I was up at around 3 in the morning with period cramps. I didn't want to wake Stephanie up, so I just laid awake in bed and tried to fall back asleep, but the cramps were getting worse and I couldn't.

I reached for the TV remote and wanted to turn on a show to distract me, but I was worried I was going to wake someone up if I did. So I just settled for staring at the ceiling for the better part of a half hour.

Eventually, I couldn't handle it anymore and got out of bed to wake up Stephanie, even though I really didn't want to. It made me feel bad whenever I had to wake up my mama for something, which is why I've been fighting most (Brandon woke up for one) of the nightmares I've had since Samantha on my own.

"Mama?" I asked, gently knocking on the door of Stephanie's room. "Mama?"

I heard Stephanie groan and then I saw her sit up, turn on the light, and rub her eyes. "Josie, what are you doing up so early? Is everything okay?"

"Mama, my tummy hurts." I said. Stephanie smiled sweetly at me and said, "Period cramps getting to ya?" I nodded and Stephanie said, "Come here, sweetheart." I crawled in the bed and Stephanie cuddled me to her chest.

"Mama, it's getting worse..." I whined, clutching my stomach. Stephanie ran her fingers through my hair and said, "Sweetie, do you want me to get you some aspirin? I brought some with me." I nodded and Stephanie kissed my head and got up.

Five minutes later, she came back with the aspirin and a bottle of water and handed it to me. "Here you go, baby." I nodded and took the aspirin, then fell back on Stephanie's chest, crying in pain.

And that's when I realized my head started to hurt.

See, I have a chronic migraine disorder, and whenever I do get headaches, they're BAD. I haven't gotten a headache in a while, thank God, but my migraines suddenly decided to be my worst enemy on the night of horrible cramps. Fun.

I started to cry and Stephanie said, "Hey, hey, Josie, what's wrong?"

"My head...and my tummy..." I whined. Stephanie kissed my forehead and said, "Aww, baby. You're not feeling well, aren't you?" I shook my head and Stephanie said, "Maybe you'll feel better if you sleep, plus it's early. Try your best to go to sleep and maybe the medicine will kick in and you'll feel better in the morning, okay?" Stephanie got comfortable and shut off the lights. "Night, baby."

"Night, Mama." I said softly, and I tried to close my eyes. But I was in way too much pain to sleep.

______

Twenty minutes later, the pain only got worse, and it was clear that this was way, way worse than period cramps. I shot up and a horrible pain shot through my stomach.

"Mama!" I cried, shaking Stephanie awake. She groaned and said, "Josie, is everything okay?" through half-closed eyes.

"Mama...it got worse. Way worse." I said. Stephanie suddenly snapped to attention and said, "We need to get you to the hospital."

"Wait, what?" I said, crying. I was deathly afraid of hospitals. Stephanie reached over for her phone and was on the phone for about ten minutes.

"Mama?" I asked. Stephanie sighed and hung up. "Josie, baby, the ambulance will be here in five minutes. I'm going to write a note to the others for when they wake up, okay?"

I nodded and then laid back wondering if everything was going to be okay.

_______

So, I had appendicitis.

The doctors told Stephanie that she was lucky that I went to the hospital when I did, if I had waited any longer, my appendix would've burst and that would've caused more problems.

"Mama, I'm scared." I whispered as the nurse was about to put an IV in my arm. Stephanie took my hand and said, "It's okay, I'm here. Mama's here. Hey, close your eyes and think of happy things. Think of all the fun things you did backstage with Anthony. Think of all the fun memories you have with me and the others. Think of Harper. Maggie. Think of all the fun we're gonna have when you get out of here."

I closed my eyes and drifted off into my own world, squeezing Stephanie's hand and feeling her stroke my hair. I was so focused on my own world that I didn't even notice the IV go in.

I snapped back to reality for just a second and said, "Mama? I'm scared..."

Stephanie kissed my nose and said, "You're going to be okay. When you wake up, it'll all be over and your whole family will be here with you, doesn't that sound nice?"

I nodded and didn't even notice the nurse put anesthesia in my IV.

Then I drifted off to sleep.

AN: Evil hospital angst! My brand! It'll only get more evil from here! Hope you enjoyed and catch you later! Love you all!