Jace slung his arm around his mother's shoulder, he barely contained his shaking as they walked down the stairs together.
When they passed the last step, Jace removed his arm around Hailey's shoulder quickly, then faced his father and brother.
"Shall we eat?" Jace asked and the two nodded and went for the bags Hailey placed down. The family moved to the dining room to set the table for the food.
The trip made sure Jace was sitting comfortably before setting out the dishes and food. Hailey made Jace a plate and placed it in front of him with a glass of apple juice.
Jace stared at the steak, green peas, and mashed potatoes with gravy. His stomach churned, this was a meal he knew he wouldn't be able to keep down. He was way past his limits already. He unconsciously began bouncing his leg.
"Jace?" Jason called out to Jace who was staring at his food intently.
"Uh, yeah dad?" Jace blinked and looked at his father while he answered.
"Let's eat now," Jason said lowly, Jace nodded and picked up his knife and fork and cut into his steak.
It was relatively easy to cut as it was cooked to medium rare perfection just the way he liked it. You could see the juices flowing as he cut into the tender steak.
It looked so delectable yet Jace felt like if he were to put that in his mouth his entire body would react. He glanced at his family who were watching intently. What other choice did he have? Smiling, Jace had no choice, he picked up a piece of steak he had just cut and placed it in his mouth.
He couldn't taste it, it was bland. Bitterness filled his mouth, a bile rose to the back of his throat. He wanted to spit it out so badly. Jace closed his eyes and chewed, he tried to make his face seem peaceful and content. Each time his teeth mashed the piece of steak into smaller pieces, saliva seemed to gush into his mouth.
He swallowed, the meat the lump in his throat, his saliva. Everything he swallowed, opening his eyes, he grabbed his juice and took a sip. Without looking up, he continued to forcefully feed himself three quarters of the steak and almost cleaned the plate of its contents.
Truthfully, Jace might have looked to be eating well for his family, but without his sips of juice after every bite, Jace knew he would have vomited. He couldn't eat anymore, his stomach churned as he pushed away his plate.
"This was delicious, mom thank you." Jace face was pale. No matter how he tried, he could not make it seem like he was feeling alright.
"Are you okay?" Hailey was happy that Jace ate, though he didn't finish his plate. To her it was a start. However, now looking at his pale face, she couldn't help but ask herself if he forced himself to eat.
"I'm tired, I'll head upstairs to have a shower and head to bed." Jace weakly smiled as he used the table to get to his feet. Hailey wiped her mouth and also got up. Her intentions were clear. "No mom, you stay and enjoy your food. I'm okay and got lots of strength now that I've eaten."
Jace stopped her when he noticed her intentions to follow him. Hailey frowned as she hesitated. She couldn't decide whether to sit or follow him, regardless of his refusal.
"Sit Hailey, Jace's a big boy. I'm sure he can handle a bath, right son?" Jason could tell something was wrong with Jace. But being the prideful wolf he raised him to be, he also knew the boy wanted to be alone.
"That's right dad, thanks." Jace chuckled, he turned and, as quickly as he could, left the dining room. "Something is wrong with him." Hailey muttered softly, she was still standing there, the tips of her fingers scraped the top of the dining room table.
"Leave him be, I'll check on him. We can't smother him. Jace was always less dependent on us, even as a child he was respectful and responsible." Jason said softly, "Leave him be."
Hailey glanced at her mate before sitting back down, "Okay," she answered before glancing at her youngest. "Don't worry kiddo, you know your big brother is going to be alright." She patted Henry's hand as she told him. The boy smiled forcefully before nodding his head.
"I think I'll head upstairs too," Henry told his parents as he pushed his barely touched food to the side. "May I be excused?"
"Go on, and make sure to leave your brother alone." Jason nodded and the boy made a grunt in acknowledgment at his father's words, and left the dining room. Henry couldn't let it go, he had to see Jace.
When Jace went up to his room and closed the door he was already dry heaving. His hands planted against the door and his head hung, he took in deep breaths. Trying not to vomit or shake was hard, it was hard than any vigorous training he had went through.. And now that he was alone without any prying eyes, his body was like a broken string.
Luckily, his room's floor was carpeted, so when his body dropped. The sound was muffled by the carpet. Constantly swallowing, Jace crawled on the floor. He was crawling into the bathroom.
Pushing opening the door, Jace forced himself to ignore the toilet bowl and open the sink's facet from his knees before crawling towards the shower and turning on that facet as well.
The sound of water rushing should help block the sound of the sound of him vomiting. This was what he hoped the noise would do, at least. Finally, he crawled back to the toilet bowl and lifted its lids.
'Blurg!' Vomit gushed out of his mouth and nose at the same time. Chucks of undigested food and juice he had just eaten were brought back up and flowed into the toilet bowl.
His throat burned, his nose also burned. He was gagging before he began panting, Jace was in front of the toilet on his hands and knees. His body ached, the pain was getting worse, but he also felt like vomiting some more. His brain couldn't register which problem he should focus on.
'Blurg!' Jace barely got his head into the bowl to let the bitter vomit out of his mouth and nose again.Tears were streaming down his face and dropping into the toilet bowl, mixing with his vomit. The pain was worse. He could even hear the rushing water anymore and he weakly grasped the toilet bowl and vomited.
"Oh god why me!" Jace cried softly, his body was shaking uncontrollably. It was the first time since everything had happened that he had cried out such morbid words.
Henry, who stood at the closed bathroom door, pursed his lips. His parents said to give Jace his space but he couldn't help but want to see if he was really alright. When he opened the door, he heard the water running and thought nothing of it.
But call it intuition, he didn't leave. Instead, he stepped into the room, closed the door behind him, and walked to the bathroom door and stood silently.
Focusing on his super hearing to hear what was going on inside. The young teenager heard his brother's morbid words followed by panting and gagging. Henry's nostrils flared as he smelt the scent of vomit.
He blinked multiple times to keep his tears at bay. 'I knew it, I knew he was just pretending. Mom and dad also know this but they don't want to address it. They can't address it.'
With a soft sigh, the boy moved and left his brother's room. His brother did not want them to see him struggle yet. So he'll play along for now. He knew he had to give Jace time.
As for how much time, Henry didn't know.