A Wish on a Full Moon
I do not own H2O: Just Add Water or any of the characters.
Chapter 40: Under the Weather (Part 1)
[It was a cloudy morning on the Gold Coast as thunder echoed outside. The girls were hanging out at Emma's house before school, eating some homemade yogurt that Lisa had made for them and the rest of the family. Rikki pours some into a bowl from the mixer and walks over to the other side of the kitchen where Emma and Cleo were leaning against the counter. Rikki hops onto the counter next to them as the three dig into the delicious homemade yogurt.]
Rikki: to Emma. "Your mom is a kitchen queen."
"Why thank you, Rikki. Though I wouldn't say that," Lisa chuckled, blushing lightly at the comment before it quickly fades as she realized what this day is. "Nonsense mom, your cooking is amazing," Elliot beamed. "It really is significant," Mrs. Chatham said, giving her a genuine smile, which she gratefully returned.
"Uh-oh," Emma said, her face going pale. Rikki rubbed the back of her neck, grimacing at the unfortunate time they're happening to watch.
"Hold on, isn't this the time when you girls faked a sickness?" Neil questioned, having the same thoughts as his wife. "You guys faked being sick? Now I would really like to find out how this goes," Ash chuckled in amusement. "As do I," Neil responded. "We had a good reason for it," Cleo confirmed. "One that I would like to find out as well," Don stated, arms crossed.
Cleo: points at the food with her spoon, looking at Emma. "How does she make this yogurt?"
"It's a family recipe. My mother taught me how to make it when I was younger. I could teach it to you if you'd like," Lisa explained to her. Cleo smiled up at her excitedly. "Really? That would be amazing! I would love to." The two of them smile at each other and turn back to the screen, not noticing a certain person feeling down about not being able to teach her daughter how to cook it herself. She didn't know how to make yogurt of course, but still, it hurt.
Emma: "Who knows? But we've got to get going." Looks at Rikki. "Biology exam today, remember?"
"Ugh, biology. One of my least favorite classes," Cleo scoffed. "I thought you hated history," Kim said. "That one too." "You hate all of your classes, don't you?" Will chuckled. "Definitely."
Rikki: "There's plenty of time for that."
Emma: "I don't want to miss it. I studied all weekend." Walks away from them and around the other end of the counter.
"If you didn't want to miss it, then you should've gone," Kim grinned. "But we couldn't go. And besides, we got to make it up anyway," Emma countered. "Why couldn't you go?" Bella asked. "We had a bit of a, erm, dilemma," Cleo winced, confusing the other mermaid.
"You studied? On a weekend?" Ash looked at her in shock, jaw-dropped. "Yeah, so what?" Ash blinked, then blinked again before finally speaking. "What is wrong with you?!"
Rikki: "So what's the flavor? Is it blueberry, or-?"
"Actually, it was blackberry, but very close," Lisa commented.
Emma: walks into the living room. "You two haven't studied, have you?"
Rikki: "No." Looks over to her as Emma puts on her backpack. "Does it show?"
Cleo: "I only managed twenty minutes. And every minute was agony."
"A waste of twenty minutes. My brain felt fried the entire time," Cleo groaned. "And I couldn't remember a single thing!"
Emma: picks up their bags and lays them on the counter behind Rikki. "You're hopeless. So, can we go?"
Rikki: and Cleo look at each other, then finally give in to Emma's pleads. "Alright, alright. Such a stress head." They put their bowls down and Rikki hops off the counter. The two walk around the bar and grab their bags.
Neil stared at the screen in complete confusion. They were going to go? I thought they were going to skip out the whole day, but they actually decided to go? What made them change their mind? And as if he was able to read their mind, Don asked the questions for him.
"If you were going to go to school, anyway, then why did you guys change your mind and skip?" Don interrogated. "Because we had no other choice," Cleo sighed, knowing this was going to make them look bad; not bad-bad, but made them look like liars for sure. "You guys skipped school?!" Ash, Will, Bella, and Charlotte exclaimed. "As we said before, we had a good reason for it. One you will get to see real soon," Rikki said, slightly annoyed.
[The three of them walk out the front door and immediately stop in their steps when they hear thunder under the small covered porch. They look up at the sky and see the dark clouds rolling in, and the sounds of thunder coming with it. The darkness of the sky was sending them a clear warning that it was a threat as they looked at it extremely worried.]
