Vince woke to his mother sitting on the bed beside him.
“How are you feeling, honey?”
He grunted, and when she didn’t leave, he said, “I have a fucking headache.”
“Watch your mouth.”
He grunted again, then said, “I need more sleep.”
“You should drink some water. You’ve been sleeping at least since I got home, and it’s three in the afternoon now.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Here, sit up.”
He tried, he really did, but he couldn’t move. “Mom, please. Let me sleep.”
“Come on. Sit up.”
Panic started in his gut when he realized he really couldn’t move. “I can’t. I’m too wiped out.”
She was silent, then got up and left. When he woke up again, she was putting a straw to his mouth. “Drink, honey. Get some water in you.”
He swallowed, though even that was hard work. God he hated full moon nights.
After an excruciating amount of time, she finally left him alone and he drifted back into the black.
It was after nine that night when he finally woke up on his own. He ached everywhere and felt sick to his stomach, but he had to use the bathroom. His head throbbed and he was sweating from the effort it took just to move. His muscles randomly twitched all over, but he was sick of being sick, so he stood up on shaky legs and stumbled out of his room.
His mom was in the living room watching a show with Ed, and immediately muted the volume. “Honey, how are you doing?”
He tried to speak, but even that took too much effort, so he just wandered into the bathroom and shut the door. After relieving himself, he looked in the mirror and would’ve been shocked at his gray complexion and black circles around his eyes if he hadn’t seen it a hundred times before. Still, this time seemed worse.
He sniffed the air and realized that was him that smelled bad. Ugh. He needed a shower, but more than anything he needed to go back to bed.
He opened the door and croaked, “Mom, can you−”
“Food’s ready for you at the table, honey. And some water. Maybe you should take one of these vitamins the doctor prescribed, too.”
He shambled to the kitchen and didn’t miss his mom’s reaction to his less than fresh smell. He clumsily fell into a chair and said, “Thanks. I’m going back to bed after I eat. I’ll shower later.”
“Of course, honey. Can I get you anything else?”
He waved her off and she headed back into the living room, but he looked up when he felt eyes on him. Ed was watching him like he’d never seen a screwed up half jaguar after a full moon where he couldn’t shift before.
“You sure you’re all right, Vince? I could call the doctor. He’d come by right away.”
He growled in irritation, but when Ed’s eyes sparked, he knew he’d stepped a little over the line with him. He looked down at his plate of meatballs and said, “I’m the same as always. You don’t need to call anyone. I just need more sleep. Mom, can you call work for me, though? I can’t go in for another day or two at least.”
“Sure honey. I’ll let them know.”
“Thanks.”
He ate two bites of the meatballs, took the vitamin, and drank a big glass of milk before trudging back to bed.