In Another Life - JackieShauna AU

Chapter 13 - Lottie Matthews & The Storm

After that night, things had only gone downhill from then.

Shauna took a glance out the window, only to instantly throw on her clothes and toss her bag over her shoulders. She jogged downstairs, slipped her shoes on, and was out the door in seconds, making her way down the familiar route to the hospital. Above, the clouds were dense, and they gathered quickly, casting a dark shroud over Shauna's path. She zipped her jacket up to shield herself from the harsh winds that came her way and advanced forward. There was definitely a storm coming her way, so Shauna knew that Jackie would need her.

A month and sixteen days had passed since Jackie's final visit to Shauna's home, and once she'd been taken back to the hospital, the doctors and nurses made sure to keep a closer eye on her, and with good reason. Not only was Jackie the kind of girl to sneak out when no one was watching, but her condition had quickly begun to worsen without warning. Before then, she would normally lose several pounds a week, but ever since the night she'd snuck out, her weight loss could only be described as alarming. In the span of a little over a month, Jackie had gone from a general one hundred pounds to a mere eighty pounds, the last time they'd weighed her. The drastic weight loss was awful enough, but as if to add insult to injury, Jackie's worsening condition also made it increasingly difficult for her to walk, move, and speak.

Shauna frowned heavily as she entered the hospital. She made her way up the same path, walking swiftly and without pause. That was until she saw a familiar face.

"Lottie?" Shauna stopped in her tracks, in front of Jackie's room.

The black-haired female looked up from her hands. She faked a smile. "Hey- Shauna, right? Long time."

"Yeah, I'm-," She turned her head, "Is there someone in there?" She didn't wait for Lottie to respond and glanced into Jackie's room. Surely enough, she noticed Natalie sitting in the seat next to Jackie's bed. Her back was facing the door, and Jackie seemed to have all of her attention on her.

"Will Nat allow me to enter the room?"

Lottie rubbed the lower part of her face with her hand. "Nope." She leaned back in her chair. "Take a seat. Nat usually isn't the kind of person to speak to people one-on-one, so... I think you'd better leave 'em both alone."

Inhaling deeply, Shauna lingered in place, then sat down in the empty seat next to Lottie.

"You seem a bit anxious." Lottie looked at Shauna sideways.

"I am. There's a storm coming. Jackie doesn't do well with those..."

"Ah..." Lottie looked at the ceiling as if she would be able to see the clouds from there. "I hadn't noticed that one was rolling in." She slowly lowered her head and folded her arms. "Didn't think you knew that about her."

Shauna turned her head to face Lottie. "Was she ever fond of them?"

"Don't think so. In the past, she'd always get sort of tense and paranoid whenever a storm would pass over head, but that was kind of it. Now I bet she... Suffers panic attacks because of them."

Shauna looked down. "She does. Storms trigger them."

Lottie made a grunting noise and had nothing more to say on the subject. Shauna figured she should stay quiet too. She knit her fingers together and kept her eyes down, anticipating when the first boom of thunder would sound. She would have to close Jackie's blinds and take her mind off of it somehow. Show her a movie or play a game with her that would result in her calming down quickly. Shauna rubbed the back of her neck hastily and closed her eyes.

"Eighty fucking pounds."

Startled, Shauna opened her eyes and glanced in Lottie's direction. She glowered at nothing in particular.