Cleo: tries to keep their hopes up as they look at the sky. "Nothing to worry about. I checked the weather report and it's meant to clear up."
"One thing I've learned by now, it's to never completely trust what the meteorologists say," Don chuckled. "I've had plenty of incidents on the boat where I was stuck in a nasty storm."
Bella looks at the sky in worry, knowing very well what that meant for the girls. And now understands why they couldn't go anywhere, because if they did, the only way they would get to school is if they flopped their tails down the street.
[A flash of lightning carried throughout the sky and an even louder boom of thunder followed after it. And at the sound of the boom, the rain came after, flooding the street, the sidewalks, the yard, and the walkway that the girls were fixing to take. Rain pours from the sky, not leaving a single spot dry. The girls quickly take a step back to make sure they don't get wet.]
Rikki: looks at the other girls. "We wouldn't even make it to the street without growing tails."
"Oooh, yeah. I forgot about the rain. So that's why you girls didn't go," Don said in realization, nodding his head. "I knew there was something else behind all of this," Kim said smiling.
"That makes so much more sense. Emma would've never risked making a bad grade," Neil said, finally understanding the situation.
"You guys couldn't' leave because of the rain," Sam summarized. "Exactly. Lucky for us it only rains every once in a while. So, we never had to worry about it that much," Cleo explained.
"Lucky you," Bella muttered, letting a breath out. From her experiences with traveling so much with her father, Bella has seen plenty of places that had loads of rain. Currently in England, it has been raining quite a bit the past week, so she hasn't been able to get out of the house yet. Luckily, with her father knowing about her secret, she doesn't have to get questioned or forced to go outside or anything.
[Emma closes the door carefully behind them once they were back inside. Rikki heads for the living room, the other two following her.]
Rikki: "Since turning into a mermaid isn't an option, we have to stay here." She smiles at the thought and throws her bag on the couch.
"You were just happy that we had to put a hold on the exam," Emma pouted. "You know me so well," Rikki grinned.
"If it was raining, why didn't you just tell mom you couldn't go? She was there," Elliot said. "We did, but it didn't turn out as we expected at first," Emma winced along with her mother.
Emma: "We can't just sit here. I studied all Saturday and Sunday for this exam."
Rikki: sits down and the other two sit across from her. "Relax, there will be others."
Emma: sits on the armrest, looking down at their current situation. "That's not funny."
"Yes, there will be, but you would have gotten a bad grade on it still if it hadn't have been rescheduled," Lewis told her. "Yippee," Rikki said, rolling her eyes.
"I still can't believe you studied, on a weekend of all days. That-that's just so, awful. I don't even know how to describe it," Ash said, looking very repulsed at the thought. "I had to earn my A somehow," Emma shrugged.
Lisa: walks into the living room to find the trio still there. Leans against the counter, giving them a stern look. "Why are you girls still here?"
Cleo: the three look at her, then points to the window. "There's a typhoon outside."
Emma: "It's bucketing down. We're stuck."
"No need to be that dramatic," Charlotte chuckled. "For us, it's not. The outside world was an absolute no-go zone," Rikki said.
Lisa: rolls her eyes as if they hadn't realized the obviousness. "Well, I'll drive you. The cars just out front. Come on." She gestures for them to follow as she retrieves her keys off the table and walks up the steps to the front entrance. The three girls hesitate as they send each other worried looks, wondering the same thing about how they were going to get out of this mess. Lisa grabs an umbrella by the front door as the girls reluctantly stand up.
"I'm sorry girls if I had realized," Lisa trailed off, feeling guilty about the whole thing. If she had known, she would've let them stay there without a second thought. She wouldn't have forced them to go along with it as she did on-screen. "It's okay, mom. You didn't know," Emma looked at her, feeling a bit bad about having to lie to her mom during that whole day.
[Lisa opens the door and walks out. The girls slowly follow her out onto the front porch, checking every angle to make sure no water was heading their way. Unfortunately, they had to stop, since they could only go as far as the covered porch, while Lisa opens her umbrella and holds it above her head, and walks down the now soaking wet path to the car. She stops and looks at the car then turns around to see the girls standing there, looking very concerned.]
Lisa: shouts over the sound of the pounding rain. "It's just rain. A bit of water won't hurt you. Come on. Come on." Lisa gestures for them to follow but the girls won't budge. She takes a step towards them, but they still refuse to go, their concern growing even more. She reaches out to grab Cleo's hand, but Cleo retaliates and takes a step back, looking terrified.
