A New Style of Education: Hidden Gifts©
By: Annette MacGregor

An authorized story, based on the characters and environment of A New Style of Education by Karen Page.

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19 - Saturday, 24 July 2004

I woke up the next morning, feeling pretty good. I tried a few stretches, and as things seemed to be going well, I moved the furniture a bit, got ready and went through a workout, starting slowly and gradually building speed. That felt GOOD. I do need to be doing it more regularly. Maybe I can help the others do some exercising too.

After cleaning up, I decided to check on Renee, not having heard anyone moving around in the other room. Knocking on the door frame, and still not hearing anything, I called out before going in. I could see Renee was still in her bed. She'd burrowed under her covers, as if she were cold. But, it's comfortable?

Calling her again, I reached over to give her shoulder a shake. She moaned a little.

"Renee."

"I didn't do it! Please don't make me go back..."

Raising my voice, "RENEE!"

She was so hot! All she did was moan a bit more. Must have come down with what I'd had, or something. I pulled out my PDA and hit the app Dr. Bill'd said I should.

A voice I didn't recognize came back. "What seems to be the problem?"

I told them about how I'd found Renee, and that she didn't seem to wake. I was told to stay with her, and someone was already on the way.

I stood there – beside her bed, holding her hand, wondering what had happened. Yeah, she'd been tired yesterday, but why was she so bad... I don't know how long it was, but probably not long, but I was still surprised by the sound of her door opening. Two adults I didn't recognize came in.

"Who are you?"

"We're the emergency response team," said the taller. He then directed me to move toward the head of the bed as he checked her over. "How long were you here, before you called in?"

I thought back, "Less than a minute or two."

"Okay, then you didn't see anything that could have triggered the spike. Do me a favor, and go and get a cold, wet, wash cloth."

I let go of her hand, and took off for her bathroom. I couldn't have been gone long, but by the time I was back, they'd pulled her out from under her covers, and were rapidly checking various things. There was something clipped to a finger on one hand, a blood pressure cuff on one arm, and a few other things I didn't recognize.

"Wipe down her face and forehead, then lay the cloth across her forehead."

His matter of fact approach and the obvious competence of the team helped calm me down. The three were announcing numbers and other things rapid fire. I didn't get most of them, but I did hear her temperature twice, 39.5 first, then 40.5 not much later. That's getting HIGH.

"It's still climbing." Turning his head toward me, "Sophia, leave the cloth and go draw a bath with cold water only. We'll be right there with her."

I realized they were trying to cool her off, with this, and took off to start filling the tub. This told me my worries were not unwarranted.

"Stand aside, to the left." I heard. So I moved to the wall.

They had her by her shoulders and knees.

"Okay, in she goes."

I only realized they'd stripped her nightgown as they were putting her in the water. I started turning my back. "You'll need to stay here, Sophia. Sorry, but there's not room for both of us beside the tub, so you'll have to take care of the water while I monitor her."

Looking at the other man, I wondered a little. Yeah, he might have difficulty kneeling between the tub and toilet, but surely he could have sat on it.

"You'll need to keep the water about this level. Open the drain, and put more water in as it runs off."

He then put a strip of plastic, with what reminded me of a mood ring like material. A bit later, he sighed. "Okay, that seems to have stabilized her... Jim, give Bill a call and describe where we are." He said to the man behind us. Turning to me. "Thanks for your help, Sophia. Your quick call was the right thing to do."

I wasn't paying that much attention, I'm afraid. Renee's body distracted me, and I kept myself closely focused on the faucet and drain.

"We're sorry to have to put you through this, but we needed to get her temperature down quickly and this was the best way."

"Tom, what's her current temperature?" his partner asked.

He looked down. "39, now, Jim."

I then saw that Jim was talking to someone on his PDA.

"Jim's on the phone with Dr. Bill."

Right, he said call Bill. That makes sense.

Jim put his PDA away, and after they talked a minute, the one that seemed to be in charge, Sam, said. Okay. You can stop with the water now. Please go get her a clean nightgown while we get her dried off.

Recalling that the closets I'd seen were all laid out the same, I went straight to the drawer that held them, and grabbed one. I grabbed a pair of panties as well. They were coming out, carrying her like they had earlier.

