Chapter 3

I tried to get out of Mr. MacStar’s truck in one piece but that didn’t happen. Toby got out on his dad’s side so he could help me. I felt my head rolling to the side and my body going limp. He wasn’t even gonna try to make me stand as he is already seeing the results. Toby was instructed to carry me but the bucket was for me to carry. He brought me to the front of the hospital. The only thing I remembered before blacking out was being in Toby’s arms. It was a painful experience that to be honest with you. When I was coming close regaining consciousness, I could hear beeping noises.

When I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital bed with Mr. MacStar staring out the window and Toby holding my hand, being by my side. I feel like my stomach was ready to burst.

“Dad, she’s awake.” Toby said with excitement.

Toby’s dad didn’t really seem excited that I was awake. All he did was when he heard the news, he pressed the nurses’ button. I felt really weird in a way like I didn’t want to be there. And I didn’t have to throw up anymore. The nurse came in to check my vitals. But she also had to get the doctor in to check what she found. At that point, I kindly asked for Toby and his dad to leave so I could have some alone time. For the doctor to come in means that something is wrong. A couple moments later, the doctor came in. He saw the issue that the nurse saw. The doctor was shouting out some orders and saw some of my vitals go down. There was a lot of beeping noises.

I was so cold that I was shivering and I felt myself going in and out again. I also felt like puking so bad that I did puke and thank god for the bucket being at the end of the bed. The sedating me helped the puking but I think medication might help. The doctor put me on a bunch of medication and is having me overnight for observation. Once they had me on meds, I had asked specifically for only Toby. When he came in, tears came rushing all at once. He hugged me and I was shaking. We just laid there until I finally got the nerve to tell him what was wrong.

“The doctor had to come in. I was throwing up blood again. He put me on a whole bunch of medication and wants to have me overnight for observations. To be honest, this is scaring me. I don’t want to be here anymore. I wanna go home. Back to your house.”

I started crying again and cuddled into Toby. He was just staring out into space when his dad came in. I guess he was just checking on us to make sure everything is okay. I can tell when someone comes in or going out. It’s one of those six sense things.

“Mr. MacStar, they’re gonna have me overnight for observations. So you can’t release me until Sunday unfortunately. I’m sorry that this has happened. I wanted to spend so much time with the both of you.”

His only response was “when I got better.” I didn’t move from my spot.  Everything got ruined. But I kinda understood why this was happening and I didn’t want to tell Toby because it could possibly ruin our relationship. Mr. MacStar gave Toby permission to spend overnight with me. The both of us got a really good night’s sleep providing that we were both uncomfortable. The nurse came back in early in the morning when I was awake and Toby was still sleeping. She checked my vitals again and I guess everything looked good as she went to go grab the doctor. The doctor came in to double check that everything was okay and it was. When the doctor left, the nurse brought my discharge papers to Mr. MacStar at four thirty in the morning.

After coming back from the waiting room, the nurse grabbed my prescriptions and brought it back to my room. She unhooked my IV and allowed me to get dressed in what I came in. Toby and I held hands as we walked out to the waiting room where Mr. MacStar was. Everyone was extremely exhausted. There was no way me and Toby were going to church but Mr. MacStar never misses a service. We all went back to Toby’s dad’s house to shower and clean up. After every service they go out to brunch, but today was going to be different considering we just got home from the hospital. The first thing I wanted when I stepped through the door was a nice hot shower. Toby was nice enough to let me go first. Heather was coming with us to church. I didn’t know that I had to go to church so I didn’t have any nice clothes for church.

Nothing special was going to be done to my hair. The braids from Friday night were hurting my head so I took them out and showered. Having the hot water beating on my skin felt amazing. While in the shower, I was able to think and I remembered that my prescriptions were still in Toby’s shorts. I wasn’t wearing his shorts while I was in the hospital so they weren’t really dirty. When I was in the shower, Heather knocked on the door. I told her it’s alright to come in because I was getting ready to come out. She sat on the toilet seat while I was busy wrapping a towel around my head/waist. It was a big surprise to see her again. I liked her so much.

“When you go into Toby’s room, there’s a surprise there and then you can meet us downstairs in the living room.”

“It’s nice to see you again. It’s also been a long weekend for me so I’m not in the mood for surprises.”

“Don’t worry, honey. You’ll love this surprise. I just know it. And everything should be just fine.” Heather reassured me.

Toby was in his room when I returned from the shower. He was getting out of his shirt and tie along with his dress pants & shoes. His shirt color was a soft baby blue. I walked over to him and distracted him for just a little bit. Kissing him made me feel better about myself and about me &Toby being together.

“As much as I want to stay like this, I need to shower. And you need to put your dress on.”

“What dress? I don’t have any nice church clothes. And I still have to put my hair up and do makeup.”

“Heather picked you up a dress when she went dress shopping. In my opinion, that dress is wicked pretty and I think it would be wicked prettier on you.” Toby admitted as he kissed me before going into the bathroom.

