Mr. Baird was the third teacher to bombard Elaine concerning Daniel's absence and the short trip out of the school both she and the headmaster had taken earlier that morning. Teachers were sent a list of students who called in sick early in the morning, and since no one thought to inform the school of Daniel's situation, his name was left off the list. So when he failed to show up for class, each of his teachers thought it odd their new star pupil would skip class. Compound that with the conspicuous absence of both the headmaster and Elaine, several staff members began wondering just what was going on.
"No, Mr. Baird, Daniel is not absent from school today." Elaine calmly noted as the intimidating English teacher hovered over her desk. "He is not feeling well and is currently in the care of Nurse Kellman."
"And did that have anything to do with you and Allister leaving earlier today?" Mr. Baird raised his eyebrow at Elaine.
"And if it did?" Elaine looked innocently back at Mr. Baird.
Mr. Baird smirked. "Will he be in class tomorrow?"
"I really don't know, Mr. Baird. As I'm sure you'll find out from the headmaster later, Mr. Jackson had a small issue with foster care placement over the weekend, which is currently being attended to. However, only the headmaster can give us a better picture."
The conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Headmaster Thomas, who to Elaine's happiness, did not wear the face of an angry man as he had when he left the school an hour earlier.
"Everything go well, Headmaster?"
The Headmaster smiled briefly. "This situation shouldn't happen again."
He stepped up next to Mr. Baird, greeting him by his first name, "James." The two men shook hands in greeting.
"Pardon me, but I'm heading upstairs for a few moments. I assume Mrs. Urquhart is doing well?" Allister nodded towards his office door as he questioned Elaine.
"She's just waiting on her husband, who should be here within the hour. I was just about to check up on her when Mr. Baird approached with questions concerning Mr. Jackson."
The Headmaster smiled and turned again to the English teacher. "Nothing gets by you, does it, James?"
Both men chuckled. "That's why you only hired the best, Allister, if I do say so myself. I do hope you'll fill me in later on the situation? Daniel's absence from class was quite conspicuous."
Allister nodded. "I'll be filling in necessary faculty after we have a successful resolution to the problem, which should be before the end of the school day."
With that, Headmaster Thomas patted Mr. Baird on the back, and exited the main office, heading towards the grand staircase.
Nurse Kellman was not surprised in the least when the headmaster walked into her office and asked how Daniel was doing. Allister Thomas always took a personal interest in all of his students, a trait that Nurse Kellman personally adored in the headmaster.
"He's just fine, Headmaster. Elaine was right; based on what you told me, it looks like he had an anxiety attack, which can be very draining on someone. He's still sleeping, but I think he'll be up soon. I expect you'll want me to keep him here the rest of the day?"
The Headmaster looked like he was about to respond when Nurse Kellman heard a familiar rustling noise from the other room. It sounded like Daniel was up and moving. The two adults moved to the doorway and spied Daniel Jackson sitting up and rubbing his eyes with his fists.
Helene Kellman moved forward and took a seat on the edge of Daniel's bed. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the headmaster back out of the doorway and give the two of them a bit of privacy.
"Hello, Daniel. How are you feeling?"
Daniel seemed distracted and confused, looking around for something. "I'm at St. Antholian's?"
"Yes, you are. Open up." She pulled out a glass thermometer from her breast pocket of her nurse's uniform and handed it over to Daniel, motioning him to place it under his tongue.
He stared at it for a moment. "I had a fever?"
"No, but I want a reading anyway. Go on." She waited patiently as he inserted the instrument in his mouth before taking his wrist and taking a pulse.
"How did I-" Daniel started to ask, but Helene stopped him, holding up a finger.
"No talking while taking a temperature." Daniel sighed but waited in silence. Exactly four minutes after he put the thermometer in his mouth, Helene plucked it out, shaking it and giving it a good read. "Perfect 98.6." She wrapped the instrument in a napkin and put it back in her pocket, reminding herself to sterilize it before next use. "Well, you seem to be just fine by me." She smiled at him after standing up.
