THIRTY-ONE

It had been a week of aches, pains and stiffness but the swelling was something new. Cain looked at his hands which were really Abby's and then at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he had taken a bite from. The first thing that came to mind was an allergic reaction. It was the first time since he was in Abby's body that he had eaten something with peanuts. She hadn't told him anything about her having an allergy but there was nothing else that could explain the swelling. Not only would the swelling affect him in doing his job but he had also woken up with extreme fatigue that morning. The feeling was similar to when coming down with the flu but worse.

Already changed and ready to leave for the e.Lee Cosmetics photoshoot, Cain started to walk towards the bedroom to grab his phone but even just going a few more steps felt like too much. Feeling sluggish, he stopped to lay on the couch. Laying however only made him feel worse but just getting up again felt like a hard thing to do. Not being allergic to anything himself, he had no idea what a food allergy felt like. All he had ever heard was that swelling was a symptom but never such fatigue where one felt like they were dying. It almost felt as if venom were running down every vein in his body.

He had to call Abby to ask if she was allergic to peanuts but not being able to get the phone from the room, he had to use the smart speaker that was in the living room. "Google, call other me."

"Calling other me mobile."

"Hey Cain! We're on our way to the photoshoot! Are you there now? We're not late, are we?" She had woken up early that morning to get ready but having waited for Abel who woke up late, they ended up leaving with just barely enough time to get to the photoshoot at the agreed time. Had they still been sharing rooms, she would have dragged him out of bed but going into a room that was shared with others just felt like an invasion of privacy.

"Ahh...No. I'm still at the apartment. I was just about to leave but I wanted to ask you something, are you perhaps allergic to peanuts or anything in general?" He was almost certain it was the peanut butter but it could have been anything else.

"No...Not peanuts or any other allergies. Why do you ask?"

"Your hands are swollen and I feel like I'm dying. Should I call an ambulance?" It really was no exaggeration when he said such a thing. It was like nothing he ever felt before.

Instead of an immediate yes or no answer, he heard Abby gasp.

"Oh my gosh! I’m SO sorry! I'm really an idiot for not thinking you too would have my symptoms, it is still my body after all. I'll be there in 10! Lay down until then!"

Just as he was about to tell her he was already laying down, she hung up on him. He was left with questions as to what she meant by her symptoms.

As they had just left the dorms they were only a few minutes away from the apartment. They were lucky their driver took the day off due to his wife that was about to give birth otherwise they might have not been able to go to Cain. Joel who was the one driving heard the phone call and immediately asked Abby where they needed to go. There was however one other place they would have to go to but that was only after she called her doctor.

"Hey Joel, would you be okay with going to the pharmacy after dropping me off at the apartment?"

"Of course. I know one that's nearby."

"And Abel, could you perhaps go to the photoshoot on your own? It's going to take at least an hour to get my prescription and it's not something Cain would really know how to administer himself." She hadn't yet seen him but it was obvious it was a flare he was having and the best thing to take for a flare was a steroid injection. She only ever used them a few times but they were effective enough to make her feel better in a day and even just hours for the effects to start kicking in.

"Sure, I'm okay with going on my own. What's wrong with Cain though?" The fact it was Abby's body that was sick worried Abel.

"He's having a flare."

"I’m sorry, a what now?"

"A flare, it’s something that comes with Rheumatoid Arthritis." It was just a few months before her 26th birthday when she was diagnosed with the horrible life-sucking disease.

Usually when she told people she had RA hardly anyone ever believed her. Everyone always assumed it was something only the elderly had and that it only affected the joints but it was much more than that, it affected the organs as well. Her own body was constantly fighting itself. It was why it surprised her that Cain had even been able to handle such a thing without having said anything prior to that day. She felt bad he had to go through the pain simply because she had stopped taking her medications. It was really only because of the pandemic that she stopped taking them. As they were immunosuppressants, taking them would have only made her immune system weaker in fighting such a deadly disease. Being someone that didn't like taking risks, she had preferred to put up with the flares that only came once every one or two months.

