Colton woke up on the floor of the bathroom with dried blood and toothpaste on his chin. His head throbbed and for the first few minutes upon waking up and he saw double of everything in the bathroom. It took him five minutes before he could sit up and rest his back against the bathtub.
“Mierda,” he mumbled. Colton rubbed his temple in a vain attempt to alleviate his throbbing headache. “I don’t know what the fuck just happened, but I won’t be doing that again.”
When Colton felt that he could finally stand on his own two feet without seeing double of everything, he picked up his toothbrush off the floor and slowly pulled himself up to the counter. He pulled up his… character sheet? Whatever.
His health was down to 75, but his Spanish was at 100/100 as he wanted. Without a thought, he started talking in Spanish to himself and surprised that he knew as much as he did. Colton didn’t fully understand the mechanics of how he learned Spanish in a few seconds, but happy it worked at all.
Colton looked at his health score and with serious trepidation changed it to 76. His chin began to tingle, and he felt a slight wave of dizziness, but otherwise, he couldn’t tell if anything changed. Once the feeling passed, he tried again but increased it to 89/100, which was where it was at before he fell and hit his head.
A wave of dizziness most sever struck Colton, and he had to lower himself down on the ground as he lost his equilibrium for a few minutes. He was grateful that he didn’t pass out and could sit down, but…
Colton leaned over to his side and vomited the vilest shit he could imagine. The smell caused more vomiting and dry heaving for another five minutes. He was sweating and shaking by the time he recovered from the experience. Sweat was stinging his eyes and tears were still flowing from his eyes when he could sit back up.
Looking at the mess on the tiled floor nearly started the process over again, but he had more control and stopped himself from throwing up again. “What the FUCK!”
A knock on the door responded to his outburst.
“Colton,” John said from behind the bathroom door, “are you okay? Open the door. Would you, Bud?”
“I’m okay Dad. I just — I may have eaten too much barbecue tonight, that’s all. I’ll clean it up.”
“Can you open the door?”
“I’m fine, Dad. Go to bed, I’ll be fine. I would rather clean up and head to bed. I’d rather you not see me right now.”
“Um. Okay. Are you sure you’re all right?”
Colton rubbed his forehead in frustration. “Yeah, Dad. I’m fine. Thanks for the concern. I’ll see you in the morning. Okay?”
“Sure, Bud. If you need to go to the hospital—”
“I’m not dying. I’ll be fine.”
“Well, okay… but from out here, it sounded like you were dying. I’m glad you’re okay. Don’t hesitate to ask for help. Okay?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
He heard his dad’s feet prattle down the hall and Colton looked down at his shirt in disgust. He had black vomit splattered on his chest. “Note to self: Don’t vomit on the floor when you’re already on the floor,” he mumbled to no one.
It took a few minutes before he felt well enough to clean up the floor and jump into the shower to clean up. He kept going over what happened and decided that forcing knowledge into his head caused him to pass out, hit his head on the counter, gain a concussion and a gash on his chin, and finally healing himself — must have been too much for his system to take all at once. He didn’t know for sure, but he knew he needed to be more careful when messing with his personal stats.
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When Colton was finally clean and standing in front of the mirror again, he noticed the cut on his chin scabbed over. He thought increasing his health back to his old stat would have healed the cut completely, but apparently it healed something else entirely. Sure, the cut didn’t look fresh but apparently cuts needed time to heal properly. He didn’t feel up to increasing his health to 100/100 tonight. That was asking for trouble.
###
Colton woke up three minutes before his scheduled alarm. He felt refreshed and better than he could remember. He thought about going back to bed, but he wasn’t tired in the least. He sat up and waited for his alarm to sound and quickly turned it off.
He thought about last night and his horrible experience messing with his own character sheet and recommitted to himself that he would not make the same mistakes twice… well, for the third time. He thought he learned his lesson after the Spanish change. That rule now applied to all characteristics of his personal stats.