"How did I get here?" Daniel asked, still looking around. "Have you seen my glasses?"
"Your glasses are on the table to your right. As to the first question, Headmaster Thomas is better suited to answer that. You up to visitors?"
Daniel shifted around to reach his glasses, and placing them on his face, he nodded quietly. She took it as the sign to let the waiting headmaster in.
Daniel's nerves stood on end when he saw Headmaster Thomas walk into the small room. He didn't remember much of this morning, but he was fairly certain the headmaster had been at his foster home. He thought for a moment longer. Hadn't he moved last night? Why was he here if they removed him from the school and enrolled him back in the public school system? Had he said or done something wrong, or was he just imagining the past twenty-four hours?
"Mr. Jackson, feeling any better?" The headmaster smiled at him, which meant the headmaster wasn't angry with him. He nodded cautiously. "That's good to hear, Daniel. Mind if I take a seat and we talk for a moment?"
Daniel's heart began racing, unsure of what the headmaster was going to say. Maybe he was going to tell Daniel he was no longer a student here, or that he was in serious trouble for something. "Sure." He gave a fleeting hopeful grin, but tucked his knees under his chin as he prepared to hear the worst news possible.
Headmaster Thomas settled himself on the bed across from Daniel. "I wanted to discuss what happened this weekend and this morning. Are you okay with that?" The headmaster's voice was calm and collected.
Daniel nodded. "I'm not sure what exactly did happen, sir. I don't know how I ended up here."
Headmaster Thomas remained silent for a moment. "Well, tell me what you do remember."
Daniel closed his eyes and ran through his memory. "I was moved to a new family yesterday, the, uh, Urquharts, I think. This new caseworker moved me, not Mrs. Johnson. She told me the school knew about the move, that it was still expecting me Monday morning. But when I went downstairs this morning, Mrs. Urquhart told me I was enrolled at some middle school and the bus was arriving any moment. Rocco wasn't sitting outside like he always does. I think I argued with her before she told me to go to my room and wait for the bus. I don't remember much after that."
Daniel could feel his heart racing again, his mind still confused, when he also felt the bed sag deeper. It was then he noticed the headmaster sitting next to him. Mr. Thomas pulled Daniel up and placed an arm around his shoulders.
"You've got most of it correct. Mrs. Rogers, the caseworker who moved you, didn't read through your file and thought you were an average special needs eleven-year-old. She did you a great disservice by looking at your file without reading it and making assumptions. She incorrectly enrolled you in public school, though to alleviate your fears, that enrollment did not change your status here, Daniel. You are still very much a student at Saint Antholian's. She also made assumptions about you because you're listed as a special needs child, whom she believes are disobedient, deceitful, manipulative and prone to lying, and possibly physically abusive. What she failed to mention is that you're listed as special needs because you didn't speak English when you entered into Social Services, not to mention how special your educational circumstances are. According to Mrs. Urquhart, she had only Mrs. Rogers' word about you, which would scare any foster parent, and that information led her to believe you were willfully disobeying and lying to her about your school situation. She said she sent you to your room to calm down for a few minutes, and when she went upstairs to get you for the bus, she found your door locked."
Daniel gave a guilty grimace. "I always lock the door behind me. Its safer when you're having an argument with someone from the foster family."
He noticed a shocked expression on the Headmaster's face before it quickly disappeared. The Headmaster's arm squeezed a little tighter around his shoulders, which was comforting. "That issue aside, by the time Mrs. Urquhart was able to get the door unlocked, Rocco had already reported to the school you were not at the Beckers and we tracked you down there. We found you in the throes of an all out anxiety attack in the closet. As you came down from the attack, you passed out from exhaustion. We thought it best that Nurse Kellman look you over and make sure you didn't require any further medical treatment, and so you ended up here."
"I'm sorry, headmaster." Guilt rushed over Daniel when he realized the hassle he created this morning. He was embarrassed over the amount of attention that was paid to the situation, especially by the Headmaster since he had to interrupt his very busy day for this. He didn't want to be a burden to the school like he was to the foster families.
"I'm sorry, headmaster."