Hearing that from Toby means a lot to me. And after church & brunch, my mom has to sit down and talk with him. I took my wet hair out of the towel and brushed it. Not only do I have to brush it, I also have to run a comb through it because my hair is so thick. Once that was done, I was able to style my bangs and pull my hair back into a nice ponytail. I also did my makeup really quickly before getting dressed. One thing I forget to do was take the prescriptions out of Toby’s basketball shorts pocket. When that was done, I was able to get dressed. The dress Heather picked out for me was a soft blue. She also had shoes that go with it. Toby walked in when I just put the dress on. He had the towel wrapped around his waist when he saw my dress needed to be zipped. Toby put his arms around my waist once the dress was zippered. He rested his head on my shoulder before he decided to get dressed. I was still a little shaky from the hospital drugs but I shrugged it off and continued on. The shoes were beautiful. By the time Toby was ready, I was already downstairs chatting with Heather.

Everyone was ready to go to church but Toby had to grab some food. Mr. MacStar stared at Toby with a look of why-are-you-bringing-food. It was a simple look that had a response of rolling the eyes toward me. He shook his head in understanding before shooing everyone to the cars. Heather wanted me in her car so we could talk and she could keep an eye on me. I felt special being able to have Toby’s older sister to talk to. 

“Thanks for the dress.”

“Oh. You’re welcome. You needed it. Are you okay? You’re a bit pale.” She asked.

“I feel like I’m gonna throw up but it’s not painful like it was before. Do you mind pulling over?”

She didn’t have an issue pulling over but you could see the concern look on her face. I went behind the car and threw whatever was in my system up. When I was done, I went back into the car and sat there for a moment before we started moving again.

“Was there blood in your throw up? What color was it?”

“No, blood this time.” I lied straight to her face. “You don’t happen to have any ginger ale?”

“Toby brought some along with food as he knew you would be hungry. He is crazy in love with you. He’s never like this with any other of his girlfriends. You’re very lucky.”

Many thought were crossing my mind. Some were good and some were bad. At random moments, I think about my life and all the bad parts and I get really sad. Sorry to get off topic. I was really tired and I was trying not to close my eyes but obviously I failed. I fell into deep sleep before we reached the church. Toby and his dad obviously beat us there but that’s because we had to stop for me. Heather and I held hands when we went over to where Toby and Mr. MacStar was. I spotted the ginger ale in Toby’s hand and took a sip. We weren’t allowed to bring food or drink into the church so Heather hid it in her purse. I was a little bit shaky when Toby grabbed my hand to walk me inside. He got a sense of it but the shakiness could also be from going to church.

Mr. MacStar found seats that were not too close to the front and not to close to the back and we also sat on the end just in case. Throughout the mass, I was silent because I don’t know what to do or what to say. I wasn’t raised or go to a church when I was little so all of this is new to me. I didn’t have the feeling of throwing up anymore; only the feeling of hunger. The last time I really ate a decent mean was on prom night. I nudged Heather to give me some food. She went into her purse and pulled out some crackers for me to snack on quietly. I was feeling more comfortable being in between Heather and Toby.  My attention span, that’s a different story. Toby, and then Heather squeezed my hand for comfort. I ended up day dreaming to pass the time. I felt a pull on both of my hands, signaling it’s time to go.

I followed Toby out of the church to get some fresh air. I ended up cuddling into Toby while we were waiting for Heather and Mr. MacStar. They were talking to the priest before walking towards me and Toby. I gave Heather they eye and she distracted Toby and Mr. MacStar so I could escape. I went behind someone’s car and threw up. It wasn’t painful but it was disgusting to look at. I was supposed to be taking my medication twice a day but I’m not a fan of pills. Watching Heather, Mr. MacStar, and Toby standing there and talking is making me think about how left out I am. I was able to escape my inside voice and return to the group. I touched Heather’s hand to let her know I’m back and ready to leave to go grab some food. I had to make believe that I was fine.

We all went to this restaurant with the name I couldn’t pronounce. I tried not to eat too much as I didn’t want to throw it back up. The food was wicked good there. Today Toby and I had to meet with my mom as she wanted to lay some ground rules. Everything was amazing despite my trip to the hospital. After brunch, we headed back to Mr. MacStar’s house to change before we met up with my mom at my house. Toby put on a pair of jeans and one of his black shirts. Mr. MacStar was also dressed in jeans, a shirt, and a baseball cap. Heather didn’t want to get changed. She feels wicked happy when she wears a dress. I ended up wearing a tank top, Toby’s shorts and his sweatshirt along with my black flip flops. Both I and Toby gathered our stuff as we were finally heading to my house to meet with my mom.

Throughout the car ride, my stomach was all in knots. It was getting hard to breathe in Heather’s car and the window was down. I think I was just nervous about what my mom is going to say to Toby. I ended up sleeping on the way over to my mom’s house. I didn’t wake up until the car was out of motion. Heather wasn’t staying to meet my mom, only Toby and Mr. MacStar. When everything was out of her car, she took off. I led everyone into my house. My mom wasn’t home yet.  To pass the time, I unpacked my belongings and put them away in their proper places. Once that was done, everyone sat on the couch and waited until my mom came home from work.

“Lucy, did you have a nice weekend?”

