Nixie’s POV:
I walked through the hallways, making my way to my History class. I held my books close to my chest, looking around to see my class.
“Nixie!” Mitchell called from behind me.
“Oh, hey Mitchell!” I smiled, turning my head to face him.
His face was sweaty, and he was huffing. My smile faltered and I placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Woah, what’s the rush?” I asked, turning around again and continued walking.
“Cassie’s in hospital.” Mitchell said, and I stopped in my tracks.
“W-What?” I spluttered.
“She’s in hospital.” Mitchell repeated.
“Ha ha, sooo funny.” I rolled my eyes, but the worried look on Mitchell’s face didn’t look very humorous to me.
“I’m not kidding, the principal gave us permission to go see her, along with Lils, Aurora and Adair.” Mitchell wheezed.
“Not Blaze?” I frowned.
“Oh, Blaze was with her the whole time.” Mitchell shrugged, fanning his face.
“He was?! Oh boy, he better not have done anything to her…” I hissed.
“We don’t know, but let’s go get the others.” Mitchell beckoned to me and I followed him, scanning the halls for any of them.
We walked in silence, until I decided to break it.
“So… what happened to Cassie?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but I overheard the principal talking to her parents, and it was something about her passing out or something…” Mitchell sighed.
“Seriously? We’ve only been here for a month and you’re already being mischievous?” I snorted, whacking him on the shoulder.
“Oh come on Nixie, I couldn’t help it, and you wouldn’t have either!” Mitchell laughed.
“Hey, we were looking for you guys!” Someone called behind us.
I turned around and saw Aurora, wearing her usual colourful clothes next to Adair and Lilia.
“Really? We were looking for you!” Mitchell laughed.
“We need to get to Cassie.” Adair said in a serious tone, and Mitchell stopped laughing.
“Right, let’s go.” He cleared his throat and I walked over to Aurora, and a distressed looking Lilia.
As I walked closer, I realised Lilia was on the verge of tears, and Aurora was comforting her like a mother duck.
“Lils! Are you okay?” I asked, giving her a warm hug.
“I’m worried about Cassie…” Lilia sniffed, wiping her tears.
“Hey, she’s in the hospital. She’ll be alright!” Aurora reassured her.
If only she was…
-------------------------------------------------------
Blaze was waiting outside the room by himself, since the nurses didn’t let him in yet.
“Blaze! You good?” Adair asked, and Blaze looked up.
“I guess…” He mumbled beneath his mask.
“Dibs visiting Cassie first!” Aurora said quickly.
“Dibs second!” I said shortly after.
“Dibs third!” Adair and Lilia said at the same time.
“Jinx!” Lilia smirked, and Adair groaned. “Looks like you’re last!”
“Dibs forth.” Mitchell said.
“I dibs last, just because I’m feeling nice to Adair.” Blaze shrugged, and Adair flashed him a grateful smile.
I took a seat next to Adair, and Mitchell took a seat beside me. He placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
“She’ll be okay, we can see her soon.” He murmured.
I sighed and nodded, and a nurse left Cassie’s room. She turned to us and pulled down her mask. I noticed the worry in her eyes as she began to speak.
“Do any of you guys want to visit? Only one at a time.” She told us.
“I’ll go first.” Aurora said, standing up.
The nurse smiled warily and opened the door for her, and Aurora stepped inside. All five of us were sitting in silence, the loudest noise being Aurora’s worried questions from the other side of the wall. I tried to make out what they were talking about for a few moments, but all I could hear were muffled voices, and I swear I heard Blaze’s name.
“Blaze?” I called out.
“Hmm?” He responded absent-mindedly.
“Were you with Cassie when she passed out?” I blurted out, and Blaze looked at me with surprise.
“How did you know?” He spluttered.
“You were here first, and answer my question, will you?” I huffed impatiently.
“Well, we were in the library doing our partner project, and she was packing up. All of a sudden, she just fell. I don’t know how it happened, but she just…” Blaze trailed off as the nurse came back out with Aurora, who looked like she saw a ghost.
“Woah, Aurora, are you okay?” Lilia asked with a worried look on her face.
“You look so pale! White paint would look colourful next to you, what happened?” Mitchell retorted, and Aurora took a seat next to him wordlessly, and she did look pale indeed.
She gulped and looked down. I was so used to seeing her happy face, lit like the sun, but seeing her like this made me really worried.
What happened to Cassie that even Aurora, the happiest person I know, looked like a sad puppy?
“Who would like to visit Cassie next?” The nurse asked, and I immediately stood up.
I needed to know what happened to her.
I walked in the room, and saw Cassie lying on the bed weakly, her glasses were gone and there were several machines and tubes surrounding her.
“Cassie!” I cried out, running over to her bed.
“Ni-Nixie?” She called hoarsely.
“Yes, yes, it’s me. Wh-what happened to you?” I asked, my voice barely audible.
“She has a rare disease.” The doctor said from behind me, and I turned around.
A gasp left my mouth, and the doctor took a deep breath, before she continued.
“She has a rare disease called Languitemere, meaning she will pass out on random occasions, and there is unfortunately no cure or way to predict it.” The doctor sighed, and I gaped at him like a fish.
“It’s okay Nixie, I’ll be fine.” Cassie reassured from behind me, summoning her strength to sit up in her bed.
“Oh come on, you have a disease that makes you pass out with no warning whatsoever, how is that fine?” I sighed, turning to face her, and she clearly was not convinced by her own words.
“I don’t know, but thankfully Blaze was there to bring me here, otherwise this would keep happening without us knowing about the disease.” Cassie shrugged.
I walked over to her and gave her a warm hug, not caring about the many tubes pressed harshly against my skin. A few droplets of water fell on my bare neck, and I pulled apart to see Cassie crying softly. I was about to say something, but the nurse called me outside. I murmured a soft ‘bye’ to Cassie and walked out of there, questions swirling in my head.
Was Cassie going to be okay?
(Quick note: Languitemere is a made up disease, it's not real, but i used latin words so it kinda made some sense. LOVE YALLL)