"Sophia, we're going to have to ask you to help here – so you know what you're doing if you have to help her again."

"How sick is she?"

"About like you were, though her fever spiked higher than yours did."

At which point Renee groaned. "Let's get her dressed." I saw then that the bed had been re-made with clean sheets and wondered when someone had had time to do it. Jim pulled up the panties, then Sam held her upright with one hand, while he popped the gown over her head. It was obvious they'd done this a few times before.

"Think you could handle that if she's not up to it?"

"Ummm. If I had to, I guess. But, she'll not keep needing help, will she?""

"You did." He replied with a smile. "But, not for long if it runs its course as fast as yours did." Renee moaned again. "Let's get her back into bed."

They gave me some instructions, and said someone would be by in an hour or so to see if she were really coming to and able to be productive

Okay, I was worried. I'd not seen someone so sick before. Not wanting to be too far away if she needed something, I sat on the edge of the bed and thought. Having to watch out for my partner seemed like a lot of responsibility. I worried I'd do something wrong.

I was still sitting there when I heard the knock at the door. Hopping up, I trotted over and opened it to discover Dr. Bill standing there.

"Hello, Sophia. How's our patient?"

"I don't know. She just lays there and moans every now and again."

"Why don't we take a look? From what Tom said earlier, she had a crisis, but you were here to help and it never got to a point where it was truly dangerous." He said the last while we walked over to the bed.

He gave her a thorough check over, having me move her around under his direction.

"For now, I'm assuming she has what you did, as the symptoms seem similar though it seems to be hitting her faster than it did you. I'm going to draw some blood for tests, just to make sure. But, based on your recovery and Mr. Raminov's, I don't think there's anything to worry really about." He proceeded to pull out some things which he laid on the table by the bed. "I want you to hold her arm still. She shouldn't feel much when I set up to draw the blood, but we don't want her jerking and hurting herself."

I moved to the head of the bed, and sitting beside her head, held her upper arm. Having had blood drawn for my physical, I wasn't surprised to see him cleaning her arm with something that turned it yellowish. Then, he pulled out a vial and a cotton swab which he dipped into the veil.

"A bit of this should reduce the chance of her reacting to the prick." He paused, and rubbed it over one of her veins. "It's a topical anesthetic that will eliminate the sensation of the prick through the skin. She may still react. Here's how you can hold her arm still. You'll need to lean over the shoulder, and hold the forearm." He proceeded to position me the way he wanted. "Now, as I hold the elbow and prepare to jab, you need to be ready to react."

He needn't have to the trouble. She didn't move. Then I got suspicious. "You knew she'd not be moving, didn't you?"

"Knew is a strong word. But, yes. I really didn't expect her to react much at all and as weak as she seems to be, even if she had, I'd probably been able to deal with it."

"They why?"

He chuckled, "You were looming, obviously very concerned, and this gave you something to do." He paused, to let that sink in and surprisingly continued, "But, more important is how you felt when you helped her earlier. This was to help you get over that squeamishness a bit, as you'll need to help her the next day or two." He went on to say that, if I couldn't, one of the support staff would help, but they felt she'd take it better from me after having helped me. It was apparent, though he didn't say it, that it also had the benefit of minimizing the exposure to the staff. But, it seemed his primary reason really was that someone be HERE WHEN she need it, rather than a call away, without intruding on her and not moving her into the clinic. He really didn't think another crisis would happen, but, just in case.

It became more understandable when he explained it that way, especially when I remembered how far away the clinic was – clear on the other side of the school.

After he left, I thought about all this. I wondered how it would affect our relationship. I didn't see how it could help but have some affect. I just hoped she'd not turn away from me for some reason. I came to realize how much I valued, yeah it is friendship, our time together. It was nothing like my brother.

