a change of heart

she's not well...

*three days later*

                Jay found himself stood in the doorway of graces room, he hates this, seeing her so ill, so defenceless, so unenergetic, so run down...  She's sleeping all day everyday now, ever since she started her course of pain meds they were taking a toll on her, if she wasn't awake to use the bathroom or to get a drink, she was crashed out and it wasn't the nice kind of sleep either, jay could see from the way she trudged around the house that she was tired deep down, and not the sleepy kind of tired. 

                 He was stood watching her sleep with his hand subconsciously rubbing the stubble on his chin, he knew this couldn't go on for much longer.  She's meant to be getting better not worse, so he frowned and left her to sleep knowing she wouldn't wake up any time soon and walked downstairs so he could grab his phone and call will.
Will: "hey man, what's up? Is she alright?"
Jay: "that's what Im calling about, is she meant to be getting better with this medication?"
Will: "um, yeah man, medication usually helps..."
Jay: "well I'm not seeing much of an improvement will, she's not well..."
Will: "how'd you mean?"
Jay: "she's sleeping all the time, barely eating a meal a day, rarely talking and she looks tired man..."
Will: "well the medication will be making her sleepy, drowsy even, but she should be eating more than that"
Jay: "well is there anything we can do? coz I really don't enjoy seeing her like this will"
Will: "just calm down man, I know how frustrating this is. I'll stop by after shift and see if she still needs to be taking the pain meds, they could be causing most of the side effects. Have you been changing the dressing on her arm?"
Jay: "of course I have, she doesn't even wake up when I'm waving her arm around to get the bandage off"
Will: "alright well like I said, I'll stop by after shift"
Jay: "yeah, thanks will"

He put the phone down and sighed, there must be some kind of compensation for this, surely she can drop off of the medication pills. He walked into the kitchen and began making her a sandwich, he's noticed how much weight she's lost and at this rate she's gonna be underweight by the end of all this, her once not so baggy jumper is now an oversized hoodie, she's gonna get sick before long if she can't sort out her eating, this medication needs to go. He grabbed a glass of water since she doesn't even have the strength to open a plastic bottle anymore, and swiped the plate off the counter before going back upstairs.

He walked into her room and set the items on the nightstand before sitting down on the side of her bed, "hey champ, c'mon you've gotta eat something..." he spoke softly and rubbed his thumb against her pale cheek, she stirred around a little before opening her eyes, "it makes me sick..." she groaned, almost like a whine. Jay frowned, she's telling the truth, it does make her sick, she can't keep food down for more than half an hour, "I know but you've gotta keep trying, wills gonna stop by after his shift and see how you're doing" he helped her sit up, her hands couldn't even rest without shaking the slightest bit.

She looked at the food, her room hadn't seen daylight in days, and frowned, "do I have to?" She looked at jay sadly. Jay could see how sick of this she was, her eyes didn't sparkle like they did a few days ago, they're dull and bland, "just try half of it, eat what you can okay?" he met her half half and made a deal. Grace smiled weakly and nodded before picking up half of the sandwich, she began eating it as jay left the room for a second to grab his phone, it tasted of nothing, it was disgusting but not because jay can't make a good sandwich, he can, she just can't taste any of it. Today was different though, she got to her fourth bite and felt the irresistible urge to throw up, usually it happens 15 minutes or so later, but she couldn't stop it from happening this time.

                She jolted up with no motivation at all and ran out of her room then down the hall towards the bathroom, barely making it there in time before she dived to the floor and hurled over the toilet bowl uncontrollably. She threw up the few bites of sandwich she had taken, flushed the toilet and sat back against the counter with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands, her eyes were already half closed. Jay ran back upstairs as the sound of footsteps sprinting across the landing, "grace? You alright?" He walked towards the bathroom. He slowly pushed the door open to reveal an exhausted grace sat on the floor next to the toilet, "I really tried this time..." she cried, not even a decibel over a whisper, when she felt jays presence with her.

Jay had seen enough of her pain, he sat on the floor next to her as she flopped her head onto his shoulder, "I'm tired..." she whispered and closed her eyes. Jay squeezed his eyes shut to fight back his own tears, this was the worst he'd ever seen his not so little sister, "I know g, I know..." he rested his head on hers. They sat there for a while before jay heard the front door open and close, "c'mon, let's get you back to bed" he stood up. Grace shook her head as jay took her hands in his in attempts to get her off the floor, "jay I can't...it's too hard" she kept her head hung low. Jay frowned, "you can, I know it's hard but just try for me" he tugged on her arms a little bit.

Grace couldn't even move, "no I can't, I really, can't..." she cried out as Will appeared at the top of the stairs. Jay turned around with glassy eyes, his mind full of worry, as Will walked over to the pair, "what's going on? Grace? You alright?" He stood next to jay as grace flopped back down and closed her eyes again. Jay shook his head, "please just help her..." he begged his doctor of a brother. Will saw the concern in jays eyes and the scared manner in his tone then nodded, "hey grace, can you look at me? C'mon you've got it" he Crouched down in front of her. Grace mustered up enough energy to keep her eyes open for a few seconds, "are you feeling hot?" He ran his hand over her forehead, grace shook her head as her eyes closed again, "cold" she spoke bluntly.

    Will sighed quietly and stood back up to face jay, "she's got a fever, muscle fatigue and shes burned out. I know it's not what we want but I think we should get her to med, run an IV through her system and see if it helps" he whispered. Jay knew that this was a step backwards but they had no choice, they couldn't keep watching their little sister go through this in pain when she should be getting better, "just do whatever's best for her" he nodded. Will smiled sadly knowing that was taking her back to med and crouched back down, "we're gonna get you to med grace, see if we can get you feeling a little better" he felt her forehead again.

Grace didn't even care anymore, she just nodded and kept her eyes closed, "you fetch her out, bring a blanket too and I'll get the car running up front" Will nodded and stood up to face jay once again. Jay nodded and bent down, "there we go" he picked his sister up, half expecting some kind of struggle but she was light so it was easy for him to carry her around. She was half limp in his arms, half stiff from her injuries but she didn't care, she just wanted to get better, she hated feeling so ill all the time. Jay carried her down the stairs with no struggle at all and walked out of the house where Will was waiting for them, he placed her in the front so one of them could keep an eye on her then ran back inside to grab his phone, a blanket and his jacket.

                  The quick drive to med was rather worrying, "try stay awake for me, grace" will gently nudged her leg when he saw her head sliding down the window.  Jay looked over and carefully caught her head before it hit the car door, "come on champ, I know it's tiring but keep your eyes open" he pulled her head back so she could stay awake.  Grace groaned, "sorry..." she whispered, her throat wouldn't even produce a sound louder than a croak.  Jay wiped away a tear from his cheek that has escaped, not many things made him like this but seeing his sister who was more like a daughter to him, since he's the one who has raised her the most, was one of the things that did. Will smiled sadly, "don't be sorry, we just need you to stay awake for a little while longer" he rubbed her leg reassuringly.