Chapter 116

Sitting in the white hospital room, Richie was glad he wasn't alone as he had been the night before. Although he had gotten some sleep at home, he still felt exhausted, the few hours of rest he was able to get wasn't going to be enough to pull him through the rest of the day.

The afternoon was slowly passing by as he watched Sarah with her son, he was happy to see her relieved and more relaxed than this morning but so did Noah. The contrast of 12 hours still amazed him. They were leisurely watching a TV show, passing the time.

It wasn't long before Daniel made himself heard, being bored in a hospital room with almost nothing to do. Ava made her usual attempts at keeping him busy with her phone but he easily lost interest again, leaving him with no other option than to cry out loud so everyone would know how he felt.

"How 'bout I take him home?" Richie suggested, the afternoon was passing slowly but dinner time was approaching as well.
Sarah looked at him, for a moment he wasn't sure what she would say but he felt relieved it wasn't anything negative. "Maybe we should all go?" Sarah suggested in return.
"We can get dinner on the way home." Richie continued even though it was still on the early side.
"That's a good idea." Sarah agreed, nodding.

They said their goodbyes to Noah for the night before returning to their cars in the hospital parking garage where they decided on Daniel driving home with his mom and Richie and Ava would go and pick up dinner on their way home. The cars being parked in different spots, they separated.

As he walked with Ava to his car, the pain in his head was getting more of a bother to him. Inside Noah's hospital room he had been able to ignore it but now outside, his headache was getting worse.

"How about you drive us home?" He asked Ava as they approached the car, pulling the keys from his front pocket.
Ava looked up from his phone. "Sure." She said, taking the keys from him and unlocking the car.

Relieved, Richie got in on the passenger's side, glad he didn't have to drive with a headache. He'd happily close his eyes for a little while and try to relax.

Not much later, Ava parked the car in the drive way, right behind Sarah's car. "Are you okay?" She asked, looking over at her dad next to her. He hadn't said a word during their drive and he did look a little off.

He waved it off, not wanting to worry Ava over a headache but as he started getting out of the car, the rest of the world started spinning, carefully he sat down again. He didn't object when Ava went ahead and walked inside.

She found Sarah in the living room, watching Daniel play from the couch. "Dad's not feeling well."
"What do you mean?" Sarah got up from the couch and headed towards the front door.
"I'm not sure." Ava shrugged. "He didn't say, just that he has a headache."
"Watch Daniel for me."

When she walked outside, Richie had gotten out of the car, he was just closing the door. "Are you okay?" Sarah asked as she walked over to meet him.
"Yeah, I've just got a headache." He said.
Sarah frowned. "Let's go inside so you can lay down and relax then." She suggested as she took his arm gently.

He didn't want her to worry over something as simple as a headache, even if it felt like the worst headache he'd ever had, but let her help him inside. At least everything had stopped spinning.

Ava looked up from where she sat on the floor with Daniel when Sarah and Richie walked in. "What's wrong?" She asked curiously.
"Nothing." Richie said quickly. "Just a headache."
Slightly shaking her head, "Can you grab an ice pack from the freezer and bring it upstairs?" Sarah asked as they started up the stairs.

Richie groaned when they walked into their bedroom, the room was bright with the afternoon sun, it hurt his eyes. Knowingly, Sarah let go of him and headed over to the window to pull the curtains closed, making sure the black out curtains darkened the room enough. When she turned around again, Richie was already sitting on the bed, rubbing his eyes. She frowned, walking back to meet him.

"Are your eyes bugging you too?" She asked carefully.
"It's blurry like if I'm not wearing contacts or glasses."
"Close your eyes then," She suggested gently. "and lay down."

He dropped his hands and followed Sarah's instructions, carefully he laid down on his pillow. The pain in his head was throbbing and getting worse, making him feel sick.

A soft knock on the door made Sarah look up to see Ava bring over the ice pack. Worry was still clear on her face.
Sarah gave her a little smile as she took the ice pack from her. "Don't worry, it's a migraine."
"Oh." Ava clued in.
"We'll make sure he gets some actual sleep and he'll be fine." Sarah assured her.

"Lay down with me?" Richie asked when he heard the door close behind Ava again.
"I am." Sarah sat on the bed next to him, reaching over to undo his jeans.

He didn't object and let Sarah help him out of his jeans, then under the sheets. Happy to feel her against him a few seconds later. He felt her arm move behind him, an instant later, the ice cold ice pack against his neck made him wince.

"It'll help."

It did feel sort of nice.

"I've never seen you have a migraine." Sarah whispered softly.
"I'm not sure if I have."
Sarah cuddled closer against him, holding the ice pack as she did. "I'm sorry you have one now. Try to sleep."

The darkness of the room had not yet alleviated the pounding pain in his head. All he could feel was the pain from his head, spreading back to his neck and shoulders as if he had just finished an intensive work out. Sarah was holding him tightly, which he appreciated but didn't relieve his pain either. The pain he felt so intensely was starting to aggravate him. The room was dark, he was laying down, it should start to get better, not continue. He could feel Sarah adjust herself behind him, he cheek resting on his shoulder blade now, her soft warm breath against him. He groaned, frustrated with the pain.

"Try to relax and sleep." Sarah reminded him.
It only made him groan in frustration again. "I can't, it hurts."
"I know. I'm sorry." Sarah sighed softly, compassionate at how he was feeling right now.

She snaked her arms over his side and reached for his chest, softly stroking the skin under his t-shirt, hoping it would relax him a little bit more so he would be able to drift off to some well needed sleep. It had been a long night in the hospital with Noah and the few hours he had gotten after that probably weren't enough, Sarah was sure of that.

When he woke up, he felt groggy, as if he had slept too little or too long. He wasn't sure if it was either of those. Sarah's arm wasn't around him anymore and he couldn't feel her behind him either. Slowly, he turned to his back. The pain in his head had reduced to more of a dull kind of headache, for which he was glad. His neck and shoulders still felt stiff but at least he could see straight again even though the room was still dark around him.

For a few moments, he just enjoyed feeling this much better than how he was feeling before he slept. A headache and some muscle stiffness like this, he could handle. Whatever that pain was earlier, he could not.

Richie knew it was getting late, it had been almost dinner time when they had gotten home and he came down with this excruciating headache. He must have slept for a few hours, he was certain of that, which would mean it was getting closer to Daniel's bedtime, which he didn't want to miss.

Slowly, he moved and sat up in the bed, making sure the rest of the room wouldn't start spinning as he got up from the bed.

"Hey, you're up." Sarah looked up from the couch where she was cuddling Daniel as Richie walked into the living room.
He nodded slowly as he walked over to join her there. "Yeah."
"Are you feeling better?" She asked, still concerned about him, especially as he was taking it slowly.
With a soft groan of relief, he sat down on the couch. "Better than before." He confirmed.
"But not entirely better?"
"No, my head still hurts but this is bearable."

Sarah lifted Daniel up out of her lap and passed him over to Richie.

"Why don't you take some painkillers?" She suggested as she got up from the couch, heading to the kitchen without waiting for an answer from him first.

After taking the painkillers his wife had brought him, Richie reclined the couch and held his son close, ready to get him to sleep.

It had been a long day but having had such a late nap, he was sure sleep wasn't going to come to him that easily tonight.

Sarah happily joined her two boys on the couch and cuddled against Richie's side as she watched Daniel drift off to sleep not that much later, it had been past his bedtime by now and she was glad he had gone to sleep so easily tonight. Happy to tell her husband so, she looked up at him next to her but found his eyes closed and heard a breathing pattern indicating he had joined Daniel in the land of dreams.