Then, I had a thought. Where did that response team come from? I went over to Renee's computer, logged in and started looking around. No, not the clinic. I didn't see anywhere they could have stayed when I was there. Are there basements that aren't listed on the maps? Out buildings? Then, another thought came to me, as I looked at the maps. Unless they were already on the way when I called, they'd have had to be stationed right here in the dorm wing. But, there's nowhere... I kept looking and digging, even for unlabeled rooms/buildings. Maybe? No, they couldn't have already been on the way, could they? How could they... My voice trailed off, as I realized what that meant. Either they monitor us some way, or there's a LOT more going on here than they've told us... Shaking my head, I realized that it could even be both. I wonder, what's REALLY going on?

My thoughts were interrupted by some moaning from the bed. Hitting the lock button, without thinking about it, I was over to her side in moments.

Her forehead was hot, but not as bad as before. I was ready to step back, when I realized it wasn't really moaning, like before, it was words. Not clear thoughts or sentences, but fragments. Something like not wanting to be sent back, and also that she'd not done it – whatever it was. It seemed to go back and forth between them. I knew they'd said let her sleep and she wasn't as hot as before. I wondered if I should wake her. Finally, deciding that she couldn't be resting well, with what she was saying, I reached down, put my hand on her shoulder and quietly called her name.

She didn't waken, but she did seem to quiet down.

As she settled down, I went back over to her computer thinking to look around again. As I sat down, I didn't unlock her computer. I just sat and thought about all that had just happened, Dan's revelations and what I was doing. "This is one very strange school." Then, I laughed a little, thinking about how obvious what I'd just said was such an understatement. This place was far more than strange.

I thought about how normal it had appeared, well normal for a fancy school anyway. It matched what I expected about a fancy English private school, at first look. Heck, in some ways it was fancier than Hogwarts. It wasn't a castle, after all. But, it was as far from what the outside world thought, once you got to know the place. I wondered how many more secrets it had. Maybe they have secret passages! That'd be a blast to find. Settling down, it occurred to me that there probably were more ways to get around the school than the halls. The clothing went down the chutes. Obviously someone brought it back else we'd run out. Thinking about running out make me smile again. We'd obviously not run out. But, that meant there was staff that came in while we were out. Chuckling again, I realized that it was obvious they came in while we were out. Okay, I made my own bed. But, now that I thought about that was kinda obvious, too. It'd been a few weeks – and I'd not seen dust on the tables. I could remember how many times my mom had said that she was thankful for the help that kept things cleaned up the past few years.

I chalked that up to yet one more thing to figure out, where the maintenance halls were. Okay, they could just use the main halls and all. And, they COULD do it all while we were in classes. But, still, it'd be much more interesting to find secret passages.

"Well, I won't find any secret passages..." I started to say I couldn't find anything like that while sitting around the room, and then I realized that perhaps I could. I realized that I might be able to find some indications in the online floor plans. So, I spent a while looking over the main building as well as the dorm wings. I figured that even if I didn't find anything I'd do the next best thing to actually walking around to find where things were. At least I'd get a feeling for where things were.

Periodically, Renee would seem to rise a little and say some stuff, but each time it didn't make much sense, and she'd settle down when I went over to check on her. I was heading back to her computer when I heard a knock from the door. Opening it, there was Sally with a food cart.

Before I had a chance to say anything, "Is Renee okay?" she blurted.

"I think so. I don't remember what it was like for me, but Dr. Bill says she should be fine once she sleeps it off. How's everyone else doing?"

"Oh, we're okay. You had us all worried, though. This is the first time they let one of us bring you your meal."

"I'd wondered." We talked a few more minutes – across the cart. She said she'd been told to keep it between us, but that it didn't seem to be contagious once you'd recovered. She also said that others would be bringing the cart for each meal until we were let out. From some of the things she said, I realized that they'd all apparently been worrying about us and pestering the staff. I assured her that I'd be sure to let them know if anything changed. Then, I realized she had a food cart and we were not on the same floor as the dining hall.

"How'd you get the cart up here?"

"Oh – there's a lift behind the main staircase. Tracy said there's at least one in each building; that they'd had to put them in when it was turned into a school."

"Ahhh. Did you know they don't show up on the online school floor plans?"

"Really? Wow."

"It's probably 'cause they don't want us using them most of the time."

"Could be. It's not as if a few flights of stairs will hurt us."

