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Something wasn’t right.
Eden knew that as he tried to focus on the graph he was charting as he watched for a chemical reaction. He felt a kind of wobbly weakness in his arms which he couldn’t quite pin down a reason for. He’d eaten lunch only an hour and a half ago, so his blood sugar wasn’t low, but he was still experiencing that woozy feeling. By the time he’d plotted the last dot onto the graph paper, that uneasy feeling had intensified, and he wasn’t quite sure whether he was truly feeling unwell or not. He cleared away his equipment, paying close attention to how his head took an extra moment to regain equilibrium when he stood up from crouching to load stuff into cupboards. As he packed his books into his bag he made the decision not to go to the library like he’d intended, but to go home – he could work from the flat. But as he began to walk home it became obvious, as heat crept up the back of his neck and a discomfort burrowed deep into his chest, that he wasn’t going to get any work done. He really wasn’t feeling well at all.
His stomach seemed to be sloshing from side to side within him as he climbed the stairs to his flat, and he pressed his hand to his abdomen as he slotted his key into the door lock. Inside he headed to the kitchen, filling himself a glass of water in the hope it might settle his stomach, and it was only when he turned around that he noticed the light in the living room was on. At the doorway of the living room Eden could see Jude curled on the sofa.
“Jude?” He asked, it was a bit unusual for him to be home so early, unless he was maybe working on an assignment and needed to concentrate.
“Oh hey Ede,” Jude responded, turning slightly on the sofa, but there was a dullness to his voice.
“You alright?” Eden asked, taking a sip of his water and noticing that Jude had a blanket slung over his lap.
“Mmm… not really,” Jude admitted, sounding tired. “My belly’s a bit upset…” Eden’s heart plummeted when Jude said this as that was exactly how his stomach was feeling.
“Are you feeling nauseous?” Eden asked, forcing himself to keep strong to find out how Jude was first. His own stomach felt like it was beginning to do somersaults inside him, and his hand holding the glass was trembling a little. He took a few steps forward to get a better look at Jude; his friend was pale and sweaty as he lay back against the sofa. But unfortunately as Eden got a better look at Jude, the opposite was also true and Jude let out a gasp.
“You’re white as a sheet Eden!” This was news to Eden, but it certainly matched how he was feeling.
“Yeah… uh, my stomach’s not feeling too great either.” Eden said. Now that he’d seen Jude he was thinking there was a real possibility that this was a stomach bug; the likelihood of them both feeling unwell on the same day for two separate reasons was slim.
“Oh no…” Jude groaned, the same realization hitting him. “This isn’t good.”
“It’s not ideal.” Eden agreed, his stomach gripped in an unpleasant cramp which made his mind focus further. “Are you feeling nauseous? It’s important.”
“A bit, yes.” Jude said, his hand was at his stomach, massaging it gently with his fingertips.
“Would you…” Eden started, but stopped abruptly as the thought of the question he needed to ask made his mouth over salivate. “Would you make it to the bathroom if you needed to?”
“I think so…” Jude didn’t sound overly convinced.
“It’s really important Jude,” Eden insisted. “I don’t think I could clear up after you if not…” He let that fact hang as he swallowed, his stomach seeming to take its churning up to the next level. “So should I bring you a bucket?”
“Maybe yes,” Jude mumbled; he let out an unexpected belch as his fingers rubbed into the upset flesh.
“I’ll get some water for you as well,” Eden stated. He was glad for something to do; having to look after Jude took his mind off his own roiling insides. He busied himself, bringing a pint glass of water to Jude, then brought a rubbish bin and placed it next to the sofa at Jude’s feet.
Once he’d done everything he needed to for Jude he stood in the kitchen, trying to decide whether he should take a basin through as a precaution for himself. Eventually he decided that a precaution could do no harm and he carried through the basin and set it at the foot of his armchair.
“Thank you,” Jude had spread himself further along the sofa, with his eyes closed; a quiet burp being muffled behind his hand.
“It’s no – hic – problem.” Eden replied, his stomach felt bubbly, like it’d been filled with carbonated soda. He bent down to take off his shoes, but in creasing forwards at the waist he felt the creep of something hot up the back of his throat and he sat up straight in his chair, taking deep breaths.