Colton took care of his morning ablutions and was sorting through his closet looking for a shirt when he decided to wear his favorite t-shirt that was a tad worn thin at this stage. With a quick stat change, it looked good as new. A quick few minutes later, Colton sported a whole new/old wardrobe. He didn’t mess with the SKU’s but restored everything back to mint condition.
He ran downstairs to the kitchen to grab some breakfast when his mother stopped him from grabbing a bowl for his cereal.
“Hold on, kiddo. Let me make you some eggs. It’s good to eat something better than cereal after you have tummy issues.”
“Tummy? I’m not five, Mom”
“You’ll always be my baby, so shut it,” Rae said and gave him a stern look, “now sit down and tell me about it, while I cook you something to eat.”
“I really should—”
“Sit, Mister!”
Colton pulled out a stool at the counter and sat down.
“Spill it. What happened last night?” Rae cracked two eggs onto the already warming skillet and put salt and pepper on them.
“I was brushing my teeth and felt nauseous. Next thing I knew…,” Colton replied, feeling a tad guilty for not telling his mother about the truth, but making sure he didn’t lie outright.
“Did you gag yourself brushing your teeth? You used to do that when you were little, but I thought you grew out of it. No. Don’t answer. I see that look. Okay. So, are you sure you’re well enough to go to school today?”
“Yeah, but I’m opening the store this morning and skipping school. Before you say anything, it’ll be fine. I already emailed my professor and turned in my assignment. I’m helping Maria out since Lucy called in sick and Maria had an appointment already booked in Denver.”
“Hmm. John could open—”
“No. Dad wouldn’t know what was on sale and what wasn’t. I’ll be fine. Plus, I need to go back to work, just to get back on the horse, so to speak.”
Rae flipped the eggs over and turned off the stovetop. “Are you feeling anxious?”
“No, but I’m not looking forward to going back in either. So, it’s probably best if I get over the hesitation before it builds to anxiety. You know,” he shrugged, “the mind does funny things.”
“Yeah,” Rae grabbed a plate out of the cupboard and put the two eggs on it before handing Colton the plate and silverware. “Do you want Orange Juice? Coffee?”
“Water would be great. Thanks, Mom.”
Rae nodded. “I can understand your desire to get back into the store. I’ve been a little worried about you since the incident and last night…”
“I’m fine. Thanks. Tell dad I’m sorry I was short with him last night. I was a mess after the whole…”
“He gets it. You’re an adult, he won’t pry if you don’t want him to. Just ask for help if you need it.”
“I will.”
Rae walked around the counter and gave Colton a hug and a kiss on the forehead. “We love you and only want the best. You let us know if you need help in the store. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Rae pulled back and looked at Colton closely, scrutinizing his clothing. “Did you buy a new t-shirt? I never liked that shirt and hoped it would die in your closet. Why in the world would you buy it again?”
“What? You don’t like The Ass Family shirt?”
“Don’t be a Smart Ass.”
“You want me to be the Dumb Ass?”
Rae playfully swatted the back of his head. “Wise Ass.”
Colton smiled and shoved the last of the eggs into his mouth. “I better get to work so I’m not a Lazy Ass. I love you, Mom. Never change.”
Rae pursed her lips and snorted. “Love you too. I just wish you hadn’t bought that stupid shirt again. Be safe.”
Colton gave his mother a kiss on the cheek and a quick hug before running back upstairs to grab his backpack. As he was walking out the door, his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Bridges, this is Detective Lopez. I was wondering when you can meet with me today?”
“Um. I’m working today in the store, I probably won’t be free until late tonight. Someone called in sick, and I’m covering.”
“Great. I’ll come see you at work. Is there a time that best?”
“Honestly, I don’t think you—”
“I didn’t ask for permission, Mr. Bridges. What time would be best for me to come into the store so we can chat?”
“Right,” Colton felt a lump form in his throat, “early afternoon after one. It’s usually slow after lunch hour.”
“Great. I look forward to having you answer a few questions. Some things aren’t adding up and I think you might know more than you’re letting on. Have a good morning, Mr. Bridges, and I’ll be seeing you soon.”
The phone line went dead and Colton felt a wave a panic form wash over his body.