Joel hadn’t even stopped the van yet when Abby opened the door and ran out. She knew just how horrible Cain was feeling. Having already called her Rheumatologist for the prescription, there was not much else she could do until she got the injections. There were however a few small things she could do that would at least make Cain feel a bit better.

"Here's some turmeric tea. I don't know if it will be to your liking but it's supposed to help with inflammation. I'll go get you a cold pack, it will also help. Then we'll just have to wait for the injection which will really be the one that helps the most." She would have given him aspirin but they usually didn't go well with the steroid injections.

Having reached out for the tea but not being able to keep a hold of it, Cain ended up dropping it. It wasn't that Abby hadn't given it to him properly and neither was the mug that full but it had just felt too heavy for him. Not only did the tea get all over his clothes but also on the sectional. "I'm so sorry! I'll clean it up!" He tried to get up but couldn't, it was as if all his energy had been drained out of him.

"Of course you won't.” She pushed him all the way down so he wouldn’t try to get up again. “You need to rest. If you don't then you won't feel any better. Trust me. Rest is the best thing you can do right now. I've been through this dozens of times. Just taking a nap makes a huge difference."

"You've been through this dozens of times?" His jaw dropped. He couldn't imagine anyone going through what he was that many times.

"Yup. It's called Rheumatoid Arthritis and it's an autoimmune disease. Basically it attacks the whole body and even the organs in some cases so that's why you feel so horrible. Here's the cold pack.” She gave it to him wrapped in a kitchen towel. “Apply it while I bring you more tea but with a straw this time along with some clothes so you can change. The tea wasn't hot though was it? If it was then I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't worry, it wasn't hot."

While looking for clothes Abby noticed there was more dirty laundry than clean. She figured Cain hadn't done any laundry in a while. No longer being in her own body almost made her forget how it felt like to have such a disease but she knew just doing something as simple as laundry was tiring. The only reason she really did hers as often as she did was because she pushed herself to do so all the while taking aspirin to help with her aches.

Having to wait for both the laundry to get washed and for Joel to arrive with the injections, she decided to text Abel to see how he was doing. She hadn't really wanted to go to the photoshoot since she knew Jun would most likely be there but she still felt bad for Mrs. Lee. Not only was one of her models not showing up but also her makeup artist.

<Yea, she's here. I apologized but then she wanted to know why you weren’t able to come. I didn't know what to tell her so I told her the truth, that you were sick. Was it wrong for me to tell her that?>

Instead of answering his question Abby immediately started to type another text but this time to her mom. She knew that if Mrs. Lee knew she was sick then so would her mom, it was only a matter of time. By telling her mom herself it would at least give her more control over the situation.

Thinking the text was enough to reassure her mom, she went ahead to do the chores she was certain Cain wouldn’t be able to do.

As Abby hadn't answered his text, it made Abel worry he had done wrong by telling Mrs. Lee about her being sick. The message was after all marked as read yet minutes had already passed but even though he wanted to stay on his phone in hopes of receiving a reply from her, he couldn’t. He already had his makeup done which was only possible because of Jun’s assistant who had gone around asking employees there if they were any good with applying makeup. In the end it was a part-timer that just so happened to be attending beauty school who did his makeup. The twenty something year old had been ecstatic just to get the opportunity to work with him as she was a fan of Adam.

"Abel, could you come over here please?” The stylist that was in charge of his clothing called him over and that was his signal to get off his phone.

Having already been given a navy blue suit and dress shoes to wear, he thought he was already done with his wardrobe but it didn't seem like that was the case.

“We need to add this tie to your outfit since you’re supposed to look like a professional.” Standing on her tiptoes, the stylist was barely able to get the navy blue tie around his neck. Even though he wasn’t all that tall, the 30 something year old woman was even shorter despite wearing high heels.

