The first period was oddly peaceful. Nobody really seemed to bother me much. The second period a few people made passing comments about what happened. Those comments passed over my head, the third period, was when I caught hell. Hell as in my whole world seemed to fall apart. I’d been feeling on edge all morning, and my fight with my sister on the way to school had been bothering me all day. But halfway through my history lesson, my head felt heavy and I felt very weak all of a sudden. I soldiered on though. And somehow I finished my lessons before forcing myself to stand up and change classes again. The fourth period was Math and since our main teacher was out for the day, the teacher in question had left little in the way for lessons planned for the person filling in for them, so it was a general free day.

I slept most of that period. I would like to say that when the bell rung, I woke up refreshed and ready for lunch. Instead, as I lifted my head from the desk, the harsh white light stung my eyes and I felt very light headed. I forced myself to stand up and collect my books. I felt like a zombie as I limped down the hall toward the lunch room. The whole world seems to zoom on by me as I dragged my self along the hallway.

“Hey, Jamie!” Called a voice from behind me. I stopped and turned around and smiled. Rushing toward me was be. For the first time today, I felt a smile forming upon my face as he came by my side and placed his hands upon my shoulder. My heart leaped into my throat as turned to face him. Then it happens, my knees gave out and I dropped down in the hallway.

“Jamie!” He called out as he kneeled down and held me. “What on earth is going on..” He said going down on his knees and putting both hands on my shoulder. “Man, your burning up..” He whispered into my ear.

“Its because you're holding me,” I said smiling softly as I nuzzled into his chest. The smell of his body spray, the feeling of his strong arms holding me tight. I felt safe and secure. I took another deep breath of his scent and closed my eyes. I just wanted to rest with him holding.

“Jamie!” He almost shouted just as I was about to fall asleep. “We need to get you to the nurse's office..” He said taking a deep breath as he forced me to stand up. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes. His face started to twist with worry as peered toward me.

“Ben I’m fine,” I said trying to stand, It was a big mistake for soon I found myself splayed out upon the ground. My cheeks flushed red, as now people where stopping and staring at Ben and I, could feel there gaze piercing through the haze rising up in front of me.

“What going on here?” A stern female voice called out. I looked up and noticed one of the new teachers was slowly making her way toward Ben and I. “Why is that girl on the ground! And why are you holding her, somebody better start telling me something, or I’m going to lock both of you down in detention.”

“Jamie is..” Ben voice trailed for a minute. “Jamie is sick!” He cried as he reached down and wrapped his arms under me. He then lifted me up and pressed me close to his chest. I turned my head and buried my face in his shirt. The calming darkness blocked out the piercing white light.

“Potter.” The women with a commanding voice called out as she peered toward me. “What wrong with you girl.”

I twisted my neck around and peered toward the women who was standing before us. I tried to open my mouth and found myself too weak to talk. The women scowled and reached over and placed her hands upon my forehead and then upon my neck. As she pulled away from her hands, she started to frown and a look of great concern came over her.

“Potter your burning up.” She muttered under her breath. “Jesus the nurse’s office is closed too..” She turned around and looked at me and then she peered toward Ben. She sighed and folded her arms across her chest. “Take her to the office, there should be somebody there. Once you get into the office, tell them Mrs. Smith told you, to tell them that they need to give Potter something for fever. The girl’s boiling what little brains she has left in that thick head of hers.” She muttered.
I was too weak to respond. But I soon felt myself being lifted up and carried down the hallway. A cold shiver passed over me as I reached up and wrapped my fingers around Ben’s arm. As I wrapped my fingers around Ben’s arm, gasping for support, I noticed the hallway started to change. The lockers started to melt, the ground started to shake. The colors on the posters that hung on the hallway started to run down the walls and pool on the ground. Then like acid, they started to melt through the ground, revealing huge gaps in our world. Billions of stars and planets could be seen through these ‘Holes’ in the ground.

“We're almost there Jamie,” Ben said as he rounded the hallway and pushed into the office. I did not trust myself to talk, I don’t think I could talk. Everything seemed too strange. Once Ben had carried me into the office, he eased me down into one of the chairs. It was a nice chair. With a soft cushion, the cushion felt nice and cool against my skin.

My eyes focused in on Ben, who was talking with one of the staff. The women looked over at me, and then at Ben, then back at me. After a few seconds she reached under the desk and pulled out a small white box, a big red cross had been painted across the top of the box. She opened the box and pulled out a really retro looking medical thermometer. You know those old fashion glass kind. She walked over to me, looked me dead in the eyes and in a commanding tone of voice told me.

“Open your mouth.”

I opened my mouth, and as soon it was open she pushed the thermometer into my mouth.

“Keep it under your tongue for at least three minutes.” She said as she turned around and walked back behind the desk.

I muttered something but did my best to keep the thing under my tongue. The women then looked over at Ben. And in the same, commanding icy tone of voice, she said.

“You can return to class. We don’t need to witness a junior episode of ‘Days of Our Life’s’ in here.” She said. She was now standing behind the desk drawer, the box was still open and she was rumbling around in it. Digging I should say. Everything seemed to be calming down, the room was no longer spinning, the ground no longer shaking. But I still felt weak, the white light still hurt my eyes and my head felt light headed and my tummy started to cramp and twist. After free minutes she returned.

“This better be good Ms. Potter. And not another stunt, you pulled the wool over our eyes once before. I’ll not let it be happing again.” She said as she snatched the thermometer out of my mouth. She then held the tiny glass thing up to the light, adjusted her glasses and leaned in. She quickly drew back and rushed back behind the desk.

Once she was behind the desk, she reached over and snatched the old landline phone off its cradle. Once the phone was in her hands, she started to punch a lot of numbers. I don’t know what she said, because she spoke in a low, whispery tone of voice. But she said yes a lot. Finally, she slammed the phone back down and then she fixed Ben and me with a look the almost screamed ‘Sorry’.

“I’m sorry, but there nothing I can do for you, Ms. Potter. An ambulance is on its way, they will take you from school to King Daughters Hospital. Please stay here until it arrives. Ben, if you wish, you may stay and keep Ms. Potter company..” She paused. “You have a very high fever, the thermometer read a hundred and three. I’ll go call your sister. And your mom and dad.”

I blinked and reached over to take Ben by the hand. He wrapped his fingers around mine and we both sat there, holding each other. A few seconds later, the woman's voice came over the intercom system.

“Lily Elizabeth Potter, please come to the office. Lily Elizabeth Potter, please come to the office.”

I could only close my eyes. The pain was starting to become too much for me…

To be continued in Jamie in Cartoon Land*

*Cartoon Land in local vernacular refers to the pediatric ward of MMC (Mississippi Medical Center) so named because of the fact that many of the walls of the ward are adorned with colorful, cartoon murals of popular Saturday Morning cartoons from both the past and present. Popular comic book characters, such as Batman, Superman, and the Green Lantern also make appearances, as do characters of certain animes, chief among them are Ash Ketchum and Sailor Moon.