Nothing's Wrong

Author's Note: Thank you for reading this far! And here's the chapter you've been waiting for… Please read the Author's Note at the end of this text for further information about a possible chapter three. ;)

oOoOo

Casey was pacing around the lockers. Students were passing her on their way to their classes, meetings or whatever it was they were heading to. Casey tried to keep an eye on everyone that passed by, looking for someone that remotely reminded her of her "good for nothing" stepbrother, but so far no such luck. She stopped pacing and glared at the locker that belonged to Derek Venturi. So close and yet so far away...

She suddenly grabbed the lock and yanked it a few times, like if she expected it to fall right off as if hit by a magic wand, but the locker door was just as stubbornly closed as before. Casey sighed in annoyance and looked around. No sign of Derek yet. She felt furious!

If she didn't get her paper now, she would never have the time to search for Mr Anderson and hand it over to him before her next class started. And then she would have to wait until after school, and there was no guarantee that Mr Anderson would stick around till then.

Then she suddenly saw someone in the corridor that she recognized. Not Derek, but close enough. It was Sam. Sam, who was currently talking to some guy from the hockey team. Casey marched over to him, grabbed his arm, making Sam flinch in surprise, and dragged him a few feet away to get some privacy.

"Where is Derek?" Casey demanded to know.

"Um, hi Casey." Sam replied, looking confused.

"He promised that he would meet me here by lunch. But so far I've been waiting here for half an hour and he hasn't showed up!" Casey continued. "So? Where is he?"

"What makes you think that I should know?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh please. Don't act like you don't know where he is." Casey said and crossed her arms.

"I'm not acting." Sam said defensively. "I really don't know."

"What about your hockey training?" Casey asked, not entirely convinced yet. "You didn't meet him there?"

"Of course I did, but he left pretty soon after it." Sam explained. "We had a math class right after training, but he decided that he would skip it. Haven't seen him since."

"That little rat!" Casey said angrily. "He's trying to keep away just to mess with me. And knowing Derek, he probably figured that I would ask you to help me find him so he didn't tell you either. When I find him I am so gonna-

"I... Don't think that's what happened." Sam interrupted. "Last time I saw him, he didn't seem to feel so great. And when I didn't even see him at lunch, I simply assumed that he had gone home."

"He can't have." Casey said puzzled. "He doesn't have any keys and nobody's home yet. Mom won't be back until after lunch."

"In that case... I really don't have a clue where he went." Sam admitted.

"Well, Derek's current location aside..." Casey said. "Is there any chance that you know his locker combination so that I at least can get my paper back?"

"I don't know, maybe?" Sam said and walked over to Derek's locker.

"Maybe?" Casey asked confused.

"He keeps switching locks, so it's kinda hard to remember." Sam told her. "But wait, I might be able to..."

Sam reached out and tried a combination. Casey looked over his shoulder, silently observing what Sam was doing. It was deathly quiet. After a few turns, Sam tried one last number and... And the locker was still locked.

"It was worth a try." Sam said and took a step away. "Now I really need to hurry to class. See you later Casey."

"Yeah... See you later." Casey said a bit absentmindedly as she watched the lock.

Sam's words had just hit her. Had Derek played ill for Sam too? What was the point in that? Was he really taking this "sick" thing that far? To fool his best friend just to convince her too? No, something didn't feel right about that theory. And the part of her that was handling logic and rational thinking was only nagging about one thing: Maybe Derek really was sick?

Casey felt confused. She could always call Derek, but she didn't have a cell phone. She could borrow someone else's, but she didn't know his number. Quite understandable, if you think about. It wasn't like she used to talk to him on the phone. Ever.

She took a look at her watch. Great. Her class would begin in a minute. And here she was, waiting for the brother who never showed up. How depressing. She needed to find him! But was it worth missing the first few minutes of her next class?

"Ok..." Casey breathed. "Five minutes."

That was no big deal. People arrived five minutes late all the time. Her class would barely even have started, so she wouldn't miss anything important. She would lose some of her credibility as an overachieving and always early student, but she could afford it.

Just five minutes.

The next problem would be a little bit more difficult. She had no idea where to look. She started to walk along the corridor that was quickly being emptied on people. She needed a clue. Anything that could tell her where Derek Venturi possibly could be. She was still not convinced that he was truly sick, so if he wasn't, where would he hide? Where would he assume that she would never ever in a million years look for him.

The answer almost hit her in the face when a door was slammed open right in front of her. The sign on the door read one single thing. Girls' Restroom.

"Of course..." Casey said to herself. "I'm an idiot! Not more idiot than a certain someone, but god I feel so stupid for not thinking of that before!"

Casey ran in another direction. If there was one place in the whole school that she would never look, or even set her foot in, it was the boy's restroom. There was no guarantee that Derek would actually be there, but it was a theory as good as anyone. And she didn't really have that much to go on right now.

When she arrived at the door, she suddenly felt very uneasy. Coming up with the idea to look for Derek in there was a piece of cake. But when it came to actually look for him, it got a whole lot more complicated. She couldn't bring herself go in there. It was the boys' restroom for crying out loud! As a girl, it was basically social suicide to go in there, or even be seen standing too close to the door!

Casey took a few steps away from it, like if the door was a hungry animal and she didn't want to risk to aggravate it. What to do? Casey took a look at her watch again. Five minutes almost up. Damn it!

Okay. She needed someone to go in there for her. Only problem was that the hallway now was almost completely empty on people. She scouted at the area for anything that was not female, and finally found it. She had spotted a stressed guy coming her way. She didn't remember his name. Rob, Roy, Ron... Something short that sounds like you're clearing your throat. Well, who cared? He was a guy, and that was the only thing that mattered.

As soon as Rob or whatever his name was, was close enough, Casey snatched his arm and dragged him towards her.

"Hi there!" Casey said in a giddy way. "I need you to check something for me."

"Wha- Who are you?" Rob asked, looking completely baffled.

