. You need to be honest with me- how often do you actually eat a real meal."

"Max- I'm not..." She covers her mouth and stands up. At the sink, she cups some water and rinses her mouth out. In the mirror, she sees him stand behind her- his blue eyes sad and tortured. Turning around and leaning against the sink, she looks up at him. "I'm just...I'm just so stressed out."

It chokes her as she says it and she watches his shoulders drop.

"Helen, all you need to do is tell me and I will..."

"I have been so stressed out since before you even came to the Dam." She bursts and he simply watches her. "It's not just these passed few weeks. I have been struggling since Mo died and you got cancer and I became deputy. The irony of it all is I'm a doctor and I know what this kind of stress does to the body. To my fertility rate and everything and I can't...I can't stop long enough to just catch up and the pandemic made it worse- the anxiety level rose and I'm just barely keeping myself together. I eat Max. I do! I force it and at times it's just too much. I have dealt with this for years and it's to the point I don't even register I'm hungry or that I need something because everything else is so loud that that is the farthest thing from my mind."

"You have chronic stress and anxiety."

"Yes."

"Have you ever tried talking to Iggy about it or..."

"I am on Ativan."

"And that doesn't help?"

"I can't take it while working. I work so much and I hate how it makes me tired. It puts me out but it doesn't fix my hunger and...why are you looking at me like that?" He has a smirk from ear to ear and it creeps her out. "What?"

"I think we need to talk to Casey."

"Why?"

"Because I know how we're going to treat your stress and anxiety." He holds onto her hips and backs her into the sink slightly. He leaves a kiss on her forehead and yet his grin stays there.

***

"You're joking right?"

"No- Casey- I'm not joking. I'm asking you to hook Sharpe up with some Kush." Max says as he, Casey and Helen all stand in a supply closet.

"I know I got Mushrooms for her the one time- but..."

"Casey, I we both know that doctors can't get a medical marijuana card- but scientifically marijuana isn't going to impair Helen to the point where she can't work or function. Just a bit is enough to keep her stress down and get her eating again." Max says hopeful of his plan.

"How much do you want?" Casey asks.

"How much do you have?" He asks and Helen's eyes widen.

"Let me make a phone call." Casey says and steps out of the room with Max and Helen. They walk down the hall arm in arm and he observes her.

"You okay down there?" He asks and she looks up at him for a moment or two and then looks forward.

"Yeah..."

"What's wrong?"

"I just...I've never...you know...got high before."

"Really?"

"Why is that so hard to believe?" She asks curiously.

"I don't know. You're just so...bad ass- I could just see you sitting in university smoking a bowl and being a boss ass bitch."

"There is so much wrong with that sentence. Haha." She giggles and he leans down and kisses her temple right there in the hallway. She stops and looks up at him- a bit taken aback by his public display- even though there is no one even around.

"Sorry..." She says finding her calm. He looks at her confused and she stands on her tiptoes and kisses his lips gingerly.

"You missed." He smiles widely and pulls her closer as they walk.

"Well...I won't miss next time." Leaning down he kisses her lips as they head back to his room.