Just Keeps Getting Uglier

[Katalina Harker]

This was the second time in less than a month that Kat had awoke to someone carrying her and her head spinning. She looked up and saw that this time it was Chace who was holding her and she cringed slightly. If Sumner found out about this he'd have a sh1t fit and Kat knew it, but right now she was in a fair amount of pain and too weak to argue. She moaned lightly, even that sounding incredibly weak. Kat had always been such a strong person and how she had let herself get to this point she would never know.

Her head felt like someone had it in a vice and her insides felt like they were being ripped to shreds. It was amazing what starving herself for close to a year had reduced her to. She was a mere shell now. All her sparkle and shine that made her who she was had been sucked from her...all the life was nearly gone.

When she was fully awake Kat looked up at Chace and said pitifully with tears flowing steadily from her eyes and said, "Please make it stop."

 

[Chace Harker]

Even though Kat was incredibly light, Chace still found himself gasping for breath when he arrived at the Hospital Wing. I really need to get in shape. The Slytherin was not concerned about his physical ability, however. He only cared about Kat. Seeing her in this state was tearing him apart. Chace didn't reserve space in his heart for many people or things, but Kat was one of them. He smiled down at her weakly as he stepped through the door. "I will do all I can to stop it. I promise."

The ward was empty. Groaning at the lack of a nurse in immediate sight, he set Kat down gently on one of the beds. There was not much he could do from here. He was no healer- he could only be certain that she was conscious. "I'm going to find someone who can help you," he said soothingly, squeezing Kat's hand before heading to the room adjacent to this one. He hated to leave her side for one moment, but he understood that the matter was severe. Just how severe, he was not sure. "Hello? Is anyone here?" he called out. "This is very, very urgent."

 

[Katalina Harker]

As she reached the bed Kat curled up in a ball and squeezed tightly, trying to keep herself together. She was practically sobbing now as Chace went to find a nurse. This time she wouldn't refuse help...she was much too uncomfortable and in far too much pain to refuse anything that anyone wanted to do for her. "Please somebody give me something I can't take this anymore," she pleaded, though with who she wasn't quite sure.

 

[Pearl Firn]

Pearl rushed into the room hearing one of the students calling out for help, she saw a boy there and a girl laying down on a bed, she looked to be in quite a lot of pain, "What happened?" Pearl asked going over to the girl.

 

[Chace Harker]

Relief dominated Chace's features as a nurse entered the scene. His throat catching a bit, he turned to the nurse. Uncertainty was blatant in his voice. "She collapsed in the first floor corridor," he explained, "I- I'm not entirely sure why." His brow furrowed in worry, he moved to Kat's side, pulling up a chair and taking a seat next to her. Whatever she was going through, he would be there for her. The Slytherin glanced back to the nurse in the hopes of getting some answers.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Where the hell was Andy when Kat actually needed her. It had only been a few weeks earlier that her best friend had carried her down here the same way Chace had and for the exact same reason, only then Kat hadn't been in quite as much pain. It was all over...everything just ached and her head felt like it might explode at any given second. She looked at Chace, hating that he was seeing her like this, but grateful that he'd been there seeing as she might be laying on the cold stone ground right now had he not been. "I'm sorry," she said with a groan. What she really wanted right now was her best friend here with her...she could tell the nurse exactly what was going on, in fact she already had once, but Kat being her normal stubborn pigheaded self denied it all at the time and had been rather hateful about it.

 

[Pearl Firn]

Pearl looked at the girl when the boy said she had collapsed, wasn't she the same girl who was here before for that reason. She did look dangerously skinny... Probably an eating disorder... I can feel the drama starting already Pearl thought. She went over to the medicne cabinet to grab something for the girls head and brought it back to her, 'Here you go, this should help the pain" she said handing it to the girl, "are you sure thats all thats wong?" Pearl asked giving her a concerned look.

 

[Chace Harker]

"It's okay, Kat," Chace said softly, smiling at the girl reassuringly. He was worried though. This was Kat. Strong, stubborn, witty Kat, who never seemed to back down from a challenge. What could possibly take her down? He was glad that the nurse was here to help her, and that she had something to alleviate Kat's agony. Leaning in closer to the girl, he asked, "Is there anything I can do for you? Anything?" He was not joking either.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat took the potion in one gulp and her head started feeling much better almost immediately, but the achy feeling she had all over her body and the gnawing pain she had in her stomach was still there. "My whole body aches and my stomach feels like it's turning inside out...I'm just so tired. I didn't know..." she trailed off. A few pounds was all she had wanted to lose, but it had definitely spiraled out of control. She'd always been smarter than this and had never really been one to obsess over the way she looked. Kat looked at Chace and said, "Just please don't leave me here by myself." What she really wanted was sleep, even though that was what she had done the majority of her time as of late, but it seemed to be what she needed right now despite her intense discomfort.

