Emergency Contact

Peter figured he had to have a weakness to his spider powers, but he never expected to find out in such a brutal way. It was torturous and in a place like this of all places for this to happen. He wished the universe would take him now. 

Sick in second-period Spanish class. What a way to go out. 

He sniffled for about the twentieth time in a span of five minutes and immediately followed it with a loud sneezed, which hurt his throat tremendously.  He let out a soft and defeated "Ow" as he felt the pain from his throat make its way to his ears and magnify his growing headache. 

"Señor Parker, do you need to step out for a minute?" he could hear his teacher ask, although it sounded muffled and far away to him. 

He looked up to see that she looked concerned, and for her to look that worried, Peter had to guess he looked close to decay. 

"I'm fine Señora Ramos, thanks," he replied as he shrunk into himself, trying not to let her know that he was indeed not fine. 

She nodded after a second and continued to teach, the rest of the class turning from looking at Peter to the front. Peter sat there for another five minutes, hoodie wrapped tight around him and keeping a constant sniffling rate. Chills ran through his body and he sneezed again, this time coughing violently after said sneeze and almost falling out of his chair. 

When he straightened out again in his chair, head in his hands, he noticed the class had gone silent. He slowly looked up to see all eyes on him, the girl sitting next to him looking sympathetic and grossed out at the same time. 

"Nurse, now  Señor Parker," Señora Ramos instructed him, hands at her hips. 

"But, I'm fine, really-"

"Peter, you look like you need to go home or lay down at the very least. Please go to the nurse's office," she interjected, eyes softening at the young boy. 

With a sigh and a nod, Peter grabbed his things and stumbled to the door. He knew he should be home, but he couldn't afford to miss any more class time. Not only did he have to keep up as much as he could, he needed to save his days for when there was a real emergency and he needed to skip class to be Spiderman. You know, the struggles of a typical teenager really. 

As he reached the nurse's office, he debated whether or not to just wait in the bathroom until next period started so that he could continue his day, but he couldn't even come to a decision as the nurse opened the door to her office and took a step back when she saw him standing there. 

"Oh dear, were you about to come in?" Ms. Jones asked, scanning him from head to toe. 

Peter only nodded as he wiped at his runny nose, feeling and looking miserable. 

"Good," she said as she rushed him in, "It looks like you're about to collapse where you're standing. Let's get you to sit down." 

The kind motherly woman led him to the bed by the arm, having him sit down as she went to grab a thermometer. 

"Now tell me your symptoms, sweetie," she said, looking through her drawers as she did. 

"Um, going between a runny and stuffy nose, sneezing, some coughing. That's it really,  not a big deal," he replied, trying to brush off the fact he now had a light sweat covering his body. 

Ms. Jones looked at him pointedly, saying "Ok, tough guy, no big deal. Do you have any chills?" 

"Yes," Peter mumbled, looking down at his shoes. 

"A headache?"

"Yes,"

"Ears feel like your underwater?"