As it was a photoshoot for a cosmetics company, Abel had expected the makeup would have been the only thing that mattered but he had even been given the specific clothes just to "match" with the makeup. He was supposed to be a young CEO for the photoshoot although he wasn’t certain he could pull off the look with his baby face. It made him wonder why Jun hadn't been the model himself as such a look would have suited him more.

“Can you lower yourself? Some of your hair at the top is sticking out.”

Hoping the stylist didn’t end up feeling offended, Abel bent down almost as if he were bowing just so she could reach the top of his hair.

“There. All done.” She smiled.

Wanting to check his phone one last time, he hesitated to leave.

“Well go on.” With a push from the stylist he stood in front of the photographer.

Even as his photos were taken Abel couldn’t stop thinking about Abby. That distraction alone affected his expressions. Having gotten all the poses wrong, he was told to take a break as apparently he had to feel more “into it” before they were able to proceed.

"Ugh. What a waste of time.” Just as the cameraman left, Jun walked in. He was dressed similar to Abel except his suit was a dark gray. “With a face like yours I didn't think it would be possible but you're the worst model we've had thus far. It makes me wonder if your friend is just as bad. Aren't you supposed to be good at these kinds of things? It's part of your job as an idol, isn't it?" He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

Abel had done just as Abby told him. He had ignored Jun but he really did get on his nerves. It wasn't that he was bad at modeling, his mind was just someplace else. He had enough experience with modeling as his group had to do photoshoots for all their albums. Just in three years Adam had released 10 albums and 3 photobooks, all with different concepts. They had even modeled with suits once as one of those concepts was that of office workers so such a photoshoot should have been a piece of cake but not while he was worried about Abby.

"Cat got your tongue? Or you're just not answering because you know I'm right?"

Abel hadn’t planned to answer Jun but he also wouldn't not do anything. The fact no one was around only gave him the perfect opportunity to do what it was he wanted to do. Walking towards Jun, he stopped just as he got to his side then turned his head and spit down on his shoes. He could tell they were expensive and thinking about Jun having to clean off his spit from them made him smile.

Hearing him yell out his name from behind, Abel continued to walk on to the restrooms. He needed to text Abby otherwise he wouldn’t be able to do the photoshoot like he was supposed to.

She didn't want to tell him she had to text her mom just so it wouldn't cause her to worry. And she really had forgotten to text him back. Forgetting about other things was very common for her whenever she cleaned.

Not only had he been worried about Abby and her body but in a way he too had been worried about Cain and wanted to know how he was doing. It would at least give him some peace of mind if he knew his old friend was doing fine.

<I'm not worried about him.>

It was embarrassing for him just to admit.

Sending Abby photos was something Abel had already planned to do. He even took some selfies while he had gotten ready but he wanted to take one more. Knowing the bathroom wouldn't look good for a background, he walked out and went over to one of the white screens they had for the photoshoot. Not sure if he should go with a cute or sexy pose, he decided to go with both. While biting his bottom lip seductively, he held his hand up and overlapped his thumb with his index finger which made a heart. Knowing Abby would be with two other guys, ones he thought of as his love rivals, he immediately sent her the photo along with the others he had taken.

It had only been minutes since Abby asked Abel to send her photos and yet he already had. Just seeing every one of them made her heart flutter and she felt a great temptation to use one of the photos for her phone’s background. She had after all done it hundreds of times in the past, always switching from Cain to Abel and so forth. Every time one of the two posted new selfies on the group's instagram she would screenshot them and make them her phone's background. Her current background was however Cain's dog as it was originally his phone. Thinking it was best not to mess with someone else’s phone, she decided to just email herself the photos so she could use them later on.

She was in the middle of emailing the photos when the doorbell rang. Without so much as a glance at the intercom, she quickly ran over to the door thinking it was Joel. At seeing it was her mom, she almost fell back. She hadn't told her she would go visit. Her mom was supposed to be working just like any other weekday and yet she was there, with a bag of food from the restaurant in each hand.

