I Just Want To Be Loved

Feeling Unwell

Shu knew that something was wrong the minute he woke up. His head was pounding and he felt really shivery. It was September and the weather was warm, so there was no reason for it to be cold.

After lying in bed for half an hour, Shu reluctantly dragged himself out of bed. Usually he was very productive, brushing his teeth, getting dressed, making himself a healthy breakfast, cleaning up a little, going on a jog, and getting some studying done all before school started. But today he had no energy. So he only brushed his teeth and got dressed, not even bothering to make his bed.

Shu thought about breakfast and his stomach felt queasy. He knew that if he even ate a tiny bit of toast, he was going to vomit it back out.

Honestly, Shu was exhausted. His nightmares kept invading every time he closed his eyes, and it was impossible to get a good night's sleep. Shu was tempted to crawl back in bed and go back to sleep, but today was Monday and he had to go to school. So he went.

Shu felt like his backpack weighed a hundred pounds, which was strange because it wasn't that heavy. He had to stop several times to rest because he was seriously lacking energy.

Shu suddenly remembered that his birthday was coming up. He was certain that his parents wouldn't remember it. After all, they had forgotten the previous eleven. Or maybe they had just ignored them.

After what seemed like forever, Shu finally arrived at school. Despite having left home early, he arrived at school with only fifteen minutes until school started.

Shu tried to remember which books to take out of his locker, but his brain refused to function. For once, he was the last one in class.

Shu tried his best to pay attention in class, but his head felt heavy and he felt like everything was spinning. He didn't notice Valt looking at him in worry.

"Shu... You look really pale," said Valt. "Maybe you should have stayed home from school."

"I'm okay," said Shu as he put a painkiller into his mouth before taking a sip of water. He grimaced at the bitterness of the medicine.

"You don't look so good," said Valt. "I noticed that you were struggling to stay awake in Maths. I have a feeling that you are suffering from way more than just nightmares."

"I'm fine..." started Shu. He suddenly held his stomach. Uh oh. He could feel it coming.

Valt suddenly looked concerned. "Whoa, there. Are you okay?"

"Bathroom," said Shu as he made a dash towards the bathroom. He scrambled into a stall, locked it, and promptly threw up in the toilet.

Now it was obvious that Shu was sick, but he was determined to power through the day. But his body was unable to function properly and he desperately needed rest. But Shu, being the stubborn boy he was, ignored the tiredness and nausea.

Valt knew that Shu was under the weather and looked at him worriedly. But he couldn't exactly force Shu to go home.

The next class was PE. The coach went into the sport equipment room and came out with several red balls. "Today we are playing dodgeball!"

Several of the students moaned, "No," at that statement. They found the sport way too painful.

Shu could barely lift up a ball. His temperature was slowly going up, though he didn't know it.

"Shu, don't play!" said Valt. "You're sick. Say that you have a headache or something."

"I'm okay..." started Shu.

The whistle suddenly was blown, signaling the start of the game. Some of the students were already throwing balls at each other.

Everything felt fuzzy to Shu. His ears were ringing and he felt his legs getting weak. At this rate, he was going to pass...

Suddenly, a dodgeball was thrown in Valt's direction. The blue-haired boy quickly scampered out of the way, but unfortunately Shu was standing behind him.

SLAM!

The ball hit Shu right in his stomach, causing the albino boy to hold it in pain. "Ow... Ow..."

The student looked horrified. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know I could throw so hard..."

Shu's headache became unbearable and he couldn't take it anymore, passing out on the ground. Of course, everyone started panicking.

"Oh no! I killed him!"

"Someone call 911!"

"Shu!" yelled Valt. He ran up to his unconscious friend at once.

Valt felt Shu's forehead and gasped. Shu was burning up with a high fever.

"Oh no! I knew Shu was sick!"

Valt did the first thing he could think of and ran to the nurse's office. The nurse almost had a heart attack when Valt came barging in.

"Good gracious, Valt! You don't just go barging in like that!"

"Please, Nurse Suzuki! Shu has fainted in Gym, and he's really sick!" Valt started to cry, and the nurse lost her anger at watching him get so upset.

"Hey, Valt, it's okay. Just take him in here and he can rest here for today."

It wasn't long before Shu was tucked in a bed in the sickbay and Nurse Suzuki was checking his temperature.

"He has a fever of 39.3 °C," she said. "You can visit him during break and after school."

Valt nodded. He wondered if Shu had fallen sick because of lack of rest or stress.