Her PDA pinged then, and after she read the note, she looked a bit sheepish, and waving her PDA at me, "Tracy says I've been chatting long enough. Take care, Sophia. Let Renee know we want her to get well, too."

I thanked her, and took the cart in. There was a single plate covered in one of those warming things you got in hotel room service, and a few other things. On top of the tray was a piece of paper. As I read it, I saw it was instructions for getting more food down Renee, and an admonition to feed myself first. I wondered a bit, then realized it would probably take a while with Renee and they wanted me to get my food while it was warm. I guess they don't want me getting sick, again. I chuckled to myself.

The food was pretty good. Okay, it was really good. I shouldn't have been surprised, given the quality of the food we'd been eating before I got sick. But, I was surprised anyway. After eating my fill, I covered what was left of my meal, and went to try and help Renee get something down. I did get her up, sorta. She seemed to recognize me and sat up a little. She got a little of the broth down, and was falling asleep but I woke her again to get her to get more down. After the second or third time she stopped, I gave up, cleaned her face – and the bit of dribble (good thing they'd suggested I put a towel across her first.) – and helped her lay back down. When I was back at the cart, I decided to look at how much she'd eaten – and realized it was more than I'd thought. I saw I'd gotten a little more than they'd suggested down, so that was good. I yawned then, and realized I was tired. So, I put the cart outside her room and curled up on her settee. Just a bit of a nap should help. I recall thinking.

I woke up with a start, and couldn't figure out where I was for a second. Then, hearing Renee yell "No, please." I remembered it all.

I was up and over to her bed in a flash.

"No, please, don't hurt me."

"I wouldn't, Renee."

"I didn't do that. Please believe me."

I realized she wasn't talking to me at all; it was someone in her dream. The stuff she was saying made me afraid to actually touch her. I called her name loudly a few times, and when that didn't do anything, I pulled out my PDA and hit the emergency button. I was surprised, but maybe shouldn't have been, when Dan answered. He asked a few questions, and then said "Sophia. Trust me in this. Go ahead and grab her shoulder and shake her to wake her up. YOU can do it." Then, after a brief pause, "I'll be there in a few minutes. Just get her to drink a bit. If she wants to go back to sleep, let her."

Putting the PDA away, I took a deep breath, and did as he'd directed.

She woke, starting to pull away, then she relaxed. "Sophia, it's you."

"Yes, I'm here."

"I must have been dreaming."

"Yeah, and you were saying stuff."

"I'm sorry." She yawned again. "I'm really sorry."

I hushed her before she could go on more. "You should have something to drink. There's some tea in a thermos from lunch."

"Okay," she yawned.

I got her some tea, and sat beside her as I helped her drink some. She was starting to say no more, when there was a knock at the door.

"You going to be okay while I get it?"

She nodded. I slipped off the bed, and went over to open the door. As expected, it was Dr. Dan.

As he came into the room, "I see your study partner's okay."

"She seems to be, but she was saying crazy stuff."

"Since she's already asleep, why don't we sit down, and you tell me about it?" he pointed at the settee.

At his prompting, I told him about all the things I'd heard her say, this time and before.

"I can't tell you what it's all about, that's for her to do, but I will tell you that she didn't have a good experience at one of her foster homes and the last while in the orphanage was not good either."

"She was raped, wasn't she?"

"I don't think so, but beyond that, I don't want to speculate until she joins us. And, I wish you'd keep whatever she shares, either voluntarily or when she's asleep, to yourself."

"Of course. I'd not have told anyone else, but you're our shrink after all."

"Yes, I would like to believe you can share anything with me."

I worried more, and asked him what I could do. He said that for now, all I could do was be there when she needed. He did suggest I sleep in my bed tonight as well. "While the Settee's okay for a nap, you need your sleep, too."

"Um, okay. But, how'll I hear if she needs me?"

"Your heard this call, didn't you?"

"Um, yeah. She was pretty loud."

"I'm sure you would hear her from your room, if you left the door open."

I nodded, thinking about how rarely the door had been closed since that first week; pretty much only when she was practicing. "I'll leave it open."

"Good then, is there anything you want to talk about?"