"Doesn't matter." Casey said and pushed him towards the door. "Here. Can you check if Derek Venturi is in there? I can only assume that you know who he is."

"Um, yeah." Rob said, looking very stressed. "But look. I'm gonna be late for class, and..."

"It will only take a second!" Casey said and simply pushed him inside and closed the door behind him. After a few seconds, Rob returned, looking anxiously at his wrist watch.

"Well?" Casey asked.

"There's is someone in there. But if it's Derek or not, I can't tell." Rob answered. "Sorry, but now I really need to go."

Rob kept an arm's length away from Casey, as if he was afraid that she was gonna grab him again, and then hurried away in the opposite direction.

Casey sighed in frustration. That didn't help her much. The hallway was now completely empty on people, so she couldn't ask someone else to go in and look more thoroughly. Casey started to pace back and forth. It could be Derek in there. But it could just as well be someone else, and in that case she would feel so embarrassed that she would have to ask her mom and George to find her a new school...

Casey paced a few times, looking very uncomfortable. She glanced at her wrist watch again. Six minutes late.

"Alright!" Casey said in a resolute voice. "The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can get back to class. Come on Casey. You. Can. Do it!"

A quick deep inhale for support, and then she opened the door and stepped inside.

Her first time in the boys' restroom was just as unglamorous as she had expected. It was considerably more drawings on the walls than in the girls restroom, and the whole atmosphere was simply just less comfortable. It was definitely not the kind of place you wanted to dwell in for too long. Except from those details, it wasn't too different. There were five stalls on the right and two washstands on the left. The floor was dark gray and the walls white. With tiny messages of who had been there before, names of girls that was hot or not, and crude drawings that Casey didn't want to spend too much time studying.

She walked pass the stalls and wondered how Rob knew for sure that there was someone in here? There was no way of peeking under the doors to see if there were any feet occupying a stall. Maybe if she called out and asked if there were anyone there?

Before she could make a decision, she heard a cough coming from the stall in the end of the room. She walked up to it and put her ear against the door.

"Derek?" She shouted and knocked carefully on the door. "Is that you?"

There was no answer.

Casey felt her face slowly turn red. What if it was someone else in there? Some random guy that she had never met before. Or even worse. Some random guy that she knew and that would tell the whole school how Casey MacDonald had knocked on his door in the boys' restroom! Switching to a new school wouldn't be enough. She would probably have to leave Canada. She had an A in Spanish, maybe Mexico could be a fresh start… Suddenly, she heard another cough and a sound from the stall. This time there was no doubt about it. She'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"Derek!" She yelled and knocked furiously on the door, back to being angry again. "You open this door right now, mister! I know you've been trying to hide from me in here, so get out and hand over my English paper! I'm already ten minutes late because of you, and I'm not gonna let it be fifteen!"

There was a moment of silence and then the toilet flushed. A second later the door unlocked and was opened by none other than Derek Venturi. He was half standing half leaning against the door frame and looked very pale. He eyed Casey with annoyance, like if she was a salesman that just had awoken him from a pleasant nap. Or on the other hand, Derek didn't look like he had had a very pleasant day at all. His eyes was a bit bloodshot and his hair was just a mess. Not his normally messy hair, but rather the way it tend to end up like after a rough night's sleep.

"God, look at you." Casey said in surprise. "What have you been up to? Are you trying to scare someone?"

"Don't you have class right now or something...?" Derek asked with a tired voice.

"Don't you?" Casey said.

"Yeah, but on the contrary from some certain others, it doesn't really bother me if I miss out on one or two." Derek answered. "Or three for that matter..."

"What do you mean "three"? Haven't you been to any class today?" Casey asked in shock. "Do you have any idea what George is gonna do when he finds out? Cause he will find out, Derek! What are you planning to tell him, huh?"

"Can we... Talk about this later..." Derek mumbled with an exhausted voice. "Please?"

"No." Casey said resolute and folded her arms. "No, I will not talk about this later. And you broke our deal by the way! You promised me that I would get my papers back at lunch, which I skipped just so that I could wait by your locker the whole time. And guess who never showed up! I knew you were a big jerk, but I've always thought that you at least stood by your word!"

"Stop screaming at me...!" Derek groaned with his eyes closed.

"What's up with you? You look like you're suffering from the world's worst hangover." Casey said and then her eyes boggled in shock. "Are you drunk!?"

Derek gave her a look of such deep disbelief that Casey quickly changed her tone.

"Alright, alright! I just had to ask..." Casey answered with her palms out in a defensive gesture.

"Then stop asking stupid questions...!" Derek said in annoyance.

He gritted his teeth slightly and Casey noticed know that he was sweaty and was holding his stomach with his right hand as if he was in pain.

"Derek seriously, are you really sick?" Casey asked.

"Seriously Casey. Do you think you could leave me alone?" Derek replied in a tired voice, but still somehow managed a sarcastic tone.

"You really are, aren't you?" Casey said, ignoring Derek's last sentence. "I know you like to put on a show when you play sick, but there's no way you would take it this far. Not to mention that you haven't even made one single joke about the fact that I'm currently in the boys' restroom."

Derek didn't bother to answer this time, maybe because it took too much of an effort. He had closed his eyes again and he was breathing considerably heavier. Casey started to look worried.

"What's wrong?" She asked and eyed him carefully, her eyes landing on Derek's waist. "Is it your stomach?"

"It's nothing." Derek finally said, though whatever it was, talking seemed to only make it worse.

"Should I get someone?" Casey asked. "Maybe a teacher could-"

"I'm fine." Derek replied with growing irritation.

"If you were fine, you wouldn't be acting this way." Casey stated in her best know-it-all voice.

"Well, maybe I'm just doing this for the fun of having your annoying voice nagging repeatedly in my ear." Derek said with a strained smile and glared at Casey, who couldn't care less about her step brother's attitude.

