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Thank you for reading! I don’t own any of Wednesday! Please let me know if you enjoy!
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Xavier Thorpe’s footsteps were heavy as shuffled across Nevermore Academy’s stone halls.
He furrowed his brow as he passed by his fellow students, all too busy giggling, talking, and shouting to notice him as they scurried to their various destinations.
Xavier sucked in a deep breath as he finally made it outside to the abandoned shed that housed his artwork.
He tried to ignore the throbbing in his head as he took a key from his pocket and hurriedly jammed it in the lock.
His vision began to blacken as he stepped through the shed’s door and shut it behind himself with a deep sigh of relief.
His eyes closed as he pressed his back against the heavy wood.
The noise from his peers was instantly muffled.
The world seemed to melt away.
He found himself removed from all sources of his stress and aggravation, pleasantly trapped with his artwork of Wednesday and the heavy scent of soothing cedar that emitted from the shed’s walls.
Xavier swallowed dryly as he slowly opened his eyes.
Careful with his steps, he gingerly walked over to the only chair in his private space and sat down in it.
For the past three months, Xavier had been tormented by headaches, pulverized by the brutal agony they brought.
Each one had been worse than the last.
He had visited doctor after doctor, completed test after test.
The numerous diagnostic studies he had undergone had returned no conclusive results.
Every physician had spat the same diagnoses at him, as if a recording had been stuck in their mouths.
Migraines.
Stress.
Depression.
……..Maxalt.
The drugs never helped, although Xavier had tried them all, from NSAIDS to triptans, nothing alleviated the throbbing that started at the base of his skull only to spread over his head and down his neck.
Each hair in his scalp seemed to pulsate with the pain.
As he leaned forward and put his head into his hands, he was certain he would either vomit or faint, again, until the unbearable misery mercifully abated for a single, blissful second.
Somewhere ahead of him, Xavier heard a slight creak, but he had no need to look up.
He could tell by the whispering smell of vetiver and night jasmine who had come into the shed.
Despite Xavier’s plight, a small smile spread across his hidden face.
Wednesday Addams kept her dark eyes fixated upon him as she slowly stepped forward, careful not to let her black boots clack loudly against the shed’s floorboards.
Xavier kept his head down as Wednesday came to stand behind him.
A genuine frown marred her fair features, not of boredom or contempt, but of real, unadulterated concern.
“........Have you taken anything?” She asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
Xavier moved his right thumb outwards.
That simple gesture had become their silent signal for “no”.
He and Wednesday had developed a system of communication during his pain attacks that required no speech on his part and very little movement.
Xavier furrowed his brow at the slight rustling sound that followed while Wednesday rummaged in her backpack.
Amidst his spiral of pain, an odd odor suddenly permeated the air.
He moved his hands and reluctantly opened his eyes to see Wednesday’s palm in front of him, full of something dark and crushed that looked like dirt.
Xavier instinctively pulled back, but Wednesday followed him with her palm, “No, swallow it. I have some water…….It’ll help.”
“What is it?” He managed to croak.
“Chuan Xiong.” Wednesday explained, “One of my cousins sent it to me. He’s traveling through China and said this is what he took to get rid of his migraines………It’s worth a try.”
Reluctantly, Xavier abandoned his attempt to flee and opened his mouth to let Wednesday cram the substance inside.
He discovered the taste was fouler than the smell.
As soon as he began to choke on the herb, Wednesday retrieved her water bottle from her bag and held it to his lips.
After a couple of hasty swallows, Xavier turned his face away to signal he had finished, which he instantly regretted as pain exploded up his neck and into his brain stem.
Quietly, Wednesday sat her backpack on the floor and began Xavier’s favorite method of treatment.
Her small hands were always cold.
Her nimble fingers were always careful.
As stealthy as a sneaking assassin in the night, Wednesday’s hands crept into Xavier’s hair and began to massage his aching head, from the nape of his neck to the sides of his throbbing temples.
Graduation loomed on the horizon.
Xavier had courted Wednesday for nearly a year.
Regardless, she had given him no indication of how she wanted their relationship to continue during the coming months.
Xavier didn’t worry about their future together.
Wednesday Addams was not known for her loving kindness.
He knew well enough that if there was no place for him in her heart, she wouldn’t have stood by him through every pain attack.
Wednesday had given him massages, held him over the toilet when the pain became too much, let him lean against her for support while she helped him stagger back to his dorm room………
“I love you.” Xavier confessed in a shuddering sigh while he closed his eyes again.
“..........We’re going to fix you, Xavier.” She answered in a low whisper.
Eager to find a better position and test the body language that would confirm her patient devotion, Xavier shifted forward in his seat.
He smiled as Wednesday took a subconsciously obedient step forward, eager to be close to him, eager to help him, eager to love him back.
A part of Xavier felt grateful for his pesky headaches.
Never one given to romance or any other such silly persuasions, his suffering had shown him exactly how much his little raven really did care.
Behind Xavier, while her soft fingers continued to knead his scalp. Wednesday’s dark eyes shone with concern.
Her plump lips pursed with worry.
Although she would never acknowledge it out loud, witnessing Xavier’s suffering wounded her more than she cared to admit.
Wednesday silently vowed to herself that if she would do whatever necessary to cure her beloved once and for all.