I was about to say no, when I remembered about the elevators Sally had mentioned. "Why aren't the elevators on the school maps?"

He laughed. "Sally told you, right?"

I nodded. "For several reasons actually. But before I go into that a quick reminder; they're lifts not elevators, and no, they're not listed as lifts either, at least where you could quickly look them up. But, back to the reasons they're not on the map: First, because a few flights of stairs won't hurt any of us, okay, Dr. Bill and Kate use them, but not many others. Secondly, they're not designed to carry you all up and down all day. Oh, they're safe enough, but most of them are designed to hold only a few people."

"But, that doesn't say why they're not marked."

"No, just why we don't encourage their use, except when needed, you're right. They're not on the maps you can get to, because you don't need them, so they don't show up. If you were to sprain your ankle, or break a leg, the elevators would be marked for you, as you'd need them."

"Are there other things like that? Stuff that's not marked, but later becomes marked when we need it?"

"You tell me."

"Probably."

He just smiled at that.

"Okay, I get the hint. 'Need to know'. My dad said that a buncha times as we were growing up."

"Yes, and to carry that metaphor further, 'I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of other unmarked things in the online maps.' Now, is there anything else?"

"Um, no. I guess not."

He said goodbye and reminded me to get some sleep after dinner.

With that, I was back on duty with Renee. As she was sleeping quietly, I sat down and did some thinking about all the things I'd learned recently.

There was a knock at the door, and I realized I'd fallen asleep in the chair. Getting up, I discovered Mark there, this time.

"My turn mate. You're going to enjoy tea tonight. Though Renee's soup's not so exciting."

"Sorry to put you all to so much trouble."

"Hey, no problem mate. " He looked over his shoulder, then, in a quieter voice. She's okay, isn't she?"

Hearing real concern in his voice, I realized he wasn't just the cut-up he appeared most of the time. "Yeah, I think so. Dr. Bill and the staff seem to think so, anyway."

He thanked me for the information, and then made a crack about guys in dresses; which spoiled the mood. As I didn't rise to his bate, he apparently decided he was done, and headed off saying that Pru'd be around with breakies.

Taking the meal inside – I again followed the directions and enjoyed the meal before helping Renee. She stayed awake a little longer after eating, but was soon asleep. Figuring I should do some studying before going to sleep myself, I looked up the assignments and spent an hour or two on things, then realized it'd been quite a while since Renee'd been out of bed. And, as she'd seemed mostly with it when I'd given her the soup earlier, I decided to wake her, and offer to help her to the bath, No the Loo!

Putting thought to action, I went over and gave her a shake. She said she didn't need to, but at my urging, she agreed to try. She was very wobbly, but with my help, she made it. Then, I had to hold her hand so she didn't' fall off. It was worse, with her awake, than it had been earlier when she was asleep. I was just thankful she was able to clean herself. As we got her back to her bed, she said, "I wish I'd thought to convince you to go, when you were sick."

That was it, but, it was enough for me to realize what had happened. To say I was embarrassed was putting it mildly.

She was quickly asleep. And, as I was starting to get tired, I headed for my bed, making sure to open the door all the way. I was still worried I'd not hear her, so was fairly restless.

-- Sunday, 25 July 2004

I don't know what time it was, but I woke bolt upright, not knowing what had woken me. I was breathing rapidly as well, as if I'd been working out really hard.

Then, I heard yell from Renee's room. I was out of my bed and in there before I even thought about it.

She was thrashing and moaning. "No, no".

Since Dan had made me wake her up the previous time I grabbed her shoulder and shook her again. As before, she woke quickly. "Oh, Sophia, it's you!" she said, as she lurched up and grabbed me."

"I'm here. You're alright." I repeated over and over again.

Eventually her grip loosened and she settled down. She didn't let go of my hand though.

"You need to get back to sleep, Renee."

"I know, but I'm scared."

"Your dream was that bad?"

She nodded,

"It's something that really happened, isn't it?"

When she nodded again, I didn't really know what to say. It was obvious that she'd been through something really bad.

"How about I sit here, and hold your hand, until you fall back asleep?"

She thanked me and scooched over so I could sit on the bed while she went to sleep.