"Do you really want me to leave?" Casey asked with a sigh.

"Yes." Derek answered with an exhale. "Please do..."

"I dunno..." Casey said, looking uncertain. "I mean, if you're not feeling well it would be very irresponsible of me to just leave you here. And even though you clearly don't want my help, that's just nothing that I would do. It's not very much like me."

"I won't tell anyone I promise! Just go." Derek almost begged her. "I'll hand in your stupid English assignment myself, if you just leave me alone...!"

"Fine. I guess I'm going then." Casey said a bit frustrated and turned to the door. "And now I really am fifteen minutes late for class, thanks a lot for that! I don't even have a good explanation! It's not like I can say that I were busy looking for my idiotic step brother in the boys restroom and-"

Derek suddenly cried out in pain and dropped to the floor. Casey immediately turned around and saw Derek clutching his stomach and slowly trying to drag himself up into a sitting position, breathing heavily and grimacing in pain. She ran over to him and helped him lean his back towards the wall, his hands still around his stomach as he was making sounds of great discomfort.

"Derek? Derek, what happened?" Casey asked, and was starting to feel really worried now. "And don't you dare use that macho attitude of yours! It won't work! Just tell me the truth for once!"

"My... stomach hurts..." Derek muttered, his voice half muffled in pain.

Casey took a breath to calm herself. Alright, it wasn't much of an answer but at least he didn't say "fine", so they were hopefully on the right track.

"Okay, okay... Um..." Casey said, not sure what to do next. "Do... Do you have any idea why?"

"No..." Derek groaned.

"Perhaps you've just eaten something bad?" Casey guessed. "You never check the date on the milk, or the bread for mold, or stuff like that... Maybe your lazy habits just finally got the better of you?"

"I didn't eat anything this morning, remember...?" Derek pointed out tiredly. The pain seemed to ease a bit.

"Alright. So... We can probably scratch the breakfast off the list..." Casey said, thinking really hard. "Come on Casey, think now... What can cause stomachache... Maybe something like... Oh my god! What if you've been poisoned!?"

"Casey. Seriously." Derek said in a deadpan voice.

"I am serious! " Casey said upset. "Do you know how many men that get poisoned by old girlfriends every year? Listen, did anyone here give you their lunch? An ex of yours, or some ex's boyfriend...? I've heard that if you swallow something toxic you should try and throw up to get rid of it. Like... Stick a finger down your throat."

"Already puked a couple of times in there." Derek answered tiredly and nodded towards the restroom stall. "And no fingers needed."

"Ew…" Casey said with an uncomfortable look. "Um, okay…Let's take a more scientific approach on this. How is the pain?"

"Painful…?" Derek answered in annoyance.

"No, no. I mean what kind?" Casey explained. "I've read about this in a book once. The type of pain is very important when determining the cause of it. So help me out here… Is it a stabbing kind? Or throbbing? Burning? Or perhaps-"

"It's pain, Casey!" Derek snapped.

"Hey! I'm trying to help you here, so try and be a little helpful yourself!" Casey said, equally annoyed.

Derek then suddenly doubled over with an agonizing cry and slipped down on the floor again. He was lying on his side and started writhing in discomfort, his breathing mixed with low whimpers. Casey was beginning to look desperate.

"Okay, just stay here. I'm gonna get the school nurse." Casey said and hurried towards the door.

"NO! Nononono... NOT her!" Derek suddenly shouted, and desperately tried to get up from the floor, but with little success since he didn't want to let go of his stomach with his hands.

"Why not?" Casey asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because she hates me!" Derek explained and looked truly scared by the mere thought of Casey fetching the school nurse.

"... What did you do?" Casey asked with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing!" Derek assured her and then grimaced as a new flash of pain suddenly hit his abdomen. "... serious anyway. The woman doesn't possess one single cell of humor in her body. And she has a massive one!"

"And I suppose that you told her that, didn't you...?" Casey said knowingly.

"She's the size of a minivan!" Derek said with a voice that was out of breath. "I might have implied that she ate a first year once..."

"And with "implied" you mean...?"

"... drew a picture of it and put it up on the message board." Derek admitted. "Trust me, I'm way better off without her..."

"Derek, you could be really sick!" Casey said. "You have no idea what caused this. She can probably help you."

"And what exactly do you think she can do about this?!" Derek yelled but immediately flinched in pain.

"I don't know! Something!" Casey yelled back.

"Not... her. Okay?" Derek asked in a strained voice and rolled over to his other side, his eyes tightly shut. "Please not her..."

Casey sighed. Derek wasn't making anything easier. The school nurse would most likely have a better idea of what to do in this kind of situation, but if Derek wasn't gonna cooperate it would only be a waste of time. He looked really pitiful now. Derek had curled up like a ball in the corner, still squirming on the floor and clutching his stomach dearly with both his hands.

"What do you want me to do, Derek?" Casey asked desperately. "Should I get a teacher, should I call 911 or... For god's sake, just tell me what to do."

Derek didn't answer. The pain was too much for him and he couldn't handle it anymore. Talking hurt too much. The only thing he could do was to try and manage the pain, and prey for it to go away.

"Alright, Derek." Casey said nervously. "I want an answer now, or else I'm simply gonna go ahead and do what I think is the right thing to do. Which may or may not involve nurse Nightmare. Do you understand? Good. I'll go and fetch the first best grown up I see and bring him or her back here so that-"

Derek gripped her arm before she got the chance to leave. He was staring at her, his breathing heavy and his face pale and sweaty.

"Casey..." Derek said, his voice dead serious but his eyes pleading. "Get... dad."

Casey could hear the desperation in Derek's words. She was temporarily paralyzed by Derek's unexpected request, but quickly recovered and slowly got down on her knees beside Derek. He had let go of her arm now and gone back to rolling over to the side, groaning in pain.

"Right, I will..." Casey answered and looked uncertain. "Um... I'm just gonna need to borrow a phone..."

