"somewhere in germany
but i can't place it."
I KNOW THE END
phoebe bridgers
(Time skip warning!)
Aella felt sick.
Her head was pounding and she looked like an absolute wreck. Her arms were crossed softly over her chest as she stared at the television. It was utterly boring.
Mike was out at work and Abby was silently doing her homework on the table. It was nearing the end of the school year— Mike and Aella had been together for nearly six months at this point.
The time flew by so fast. Then again Mike made it feel like just days.
Aella's eyes shoot a look towards Abby to check up on her. "How's the homework?" She asks. Abby peeks her head up and nods while flicking her pencil. "Good." She hums and looks back down.
"Are you okay?" Abby asks as she looks back up. Aella's head trails back over to her and she gives a thoughtful nod. "Don't worry about me." She shakes her head.
"Thanks for the sandwich." Abby acknowledges while kicking her feet and turning down to her work. "No problem." She smiles, kicking her feet onto the couch.
Mike was incredibly aggravating to Aella. She put her feet up for a few minutes before Mike got home, and he was already asking her to cook something.
"Can't you cook for yourself?" She huffs, uncrossing her arms in utter annoyance as she looks up at him. She didn't know why everything coming out of her mouth was with an attitude but she almost bursted out crying for being so mean.
Mike's eyebrows furrowed at the change of demeanor. "Hey, calm down." He shakes his head as he shrugs his jacket off. He makes his way towards the couch with his hands on his hips with a shrug. "What's up with you?" He asks.
Aella's eyes start to fill with tears as she looks up at him. His expression softened as he squatted down to wipe her eyes with the back of his hand. "Hey, don't cry, okay? What is it?" He questions softly.
Aella is trying to stop, but she feels so guilty and it feels like her tears have a mind of its own. "'M sorry." She mumbles, rubbing her eyes.
"What's wrong? What happened, Aella?" He asks while moving a piece of hair out of her face. "I don't know. I feel so sick." She sniffles, looking away in sheer embarrassment.
"Okay. Sick like a cold, or you wanna throw up?" He mumbles, trying to look her in the face as she averts her eyes from him. She shrugs, almost like a kid.
"You gotta talk to me Ella, so I know what to get you." He whispers, hand coming forward to lay on her stomach and the other on her back to sit her up correctly.
She almost starts crying from the questions, and Mike is considering just leaving her alone and coming back later.
That's until she reaches for him, almost throwing herself off of the couch to hug him to her. He sighs and catches her back, sitting next to her.
"Baby, please tell me what you're feeling. Please." He murmurs. Aella sits still for a moment before pulling away and looking up at him.
"My head really hurts," she tucks her head back into his neck. "I've been nauseous since you left and I have a fever." She answers.
He hums, rubbing her back. "Could just be a cold." He whispers and presses his lips to her head. She sighs and plays around with his shirt.
"I don't know." She licks her lips and huffs. "Can you take me to my doctor?" She mutters. Mike's arms release her slightly as she sits up correctly again. "Okay. Should I drop you off, or do you want me to go with you?"
She looks forward in thought. "Uhm, you can drop me off." She stands up slowly, head dizzy as she rubs her eyes. Mike has a hand hovering her back to catch her incase as she walks towards the racks of jackets.
She flicks her own jacket off of it, sticking her arms through the holes slowly while Mike shuffles his hoodie over his head and rushed towards the bowl of keys.
"Abby, get your shoes on let's go!" Mike shouts loud enough for his sister to hear as Aella sticks her feet into the slippers by the door.
"Hello, Ms. Solace," The doctor enters, glasses low as she wheels over the rolling chair to the table. Aella is perched up on it as he legs kick softly.
"How are you?" She asks, pen scribbling over the notes the nurse gave her. "Fine." Aella sighs. "Okay, you're feeling nauseous, dizzy... body aches, a fever of 101." She sighs out.
She closes the folder and places it on the desk behind her, coming back. "Okay, few questions, simple procedure." She nods and pulls two gloves from next to Aella. "Are you sexually active?" She hums, removing stethoscope from around her neck. Aella nods.
"Okay. Are you pregnant?" She continues, pressing the stethoscope to her chest. "I don't know." Aella mumbles nervously. "Okay. I'm gonna take some blood, run some tests. That okay?" She asks as she peels the stethoscope away from Aella and wraps it back around her neck. "Yeah."
Aella clutches the folded paper harshly in her hands while listening to Abby mumble in the back. The paper held the contents of what was wrong with her, and she read it right when she got it. She just didn't want to tell Mike.
Her head was still pounding as Mike chats to his little sister. It's pretty light outside still, being only the beginning of summer. Abby's last day of school was next week and she was babbling about all the fun things her class would be able to do in that period.
"You wanna tell us what's up, Ella?" Mike asks, head turning towards her for a split second. Her grip releases on the paper slightly as she looks over at him. "You were right. Just a cold." She nods.
"Did she prescribe you medication?" His eyebrows furrow, turning away from the road again. "No. She just said.. any normal pain killers would help." Aella sighs while averting his eyes. Mike hums, eyes still tracking her down every once in a while.
Aella's breath was heavy as her eyes droop. She wanted to crash in Mike's bed for so long and sleep off this entire problem— pretend it doesn't exist.
She swallows as Mike pulls into the driveway and pulls the key out of the ignition. She pulls the door open and steps out while stuffing her paper in her pocket.
Abby runs off in front of her and she feels Mike place a hand at the small of her back, leading her towards the door as Abby pushes against the buttons of her tamagotchi.
He sticks the key into the lock and twists it, pushing it open so Aella could walk through with Abby shortly behind her.
When Mike pushes the door closed again, he rushes straight towards the bathroom for the medicine cabinet as Aella takes a seat and pulls the paper from her pocket slowly.
She peels it open and her eyes flick over the words again. Her heart drops even more, licking her lips as an anxious sigh leaves her lips.
Mike's heavy footsteps alert Aella he was on his way back. She crumbles the paper up again and pushes it into her sweater, leaning back to make it seem like she wasn't doing anything.
He comes back with two pain killers in hand. He holds them out to her which she takes and holds as he walks to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
Once he returns, she downs the medication and water at the same time. She pushes the glass up to him and he takes it before making his way back to the kitchen.
Aella shudders as she moves her legs closer into her body, chin on her knees as she hugs herself quietly. Mike is making his way back to her and plotting himself down to her side, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into him.
Aella loves him so much. So much so, she was willing to keep quiet about what was going on. She wouldn't tell him what was wrong, what she had— because it would do them no good.
Aella has to stay quiet.