Just In Time (The Santa Clauses)

Far Cry

Monday rolled around, and the notification popped up on my computer to remind me of Mira's promise to check in for the first time. I hoped she would, but it seemed like she had been avoiding me since we had the meeting with her dad and Dr. Wilder.

Throughout the rest of the week, I quietly kept tabs on her while finishing preparations for the family event on Thursday. When I did finally catch a glimpse, she looked worn out and even more withdrawn, barely looking up as she pushed through a sea of students, before disappearing somewhere else.

Seth had been doing about the same, keeping his head down. The only difference was he seemed to be embracing the new environment, even hanging out with other kids, a far cry from the file that penned him as destroying property. I hoped for his sake that what I had told him in my office stuck.

"Hey, Kasey. I've waited as long as I could, but I have a phone meeting with Harrison Jennings, Allison's dad. If Mira stops by or you see her, can you please have her check in with me?"

"That's right. Today is her first day."

"Yeah."

"How is she doing?"

"As far as I know, not great. George said she wouldn't say a word to him at their meeting on Friday. From what little I've caught of her in the hall, she doesn't look good. If I have a minute I may stop by her class and see how things are going.

"I'm sorry to hear she's having such a rough time. She does seem like a sweet kid. Sorry, hang on." Kasey paused to answer the phone beside her. "Lincoln Secondary School, this is Kasey. I'm sorry to hear that. I will put Aaron down as absent. I hope he gets better."

"Excuse me." I waved to Kasey as I retreated to my office, my hand on the receiver. "This is Principal Calvin. Hi Mr.Jennings, thank you for calling me back."

"Hey, Carol. I have everything figured out for the teacher training. It just needs your signature." Matt Kelly, the vice principal handed me the paper as I walked into the main room after my call.

"I appreciate it. Let me know if anything needs to be changed."

"Great, thank you. I will take a look at it when I have a minute." Walking back to my office, I place it back on my desk. "Kasey, I'm going to talk to Mrs. Rigby about one of her students. I thought this would also be a good time to look in on Mira."

"Sounds good." Walking down the hall, I stopped to think about where I wanted to go first, considering waiting to talk to Mira. I quickly changed my mind and headed into Mrs. Tanner's class.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" Mrs. Tanner greeted me, as we both stepped into the hall so she could still keep an eye on her students.

"Is this a good time I could speak to Mira Sanchez?"

"She is just finishing her math test. I'm glad you're here. I was just going to have her visit the school nurse after we finished."

"What's going on?"

"Mira insisted she was fine, but she looked like she was going to pass out a few times. She hasn't yet, but I think she needs to see someone."

"So you're aware, she's having a really hard time right now. She's been avoiding me and Dr. Wilder. Her father mentioned she's not talking to him. I've made a little connection with her. I do need to talk to Mrs. Rigby for a minute down the hall. I can come back if you want to send her my way when she's done with her test."

"I can do that. Do you want me to avoid telling her you're here?"

"You can tell her you need to talk to her in the hall about visiting the school nurse. I can take it from there."

"I will do that." Nodding, I went off to discuss a few things with Mrs. Rigby. When I came back, Mrs. Casey and Mira were standing in the hall. Mira had her back to me, which made it easy to walk up to her.

"Mrs. Casey, is everything okay here?" I greeted her, knowing Mira hadn't been paying attention when I had first come into the room. Most of the students were too focused on their tests to care. She had gone from quiet, to upset in a matter of minutes.

"I was just discussing with Mira about visiting the nurse, but she's refusing to go."

"I told you I was fine." Mira clenched her fists, her face reddening. "I just want everyone to leave me alone."

"I'm aware that you do, but right now that's not going to happen," I warned her, knowing tough love was the best thing for her right now. "Grab your backpack." Avoiding the students' curious gazes as she walked over to her desk, she picked up her backpack by the handle and turned on her heels. By the time she had reached us, she was even paler and was having a hard time staying upright.

"Mira, hey. Stop for a minute." My eyes blazed with further concern as she rocked back and forth, unbalanced as she stood in front of me. "Have you eaten anything today?" Knee buckling, I tucked one hand safely under her arm to keep her from hitting the floor as she went down. Mrs. Casey had already informed her students to stay in class and closed the door to keep her students from witnessing what was going on. "Can you call down to the school nurse, and let her know a student has passed out?" One hand checked Mira's pulse on her neck, "Mira, I need you to wake up."

"Mhm." What seemed like several seconds later, her eyes fluttered open, a deep intake of breath bringing her back to life as she searched mine for answers.

"You fainted. Have you eaten anything today?"

"Not really." She croaked weakly, her face heating up with embarrassment, her arms shakily helping her to sit up

I sat near her as the school nurse came around the corner. "Olivia."

"Carol. Hey, Mira." Olivia came equipped with her bag and stethoscope, kneeling beside her. "I heard you're not feeling too good today."

"I'm okay. Just a little shaky."

"Mind giving me your good wrist? I just want to get your pulse and heart rate." Mira pulled on her sleeve with a sigh, making sure to keep her other one covered. Olivia placed two fingers on her wrist, settling the stethoscope on her chest, keeping watch on her breathing. "Your pulse is slightly thready. Let's get your pulse. Have you been feeling dizzy before all this happened?"

"A little."

"Okay. I'm going to ask you a few more questions. When was the last time you ate or drank anything?"

"Last night," Mira mumbled, avoiding my gaze.

"Do you know if she hit her head or anything when she fainted?" Olivia asked, looking at me for an answer.

"I caught her and had her lay down before she could."

"That's all I wanted to know."