From over at the sofa the frequency of belches coming out of Jude’s mouth was increasing; they’d been light at first, but were growing longer, deeper and wetter. Eden flinched at each burp – his own stomach reacting to the evident discomfort of Jude’s.
“BaaaahuuuURRRP!” Jude was suddenly pushing himself up into a sitting position; whimpering as he felt his stomach beginning to contract sporadically. “Oh god…”
“Jude?” Eden asked gently, he was keeping a very regimented routine of breathing – in through his nose and out through his mouth.
“’M – gonna be sick,” Jude scrambled to reach for the bucket Eden had brought through; a hot flush trickling down from the top of his head and his mouth over filling with saliva. He pulled the bucket up onto his lap, spit dripping from his lips, then retched dryly with his head hanging over the rim of the bucket.
“Oh god…” Eden’s hand convulsively covered his own mouth as the sounds of Jude gagging filled the room. Jude raised his head as the heave gripping him passed and panted for breath. He looked horrendous; his face so deathly pale and his fringe sticking to his sweaty forehead.
“I can’t – it’s not…” he struggled, “it won’t – ulp – come up…” But as he said this, his breath seemed to catch and there was a splash of something hitting the bottom of the bin. “Oh – I – hh’guuuuuk!”
Jude was overwhelmed as another wave of sickness caught him; Eden screwed up his face as the sound of vomit splattered noisily and Jude retched again. Eden’s stomach leapt into his throat as Jude hacked over the bin, there was a split second where he knew he was going to vomit too and scrambled for the basin on the floor but wasn’t quite quick enough.
A mouthful of very watery puke sprayed onto his knees as he clutched at the basin, bringing it up onto his lap. But he knew his fight to resist was lost as the second mouthful splashed into the basin. The next wave of vomit was so strong, pouring from his mouth and nose, and making him feel like he was choking; then before he could even take a breath, more sick was forcing up his oesophagus, joining the growing amount of sick in the basin.
His stomach felt like it was being wrung out like a sponge as his retching purged everything inside him – ending in an empty belch. The pressure in his abdomen eased for a brief moment and he took a great gasp of air, before his throat tightened into another gag. Ropes of stringy saliva were dangling from his mouth and he tried to spit them away. He couldn’t hear any retching coming from Jude anymore, but his body didn’t seem to be done. His head was beginning to pound as his muscles contracted into another series of heaves; he could feel tears pricking at the corner of his eyes as he brought up increasingly less and less vomit each time. He couldn’t remember eating or drinking the amount he was heaving up, so surely it would stop as soon as his stomach was empty. It better stop soon, or the basin on his knee would overflow.
“Jesus Christ Eden…” Eden could hear Jude’s voice calling out over his continued retching, which had begun to hurt all of his abdominal muscles as there was nothing left in him to puke. He leant back against the chair, still convulsing slightly, but knowing there was no risk of getting more on himself. Jude was staring over at him, wide eyed with concern; Eden reached for the glass of water on the table next to the armchair and took a tentative sip to clear the bitter taste of acid in his mouth. “You’ve got to be empty now…” Jude almost sounded like he was in awe.
“I… uh…” Eden was pressing firmly with one hand into his stomach, he’d closed his eyes to avoid looking at his stomach contents in front of him. “I think I am… but I need to get rid of this.” He pointed down at the basin.
“You look awful.” Jude said honestly.
“Thanks,” Eden muttered weakly, he opened his eyes and saw Jude swallowing convulsively before a burp turned into a stream of sick which poured from his mouth. The sound alone caused Eden to gag again, and as there was nothing to bring up all his body could do was heave until Jude had finished.
“Urrgh…” Jude wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “I feel awful.” He murmured, “God, my belly feels like it’s turning inside out.”
“Uh-huh,” Eden agreed. He knew he had to move to empty the basin still resting on his knee – the warmth from the bottom of it beginning to turn his stomach once more. He gripped the edges of the basin and stood up carefully from the chair, conscious not to spill any. A cramp tightened in his stomach again and he heaved fruitlessly. “Oh, if I ever find out who gave us this, I’ll kill them.” Jude let out another harsh belch, making Eden gag. “Or perhaps I’ll just puke on them.”