 

[Sumner Drage]

Sumner stared at the third year in front of him. A black cloud settled over him; the darkness seeped into his face, tautened his muscles and clenched his fists. His dark eyebrows clashed over turbulent greyish blue eyes. Without a word, he turned on the heel of his chucks in the opposite direction. He grabbed the edge of the banister of the moving staircase and flung himself over. Knees bent, teeth jarred together, he landed and took the stairs two at a time.

Why was she with him? Why the bloody hell would that jackass be carrying his girl to the hospital wing? He covered his near crippling fear for her with satisfying, blinding rage. Moments later he banged open the door and stood there while his eyes roved over the large room and zeroed in on Kat, his girl, the girl he loved, lay on a cot while that son of a b1tch sat beside her.

He was at the foot of her bed in five long strides. "What the hell is going on?" He didn't raise his voice, he didn't need to. His fists trembled with the need to connect and bloody that smug face sitting there.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat nearly jumped three feet off the bed when she saw Sumner storm through the doors of the hospital wing. She knew that this wasn't going to go over well at all which made her already light head just spin even more. Slowly she sat up on the edge of the bed, feeling very weak and then she tried to stand, but her legs once again gave out from under and nearly toppled over on Chace just barely catching herself.

"I...I'll be okay. Really. Ju...just don't," Kat didn't even get the rest of it out before another gnawing pain seared through her stomach, doubling her over causing her to hit her knees, crying out in pain.

 

[Pearl Firn]

Pearl was just about to get the girl something to help her stomach when a boy showed up and caused her to get up and fall to the ground. Glaring at the boy Pearl went to go help the girl up to her bed again, "just stay in bed while I go get you something" Pearl said going back to the potion cabinet and got her something that had all the nutrition she needed and walked back, "here this should help a little but to feel really better your going to need to eat something," she said handing the girl the glass.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat let the nurse help her back into the bed, but kept her eyes trained on her boyfriend who looked as if he was fixing to hit something...and she knew just what or who rather it would be. She looked at him, trying to hold his gaze, but it was useless as she knew he already had his sights set on bludgering Chace to a pulp and she was too weak to try and fend him off. "Sumner don't...just don't. He was just trying to help...you really should be grateful that he was there to help," she said pleadingly as the nurse walked back with a potion. It tasted horrible going down and she made a face and squirmed slightly. Kat then looked at the nurse and said adamantly, "I'm not hungry. I'm in pain...my stomach hurts so bad that I'd probably throw up if I ate anything."

 

[Chace Harker]

"I'm not going to leave you," Chace murmured, turning his head to see the boy he loathed. Git. How could he possibly be angry with him now? Would the boy rather he had left Kat in the first floor corridor? The fact that Sumner's presence seemed to distress Kat disgusted him. He stood to catch the girl if she fell again. The Slytherin winced as the Gryffindor cried out.

Glaring at Sumner, he retorted evenly, "This really isn't the time or place." His attention focused on Kat yet again. Why would the nurse have cause to believe that she was hungry?

 

[Sumner Drage]

Sumner moved jerkily and never before had he cursed his sluggishness as he did while watching Kat fall to the ground. He couldn't reach her in time. He couldn't save her. He could only halt in his tracks, his hands extended in front of him as the nurse bustled in and took over. Fists clenched, back ramrod straight, Sumner stood there and let the nurse do her job. Over and over the images of his Kat, healthy and vibrant when he'd first met her swam through his head. Who was this stranger in front of him? What had happened to her? Her body, her face, her tired voice. He glared hatefully at the boy opposite him, greyish green eyes glittering with angry tears, narrowed in a face chalk white with splotches of red riding high on his cheekbones.

"I know Slytherins are inherently stupid, so I'll speak slow. That's my girl lying there," he said in low tones as he passed Chace. He resisted the urge to bare his teeth at him as he passed him. The air between them was thick with malice; tension quivered through Sumner's ropey muscles. He wanted to deck that smug Slytherin in the throat.

Not knowing what else to do, he knelt by her bed, ignoring the Slytherin and the nurse on the other side and reached for her hand. "Kat," he murmured helplessly, at a loss.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat watched the exchange between Sumner and Chace which only made things worse for her. Tears were streaming steadily down her sunken face and for the first time ever her young life she wished she'd never been born. Her seemingly perfect world was coming to a crashing halt right in front of her. She squeezed Sumner's hand as tightly as she could manage and looked at him with eyes that had lost their luster and said, "Don't do this. He knows I'm with you, but he's my friend and if it weren't for him I'd probably still be laying on the cold stone floor."

