Day by Day

Chapter 24: Evie's Secret

A few months had passed since Brelyn and Jacey were given up to the orphanage. Jay, Lonnie, Mal, and Ben have been doing much better than before. Of course, they still missed their daughters like crazy; however, the threats were still happening, and with every new threat, they felt relieved to know the girls were safe from harm's way.

The five couples still had days where they would get together. That was something that wasn't going to change no matter what happened. The two couples who had lost their daughters found spending time with their friends as a coping mechanism. Today, they were eating out at a restaurant. Despite the rather dark time they were going through without the girls and receiving threats, it felt good to finally have some time together.

"I'm starving," Mal said. "We had so many council meetings this morning. I only ate a strawberry muffin today."

"I know what you mean," Lonnie said. "Jay and I have been at the school since six this morning, and I am ready to have food in my stomach."

The group continued to talk and catch up on everyone's week. It was then that Mal noticed something about Evie. She looked pretty anxious. Her eyes darted across the room like she was looking for something to distract her. "Evie?" Mal asked, getting the bluenette's attention. "Are you alright." Evie nodded, seeming to not want to open her mouth for whatever reason. "Are you sure? You look pretty pale, and you also look like you're about to get sick."

Evie nodded again. "I'm fine." Suddenly, Evie's head shot up, her eyes growing wide. "What's that smell?" Evie asked sternly.

Mal looked around. One of the waiters walked past with another table's food. Mal caught a whiff of the food that just passed. "Smells like onions," Mal said. "Smells good, don't you think?"

For a second, she could've sworn she saw Evie gag. "Evie?" Doug, who finally saw what was going on, said.

In that moment, Evie slapped her hand over her mouth and ran towards the restrooms. Everyone else at the table watched Evie as she ran off with worried looks. "I'll go after her," Mal said, getting up from her seat to follow Evie.

After Mal left, everyone turned their attention to Doug. "Is there something wrong with Evie?" Audrey asked.

"I mean, she's been having dizzy spells for at least a day or two," Doug replied. "I told her that she should probably see a doctor, but she keeps on saying that it's fine. She just tells me that it's just from exhaustion from all the orders from 4 Hearts."

"But you've seen what she's like when she's exhausted," Jane said. "From my memory, she doesn't throw up from exhaustion. Anxiety attacks and falling asleep involuntarily, yes, but dizzy spells?"

"Actually, I've seen her almost pass out because she hasn't rested for awhile," Carlos added.

"That's from tiredness, but losing balance because of nausea?" Jane asked. "I'm just saying that there could be more to this."

Mal entered the restroom. Luckily, for Evie's sake, no one else was in there. "Evie?" Mal called. She looked under the stalls and spotted Evie's boots from the large stall at the end. Mal could here Evie throwing up into the toilet. Mal hated the sound as it brought back not-so-great memories, but she knew she needed to make sure her best friend was alright. Mal opened the stall slightly. "Are you okay?"

Evie sat down with her back leaning against the stall. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine," Evie replied. Mal looked back towards the sink. The restaurant had provided small, plastic cups in the restrooms. Mal put some water into the cup and gave it to Evie. "T-Thank you," Evie stuttered out before taking a tiny sip.