Casey crawled over to Derek and picked up his cell phone from his left pocket. He seemed to barely even notice her presence anymore. Casey quickly got up on her feet and then started to check the numbers in his contact list. He'd better have George's number saved... Casey didn't know it by heart. She had never needed it before.

After been reading through the contacts for a while, Casey started to feel the panic come crawling. Derek had an enormous amount of numbers in his phone. The list went on and on forever. And almost two thirds of them, hardly surprisingly, belonged to girls. The rest was both hockey team members and probably people he had met on various kinds of parties, because Casey didn't recognize even half of these names from their school. But what worried her most was that she couldn't find any "Dad" or "Father" or even "George" in the list. She was just about to give up when she reached the names on the letter "O" and encountered a number entitled "Old man". Casey exhaled in relief and pressed the call button.

There was five, six, and even seven signals, and then the call was redirected to voice mail Damnit! Casey dialed the number again and waited. Four, five, six, seven... Voice mail. For god's sake! Casey started to feel frustrated. She had found the number. The only thing George had to do was to pick up! He had to do it sooner or later, and she could be very stubborn... After repeating the procedure six times, George's voice suddenly answered after only a half signal.

"For crying out loud, Derek!" George yelled. Wow. He sounded really angry. "Can't you tell that ignoring your first five calls might indicate that I'm too busy to talk right now?! What could you possibly want that can't wait till-"

"George...? It's me." Casey interrupted a bit uncertainly.

"Casey?" George said, too surprised to sound angry anymore. "Um, hi. I'm so sorry for my little outburst there. Derek use to call me sometimes during school hours and ask me to help him cheat on his tests... Wait a second, why are you on Derek's phone?"

"I borrowed it." Casey answered. Now when she actually was talking to George, she wasn't sure what to say.

"Does he know about it?" George asked in a conspiracy voice. "You could get in real trouble if he finds out. I'm warning you Casey, you don't want to give him a reason to get back at you. It'll end messy, and Nora and I will have to clean it up and-"

"You have to come to school and pick up Derek." Casey interrupted.

"What?" George asked in a puzzled voice. "What are you talking about?"

"I think he's sick." Casey said, trying to find some strength in her voice, but the truth was that it for some reason was hard to explain this to George. "And I mean really sick. I don't think he's faking it, I doubt he would go this far..."

"How far exactly?" George asked his voice serious in a way you rarely heard George speak.

"Um..." Casey said, trying find the right words. "He said that his stomach hurts. And not just in a normal way, he actually collapsed on the floor because of it I think... And he mentioned something about that he had thrown up earlier. I think he's telling the truth, George. He's pale as a sheet and all sweaty and stuff..."

"Well... What else? When did it start? Do you know the cause?" George asked. "Is it something he ate or drank, or... Come on Casey, you have to give me something more to go on."

"I don't know!" Casey answered, her voice broke halfway through the sentence. "I don't know what to do! And I was really hoping that you could tell me, 'cause I'm freaking out here! I usually have a solution for everything, but this time, I'm completely out of ideas! I would give the phone to Derek himself so that he could explain it to you, but he is lying on the floor and I seriously doubt that he can even talk right now! I've never seen him like this, George, and I can honestly not stand it for much longer. So please just tell me what I should do?"

Casey hadn't noticed it until just now, but she suddenly felt tears running down her cheeks. Probably a reaction to the pressure in the situation mixed with stress.

"Alright, I'm sorry Casey..." George apologized sincerely. "Is... Is there any teacher there? Have you told any teacher about this?"

"Derek didn't want a teacher. He wanted me to call you." Casey said in a small voice.

"He did?" George said slowly, in a mix between shock and worry. "Dear god... Alright, I'll be there in 20 minutes. But if he can't wait that long, you're getting a teacher immediately and they'll decide what to do. No matter what Derek says, you hear me! He's the last person you should listen to right now. In the meantime, just... stay with him, okay? I see you soon!"

Before Casey had the chance to say anything, George had hung up. She starred at the phone for few seconds before she snapped out of her trance and put it in her pocket. She noticed her reflection in the restroom mirror and reacted to it immediately. She had visible traces of tears running down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them off with both her hands. She was not about to show anyone, Derek in particular, that she couldn't handle a strong situation. This was due to pure stress, that's all. She was not crying because she was worried about Derek, and she didn't want to risk any misunderstandings about that.

Casey turned back to Derek. He had rolled over again and was lying on his back now with his hands simply resting on his stomach rather than holding on to it. His eyes were closed and he was panting in quick short breaths, obviously still in some pain but at least he had stopped writhing from it.

"I talked to George." Casey informed him, trying to sound casual. "He said that he'll be here in 20 minutes, so you'll have to hold out till then."

"Really...?" Derek panted, his eyes still closed and with the faintest sign of sarcasm in his voice. "That means he either thinks that his car is the only one left on the planet, or he's not planning on paying attention to the speed limits along the way..."

"Are you feeling any better?" Casey asked and knelt beside Derek.

"No..." Derek said in a muffled voice as he gritted his teeth the second a new wave of pain came over him, making him squirm in discomfort and clutch his stomach a bit tighter.

"Have you thought anymore about what could have caused this?" Casey asked, more as a way to start a conversation and keep Derek's mind occupied. "Remember that time when I had my appendix removed? My stomach really hurt back then too. Maybe that is your problem?"

"Casey. There's no way that my appendix is as lame as yours." Derek stated, still without opening his eyes.

"You have no way of knowing that." Casey pointed out.

"Whatever..." Derek muttered, and started to pant slightly.

"Can I get you anything?" Casey suddenly blurted out.

"A bed? Painkillers?" Derek asked deadpanned. "My dignity back...?"

"I was thinking more of something like water from the tap...?" Casey answered and tried her best to make it sound tempting. "Nice, cold water...?"

"Well, thanks for the thought Case." Derek said with a strained smile. "But I have a hunch that if I drink it, it's not gonna stay down for very long."

