Porcelain Toilets-Relived Kiss

Everything was foggy and I felt sick. I curled up in a ball to try and stop the pain in my stomach, under my breath. I pressed my hands over my abdomen trying to stop the sharp pains.

"Oh Ha Ni, stop moving around!" Seung Jo mumbled into his pillow.

"Sorry," I whispered through my teeth back at him.

Suddenly I shot up and clamped a hand over my mouth; I rushed to the bathroom stumbling over the sheets. I fell over the toilet. Waves of nausea pounded my stomach.

I heaved into the toilet, again and again, my throat clenching and my eyes watering.

"Ha Ni Ah?" Seung Jo asked groggily. "What's wrong?" He stumbled into the bathroom with mused hair and sleep ridden eyes.

I turned to speak, but my throat caught and I ducked under to release the contents of my stomach once more.

He stumbled over and messily held my hair back, still in sleep mode. Patting my back and rubbing reassuring circles he soothed me, but not my stomach.

I rested my head on the cool porcelain catching my breath before I had to hunch over again. I hated that feeling of not being able to breathe or think clearly, and have your watery eyes blind your sight. It was the worst feeling of helplessness.

I turned to vomit for the fifth time, nothing coming up but a thin trickle of water. I heaved again and again, my stomach clenching in spasms and my airways constricting. I started to sob quietly and Seung Jo just sat beside me loosely holding my hair back.

I turned around to hug him, my tiredness from the time of night catching up to me. I curled up in his lap, and felt the gently sway of him carrying me back to bed.

/_-_-_\

The door opened and closed. A cold hand felt my forehead and neck. "Is she okay?" a soft, high voice asked.

As if in answer, I shot up, eyes wild and ran to the bathroom. Heavy steps followed me and this time held my hair back properly.

"Shhh," Seung Jo whispered soothingly in my ear.

I hadn't eaten anything since last night, so I was just dry heaving over and over again, stomach clenching and unclenching horribly. I kept going for about two minutes until a trickle of white came up. I leaned back into Seung Jo panting and eyes watering.

"Hey, hey," he whispered and looked at me worriedly. Seung Jo's mom stood at the bathroom door and rushed forward with a glass of water in her hand.

"Just take a small sip and see if you can hold it down," Seung Jo said. He tilted the cup and let some water into my mouth. I swallowed, my throat feeling much better with some hydration.

I tried to stand and Seung Jo backed away to give me some room. The room swayed, but I managed to put one foot in front of the other and make it to the bed. I crawled under the sheets and quickly glanced at the time. It was eight in the morning. I flipped over and tried to ignore my churning stomach.

/_-_-_\

It had been less than ten minutes when I was running to the bathroom again. No one was in the room so I clutched the rim with one hand and pulled my hair back with the other. The once sip of water came back up, my stomach not even able to hold that.

The door quickly opened and this time it was Seung Jo's mom. "Oh Ha Ni!" she fretted, feeling my clammy forehead. "Oh gosh, I can't believe that horrid Seung Jo left for work."

"It's okay," I mumbled to the bathroom carpet; that was to be predicted anyways.

"No, no, no. It's just unacceptable…" she went on talking her voice lulling me to sleep right on that bathroom floor. I snapped up when I felt the second wave of nausea moving in and I almost sobbed as I threw up again.

I coughed into my hand and my eyes grew wide when I saw the red stain on my pajama sleeve. I quickly wiped it away, not wanting to show anyone.

I wish Seung Jo Ah was here.

/_-_-_\

A warm hand touched my forehead and straightened out the blanket. My throat felt sore and my stomach wasn't feeling any better.

"Oh Ha Ni. Are you awake," Seung Jo whispered. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at him.

I nodded and asked, "How was work." He looked confused.

"I didn't go to work."

"Why?" I asked him. "I thought…"

He glared at me, at least from what I could tell through my half closed eyes. I was too tired to care though. "I wouldn't go to work when you're throwing up all over the place."

"It was just in the toilet."

"Are you feeling better?" he asked ignoring me. He pushed back my hair and felt my forehead. He then roughly stuck a thermometer in my mouth. He read the number and his eyes widened. "103.4 fever." He pressed lightly on my abdomen and I reflexively moaned.

He looked at me. "That hurt really bad, or just a little?"

"A lot. I-" suddenly my chest contracted and my chest tightened. I tried to breathe… but couldn't. I struggled to in.

Seung Jo's eyes widened and he stared at me as if in shock. Not a muscle moved and it was as if he was a statue. His breath quickened and when I in a breath of air greedily, he was still standing as if in shock.

"Let's go. We're going to the hospital." His voice was strained and tight, his emotions held tightly in check.

/_-_-_\

A doctor had me take a physical examination. He then had an x-ray of my chest done.

"Have you coughed up blood?"

I hesitated, but answered. "Yes. But just once!" He nodded and wrote something down.

"I'll just take a mucus sample and we'll be right back." He swabbed my mouth and I waited in the room for fifteen minutes. When he came back he gave me the diagnosis.

"It's a bacterial pneumonia that can be cured in one to two weeks. I'll just prescribe some oral medication. Dr. Beak Seung Jo can probably help with that anyways. He should know what needs to be done. I'll go over it with him anyways though."

I nodded and closed my eyes wearily.

/_-_-_\

I lay on my bed at night. I turned to face Seung Jo and looked at his sleeping form.

He opened on eye and looked at me.

"Why didn't you go to work?" I asked softly in the dark. I only was able to see the sharp angle of his jaw and his open eyes.

"I did. At first. But… but I was worried and then mom called, and-" he paused and glared at me angrily. "I saw blood on your sleeve! Why didn't you tell me?"

I answered him calmly. "You didn't ask."

He glared at me angrily. "That was such a stupid thing to do! And when you didn't breath, and I saw you like that, I just… my mind froze and," he stopped suddenly.

He roughly pulled my close and kissed me. I knew he would likely get sick, but I was too tired to care. I closed my eyes and just relaxed, feeling his lips move on mine in that slow teasing way that I loved. His hands gripped my hips tightly and I gripped his hair in my fist.

"I was scared," he told me plainly, looking into my eyes. "I don't like it when you do that. So don't."

And he brought his lips to mine again.