Chapter 3

                                    

                                          



Rodrick awoke the next morning feeling like he had been hit by a train. He groaned loudly. Every bone in his body hurt, but nothing compared to the pain in his stomach. The Advil from last night didn't help at all. In fact, the pain was worse than it had ever been before. It was almost unbearable. 
                          
It took awhile for Rodrick to build up the courage to get out of bed. He knew it was going to hurt, but Greg had to get to school. He took a big breath through his nose, and sat up quickly, resulting in him crying out in pain. He sat in his bed, doubled over, arms around his abdomen, and teeth clenched. He whimpered as he felt his eyes well up with tears. He had never experienced this kind of pain before, and it scared him. A voice in his head kept saying to give in and get help, but he pushed it away. 
                          
"Rodrick?" Greg knocked on his door, " What happened? I heard a scream."
                          
Rodrick did his very best to hide the pain in his voice.
                          
"I just stubbed my toe, that's all," Rodrick lied, still doubled over.
                          
"Well, then hurry up! we're almost late." Greg urged.
                          
Rodrick sighed, wincing as he stood up. He just had to drive Greg to school, and then he can rest.
                          
..............................
                          
Rodrick waddled to the bathroom, and looked at himself in the mirror. He was a white as a ghost! He took his temperature again, and inhaled sharply when he saw what it read.
                          
101.7 ºF
                          
The fever reducer certainly didn't help. He sighed. All he needed was rest, and he would be fine. It was probably something that had to run its course. He looked at himself in the mirror again. He couldn't let Greg see how pale he was. So, he tried to find something that would shadow his face enough to hide his color. He found a big straw hat in his parents closet, and put it on. It looked silly, but it worked. Wincing, he walked back to his room to put on his black converse (which was pretty much intolerable), and went to the kitchen to meet Greg.
                          
Greg gave his brother a weird look.
                          
"What's with the hat?" he giggled.
                          
"It's really sunny out." Rodrick breathed, putting on a half smile.
                          
Rodrick didn't know how much longer he can keep this up. The pain in his stomach was too much. He tried to hurry Greg along. The sooner he was dropped of, the sooner he could go back home.
                          
"Hey, listen," Rodrick again tried to mask the pain in his voice, "I don't have school today, some teacher conference or whatever, but I'll still drop you off. So, let's go."
                          
"Lucky duck," Greg mumbled. He was about to say something else, when he looked at his brother. Rodrick stopped making eye contact with him, and he had a weird expression on his face. Almost like he was hurting, but trying to hide it, and failing miserably. As stubborn as his brother was, he was a terrible liar.
                          
"Are you ok?" Greg asked concerned.
                          
Immediately, Rodrick straightened up.
                          
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Rodrick groaned a bit.
                          
"You don't seem ok," Greg narrowed his eyes, "Do you hurt somewhere or-"
                          
"I said I'm fine!" Rodrick quickly cut him off.
                          
Greg looked at him, slightly shocked. Rodrick was usually a big baby when he was sick. Why was he hiding it this time?
                          
"Rodrick," Greg slightly lowered his voice, "If you're not feeling well, I can just ask Rowley's mom if-"
                          
"No!" Rodrick once again cut him off, "Let's-let's just go."
                          
Rodrick slowly moved towards the door, holding his stomach. Greg sighed. He knew it was useless to keep pushing, so he didn't say anything more. He grabbed his backpack and followed Rodrick out the door.