"Fine... No need to get graphic..." Casey said with an uncomfortable look on her face.

Derek didn't reply to her and started to breathe heavier, like if the pain was staggering again.

"So... How did the hockey training go this morning!" Casey asked eagerly in a nervous voice."

Derek looked up slightly and eyed her suspiciously.

"Are you asking these questions just to keep me talking...?" Derek panted accusingly.

"No, no. No reason at all." Casey said in a hardly convincing voice.

"I'm not dying, you know." Derek kindly pointed out.

"I know that. But... Don't you just hate awkward silence?" Casey said with an encouraging smile.

"I don't really feel like talking right now..." Derek mumbled and closed his eyes again.

Casey was starting to look nervous again. She glanced at her wristwatch. Still fifteen minutes till George would be there. But at least Derek didn't seem to get any worse, so that was a good thing. One good thing to cling to. That was all she needed.

"Well... Could you at least tell me your locker combination so that I can get my English paper back?" Casey suggested, half jokingly. "Something tells me that you won't get the chance to hand it over to Mr Anderson today, so I'd better do it myself."

"Sorry Case, but my locker combination is something that I'm taking with me to the grave." Derek answered

"Hey! You said that you weren't dying!" Casey scolded Derek. "No hangman humor, is that clear? This is scary as it is already..."

"It was just a figure of speech." Derek said tiredly, and apparently hadn't meant the sentence to be funny. "Geez, stop being so overly sensitive..."

"I'm not overly sensitive!" Casey said defensively. "I'm normally sensitive. Just so you know."

"Sure. If you say so." Derek said, still with his eyes closed and didn't seem to be paying that much attention to his surroundings.

He was lying flat on his back with his hands resting on his stomach again. Casey felt very uncomfortable everytime Derek was acting this way. It was so uncharacteristic, and it worried her more than she'd liked to admit. She folded her arms, walked forth and back for a bit before she snapped and turned around.

"Come on now, Derek!" She coaxed. " Don't just lie there. Please? Just... Do something already. Get that lazy butt of yours up from the floor! Can you walk?"

Derek didn't even bother to open his eyes. Casey sighed and crouched beside him.

"Can you stand?" Casey asked.

Derek opened his eyes this time, only to give her a very skeptic look.

"Can you walk if I help you stand up first?" Casey asked.

Derek answered with a deep sigh that indicated that he was more than less interested in this conversation.

"Oh, please. Will you lay off that bad attitude already!" Casey said stubbornly and grabbed one of Derek's hands. "Come on! Just give it a try!"

Derek turned out to be very reluctant to this whole thing, but didn't protest to it. Not exactly being the strongest girl in the school, Casey apparently still had the strength needed to pull her stepbrother up from the floor and help him steady himself against her left shoulder. The act made Derek start breathing heavily again, but not too serious.

"Well... I think that went alright. Do you feel alright?" Casey asked nervously with Derek's right arm around her neck to keep him up.

"... Sure." Derek answered deadpan, looking a little bit sick.

"Ok... Um... Wanna try and take a step?" Casey suggested.

"Yeah, why not..." Derek said, though not sounding too enthusiastic about it.

Casey kept acting as a support for Derek as they walked towards the door. But only after a few steps, Derek suddenly let out a cry of pain and doubled over, still holding on to Casey for support. Casey stared at him in panic, frozen on the spot.

"Oh my god, oh my god... Derek?" She said. "Are you alright? What can I do? Just tell me if there's anything you need me to do."

"I need you to put me down or I'm gonna puke again..." Derek groaned with a thick voice.

Casey immediately helped him back to the corner and Derek slumped back down on the floor again.

"Ok, maybe that wasn't such a great idea..." Casey admitted uneasily.

"No..." Derek panted. "That idea sucked...!"

"I was just trying to help!" Casey said defensively.

"Then help me by stop talking so much, ok...?" Derek said with gritted teeth.

"Fine..." Casey said with a reluctant gesture. "I'll just... Sit here and be quiet till George gets here."

She rested her back against the wall next to Derek and sunk down to the floor, hugging her knees. The minutes passed by silently. Casey was fiddling with her nails absentmindedly, and Derek was lying on his back, looking as pale as ever. Casey looked up and studied him a little closer. He was actually very pale... Had he been this pale before? And he wasn't moving either.

"Derek...?" Casey asked carefully and nudged his shoulder lightly.

Why wasn't he moving? How long had it been now? This couldn't be right. Something was definitely not right!

"DEREK!" Casey yelled, a little louder than she had meant to.

Derek's eyes snapped open as he woke up and immediately flinched in pain, making him roll over to his side.

"What?!" Derek yelled back, looking both exhausted and irritated.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Casey said with an apologetic face. "I-I thought you were..."

"What? Deaf!?" Derek asked in annoyance.

"... I'm so sorry...?" Casey said awkwardly.

Derek sighed and rolled over on to his back again, his breathing still shallow. Casey scooted a little closer, looking a bit worried.

"Are you feeling any better...?" Casey asked carefully.

"I thought you were gonna stop talking." Derek breathed.

"Is that a no?" Casey asked.

"Yes..." Derek answered in a low voice. "So could you please stop asking a bunch of questions? I'm not exactly in the mood to answer them right now."

"But if you don't talk I'll think that you've died on the spot or passed out or become unconscious or... Something else!" Casey said defensively. "And I don't want that!"

"What, you're saying that you care about me?" Derek said, and even though it probably hurt, he managed a teasing smile.

"Don't be silly, of course I do!" Casey said annoyed in a matter of fact voice and folded her arms. "I don't care when you get what you deserve once in a while, but it's not like I want you to die! And I would probably show it more often if you weren't such a jerk all the time!"

"Noted." Derek said and closed his eyes again.

Suddenly, there were steps right outside in the corridor. Casey turned to Derek who looked directly at her with growing panic. Apparently he had also heard them.