I must have drifted off to sleep, myself, as the next thing I knew, it was morning and I was in bed with Renee. I did manage to get out of bed without waking her up. As I was reaching for my PDA, to check the time, I realized I'd left it in my room. Renee seemed to be sleeping okay so I headed back to my room and got ready for the day.

Once I was dressed for the day, I figured I should check on Renee.

She woke up fairly easily, but was still wobbly, so I helped her to the loo. It was with great relief that I waited outside, while she took care of things. Okay, I knew I would help her again, if needed, but still. I'm a guy. I shouldn't be in the bathroom. Then, it hit me that we'd spent the night in bed together – again, only this time we were both under the covers. I could just imagine the kind of trouble we might get into.

I got her a new night gown and unders while she was in – and handed them through the partially opened door when she said she was ready. "Thank you for all your help." She said, as I was helping her back to the bed.

"I'm sure you helped as much." I started, before noticing how red she turned. What did she have to do?

My thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. It was Dr. Bill and our breakfast cart.

Seeing Renee awake, "I see our patient is doing better this morning. Why don't you tuck in and take care of your food while I check her over." He directed me.

As I was eating, I heard him talking, but her responses were quiet. I kept an ear out, in case he'd say something important. The gist seemed to be that he felt she was over the worst of the bug, which was a relief.

Coming back over where I was just finishing eating, he said.

"You both seem to be doing fairly well. If she continues to improve through the day, I think we'll be able to say it's licked. You've been a big help to your study partner. Let's take her food over and get her started on the broth." Raising his voice a bit. "Renee, we're keeping you on a liquid diet for now."

"Why? You didn't keep Sophia on a liquid diet." came her complaint, which really told me she was doing better.

"That's right, you didn't." I chimed in, supporting her.

He paused, "She reacted differently to the disease and while you were ill, she wasn't drinking enough. I think that's what caused her high fever yesterday. In this case, you ate better while caring for your partner. Renee, let's take things one meal at a time. Dan will be stopping by this afternoon, if you're continuing to improve, we'll have you back on solids for tea."

Knowing there was nothing to be done for it, we accepted his orders. I think he was pleased by the fact she was able to help herself when eating, I held the bowl for her, but she was able to use a spoon. You know, It's a bit of a miracle I didn't slop it all over her, when I was trying to feed her yesterday!

She fell back asleep after eating, so I hit the books, figuring I'd best start catching up on my studies. I used her computer so I could hear her if she needed me.

I'm not sure what it was, but something made me turn and look at her. I saw Renee looking at me, with an expression I'd only seen once before – when she was puzzling through something as we studied.

"What's up?" I asked, as I got up and walked over.

"Sophia, did you sleep with me last night?"

"Ummm." I started. I wasn't sure how to answer it. "Sorta."

"What do you mean sorta? It's a fairly simple question."

"I started out in my bed, but you had a nightmare. I held your hand, as you went back to sleep, and I guess I fell asleep too."

"Just sitting there?"

"Ummm, no. I woke up, this morning under the covers." I hope she doesn't ask more. I don't want to say we were cuddled up when I woke up. It's embarrassing as it is.

"You helped me go to the loo as well, yesterday, didn't you?"

Given that I'd helped her again this morning, I figured why not. "Yes. I'm sure you helped me, too."

Given her blush then, I realized she'd probably had to help me at least as much as I'd helped her.

"If you don't tell anyone, neither will I?" I suggested, giving her an out that I really wanted her to take. I mean, what would the other say, about most of this.

"Okay. But, it's okay, Sophia. I'm glad you helped."

We were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Must be lunch." I said, as I hopped off the foot of her bed, and headed to check.

"Hello, Sophia." It was Wayne, no... It was Alice, there with Dan. What's been going on while we've been out of things?

"Hi Alice. And, before you ask, Renee's doing fine."

"Th-thanks, Sophia. I'll t-tell the others."

I smiled at Wayne, "I didn't expect to see Alice bringing a meal."

He ducked his head, "Keith and I talked. I-I'm trying it out for a bit."

"Welcome to the club then, mate."

"Thanks."

"That's enough, Alice; you can head down and join the others in your common room."

