Chapter 15
“Ciara??? Are you okay???”
Lindsey
helped herself into Ciara’s apartment like she always
had, but was surprised to hear some pretty disgusting noises coming from Ci’s bathroom. As she walked through the apartment, she saw
normal signs of someone getting ready for a day of shopping. Breakfast dishes
in the sink, freshly fed cat, jamies on the bed,
humidity lingering in the bedroom from a shower. It didn’t add up to someone
obviously very sick to their stomach.
“Ci! Honey…are you…”
“Damn.
Yeah, I’m fine.” Ciara stood from her submission
position to the toilet bowl, flushed and grabbed a quick cup of water. She
rechecked her make-up, dabbing her face with a towel and refluffing
out her curls. “Let me try brushing again and I’ll be ready to go.”
“What!?
Ciara, you were just puking. What’s wrong with you?”
“Oh,
this is my new trick.” She started the water, wet her toothbrush and loaded it
with toothpaste…again. “I’ve been puking when I brush my teeth.” Before Lindsey
could ask another question she popped the brush in her mouth and started
brushing.
“You
gonna puke again? You know how I am…”
Ciara shook her head ‘no’ as she finished
brushing, spitting into the sink. “Nope. Just once. I lose my meds, lose my
breakfast and then get to start all over. I’ll just grab a granola bar on the
way out.”
“What
the hell, Ci? What’s causing this?”
“I
have no idea.” Ciara flipped the light off in her
bathroom and started digging through drawers to find a t-shirt and jeans to
wear. “I see the doc next week. He blew off my weakened hands and arms last
time and I’m not gonna let him this time. I can’t even dry my hair anymore.”
“Looks
dry to me.”
“Well
yeah, wanna know how I did it?” She got down on her knees in front of her bed
and lowered herself so her head was level with the top of the mattress. “I put
my drier on the sink up here and then get down like this so it’s blowing on my
head. I can hold it a bit by letting my elbows rest on the sink.”
“You
mean, you can’t even lift your arms high enough to dry your hair?” She reached
out a hand to help Ciara back to her feet.
“Nope.
Been like that for months. It’s just been getting worse and worse.”
“Do
you think this puking thing is related?”
“I
dunno. It’s like I can’t swallow right, so I gag. I need to eat after I brush,
but frankly it’s such an ingrained habit, I don’t think about it. So, whatever
I have in me, just comes up because my gag reflex is so strong. And I’m not
able to swallow well by the end of the day either.”
“My
God woman. You’re a medical experiment waiting to happen, I swear.”
“Don’t
you know it. I’ll be the poster child for new diseases. Maybe I can make some
money off of it anyway. Help pay for some of these damn meds I’m having to take
all the time.”
“Well,
you feel up to shopping? I mean, we don’t have to go.”
“Nope.
I WANT to go. I’m okay. Let me just take my blood pressure pill again and grab
something to eat and we’ll go.”
******~~~~~~******~~~~~~
More
medicine. It was always more medicine. Every damned time. Ciara
was grateful she had chosen a field in the medical profession because her
insurance was decent, but at this point, it really didn’t matter much. This one
was more expensive than anything else she’d ever had to take.
She
checked her messages as she undressed from the doctor appointment, grabbing
some scrungies to settle in for a night of rented
movies and no thinking. Message one was mom…how was the appointment? Groan.
Call her later. Message two was Dwayne….how was the appointment? Ugh. Call him
later. Message three was Nick.
“Hey,
Ci! I’m home for like a day. Have some news. Call
me!”
No
groan. A smile. First genuine one in days. How come a 14 year old boy could
make her smile when her mother and boyfriend and best friend couldn’t? Made no
sense, but she couldn’t ignore the truth of it. She fixed herself something to
drink and dialed his number.
“Carters!”
“BJ!
Hey, girl. It’s Ciara. Nicky’s home?”
“Yup.
Let me get him. Hang on!”
As
Ciara waited, she opened the bag with her new pills
in it. Mestinon. Her doctor had called them “power
pills”. They would help the weakness hopefully, but the sad fact was that her
vomiting, weakness, and difficulty swallowing were all from yet another chronic
disorder like diabetes. No cure; only symptomatic treatment. This one had a
lesser known name. Myasthenia Gravis. Sounded like a death sentence, only it
wasn’t. It was just another thorn in her side.
