Chapter 11

~Nolan~

       I was shaken awake and when I opened my eyes, it took me a while to realize I was not at home in my bed like I thought I was. Instead, I was in English class, my head resting on the desk. It wasn't often that I feel asleep in class. In fact, I didn't think I ever fell asleep in class. Sure, I would rest my head on my desk sometimes, but I never fell asleep.

       I rubbed my eyes and once they adjusted, I saw Mrs. Davies standing by me. I thought she was going to get mad that I fell asleep in class, but she wasn't. Instead, she looked concerned. "Are you alright, Nolan?"

       Should I lie and give her the basic I'm fine answer or tell her the truth? Then again, I didn't even know the truth. All I knew was that I was feeling a bit dizzy in the morning, but it wasn't a rare thing to happen. I would just wake up dizzy sometimes but within an hour or so, I would feel perfectly fine.

       This time? I wasn't perfectly fine.

       I must have taken too long to answer because Mrs. Davies soon said, "Why don't you go to the nurse's office to rest? I'll write a note for him to say I let you go there."

       I didn't even bother declining. Maybe trying to rest in a classroom wasn't the best for me, so I nodded in reply.

       As Mrs. Davies went to her desk to write me a note, I packed up my things into my backpack. Orchid leaned over, tapping my arm. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

       "Yeah, just tired," I said because really, I didn't know if I was okay. I felt sick but at the same time, I didn't think this was just a flu or something. It felt worse than that. If I knew I was going to feel this way, I would have just stayed home from school.

       Mrs. Davies walked back to my desk, handing me the note to give to the school nurse. I thanked her, weakly, before leaving the classroom and heading to the nurses's office. Honestly, I hoped that he would just send me home but I have heard rumours about this school nurse. He wasn't exactly bad, but he was infamous for giving students painkillers before sending them on their back to class.

       I highly doubt painkillers would help me right now. I wasn't even in pain. I just felt like crap. I felt chilly, yet I was sweating a bit. I was very tried even though I got a decent amount of sleep last night. My heartbeat would change from very fast to normal out of the blue.

       Even though this didn't feel like I was sick, I was hoping I was overreacting that that I really was just sick.

       I walked into the nurse's office, handing the school nurse, Jasper, the note Mrs. Davies gave me. He quickly read it before gesturing me to sit on the bed. I did so, tempted to lie down instead.

       "So what seems to be the problem?" Jasper asked.

       "I just... feel horrible," I said.

       "Well, Mrs. Davies said to let you stay here and rest," Jasper said. "Why don't I get you some Tylenol and you can rest here until your next class."

       Jasper started digging through the drawer of medications, trying to find something for me to take. "I don't need Tylenol," I said. "I'm not in any pain."

       "It's for fever too, not just for pain."

       "It's not a fever."

       Jasper didn't listen to me. He just grabbed a bottle of Tylenol, about to open the lid to grab some. "Look at you," he said. "You look pale. You're sweating. If that isn't a fever, then I don't know what is."

       If I had the confidence, I would ask him why he was just going to send me off to my next class if he was sure this was a fever. The most reasonable thing to do would be to send me home, not to where a bunch of students were going to be.

       "Taking off your sweater might help," Jasper said, moving to the mini fridge in the office to grab a bottle of water.

       I didn't budge to take off my sweater. I wasn't overheating. Sure, I was sweating, but it was more of cold sweats. I would have felt a lot colder if I took off my hoodie.

       And because I was only wearing a T-shirt underneath. Nothing long enough to cover my arms.

       "Can I please just go home?" I asked as Jasper walked over to me, handing me the tablet and bottled water.

       "Just rest. We'll see you feel when the next bell rings."

       I sighed, taking the tablet before lying down on the bed. I knew I wasn't going to feel better by the time my next class started, but I didn't have the energy, nor the confidence, to argue with Jasper.

       And so, when the bell rang, he sent me off to my next class, not even caring that I still probably looked very weak. I could barely even walk properly, but Jasper was too busy on the computer to notice.

