Nocturnal Creatures

19

Makoto's mom walked into the nurse's office. The nurse had called her after he had started heaving. The nurse went out to talk to his mom and closed the door behind her. Makoto could still hear part of their conversation. The nurse was telling her what happened. His mom sounded worried, "Is he alright?"

"I think he'll be fine," the nurse paused before adding, "But he's exhibiting some strange symptoms."

"What do you mean strange?"

"Well from what he's said, they're symptoms that are not typically male."

"What do you mean?"

"Now I'm just the school nurse and I'm no expert on these things and I know he's your son but," the nurse took a long pause. She must've whispered what she said next because Makoto couldn't hear it.

He just heard his mom say back, "But that's... That's not possible."

"I know it's a strange theory," the nurse tried to laugh but it was very forced, "You should take him to a doctor, get a more concrete explanation. I can recommend someone if you like."

"Oh no, that won't be necessary," his mom sounded like she was trying hard to keep calm, "We have a special family doctor, we can start there." Makoto knew who his mom was referring too, that doctor was also a neko like them. It made it easier to get physicals and they had a better understanding of the differences in anatomy.

The door opened and Makoto's mom and the nurse walked in. His mom came up to him and gently put a hand on his shoulder, "I already talked to the office, it's fine for you to come home early today."

Makoto nodded, he was feeling a little better overall but just super tired. When he stood up, he got really dizzy and had put a hand on the wall to steady himself. Makoto could see the worried expression on his mom's face and tried to smile. She just put her arm around him to steady him and escorted him out of the school.

On the way home, he asked his mom about what the nurse had said, "Did the nurse know what's going on? Is it serious?"

Makoto's mom smiled and said in too light of a tone, "Oh she had some theories from her observations."

"Like what?" Makoto pressed, he felt he had a right to know what was going on.

"Oh just some crazy theory, we'll have to take you to the doctor to know for sure," Makoto's mom looked at him with a knowing look. "I have to say, her observations aren't wrong. It's just..."

"Just what?" Makoto was getting more and more curious. What was such a big deal that his mom didn't want to tell him about?

She smiled and closed her eyes for a brief moment, "It's just her theory is pretty rare and we should really take you to the doctor before we jump to any conclusions."