It was amazing and I couldn’t thank you guys enough for everything.  Don’t worry about the trip to the hospital. I’ll pay the bill. I didn’t mean to spoil the weekend like that.” I replied.

“You didn’t spoil my weekend. It was the best weekend I could ask for. And you do know my dad has to tell your mom about the trip to the hospital. You were under his responsibility and she needs to know.” Toby chirped in.

“She may need to know but she’ll ask me about medication and honestly, I didn’t get any filled. While I was in the hospital, I didn’t take any of the medication they gave me. Please do not tell my mom. It’s a catastrophe waiting to happen.” I explained.

Toby turned his face towards me and leaned into grab a kiss. It was soft, tender and just sweet. Some tears were leaking out while we were in mid-kiss. When he stopped, he stared right into my eyes and wiped my tears away. Toby hated to see me cry, sad or hurt. That hurt him inside and I hate doing that to him. My head rested in his shoulder as he grabbed my hand and let it rest in his crotch. My mom walked through the door and the first thing she saw where my hand was.

“Lemme change my clothes and then we will have a little chat.” Linda said as she made her way to her room to change.

“Lucy, how was your weekend?” Linda asked when she returned.

“Do you mind if Mrs. MacStar picks Toby up at your house, Linda?” Mr. MacStar asked.

“That’s fine with me. I just need to sit down and chat with the two lovebirds.”

Mr. MacStar said goodbye to his son and that he would see him on Friday. I thanked him for allowing me to sleep over.

“Mom, I had the best enjoyable weekend I could ever ask for. Both of my dresses were beautiful. The pictured from the prom should be posted on Facebook. Toby’s sister, Heather did an amazing job. Saturday night, we stayed up all night and on today we went to church which was awkward foe me.”

I had to excuse myself to use the ladies room. This was one of the worst times to be throwing up. I came back, holding the sleeves down to hide my hands. I sat back in my seat where Toby and my mom were talking about prom night. They were up to the part where I was very pretty.

“I want you to treat her right. Sorry to get off topic but I waited for Lucy to come back so we could talk. Don’t do anything out of the ordinary. You hurt her; you will have hell to pat.”

At that point, I had to run to the bathroom again. This time, throwing up was really painful. And I actually think that Toby is going to tell my mom about the mini hospital trip. When I came out of the bathroom, I went straight to my room so I could lie down. I normally shut my door but this time, I left it open just a bit to hear if Toby was gonna tell. And he did.

“Linda, Lucy didn’t tell you everything that happened at my dad’s house. When we went back to my dad’s house, my sister got Lucy undressed, showered, and braided her hair. We ended up having sex but she was complaining her head was hurting and turned into dizziness. After we finished, she sat right up because she felt like she was going to puke. Lucy did puke but I didn’t bother to check it out. When my dad turned on the lights, he noticed blood in her throw up. That’s when we had to make a trip to the hospital. While in the hospital, she had a complication where the meds weren’t working. I stayed with her for when she wanted me there. Lucy was released this morning before church. And I know the nurse gave her some prescriptions but I don’t think she got them filled because she’s been disappearing a lot frequently. Also, she’s been sleeping a lot and falling into deep sleep but I don’t know why. She wanted me to not tell you but I’m always truthful especially to my girlfriend’s mom.” Toby concluded.

Linda took all that information and had to soak it into her head. They just sat in silence while I was lying on my bed, softly crying myself to sleep. I was curled up into a ball when Toby came into my room. I knew it was him because of his footsteps.

“How could you betray me by telling my mom? I thought I could trust you but apparently I can’t.” I said in outrage.

“You must understand why I told her. It was for your safety.”

“The point is you told her and now I can’t trust you. Go away; I don’t wanna see you again.” I cried out before rolling over to my other side.

He wouldn’t leave my bedside. The tears stopped rolling and eventually I fell into deep sleep. Toby finally left when my mom came to grab him. His mom took Toby home and he had to tell her everything. While I was sleeping, I was thinking about how Toby had betrayed me by telling my mom. When I woke up, my mom was sitting on my bedside, waiting for me to be awake.

“Is what Toby told me true?” Linda tried to question me.

I was still rolled on my side from when Toby wouldn’t leave.

“Yes,” I sniffled. “Everything he told you was true.”

“Where are your prescriptions? I want to get them filled so you can get better.”

“NO.” I aid sharply. “I’m perfectly fine without them. I didn’t take the medicine when I was in the hospital because I can’t swallow the pills, therefore I made believe I took them, hence why they had to put the liquid drug in me. They prescribed me pills that I can’t take. I’ll be fine without them. Can you just leave me alone so I can sleep into tomorrow?”

My mom left me alone for the night as I had a lot on my mind.  I had my first fight with Toby and it hurt me. I felt like throwing up again and it came on fast. Never in my life have I jumped up off my bed so fast. I made it to the bathroom just in time. It came on with such a force that I thought it would actually kill me. Not once, not twice, but three times in a row I threw up. It was around dinner time when this happened. All I wanted to do now was sleep until the next day. I ended up laying on my bed thinking about Toby.