       The moment I walked out of the nurse's office, I closed the door behind me, only to feel like I was about to topple over. In fact, I would have if someone didn't catch me before I fell. "Whoa, are you okay?" Joel asked, keeping a firm grasp on me to keep me standing up right.

       "Y-Yeah," I said. "I just... I need to get home." I reached into my back pocket, pulling out my cell phone. I tried finding my parents' or even Jerome's number, but I could barely keep my focus on the screen. Not too mention my hand itself were feeling very weak, weak enough to let my phone slip from my hand and drop on the floor.

       Joel picked up my phone, handing it back to me. "Need me to call someone for you?"

       "You... you have Orchid's number, right?" I asked. "C-Can you text her?"

       "Yeah, of course." Joel took out his cell phone to text my sister. After doing so, he led me to a nearby bench to sit down so I wasn't standing any longer.

       It didn't take long for Orchid to show up. Once she did, she crouched down in front of me. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

       "I... I need to go home," I said. "But I-I don't think I can wait for someone to pick me up."

       "That's okay," Orchid said. "I have the car keys so I can take you home. I have Mrs. Rollins next period anyway, and she's really lenient with people showing up late. She won't care." I nodded, so Orchid helped me stand up. "Thanks for texting me, Joel."

       "No problem," Joel said. "Just make sure he gets home safe."

       Orchid led me outside to the parking lot so she could take me home. She helped me get into the passenger seat of the car before she got into the driver's seat. I leaned my head back against the seat, closing my eyes in hope that not focusing on anything would help with the dizziness.

       While Orchid was driving me home, I was starting to feel nauseous. Very nauseous. I did get car sick at times, but it was rarely the case with Orchid since she was a careful driver. Never went too fast and never swerved too much.

       I tried to find a bag or something just in case, but there wasn't anything. Thankfully, I was able to hold it in until we got home. As soon as I got out of the car, I leaned over on the sidewalk and threw up.

       Orchid got out of the car, walking over to me and handing me a water bottle. Even drinking from it didn't really help at all. I still felt nauseous, dizzy, sweaty, cold, and a bunch of things. 

       Orchid led me into the house, but the moment I took a step on the stairs, I felt like collapsing. Everything about me felt weak. "I-I don't think I can make it upstairs."

       "Okay, let me just go get Mom and Dad," Orchid said, carefully setting me down on the stairs. She then went out the front door to take the fastest way to the clinic.

       I rested my head on my knees, trying to steady my breathing. I was trying to rack my brain as to why I was feeling this way. I knew it wasn't a fever. I knew it wasn't because I was tired. There had to be something.

       I heard a door open, but since it was the door behind me I knew it wasn't my parents or Orchid since they would have come through the front door. I should haves guessed it was Jerome, but I didn't realize it was until he said, "Nolan?" 

       I couldn't even lift my head to look at him. I was too weak. Too weak to do anything.

       Jerome hurried down the stairs before sitting down beside me. "Nolan, hey, what's going on?"

       Once again, I tried thinking of what was going on. Why I was feeling this way. And I should have known. I should have guessed it. I had felt this way before a few years ago, and it was painful. I hated every moment of it. I should have known this feeling would have stuck with me.

       But I was too dizzy, too weak to even think of it before.

       Dad was the one who came through the front door to see what was happening. He crouched down in front of me. "What's going on?" he asked.

       I finally had a bit of strength to lift my head. "I-I think I have sepsis again."

       "What?" Dad asked. "How? I thought you were clean?"

       I shook my head and looked down, not wanting to admit to him or Jerome what I had done a few days ago. I didn't want to see the look of disappointment I was going to get.

       "Okay," Dad said in a soft voice. "Okay, we'll get you to the hospital and get you checked out."

       As Dad stood up, Jerome helped me stand up, keeping an arm around me. "Can you come?" I asked him.

       "Of course," Jerome said. "I promise, I won't leave your side."

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let's blame joel for this. it's not his fault, but we can blame him anyway.