Just
as she sunk down in a kitchen chair one second from tears, a familiar and
overly chipper voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “CIARA!”
Smile
again. Damned kid. “Hey, Nicky! How are you?”
“I’m
great! I’ve got some great news and I had to call you. You home?”
“Yeah,
uh…you can’t tell me on the phone?”
He
was audibly hurt. She always wanted to see him. What was wrong? “Well, yeah, I
can, but…”
She
heaved a sigh and caved. Could never resist him even over the phone. “I look
like crap, Nick…”
“Yeah,
like I care. Ci, if it’s a bad time…”
“No,
no. I’m sorry, hon. I’ve just had a HORRIBLE day. You know what? I need good
news and someone in a good mood. I’ve got some movies here. Why don’t I come
pick you up and we’ll grab some junk food and munch out, huh?”
“Food?
Movies? I’m there.” He stopped his excitement still hearing an unusual silence
on the other end of the phone. “Are you sure this is okay, Ci?
I don’t want to be a pain.”
“You’re
always a pain and yes. I’ll be there in 15. Just don’t look at me. I’m not
changing.”
“Ci…I couldn’t care less. I’ll be here.”
Before
Ciara took off, she figured she’d better check in
with home and Dwayne. As usual, Dwayne wasn’t in. Out. Party. Again. It was
getting old and irritating. Mom, of course, freaked. Ciara
spent 10 minutes convincing her she didn’t need to move back home. Yeah, that’d
help her stress level. Hanging up from talking to her mom, she stuck the new
bottle of medicine in her cabinet with the others. “Something else to puke up
in the morning. Oh goody.”
******~~~~~~~******~~~~~~
“Alrighty,
chips or pretzels; romance or action? What’ll it be?”
“Chips
and action. And I have to tell you my news or I’m gonna scream.”
“Oh
God, Nick. I’m so sorry. I could have poked around at the grocery a bit longer,
huh?”
“Yeah,
I mean, how big of a decision is it to grab a bag of snacks?”
“I
like to torture you.” She poured the chips into a bowl and turned to the bouncing
ball of energy. He hadn’t been still in the half hour they’d been together and
she had a hunch he wouldn’t be either. “Okay, Nick. What’s your news?”
“Okay,
so we’re in
“Riiiiight….”
“Lou
didn’t tell us, but there were record execs there…from Jive Records.”
“Not
heard of them….so he surprised you?”
“Yeah,
and you will hear of Jive someday soon because, CiCi….”
“Nicky???????”
“WE
GOT A RECORD DEAL!!!!!!! WE’VE BEEN SIGNED!!!!!!!!” If Nicks’ blue eyes could
have danced anymore they’d have jumped plumb out of his head. All Ciara could do was stand there with the bowl of chips in
her hand and her mouth hanging open.
“Oh
my God, Nick!!! So this is real? No pulling out last minute like Mercury did to
you?”
“Nope.
Signed, sealed and delivered, baby. I didn’t tell anyone ‘til it was final this
time.”
“Oh
baby! Come here!” She put down the bowl and wrapped her arms around her young
friend, laughing at how stinking tall he was compared to just a few months ago.
Every time he came home he looked different and had grown inches taller. “I am
so proud of you guys. You deserve it!” She pulled back to look at him…up to
him. Amazing.
“Well,
I hope they think so. We really want this.”
“I
know you do. That is GREAT news, Nick. I’m glad you didn’t tell me over the
phone. That’d have sucked.”
“Yeah…I
wanted to see your face.”
“Well,
you put the first smile on it in days, kiddo. Can you sit still long enough to
watch movies now?”
“Yep.
Let’s go. What’s going on with you anyway?”
“You
know, let’s not ruin your good news with my junk? Let’s just celebrate, okay?”
“Sure…I’m
all for that.”
They
settled in for a couple movies and Nick indeed calmed down. Poor kid eventually
fell asleep on Ciara’s lap like a puppy dog. As the
last movie’s credits rolled, she looked down at the blonde boy, running her
finger through his hair. A record deal. Well, at least ONE of their dreams was
going to come true.
***
