"Woah!" Henry gasped.

"Wh-what the hell?!" Charles exclaimed.

"Are you alright?!" Shuichi panicked, immediately standing up and being fully alert.

"What just happened...?!" You demanded in a shocked voice. Henry had seemed perfectly fine the entire class, why did he suddenly just throw up?!

"Ah... m-my apologies for making you all worry... please sit down, I-I'll clean it up... it's okay..." Simon took a few steps towards some cleaning supplies that lay at the corner of the room before he suddenly collapsed to the ground, fainting.

"Eh?!" You froze.

Charles rushed over and caught Simon, Henry rushing over as well. They checked his vitals before Henry carefully poured something into Simon's mouth. A few seconds later Simon woke up.

"Ah... I-I'm fine, don't look so worried..." Simon tried to stand up but both Henry and Charles pushed him back.

"Don't try to get up," Henry took out his phone, "I'm calling an ambulance. It may sound overboard but trust me, it's not..."

You looked around at the large class only to see that everyone had stopped talking and was watching the scene unfold. You hadn't even noticed it in your panic but now you did and you felt awkward.

"Do you know what the problem is...?" Shuichi asked.

"Unfortunately, no. Neither of us are doctors," Charles shook his head.

"All we know is that it could be life-threatening," Henry informed.

"I said I'm fine, r-really..." Simon tried once again to stand up but was once again pushed back.

"Simon, your body is so weak it can't handle its own weight. Do you understand? Don't stand up because you'll probably faint again," Henry warned.

"Eh...? I'm not... weak," Simon blinked in confusion.

Paramedics suddenly arrived, and Henry and Charles stepped away from Simon to let the paramedics put him on a stretcher. You, Shuichi, Henry, and Charles followed because you were concerned for your friend. The paramedics didn't say anything as they loaded him onto a hospital bed that was situated in the hallway. They secured Simon down so he wouldn't fall and then began to wheel him out, the four of you following.

"Is he gonna be alright...?" You weakly asked to break the silence.

"Probably," the paramedics shrugged, all of you quickly getting into the elevator. They pressed the ground floor button and it started to go down, but suddenly stopped at the second floor to let someone else in. A girl with long, blonde hair that got dusty pink near the end and wore a pink and white striped shirt with fuzzy pink sleeves and a hot pink miniskirt tried to walk in, seeming not to care about the fact there was someone in a hospital bed and paramedics. However, the paramedics blocked her way.

"Move over! Lady here!" she scoffed.

"Miss, we're sorry but this is a medical emergency. If you do not cooperate immediately and let us use the elevator we will have to make you cooperate right away because time could be important. Please wait," the paramedics scowled at her.

"Oh. Em. GEE!!! Some stupid retard had to decide to die or whatever on the day of my recital?!" the girl growled, "Hurry it up! If I'm late it's gonna make me look bad!"

The paramedics closed the elevator door and sighed, "Now I wish we were wheeling that lady in instead."

You looked over at Simon to find that he was asleep, and you hoped that wasn't a bad sign or that he'd actually passed out again.

Luckily the journey to the ambulance truck wasn't much longer, and you, Shuichi, Charles, and Henry sat in seats off to the side of the truck. One paramedic stayed in the back while the other shut the doors and climbed into the front to drive. They started up the vehicle and asked, "All clear?"

"All clear," the paramedic in the back confirmed, and they started driving to the hospital. They didn't turn on their siren which confused you a little.

"Why isn't the siren on...?" You asked.

"They only turn it on if someone had a heart attack or something really serious like that," Henry explained.

"Oh," You weren't sure how you felt about that. On one side it made sense otherwise there'd probably be a lot more sirens for things that weren't really emergencies but at the same time it was your friend Simon!! Sure, you'd only known him for a couple days but you were still scared for him! What if it was something terrible and they just didn't know yet?!

"Calm down (Y/N)... you look really tense," Charles sighed.

"I think we're all on edge," Shuichi backed you up.

"Yeah, it's not every day your classmate just faints on the second day of school!" You pointed out with a little dry humor.

"Let's just hope it's not as bad as we think it is..." Henry mumbled.

"Yeah, because riding in the back of an ambulance is making me feel like it's not so bad!" You argued.

"Hey, don't argue..." Charles whined a little.

"Eh...? What's going on?" Simon asked, blinking a few times and looking around in confusion, "I-I can't move...?!"

"You're in the back of an ambulance and being transported to the hospital. We're sorry you can't move but in the portable beds all patients must be securely strapped down so they don't fall. You'd be surprised how many patients those straps have saved, seriously," the paramedic chuckled slightly.