 

[Sumner Drage]

Swallowing his hatred, momentarily, he looked down as another emotion threatened to overwhelm him; shame. His lips pressed to the back of her hand. They parted and he whispered, not meeting her eyes, "I'm sorry." He was sorry, for more than he could say. He was sorry he'd been ill. He was sorry he hadn't been there to see her decline into this horribly unhealthy state. He was sorry he was beholden to his enemy for doing what he himself should have done; looked out for her.

 

[Chace Harker]

Chace's throat knotted up as Sumner b1tched at him. Like he deserved any of it! If the Ravenclaw was grateful that his girlfriend wasn't passed out three levels away from the Hospital Wing, he sure wasn't showing it. "*******," Chace muttered under his breath. A fight was the last thing the Slytherin was looking for, but Sumner had exposed his buttons and was attempting to pulverize them. As if Chace didn't know that Kat was Sumner's. As if he wasn't reminded of that every bloody day of term. As if he didn't regret what he had done before.

He declined further comment, his emerald eyes flitting back to Kat. Ignoring Sumner was really his only option. Chace was glad that Kat had stuck up for him. He wanted to smirk, but refrained. The situation was far too serious. He still didn't know what was wrong with the Gryffindor. She had called him her friend. That counted for something, right?

 

[Pearl Firn]

Pearl frowned slightly, and was getting ticked off at the two boys in the room. If they didn't stop soon she would ask them to leave, "dear, please tell me the last time you ate something?" Pearl asked turning to the girl named Kat.

 

[Katalina Harker]

All year Kat had been so fast on her feet when thinking up lies, but at the moment she was much too out of sorts to even think of a decent one. "I...um, breakfast. I ate at breakfast," she lied, but even she knew it didn't sound very convincing. She was losing her touch...eventually everyone would learn her secret that she'd worked so hard to hide all year, but then of course there were those select few who'd already figured it out and Kat had then alienated them.

 

[Chace Harker]

Chace glanced to the nurse, who obviously was not too thrilled by the presence of himself and Sumner. As much as he did not want to leave Kat, she was safe now and the hospital staff would find a way to make her better. He smiled weakly at Kat. "I think we should give you some privacy," he said quietly, rising from his seat and leaning over to Kat. His hand brushing over the Gryffindor's for a brief moment, he said softly, "Get well soon." Slipping out past Sumner, he turned into the hallway. He started towards the stairs to the second floor at a leisurely pace. He detested leaving Kat with that Ravenclaw git. It seemed that he could never get a moment alone with her. If Sumner wasn't attached at the lip, he was stalking Kat, it seemed.

 

[Sumner Drage]

Sumner stiffened and forced himself not to grab Kat's hand harder in reflex. Chace was too close, hemming him in. Once the git was at the door, he brushed a quick kiss over Kat's hand, resisting the urge to brush his hand over her hallowed cheek. "I'll be back later." He didn't say he loved her but it was in his eyes, if one looked close enough. Standing, he nodded at the nurse then left.

He stood outside the closed door, leaned his head back against it and closed his eyes. What the bloody f*&# had happened to her? Why didn't anyone tell him she had gotten so bad? He'd asked playfully for pictures over his convalesence. Now it made sense, the way she'd glossed it over in their letters. His turbulent eyes opened and narrowed on the back of that slythering snake.

He walked quickly until he was nearly behind him. "Hey Chace." He waited until he turned to throw the first punch. Hopefully it would be one of many. He wanted to hurt someone. To release the fear and anger within him.

 

[Chace Harker]

Chace had little time to react as he spun around to face Sumner. The Slytherin boy found himself vaulting backwards, his jaw smarting from the impact of Sumner's fist. Chace had not done anything to necessitate a fight. He wasn't one to take the intelligent course of action and flee conflict, either. Snarling, he lunged at the Ravenclaw boy, aiming for Sumner's stomach and hoping to tackle him to the floor.

 

[Sumner Drage]

Sumner grunted and lost his breath as Chace's shoulder connected with his stomach. He flew back and hit the ground. Hard. His head bounced off the smooth stone. It rang his bell and for a split second he was dazed. That moment would cost him, he was sure. He brought his elbow up toward Chace's throat.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat just nodded at Chace as he got up to leave, grateful that he'd been there with her this afternoon. She was practically bawling now at having Sumner see her like this...weak and pitiful, two things which she had never considered herself. "Please don't leave me here alone for too long. I don't want to be here by myself," she said weakly as her boyfriend turned and walked out after Chace had. Looking at the nurse she asked with tears still flowing steadily from her eyes, "You're going to keep me here aren't you? You're going to notify my parents too." Kat knew well enough, her mother being a healer and all, how things ran when someone was sick.