It was a dark stormy day in Miracle City. The weather had been bad, recently. At one middle school in the big town, a boy in a black jacket and a yellow and orange striped shirt was at his locker. His belt buckle had a T symbol on it. The teenager had a noticeable scar over his left eye, and he looked drained like he had little to no energy left. He closed his locker, but then he felt something poke the back of his head. "Hey, Manny," he looked over his shoulder, seeing a girl that was nearly his height. She had blue hair and red goggles on her head, and she was wearing a white shirt and a red skirt that had suspenders on them. "Hey, Frida…" Manny coughed while looking at his best friend. She lost her cheery tone by the time she saw the front of him. "Whoa, Manny! What happened to you?" Frida asked, seeing how he looked like this assuming he only had one hour of sleep for energy at the moment.
"Nothing's happened. Just was up all night," Manny answered boredly. So far lately he hadn't been feeling like doing any evil kinds of acts, any criminal things to do or to stop, since the police handled them before he got the chance, since they were so small lately. He began coughing again somewhat violently. "You should go see the nurse…" Frida insisted. She didn't like to see her friend in this condition, let alone near a state that he couldn't stay on his own two feet. "I-I went to the doctor the other day… I'm going to go to the doctor again after school. Don't worry about me, Frida, I've survived worse," the teenage boy smiled, wanting to reassure that he will be fine and get over this easy. "Well, alright. We have to practice this new song after school. I'll see you later," she said before walking away to get to her next class. Manny viewed the empty hallways and just went his separate direction, just repeating to himself mentally to get through the school day.
Manny had gotten through maybe another class and a half, but while sitting at his desk, he was starting to feel like he was burning. The teacher was speaking aloud from a book, while Manny was noticing his vision slightly blurring, and his hearing messing up. He covered his mouth when he began coughing, trying to keep quiet, but every second just felt like he was standing in a burning building that only kept getting hotter and hotter. He was starting to think thta he couldn't handle the next two classes in this condition. "Teacher, can I be excused to go to the nurse?" he requested. The teacher took a small glance at him. His student was now partially pale, and there was at least ten minutes left in the current session, anyway. "Yes, you may," he answered, watching the student leave the classroom immediately.
When Manny entered the empty hallway, everything was just getting blurrier and blurrier. He wasn't even halfway to the nurse's office when he leaned against the wall nearby, panting, looking down at his shaking hands. Before he even could realize it, he was on the floor. Everything began to black out. He fell unconscious, though someone else entered the hallway, and had seen him on the floor, having witnessed most of his weird behavior in the hall.
Manny coughed once he began to reawaken. His vision wasn't in much better condition. He still felt awful, but he noticed the sound of a siren blaring. He tried to sit up. Before he could, a hand was put on his chest to keep him down. "Hey, chico, calm down. Do you have anyone you want us to contact? A legal guardian or a parent?" the paramedic asked, wanting to know if there was anyone to call for this kind of problem. Manny coughed, just lying back, staring at the ceiling. "M-my Grandpapi…" he mumbled weakly, since his dad was away on one of a common many business trips that lasted a day or two at most. "Alright, Manny. Just relax. Your friend already gave us your information," the paramedic stated before leaving his side to get back to the front of the ambulance. Manny heard radio chatter while all he could do was stare at the ceiling.
After ten minutes of transportation, Manny found himself stuck in the ICU at the hospital. He looked down at his arm, seeing the IV needle. He felt better than before, but it wasn't saying much. "Some flu…" he muttered. A light tap on the door was then heard, and Manny saw it open. "Grandpapi!" he exclaimed, seeing his grandfather enter the room in his black clothing, and sombrero that had small skulls hanging around the rim of it. "Manny, m'boy! Are you okay?" his grandfather asked, coming to his bedside. His grandson nodded. "I'm fine. But I should've stayed home today…" he admitted with a light laugh.
A nurse entered the room, Manny and Grandpapi turning around to see her. She had a syringe in her hand. It made Manny feel a little uneasy to just see it and the red liquid in it. "Sorry, but this might burn a little," she apologized in advance before sticking it into his arm. It felt like someone was holding a lighter to his skin because it burned upon contact alone. Once it was injected, his whole arm began to burn slowly before the right side of his body. He just presumed the feeling would pass. "You'll be getting another three shots in a few hours, and if your condition is improved, you can be discharged tomorrow," she explained. With that done and said, she proceeded to leave the room.
"Mind if we don't tell dad about this? I don't want him to worry," Manny requested. "Sure. Once you feel better, I'll take you home," Grandpapi nodded. Manny just tried to relax afterward, though he was thinking back to what the paramedic had told him on the way here, that a friend had given his information and had found him in the hall. He thought it was Frida, but if that were the case, she would be with him throughout that whole time. It was confusing, but he didn't want to care about it right now. He was just thankful that somebody helped.
Authors note: This is my first attempt at an el tigre fic, I hope it's good. I do not know if I'll continue it yet.