Wayne – No Alice waved as she headed down the hall. "Laters."

After the door had closed, Dan said. "Now, Sophia, that was nice of you to reassure your year mate, but, I'll be the judge on how well she's doing."

"Yes, sir."

"I AM a doctor, you know."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

He smiled, "All right then, nurse Sophia, shall we check over our patient, before your food gets cold?"

We went over and Dan did give Renee a complete checkup. "Bill was right, you are recovering quite nicely."

"Can I have something to eat?"

"I think for dinner will be okay, but you'll continue with fluids now."

"Dan?" I wondered why I'd not had to start with a liquid diet.

"Yes?"

"Why was I able to start with solids? I was sick longer; shouldn't I have had more problems?"

"Yes and no." He reached for my arm. "Let me show you something. He turned my arm over, and pointed to a red prick point."

"What's that?"

"You were not getting anything down the first day and we didn't know how long it would run, so we had you on a drip almost from the beginning."

"I don't remember it when I woke up?"

He chuckled. "It was there, you were just not really with it yet. But, as it was apparent you'd turned the corner it was removed. As a result, you were not the least bit dehydrated when you came out. Renee, on the other hand, despite being warned, wasn't drinking enough when she took care of you. And, given the duration and her disturbed sleeping, a decision was made to not give her an IV at the time."

That sorta makes sense, but something doesn't add up. "Oh, okay."

He had me go ahead and eat, while he had a chat with Renee. So as to not intrude, I took my meal. Yea, right, it'll get cold. I had a bloody ham and cheese sandwich. The sandwich was good, but it was obvious that it hadn't been getting cold before.

Before long Dan came in. "Renee's eating her broth on her own, so I wanted to chat with you a few minutes."

He took a seat opposite me, "How did she really sleep last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did she have nightmares like the other night again? Or did she sleep quietly?"

"A bit of both. She had one, but, I woke her, like you had me do last time, and she slept fine after that." Please let him stop there!

"That easy, was it?"

"Well, I did have to hold her hand until she fell asleep."

"I see. Then when you came back here, she slept the rest of the night?"

I must have squirmed or something because he came right back. "I thought you said she slept the rest of the night. You didn't have to hold her hand all night, did you?"

"Oh, no, I got to sle..." Shoot, I'm in for it now.

I could see the light dawn on him. "You fell asleep in the room with her, didn't you?"

I nodded. "Let me guess, you sat on the other side of the bed, to hold her hand, and woke up this morning. Right?"

I nodded. Please let him stop there.

"Okay. I can see how it happened. I'm just surprised you didn't wake up cold." His voice trailed off. Then, looking straight at me. You woke up under the covers didn't you?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know how it happened."

"Did Renee, notice?"

"I don't think so. I snuck out when I woke, and she was still asleep."

We talked a few more minutes, but he eventually seemed satisfied and assured me that it was okay. But, he also admonished me that students were not to do more than share beds. As if... After he left, the thought did come to me to wonder why he said that.

We then went in to check if Renee'd finished. She had and was sitting up in her bed, her thermos sitting on the bedside table.

Seeing this, I ran and grabbed my plate, and put it with Renee's stuff on the cart. As I was getting ready to put it in the hall, Dan said.

"I'll take it from here. You two should talk." And with a nod of his head toward my room, I realized what he was talking about. I'm dead. She'll kill me. Then, I remembered how she was at the time and giggled, maybe when she gets better.

"What's up, Sophia? What do we need to talk about?"

"Last night."

She had a quizzical expression on her face. "What about it? Best night I've had in a long time."

"Ummm. You had a nightmare again last night.

She scrunched her nose a bit, as she thought. "I did... I DID. Thank you for holding my hand until I fell asleep."

"Ummm..."

She shook her head. "What's wrong, Sophia? Something's bothering you."

"Ummm... I, ummm. I fell asleep, and, ummm, slept the night with you."

She giggled at that. "That happened before... " She paused, "You didn't have much on but your night gown. Didn't you get cold?"

I just shook my head. She's going to be pissed at me now. Taking advantage. And as with Dan (which was a good indicator of how much better she was feeling), I could see the light dawn.