"Maybe it's George…?" Casey suggested.

Derek didn't say anything and deep down Casey knew that there was no way that George could have gotten there already. And even if he did, he certainly wouldn't be walking this calmly knowing that his son could be really sick.

Casey sneaked up to the door and opened it a little. She could see a guy coming her way, and it looked like he was aiming for the restroom.

"Derek!" Casey whispered. "There's a guy out there and I think he's gonna use the restroom! What do we do?"

"Don't let him in!" Derek whispered back. He was breathing even more heavily now than before. "Whatever you do, don't let him in here…!"

"And how exactly am I supposed to stop him from doing that!?" Casey yelled as low as she could.

"I don't know! You're smart, use your brain and think of something!" Derek answered looking stressed.

"You're giving my brain way too much credit! This has absolutely nothing to do with what I'm good at!" Casey yelled angrily.

"Casey, listen to me." Derek said a little calmer. "My reputation is on stake here…! Since you're not cool, I don't expect you to know this, but being caught in fetal position on the restroom floor is not a good way to maintain that."

"And since you're a jerk I don't expect you to know this, but if anyone would find out that I've been in the boys' restroom instead of going to class I will never be able to show my face in this school ever again!" Casey yelled back at him.

"Okay, I think at least one of us needs a serious reality check-"

"You showed up at school in nothing but a bathrobe and PJ's! Which one of us really needs a reality check here?" Casey said upset. "Trust me, your reputation will survive this too."

Casey then turned around and took a quick peek outside.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no…! He's right outside…!"

Casey quickly grabbed the door handle the same second it was pulled down by the person from the outside.

"What the…?" Said the guy on the other side and tried to open the door, but Casey wouldn't let it. "Hey, come on man…! I really need to go!"

"Derek! What do I do?!" Casey whispered in desperation as she was keeping the door closed with all the strength she could muster.

"Just… Keep the door closed, Case! You're doing great." Derek said, trying to sound reassuring.

"No, I'm not doing okay!" Casey retorted angrily. "He's a guy, and I'm girl! I can't hold this door forever!"

"Yes you can!" Derek said sternly. "Trust me, he's gonna get tired of this any second and then move on-"

"I'm not leaving until you open this door, you hear me?!" The guy yelled. "I mean it, dude! Just open the door already…!"

"… Okay so he's the stubborn type. This is not good…" Derek sighed.

"No! This is a nightmare…!" Casey said with anguished expression. "An absolute nightmare. Only that instead of ending up in school in nothing but my underwear, everyone is gonna talk about how Casey MacDonald skipped class to lock herself in the boys' restroom with her stupid stepbrother…!"

"I don't think they're gonna refer to me as stupid …" Derek pointed out.

"I'm being teased enough as it is, I don't need this too!" Casey whimpered. "How did I get myself into this mess…I don't even wanna know the rumors and nicknames I'm gonna get after this… I don't want any more nicknames! I just wanna be known as Casey!"

The guy on the other side made another attempt to force the door open, and Casey barely managed to keep it closed.

"Oh just go away already…!" Casey mumbled in impatiently. "Why does he have to be so persistent…!? There are plenty of other restrooms! Go do your business there!"

Derek looked at Casey for a moment. He then suddenly shifted and got up on his knees, making Casey look at Derek in confusion.

"Derek, what are you-"

"Hold that thought…" Derek muttered in a strained voice as he grabbed the nearest washstand for support.

He had soon dragged himself up on his feet, the effort making him pant heavily and Casey was almost positive that he was going to faint. But he didn't. And while holding his stomach with one hand and grabbing hold of the washstands with the other whenever he was about to lose his balance, he finally made it to the door.

"Get behind me…" Derek said to Casey.

"What for? Derek, what are you planning to-"

"Just do it now before I start puking again…!" Derek said in annoyance.

Casey hesitated only a second before she quickly got behind the door. As soon as she was out of sight, Derek opened the door slightly.

"Well, finally…!" The guy on the other side said, but immediately froze in midsentence when he recognized Derek.

"Did you want something? Besides being annoying, that is…?" Derek asked with a subtle glare.

"No, I'm… I'm sorry." The guy said, not sure what else to add. "I didn't know it was you in there. I mean, of course I didn't… But if I had, I can assure you that I wouldn't be so… so…"

"So much of an idiot. I get it." Derek said with a strained smile. "Now, if you would be so kind and leave, I would highly appreciate that."

"But I-"

"Get." Derek said with a glare. "Leave. Be gone. Or did you forget something in here that you want me to go get for you?"

"No…! No, I'm… Alright, I'm leaving." The guy said and started to back away. "I'll just… Use another restroom then."

"Try the girls'. They got soap." Derek said with a smile.

Casey's head popped out through the door under Derek's to see if the coast was clear.

"Has he left?" Casey whispered and looked both right and left as if she was planning to cross a street. "I just want to make sure. He left, didn't he…?"

"Actually, he said he's just going to pick up some buddies and be back in a minute." Derek sighed and rolled his eyes as he pushed Casey's head back behind the door. "Relax, he's gone..."

"Ok, good." Casey said and looked at Derek with a small smile. "Did… You just make an effort to protect me from being ridiculed by the whole school, or were you just trying to save your own butt?"

"Casey, please." Derek snickered as if the answer was obvious, but didn't elaborate on what he meant.

"Well… Despite what you say, I want you to know that I appreciated it." Casey said. "Thank you, Derek. It meant a lot."

Derek made a pained expression and looked almost like if he was going to be sick.

"Oh come on." Casey said indignantly. "You can't even accept a simple token of appreciation without making a joke about it? I really thought you were a little more mature than-"

"Casey…!" Derek breathed in slight annoyance. "Not joking. Just a very, very painful stomach right now…! Try to keep up here…"

"I am keeping up!" Casey said in annoyance. "And you shouldn't have gotten up from the floor in the first place. Even if it was for a good cause, it was still a risky and stupid thing to do in your condition. Look at you; you're in even worse shape than before…!"