"Oh? Cain? Well hi there boy. I wouldn't want to sound rude but may I ask what you’re doing at my daughter's apartment? I'm sorry to say this but she already has a boyfriend, I actually ran into him in the parking lot. He told me he had the injections for Abby. I don't know why he's not here yet but I guess he must still be on that phone call he received while I was talking with him."

From what her mom said it seemed like Joel had handled the situation well but it didn't mean things couldn't go wrong. He would after all have to act as Cain's boyfriend, at least while her mom was there. "Well umm...as you may already know mam, I happen to be friends with Abby's boyfriend. I was actually the one that introduced them both with that intention in mind as I was sure the two would get along well."

"I guess I'll have to thank you then. It really is nice she has a boyfriend that doesn't happen to also be Agoraphobic. Hopefully it'll motivate my daughter to go out more. And no offense but even though I would have liked you as her boyfriend, it did worry me that she would be dating someone with her same problems. Although Joel is still a Germaphobe, it’s much better that he only has that one mental illness instead of two. I just wouldn't be able to see Abby progress with someone that's just like her."

"Mom, please don't say that. Just because someone has such illnesses it doesn’t mean they don't deserve love. They are actually the ones that deserve it the most."

Abby hadn't seen him approach but Cain was standing behind her and his words almost made her tear up. All that time she believed that someone like her didn't deserve love but having heard her mom, she realized how wrong such a thing sounded. People were after all much more than their mental illnesses.

"Well that's awfully nice of you to say sweetie but sadly not everyone wants to date someone broken. You were lucky Joel accepted you as you are. But oh my! Just seeing how much trash is in that bag tells me you must have had this flare even before today! I'll go take it out for you. I know how much you hate to have trash piled up." Her mom handed Cain the two bags of food she had and grabbed the trash bag that was next to the door.

Abby had meant to throw it away when Abel texted her but having received his photos, she forgot all about it.

"Here. Take this.”

Seeing it was a tissue box Cain extended out to her, Abby realized she was crying. It was only a single tear running down from each eye but it was enough to make her grab a tissue.

“Please don't take your mom's words seriously. There is nothing wrong with having more than one mental illness and it doesn't mean you’re broken but only that you are that much stronger. And anyone, I mean ANYONE would be lucky to have you as their girlfriend."

Abby wasn’t really sure if she believed Cain but he sounded sincere and because of this she wanted to believe him. “Thank you. Are you feeling better now?" Seeing he had walked several feet just to get to her could have only meant he had regained enough strength to at least feel somewhat better.

"Yup. I'm even starting to think I may no longer need an injection." He showed her a broad smile just to prove he was feeling better.

"Well even if you feel better now that feeling will return, trust me. It always comes and goes as it pleases so it'll be better if you get the injection. And if you're not a big fan of them, I could always ask my Rheumatologist for pills. I only asked for the injection this time since the effects tend to work much faster than with pills."

"Did someone say injections? Well here they are!" As the door had been left open, Joel jumped in between them with a small paper bag in hand.

"Thank you so much for getting them.” Abby grabbed the bag. “Cain, could you go lay on the couch please? It'll hurt a bit but it's much better than how you were feeling earlier. Other than the inflammation on the hands, is there any other place? Perhaps a joint?" She asked this as it was usually on the joints where injections were given.

"The knees a bit."

Although she didn’t know exactly what he was feeling at that moment, she knew “a bit” was most likely an understatement as whenever she had pain in her knees it was never just a bit.

Once Cain was laying on the couch, Abby took out an injection and raised the skirt he was wearing. As he hadn't done laundry, there had been nothing else for him to change into but the long white lace skirt and baby pink satin blouse.

Just as she inserted the needle on the knee, they heard a loud gasp from behind. Her mom had returned and she was looking at them with wide eyes.

"What in heaven's name are you doing boy?! Those injections cannot be administered by just anyone! And Abby, why are you letting him do something you are very well capable of doing yourself?! Not to mention he is lifting up your skirt right in front of your boyfriend! How barbaric!"