The Raven Cycle Boarding School

Chapter Seven

What's wrong with him?

Will he be all right?

When is he going to wake up?

It just happened so suddenly.

You students need to leave. He is fine and you've been here for hours!

Not until he wakes up, ma'am.

The white room stays brightly light by the florescent ceiling lights. The room smells as respectfully as a true hospital. The room houses many different people. A surly nurse. A concerned friend that chews repetitively on a mint leaf out of habit. A friend that sits still in the corner of the room besides him, constantly chewing on his bracelets. A friend that paces nervously and twirls with her hair. A friend facing out the window who constantly looks over his shoulder towards his  distraught comrades. And finally, a sad little boy lays groggily on the bed, asleep. It is not a peaceful sleep, but one full of nightmares and vivid dreams of old incidents.

"I mean it kids! He's only sleeping now. You saw him wake up earlier from his little scare. Now he is just resting," The nurse says hotly.

"But we still don't know why he fainted early," Adam protest.

"He was dehydrated and got hot. It is as simple as that. Unless you kids have any clue as to what could actually make someone faint from fright," The nurse quirks an eyebrow at them.

A sickening silence ensues because after all, none of them do know what would make their friend faint like that. It happened so randomly and suddenly that none of them were able to look around before rushing him to the medical wing.

The nurse sighs, "I'm sorry about your friend here, but you staying up all night won't help him. Go back to your dorms and sleep. He should be in class tomorrow morning. You'll see him then."

Gansey sighs as well and after a moments he replies, "Okay. But I would like you to call me if he wakes up. The school has my number."

"I'll tell the night nurse for you," The nurse replies, satisfied that she has finally gotten the group of teens to leave and go where they should be.

"Thank you," Gansey tells her politely as he nods his head for them to leave Noah and the nurse behind.

Silently the group walks out of the medical wing. It is an intense silence that is filled with hundreds of unspoken words. They step out into the cool evening air and stop collectively.

"What now?" Adam questions frantically."We can't all go back to the dorms. Not with the new rules in place."

"We could try to sneak out," Ronan offers, shrugging.

"No that won't work we would get caught now that they've upped security," Gansey mutters dangerously. Ronan examines his smooth faced, polite, calm, level headed friend and concludes that there is little of him left. In front of him now stands the dangerous, snap decision making Gansey that he has only ever seen once before, when Gansey had found out that Kavinsky was rudely hitting on Blue. Ronan and wild Gansey had put that to an end the very night they had found out.

"I know a place we can go. No one else ever goes there," Blue says quietly before keeping her head held high and walking towards the school's small forest.

The three boys look at each other briefly before they follow her."Do you know where we're going?" Adam whispers to Ronan.

Cocking his head down more to Adam's level he replies,"No fucking clue." 

As they approach the lining of the trees, the boys stop."Jane we can't go into the woods. What if we get lost?" Gansey questions her lightly.

"Don't worry no one goes back there, and I've been told from a staff member that it's student allowed," Blue says before moving a pine branch aside and revealing an older weedy path through the woods. Silently the boys follow her through and don't question her again. When they walk  into the clearing the boys look around carefully. It's nothing  special, just an old outdoors eating space with rotting picnic tables and leaves littering the floor. But they were alone and they wouldn't be disturbed, which is all that matters at the moment.