Chapter 10

I woke up feeling more tired than usual. I blinked twice due to the bright light and I noticed Andy on Jean's bed and Albert as well, with no Jean in sight. I sat up slowly and pulled the bedsheet close to my body since I noticed I ad no clothes on.

"Where's Jean?" I asked the boys and this made them look my way.

"Umm...she's just gone to bath now." Albert responded before looking back down quickly at his phone. And I noticed that he hadn't made eye contact when he answered me.

"Are you ok?" Andy finally filled the silence which was starting to get awkward. I took a swig of the ice cold water which was at my headstand and I felt a whole lot better.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I laughed not knowing how else to respond to that. That seemed to break the ice a bit and just then Jean entered the room.

"All boys out, we want to get dressed." In a laughing voice she chased all the boys out and promised them that we'll visit their hostel to prove that I was okay. That checked out my theory that she had called Lucy and they had talked as she was my emergency contact. I knew that stuff like this could happen and since I was keeping it a secret from my parents, I wouldn't want them getting called that I was having seizures or some stuff. Hence, putting Lucy as my emergency contact.

"Hey, are you ok?" I could hear the worry laced in Jean's voice as she sat at the edge of my bed, "I called Lucy and she told me all the stuff to do. Does this happen a lot?"

"Yeah it does happen, not a lot. Just started in 2019 anyways. Sorry I bothered you. Sorry for shouting at you," I replied looking down at my hands because I knew that handling me was quite a handful when I was in that state. And no matter what my friends said, I did know that it was scary because the first time it happened, I was alone and by the time I was stable, I was hurt and bleeding on my bedroom floor. After all this time, the walls I had spent so much time and energy and effort building were crumbling down and there was nothing I could do about it.

"No, no. hey. It’s okay, though it did scare me quite a bit. Stop thinking that you bothered me, you're my friend okay? That's why I'm here. I did talk to your friend as well and she just gave me a first aid treatment instructions special for you."

She answered me in a sincere tone that made me feel a whole lot guilty. Why would she care in the first place? I bet if it was me I would want to stop being friends with a person with 'special' diseases. No puns intended.

She stood up to get dressed and I had to look away as I knew that stuff was still in my system and I didn't want to be such an animal. I breathed in and drank even more water as I could feel a bit of heat. Don't blame me, Jean was well built with a feminine defined body, all curves in the right places and smooth spotless skin. Who wouldn't crave her, I mean?

The so called 'special' instructions were the basic ways of quenching the heat in my body. Cold shower, cold drinks, exposure to cold air. And in case of seizures the normal way of handling seizures at home like easing person onto floor or bed, remove glasses, place pillow under head and it was a lot. I knew it.

“I’m going to shower.” I ended up just doing that and I did take my time in the cold shower despite the cold weather. All the while, I kept wondering who it was in my dream. As long as I could remember since this condition started, it was always that sort of experience, over and over again. But I could tell that the other ‘tormenter in the dream was not him. I was sure of it. But who else could it be, unless my brain was playing tricks on me and so far, it was winning.

I returned to the room to find Jean all dressed up and she sat on my bed and looked up at me with a soft smile. And I knew what was coming.

“You want to talk about it?” Oh, shit. She deserved to know after that ordeal. I owed her that much.

“Umm…what did Lucy tell you? The friend from the phone?” That would have at least given me a scope of how much information I had to divulge.

“She just told me that you have a special heart condition that relapses once you have much internal heat and cold conditions quell it down. And you get nightmares when you sleep. Pretty much that.” She replied while twirling her hands, one thing I noticed she did when nervous.

“Yeah, well that’s pretty much everything. It just started last of last year. You know I am pretty much close to my dad than my mom and he got in an accident. I was so shocked by the condition he was in I fainted in the ER and since then, stuff like this usually happens. Worse in summer but all good.” I had to lie. I still wanted her around so I had to lie to her. I know how they all react.

“Oh, I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” She said looking down and I knew that she meant it. I too was not one for expressing my emotions openly.

“Thank you a lot, Jean, I mean it. As a token of my appreciation, I’ll treat you to dinner today.”

“How about tomorrow. Rest up for today.” She moved from my bed, giving me space to sleep.

“Sure. But umm…if possible, don’t tell the boys. Just you and me.”

“Uh…ok…” She smiled at me and went out to go see Albert.

I got in bed after wearing underwear, using only the bed sheet to cover up and the sleep kicked in fast.