When Daniel said this, Allister was completely taken aback. If anyone was to be sorry, it certainly wasn't Daniel. But the child next to him radiated guilt, and Allister had to wonder what was going through Daniel's mind.
"Daniel, you have done nothing for which you need to apologize! I want you to pay careful attention to me. Look at me." He pulled the boy's chin up so he could see his blue eyes. "This is not your fault, Daniel. I want you to wipe this guilty look off your face because it certainly does not belong there. Do you understand?" Daniel's silence was eerie but he nodded. Tears began to swell. He could tell Daniel didn't believe him, but there was little he could do about that for now.
Remembering how Daniel's fears of leaving St. Antholian's had initiated the anxiety attack, Headmaster Thomas thought it important to reiterate Daniel's place at the school. "I made a promise to your grandfather to educate you, and I always keep my promises, especially when so much is at stake. It would take extreme circumstances for me to ever disenroll you or expel you from St. Antholian's, and don't for a moment think that what happened today even comes close." He felt the tension in the boy release, and he knew he was on the right track. "You know, It's my responsibility to worry about the welfare of every one of my students. That includes not only their time here, but twenty-four hours a day. If I know something is amiss in the home life of any student, I'm duty bound to intervene where possible. I make it a priority to know that students at St. Antholian's are safe once they leave school grounds and I do whatever I can, whether it is holding parent-teacher conferences, arranging for assistance, or just being available to listen when someone is having a problem. You can always come to me, or to Mrs. McPherson or any of the teachers, if you are having problems at home." He felt Daniel nod and sit up straighter.
"When your grandfather called me and asked me to admit you to St. Antholian's, I knew that you would need extra attention and support from the school. I knew what I was signing on for when I worked everything out with Mrs. Johnson and finalized the paperwork. Today was a bit of a hiccup, and people who don't know about our special arrangement messed things up for us, but I knew that mistakes were going to occur. No system is perfect, and certainly not Social Services, so I learned today. But we got through it, and I'm instituting a new procedure when and if you are moved again. I'm going to insist that all new foster parents meet with me either before you move or immediately after the move so that something like this doesn't happen again. I also had a little chat with the supervisor at Social Services today to correct the egregious error Mrs. Rogers committed. I suspect that the office will remember the name Daniel Jackson for a while."
Daniel chuckled and scrubbed his face, and Allister could tell that Daniel felt much better about what happened. Allister patted Daniel on the back before moving back over to the other bed. He had one last discussion that he needed to hold with Daniel. "There is one more thing I need to discuss with you, Daniel, and I want you to carefully think about this for a moment. After what happened today, do you think you still want to go back with the Urquharts, or do you want me to press to find you a new home?"
Daniel's face showed guilt once again. "I really don't know, sir. I feel awful about how I acted this morning, how much I must have scared her. I'm not sure Mrs. Urquhart can forgive me."
Allister did all he could to hide his anger at whatever made Daniel believe that about foster parents, but he felt assured that the woman sitting down in his office was not the unforgiving type. She seemed truly concerned about Daniel during and after the situation. "Assuming they wanted you to stay, would you give them a second chance?"
"They don't need a second chance, I'm the one who caused all the trouble."
"Daniel, what did I just tell you earlier?" His voice was stern, but not angry.
Daniel dropped his head to his chest, seemingly embarrassed. "This is not my fault."
"Correct. And from the conversations I have had with Mrs. Urquhart, I don't believe she thinks this is your fault, either. So, back to my first question: do you want to give the Urquharts another try?"
Daniel nodded resolutely, taking in a deep breath as if he was mentally strengthening himself. "Good. Meet me downstairs in my office after you have a chance to make yourself presentable. I have the Urquharts in my office already, and when you come down, all of us will discuss the situation and see if we can come to an acceptable resolution. Alright?"
Again, Daniel only nodded, but he started combing his fingers through his hair. Satisfied with the outcome of the conversation, Allister exited the infirmary after quickly informing Nurse Kellman that Daniel was expected in the Headmaster's office in twenty minutes.
