A Gifted fanfiction

Bonus chapter

A/N: This chapter was requested by HiddenScreamer, so enjoy!

"Mary! Mary, wake up!" Frank pounded on the door of his niece's room. There was no response. He knew that Mary could be quite stubborn at times, but he had been standing here for almost fifteen minutes and his patience was seriously running thin.

Frank grabbed the door knob and twisted it, the door creaking as he pushed it open. Her room was plain with math books, advanced calculus to be exact, piled on her desk. Pencils were strewn across the polished wooden surface as it showed that she had been half way solving a 'binomial theorem' (Idk if that's called the same thing in your country that uses the Pascal triangle to solve it) problem.

Mary was still fast asleep, probably having failed to hear her uncle's calls from outside her door. Frank sighed as he walked over to her. He assumed that she was still fast asleep but when he peered a little closer, he found her breathing to be a bit laboured and she was sweating profusely.

He panicked.

Mary had never really gotten sick before as the most she had had was the flu or the cough. He had nothing at all to treat her, no medicine in his house at all. He rummaged through his drawers, hoping for some cough drops when he heard her cough in bed. Nothing.

"Mary. Sweetie? Wake up." Frank said as he gently shook her awake. Mary opened her eyes weakly. She looked a little pale as she whizzed. "Frank?"

"Yeah. Could you open up for me?" She did so reluctantly as he stuck a thermometer under her tongue. After a few minutes, it beeped and he cringed at the number that was displayed on the screen.

"Yup. It looks like you have a fever. Guess you'll be staying in bed today."

"I can't miss school today." Mary started to protest as she attempted to get herself out of bed but Frank stopped her. "I'm sure your teachers won't mind. It's normal for students to get sick sometimes."

"But you don't understand, Frank. Our advance calculus teacher, Mr Hinds, said that there was going to be an important test today that was going to be a quarter of our grade for the entire semester. I can't miss it. It'll pull my average grade down by the end of the year." Mary said as she grabbed her books and stuffed it into her bag. Frank took said bag from her and placed it on the chair beside her desk.

"Then he'll have to understand that you won't be attending as you have a fever. Maybe we can convince him to postpone the test to another day."

"Nuh uh! He's bossy. And stubborn. And should get fired. There was this guy, Matthew Jacobs who was in our class the previous year. He had missed an important test because he was involved in a car accident. Mr Hinds brushed it off and gave him a straight 'F' for the entire semester. In the end, he repeated the entire year again. I don't want that to happen to me." Mary said as she made a grab for the bag and ran out the door. Frank hurried after her and carried her by her torso, bringing her back to her room.

"Let me go, Frank!"

Frank plopped her down onto her bed and took her bag, making her scowl in return. "Man, you're sick. How can you still run so fast?" Frank muttered.

"Listen here, Mary. You are not going to school today and that is final. You will listen to every word I say and stay in this bed. No math. That's a rule that will stand until I deem you well enough. Now, we are going to go to the docter. There's just one that's a half an hour's drive from here. If you behave, then maybe, just maybe, we could go to Roberta and if you don't make a fuss, I'll ever throw in that new edition math book that you've been eyeing for the past month. But only if you behave. Deal?"

Mary thought for a moment before nodding and shaking his outstretched hand. "Deal."

Mary buckled herself into the passenger's seat. "Can I drive?" she asked and Frank looked at her like she was crazy.

"No. Not until you're at least eighteen. You understand me?" Mary nodded as they pulled out of the drive way. When they got to the hospital, the doctor named Mr Gibson was really kind when he checked her and gave her the prescriptions.

When they got back, Mary's flu seemed to get even worse. Her heart rate as well as her fever spiked up. Frank drove Mary back to the hospital again, this time, he really thought that she wouldn't make it. She was as pale as a ghost in the back seat. Fred was silently trying to wake his owner up and grunted in concern when she started having another coughing fit.

They got to the hospital in record time and Frank rushed Mary through the doors. People were staring at them in worry, passing them for a father fussing over his daughter. "Please! She needs help!" He yelled as a few nurses came over with a gurney and loaded her on it.

"Mister. I need you to sign out some forms for me." The doctor said and Frank nodded reluctantly, not wanting to leave her side.

When Mary woke up, she found Frank sitting beside her bed in an uncomfortable looking chair. He was fast asleep, a hand on hers. "Frank?"

He jolted up and smiled at her fondly like how a father would to his daughter. "Mary. You had me worried sick."

"What happened?"

"The doctors said that you had suffered the worse of the flu. Your fever and heart rate spiked up and they had to wheel you into the emergency room. You had me worried sick."

"Yeah. I know. I'm sorry, Frank. I didn't mean it."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Everything will be fine. Guess what?"

"What?"

"I phoned your school principal and explained to him about your condition. He agreed to let you take the test on a later date and the school even kicked Mr Hinds. Apparently other kids under him were also heard giving the same reports. He won't be bothering you anymore."

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For loving me."

"Anytime, kiddo."