"You got under the covers with me?" She shivered a little.

"I must have." It started rushing out. "I woke up under them anyway. I don't recall falling asleep."

"C'mere. " She indicated I should come over to the bed. As I got there, she reached out and grabbed my hand. "Sophia, I don't know why, but I don't believe you'd ever hurt me, so it's okay." Then, still holding my hand. "Dan figured it out, didn't he? That's why you were in trouble."

I nodded. "He made a point of saying that students shouldn't be in bed together."

We talked some more. I appreciated her trust, but didn't understand why. I also wondered what could have happened to her

Eventually, we decided to see where we'd each gotten in our homework and were hard at work on it when we were surprised by a knock at the door. I hopped up, and found Dr. Bill there.

"Hello, Sophia. Your dinner'll be along in a few minutes; meanwhile, I need to give your study partner a quick check."

"Okay, doc. I'll run next door while you're at it."

About 15 minutes later, knocked at the adjoining doorframe. "Your turn. We want to make sure you're not going to have a relapse."

"Anyone else in the school catch it?"

"So far, it looks like the answer is no. Perhaps it's not quite as virulent as it first appeared. But, better safe than sorry, so we've minimized individual exposure by sharing the checkups."

"That's why Dan did Renee's check this morning." I commented.

"That's right. We've been keeping a watch on you without greatly risking others."

All through this, he was also asking questions, and poking and prodding me. "One last blood check and I expect to be clearing you both to rejoin your classes after lunch tomorrow. You both need a sleep in." He slapped an elastic around my arm and had me squeeze a wooden stick. Then, he slipped this needle into a vein and pulled a tube of blood, almost before I noticed he was doing it.

"Wow, that's smooth! I've never had it not pinch before."

"Practice, my boy, or lady." He smiled. "I've been doing this a LONG time, you'd hope by now that I could do it well." He stood up then. "Let's head over to Renee's room, and I'll let you know what to expect.

"I'll run the blood when I get back to the clinic. Assuming there are no surprises, I'll clear you to return to your normal schedule after lunch tomorrow. I'll send you an e-mail either way, but if you have questions, don't hesitate to call. To insure you both relax tonight, your computer access will be blocked early tonight, and you'll not be able to set an alarm before 9:00am."

We assured him we'd be good. He waved, and said to watch for the e-mail.

Renee and I went back to our studies, and got so engrossed we both jumped when our PDAs went off with the notification of incoming mail. It was from Dr. Bill, and he cleared us like he'd said he would. He also reminded us to set our meal preferences for tomorrow, noting that a few items might be blocked for breakfast and lunch, but he expected the full menu to be available after that, depending on what the school nutritionist had to say.

We had just finished setting our preferences for the next day, when there was a knock at the door. It was Fran. "Time for dinner, you two. " She brought it in, and chatted with us while we ate. This is when we found out that Alice had started being around full time on Friday, and expected to be there for at least a month, depending on how things went. "Her support staff suggested she try this, because she seemed to talk more on Mix-up Monday than she had the previous weeks." She also let us know what else we'd missed and how much the rest of the year had worried. We finished up, and she took the cart away.

We had a few more hours studying before we got a shut down warning. So we finished the bit we were working on and closed out of our assignments.

Before I left for my room, Renee interrupted me. "Sophia, if I wake you up with a nightmare again, please help again?"

"Of course."

"No, I mean if I need help getting to sleep, it's okay If you stay."

I blushed at that. What do I do? Dan said we weren't supposed to sleep together, or that has to be what he meant. I thought to myself. Then, But, he also said we're supposed to be there and help each other. If I don't help her, I'm breaking another rule. I nodded. "Okay." If I'm going to have to break a rule, I'm going to break one helping someone rather than hurting someone!

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Author's Note: I want to thank Karen for allowing me the pleasure of continuing this story and I hope you all get as much pleasure out of reading it as I've had writing it. I want to apologize for how long it took to get this out, but life has been a roller coaster. In addition two of the former editors for the stories have since passed on. So, there's likely far more problems in the writing than you are used to seeing - if anyone's seeing this.

Comments are greatly appreciated!