"Why do you always find a way to blame everything I do on me…?" Derek complained.

"I dunno. I guess I just happen to be exceptionally good at it." Casey said and folded her arms.

"Can't argue that…" Derek admitted but seemed to barely be listening as he closed his eyes and tried his best to think of something else.

"You look kinda pale." Casey noted and eyed her brother. "Are you sure you don't wanna sit down?"

"No… No, I just…" Derek stuttered, but he didn't seem to be even half aware of what he was saying. "I'm… I'm just gonna…"

Derek suddenly gasped and clutched his stomach with both his hands, his back pressed against the wall. He breathed through gritted teeth and every inhale seemed to be a struggle for him. Casey's expression immediately changed into a worried one and she hesitantly put a hand on Derek's shoulder in a small attempt to comfort.

"Ok, ok. Calm down, Derek." Casey rambled. "Just breathe, relax and breathe… I'm sure it'll pass if you just-"

Derek cried out in pain and dropped to his knees with an anguished sound. Casey flinched from this reaction and stared at her stepbrother in fear. Derek's breathing was now shallow and quickened from the pain and caused him to roll up into a ball on the floor.

"Derek, talk to me." Casey pleaded in desperation. "Tell me what's going on, 'cause I'm freaking out right now…!"

"I think..." Derek breathed and tried to hold back another urge to cry out. "... I think it just got worse..."

"What do you mean 'worse'?" Casey asked.

Derek didn't answer, but instead started to writhe in pain again, still holding his stomach.

"Derek?" Casey asked with a frown. "What's going on, are you alright...?"

Derek's eyes suddenly snapped open, this time with a look of panic. He hurriedly rolled over to his other side, seemingly trying to get away from Casey. She looked at him in confusion, and was just about to repeat her question when she heard a couple of quick breaths from her stepbrother and then the unmistakable sound of vomiting. She stared at him with big eyes.

"Oh god... Oh god..." She began with an awkward voice, watching Derek's body spasm in discomfort as his body tried to dispose of his stomach content, unable to control himself. Casey remembered how he had mentioned briefly that he had thrown up earlier too. But she had a strong feeling that this was worse than before.

When the retching was over, it was followed by several coughs, and he tiredly tried to drag himself up on his elbows. His panting become more rapid and irregular and he clutched his stomach again as he rolled over to the other side, whimpering in pain.

"No, nonono..." Casey said nervously. "Derek, just relax! Okay? Just... Try and relax! It'll pass, I promise. Just stay strong."

But Derek had now started to kick his legs in pain and was groaning louder than before, gritting his teeth in discomfort. Casey made a small attempt to calm him down, but it was no use. Either he couldn't even hear her anymore, or he was hurting too much to care.

"Ok, that's it!" Casey said in a resolute voice. "I'm getting a teacher! This is clearly getting out of hand, and I'm not waiting another minute for..."

The cell phone rang. Casey picked it up immediately and answered it without even looking at the display.

"George! This better be you!" Casey yelled in the phone.

"Casey, I'm outside the school in one minute." George voice answered. "I just need to know where you guys are."

"Derek and I are in the boys' restroom." Casey answered, for the moment not caring about how weird that sentence sounded.

"The boys' restroom?" George asked, confused for a second but decided to drop it. "I don't remember where that is, you'll have to come out and show me."

"Sure. I'll wait outside at the entrance." Casey answered.

"Great! Just hang in there, I'll-"

Casey quickly flipped the phone close before George could finish his sentence. Not to be mean, but she simply didn't want to give George a chance to ask her how Derek was doing. Since she frankly had no idea what to answer...

She put the phone back into her own pocket and got up from the floor.

"Okay, George is finally here." Casey sighed in slight relief. "Just wait here and I'll go to..."

Before Casey could take one step, Derek had grabbed her wrist with his right hand. Casey stared at him in surprise, but Derek wasn't even looking up. His eyes were still tightly shut, and his other hand was desperately clutching his stomach. It was like he had almost grabbed her arm subconsciously.

"I'm really sorry, Derek, but I have to go." Casey said and pried Derek's hand off her. "I'll be back before you know it, okay? It's only gonna take a second, I promise."

Casey hurried to the door, but took one last look at Derek before she closed it behind her.

"And don't you dare go and die on me while I'm away! You hear me!" Casey said warningly and then left.

She ran across the hall, not meeting one single person on the way. Everyone was stuck in class. Oh, how she would have loved to sit in class in the front row and listen to a teacher talking about the French revolution, or explaining Euclidean geometry. No decisions, no panic. Just quietly sit and simply be told what to do. She would have traded anything for that right now. Instead, she was in outside in the corridor running for her life. Or rather Derek's life, but she hoped that it wouldn't come to that.

It turned out that Casey didn't even have to leave the building to find George. Her stepfather had already let himself in and was now standing in the hall. Casey had never seen George like this. He looked haunted, as if he just had seen a very scary movie on TV, and his face had lost most of its color. He looked incredibly stressed, and the moment his eyes found Casey he immediately ran up to her.

"Where is he?" George asked, his voice calm but his face far from it.

Casey signed to him to follow her and they both ran back to the restroom where she had left Derek. She had a small nagging voice in the back of her head telling her about the chance that Derek could have died while she was gone. It was ridiculous, she knew that, but it didn't make her feel easier either.

When they arrived, Casey let George in first and then quickly followed him. Not surprisingly, the room was exactly like it had been when she had left it. Derek was still lying in his corner with his arms around his stomach, writhing on the floor and trying to hold back the worst of the pain, though not very successfully.

George knelt down beside Derek and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Derek!" George said, quite loudly. "Can you hear me?

He sounded very worried. More worried than Casey had ever heard him. She wasn't sure about it, but perhaps George had never seen his oldest son like this. It was enough to shock her, and she had only known Derek for just about two years.