"Why am I going to the hospital...? I'm fine..." Simon argued weakly, though he didn't make any move to struggle around.

"That's not what your friends thought, and not what I thought either," the paramedic shook his head and looked out the window, "Looks like we'll be parking here soon."

Simon didn't say anything but looked around from you to Charles to Henry and to Shuichi. He looked fragile and hurt, but he chose to continue to put on a brave front. It was honestly a sad struggle to watch, and you wondered why Simon continued to pretend he was okay when you were sure he knew he wasn't.

"All clear?" the driving paramedic asked as he parked.

"All clear!" the paramedic in the back confirmed, and the driver got out of his seat. He walked to the back of the ambulance truck and opened the doors, getting inside. They raised the bed again and carefully lowered Simon out of the truck, the bed not tipping over at all which made you kind of surprised. The four of you got out of the ambulance and followed the paramedics to a hospital room where they took Simon out of the bed carefully and placed him in the bed in the room.

"Can you change into the hospital gown or do you need help?" one of the paramedics asked while the other one opened a cabinet and took out a fresh hospital gown.

"I can do it myself..." Simon promised.

"Okay, there's a bathroom just right here in your room. There's a red button in there too, press it if you need help," the paramedic instructed, handing him the gown. Simon carefully stood up and staggered into the bathroom, and everyone waited outside.

"Whew... at least he's in the hospital..." You commented awkwardly.

"That's just the first part. The next part is getting out," Shuichi sighed.

"That makes the hospital sound like jail!" Henry exclaimed.

"That's how any facility runs, right? Step one, get in, step two, get out!" Charles giggled.

"I wish this facility worked that way," Henry glared at Charles.

"Noooooot my fault. That was yours," Charles shrugged.

Henry opened his mouth to respond but suddenly a little necklace the paramedics were wearing beeped, and an automated voice said, "Patient in room 576 has pressed red emergency button in bathroom."

"It's procedure, you four are gonna have to step out..."

Glancing at each other, you all complied, hoping that Simon was okay. You sat in some chairs not too far from the room- you could still see the door perfectly fine. However, it was shut and the blinds drawn so all you could do was worry. Luckily, it didn't take very long before the blinds reopened and the paramedics opened the door.

"We have to leave now, the nurse will see him shortly and check his vitals. You can visit him."

All four of you entered the room to see Simon laying in the hospital bed wearing the hospital gown instead of a suit and bowtie. It honestly looked really sad.

"Are you feeling okay?" Henry asked.

"I'm fine..." Simon still stuck to his claim even until the very end.

"What happened that made you push the button?" Charles nervously scratched his palms.

"...I woke up on the floor not knowing what was going on and I saw a red button that said 'push in emergency' so I pushed it... and not that long later I was being helped into the gown and back in the bed..." Simon explained.

"At least you're okay now..." Shuichi sighed.

"Far from okay!" Charles spat.

The door opened to show the nurse, and you all turned to face her.

"Hey! I'm the nurse, I'm just here to check Simon's vitals," the nurse gave a friendly smile while you all stepped back to give her room.

"Okay Simon, are you in any pain anywhere?" the nurse asked as she started taking Simon's blood pressure and put a clamp-like thing on his finger, you weren't sure what that was for.

"Um... my head kinda hurts," Simon admitted.

"On a scale of one to ten, one being no pain at all and ten being the worst pain you've ever had, how much does it hurt?" the nurse watched the computer screen.

"I guess four or five..." Simon mumbled.

"Okay... can you describe the pain? Like is it dull, sharp, where is it...?" the nurse trailed off as she started writing something down on a paper she had on a clipboard.

"It's dull... and pretty much my whole head..." Simon admitted.

"I see..." the nurse took off the blood pressure cuff and the clamping object and took a thermometer, "Okay, let me stick this under your tongue."

Simon opened his mouth and the nurse put the thermometer in his mouth, then walked over to a white board at the other side of the room, took a marker, and wrote: 'BP: 90/70. BO: 98% HR: 72'

"What do those numbers and letters mean...?" You asked.

"They're his vitals. And... yikes... his heart rate and blood pressure's pretty low," Henry grit his teeth.

The thermometer beeped and the nurse checked it, humming a little, "Okay..." she wrote it down on the clipboard and then went to the whiteboard and below all that wrote: 'BT: 101°F'

"He's got a fever too?!" Charles groaned.

"Unfortunately, yes. I need to ask you guys a few questions and I want you to answer to the best of your ability, okay?" the nurse looked at the four of you, and you all murmured an 'okay.'

~~~
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