De Nelson's Senior High

Chapter 35- IV Tube

It was the nurse.

" Kobby Johnson," She calls in a jovial tone, " How are you feeling?"

" I'm in pain." He croaks out.

" Really?.. say cheese." She tells him as she checks his IV tube.

He attempted to but it looked more like a grimace than a happy expression.

" Whoa, you really are in pain. It's the Malaria kicking in. You're getting weaker." She announces.

" But he's very cold." Ciarra informs her as she got up from his side whiles the nurse reads his temperature with a thermometer gun.

" Yup, the nurse in the morning told you he has rare symptoms. Turns out there's hypothermia also involved, that's why he can't breathe properly on his own. I can't treat him for malaria because he has nothing in his system to help regulate his body temperature, the only thing that is keeping him awake right now is the glucose I fed him through this tube directly into his stomach and I don't think Malaria prescriptions can manage with just that. He needs real food or else if I try that, I'll be hurting him." She elaborates as she writes down his temperature in his folder, 30°C.

Ciarra quickly remembers the lunch box.

" Can he eat now?" She asks.

" Sure, it depends on what we are feeding him. What have you got?" The nurse asks and Ciarra quickly opens the lunchbox and slowly retrieved a warm food flask. After unscrewing the cover, she found out it was dried herring light soup.

" Is soup okay?" She asks.

" I hope it's not chilly."

" Not really, the person prepared it with his condition in mind." She explains.

" Alright then, if he's able to eat at least half of it then I can start administering his medication." She says , " Anyway, how's the breathing going?"

" Not very well." Kobby sighs.

" That's to be expected with how low your blood pressure has dropped." She paused and asked rhetorically, "You're such a beautiful boy. Why do you hate taking care of your own body? And I'm pretty sure you had walked in the rain on Saturday, why would you do that? There was ice in that rain!"

" You guys will have to leave as soon as it's dinning so I don't get in trouble." She states to Lejandro and Ciarra before walking out.

Ciarra helped him sit up properly and got a spoon.

" I'm not hungry and I honestly feel like throwing up!" He begins to complain.

" You can't throw up, didn't you hear her? There's no food in your system. You'll be throwing up the hydrochloric acid in your stomach." She tries to remind him, " Please eat something."

He looked up at the ceiling in thought.

" Come on, at least eat half of it and some of the fish?" She coaxes but he didn't seem moved. Then she changed straight to provoked mode, " Where you insane?... How can you go out walking in the rain when you yourself told me there sleet?!"

He wanted to say something but realized whatever he was going to say was clearly stupid.

" It smells so good, I'll eat it for him if he doesn't wanna eat!" Lejandro calls from the couch.

" Nope." She stops him right there,
" Look, you're gonna take ten spoons and eat two fishes then I'll owe you a ...date." She says the last word with so much effort but it seemed to have gotten his attention, " On one condition, you don't puke out any of it."