"Derek, I swear to God... If this is all a just an act to skip school or pull a prank on your old man, I..." George went quiet, looking distressed. "... I really don't know what I'll do."

"If he really was faking all this, do you think that he would admit it just like that...?" Casey asked curiously.

"Probably not." George said knowingly with a tired sigh and turned back to Derek. "Come on, Derek. Just say something, please..."

"... What the heck took you so long...?!" Derek said accusingly, without looking up.

"I'm sorry, I got here as fast as I could." George said apologetically, but seemed relieved to hear Derek's voice. "But I'm here now, so it doesn't matter... How are you feeling?"

"Not that good..." Derek muttered with a strained expression.

"Yeah, I heard." George said with a sad smile. "Care to tell me what happened?"

"I don't exactly feel like talking right now." Derek said tiredly with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Then I guess it'll just have to wait till the hospital." George said and got up from the floor.

"The hospital?" Casey said in surprise. "Is it really that serious?"

"I don't know, Casey. But if it is, I'm not taking any chances." George said.

"I don't wanna go to the hospital!" Derek said, despite his earlier no-talking request and with a sudden look of panic in his eyes. "Forget it!"

"I'm sorry Derek, but you're not exactly in the position to make demands right now, as to speak." George said. "And would you rather keep being in this much pain?"

Derek just groaned in discomfort and didn't say anything.

"Then... Shouldn't we call an ambulance or something?" Casey asked.

"It'll take them fifteen minutes to get here. I'll be there in ten." George said. "Trust me. I'm a very good driver. Or perhaps just a very fast one, if you ask your mother... Anyway, we better get you to the car. Can you walk?"

Derek and Casey replied simultaneously with a resolute "NO", making George look at them in confusion, but chose not to ask.

"Ok, that's alright. I'll help you." George said. "Come on, Derek."

When George reached out his hand to help him up, Derek flinched and shut his eyes tightly as he rolled over to his side.

"Derek?" George asked with a raised eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

When Derek didn't answer, George moved his hand to Derek's forehead instead. Casey noticed now how sweaty Derek really was. A detail she hadn't given much thought before.

"He's burning up..." George said in surprise. "Was he running a fever before?"

"I-I don't know. I never thought of checking it." Casey admitted. She didn't say out loud that Derek probably would have protested before she even got near enough to touch his forehead.

Derek's heavy breathing had worsened, and he was panting more than before. He then suddenly cried out again and curled up into a ball when the pain took a turn for the worse. Every breath sounded almost like a low whimper. George removed his hand with a look of deep sympathy and stroked Derek's hair in a comforting way.

"Alright..." George sighed and swallowed nervously. "The faster we get him to a hospital the better. Ok, here we go..."

George then carefully picked his son up in his arms, not without some effort, but as soon as he got a hold of Derek it seemed to get easier. Derek was pale and sweaty, but wasn't writhing as much in pain anymore. Just a slightly twitching now and then. Casey noted that Derek looked so much smaller laying in his father's arms like that. It was hard to believe that they in reality were roughly the same height.

"What can I do to help? Do you need any help? I can help!" Casey said, feeling a desperate need to be of some use.

"If you could lend me a hand with that door that would be nice..." George said with a slightly strained voice. "And perhaps the next one too, if you wouldn't mind... And the door to the car would probably be a good idea too."

The way back to the entrance was less than eventful, with the only exception that Derek suddenly had started to squirm halfway there, forcing them to make a quick stop till he had calmed down.

Finally at the exit, Casey followed George out to the car and watched him quickly lay Derek down in the back seat with George's jacket rolled together as a pillow. Casey looked through the car window at Derek, who didn't seem to be aware of anything that was happening around him. George closed the door and got in behind the wheel to start up the engine.

"Okay, um... I call you as soon as I know anything." George said. "I'm not sure when Nora will get home, but do you think you could inform her about this when she does? And try and not be too blunt in front of Marti... She will probably not take this very well. So if you-"

"I'm so sorry..." Casey interrupted, looking miserable.

"For what?" George asked, looking puzzled.

"For listening to Derek and not get the school nurse the same moment I saw that something was wrong!" Casey said. Of course she was blaming herself for this. She and her stupid brain that thought it was so smart but couldn't even tell when a person needed help.

"Casey..." George said in a kind voice. "If listening to Derek would be considered a crime, then half our family would be locked up indefinitely. It doesn't make me think less of you, not the least. A bit naive, perhaps. But... We'll work on that when we get home. You have nothing to be sorry for. On the contrary, I should be thanking you. God knows what could have happened if you hadn't..."

George went quiet, not that keen on pondering over the alternatives. Casey made a small smile in appreciation.

"Yeah... I guess." Casey said and then her expression changed into a sad one. "Though I kinda wish I hadn't... I don't think I've been so scared in my whole life."

George only smiled at her. He then closed the door and Casey watched him drive off. She simply stood by the side of the road, not moving an inch. The whole unpleasant experience was just setting in and making itself at home in her mind. A stream of questions ran through her head, but she decided that she didn't want to think about any of them yet.

As a way of distraction, she glanced at her wristwatch and jumped at the time. It was less than ten minutes left of her class. She had never realized that it had been that long. The time hadn't exactly been on her mind during this whole thing... It was hardly any use to go back to class now... And she wasn't exactly looking forward to tell the teacher and any eavesdropping classmate about what just had happened.

Suddenly, one thing came to her mind when she realized something.

"Darn it!" Casey exclaimed with an angry gesture. "My English assignment is still in Derek's locker!"

oOoOo

Author's Note: Now, I was thinking of adding a third chapter that deals with the aftermath of all this (Derek is gonna be fine, guys!), but I'm kinda swamped with school and life for the moment. So unless there actually are people out there who WANT a third chapter, I'm not gonna write one.

But if you enjoyed the story and really want a third chapter, just leave a review. ;)