"A bit of water will hurt us a lot," Emma said, the other two girls nodding quickly in agreement.
"You really wanted us to go to school," Rikki joked. "Well just like her, I prefer you not to skip either," Terry said, giving his daughter a look.
Cleo: shakes her head anxiously, the other two girls taking a step back as well, wondering what they were going to do. "I really don't think we should, Mrs. Gilbert."
"Well, this ought to be interesting. I would love to see how this plays out," Denman grinned, crossing her arms and legs. "We ended up pretending to be sick," Cleo confirmed.
[Lisa looks at her confused as Cleo backs up until she was inside, looking very terrified. The rest of them follow her back into the front entrance as Lisa lowers the umbrella and closes the door. Cleo quickly holds her hand up to her head and drops her shoulders, acting as if she were a bit weak. The other two blondes look at her in worry.]
Lisa: "It's just a quick dash, Cleo. What's the matter with you?"
"I knew you had a fear of water, I was thinking it was because of that," Lisa chuckled. "It probably would've worked more than the sick excuse," Zane mentioned. "I could've used it, but the other two couldn't. Especially since Emma used to be on the swim team. That's why we went with the sick excuse," Cleo pointed out. "Thanks for reminding me," Emma said quietly, thinking about the old days.
[Cleo looks at her warily before her eyelids droop and close her eyes, then falls to the ground as if she were fainting. Emma and Rikki, who were standing next to her, quickly grab her as she falls to the floor. They lower her down and they begin checking on her.]
Lisa: gasps. "Cleo? Cleo, are you alright?" She runs over to check on her.
"Oh, my goodness," Annette gasped, holding her hand to her heart. "Don't worry everyone, I was fine," Cleo informed them as all eyes landed on her.
"I'm guessing this was part of your master plan for being sick?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yup. We didn't have much time, so I had to think quick. Pretty brilliant, huh?" Cleo smirked. "Eh, I've seen better acting," Kim teased. "It could've fooled me. I thought it was real," Lisa shook her head. "Sorry, Mrs. Gilbert, but I didn't know what else to do," Cleo apologized. "It's quite alright, dear. But next time, just be honest with me, please?" Cleo smiled. "Well, now that you know, we don't have to worry about that do we?"
"At least it was you instead of dad, he probably would've fainted just from the sight of me fainting," Cleo joked, looking over at her dad who was already looking a little pale himself. "Don't scare us like that and I won't have to," Don huffed.
[A few minutes later as the thunderstorm continues, they have Cleo laying on the couch covered up in a blanket as they surround her. Emma sits on the end of the couch, Rikki leans against the back of it and Mrs. Gilbert is sitting on the table next to her. Cleo looks up at them with tired eyes.]
Lisa: "How are you feeling?"
Cleo: shakes her head. "Not so good. I'm kind of dizzy. And-and I've got a headache. And my tummy hurts really bad-." Lisa gives her a sympathetic look as Rikki eyes her, thinking this was strange. "And-." Cleo starts coughing, Mrs. Gilbert flinches back. Emma rolls her eyes. "A cough? It-it's really hot. Is the heat on?"
"Ok well I know what I'm getting you for Christmas," Lewis said, leaning back. "What?" Cleo asked curiously. "A gift certificate for acting classes. I mean seriously, I know you had to make it up on the spot, but you could've done better than that," Lewis scoffed; Cleo rolls her eyes. "It's not easy when you don't have time to think something up."
"The tummy ache and the cough is a good one, but with the heat, it could cause a problem, she could easily check your temperature. Then she would know, and you would have to go back out in the rain," Charlotte mentioned. "Not when there are three mermaids around," Rikki smirked, confusing the others.
"We had trouble like this before, though it seems like we took similar approaches," Mrs. Chatham chuckled, reminiscing about their rainy sick days. "Though we never fainted."
Lisa: leans forward and puts her hand against her cheek, making sure that she doesn't have a temper. "No. You might have a fever. Just wait here." Stands up and heads into the kitchen to check one of her drawers for something.
"Where was I going to go? I was trapped," Cleo chuckled.
Emma: turns back to Cleo after making sure her mom couldn't listen in and whispers. "Why did you fall down like that?"
Cleo: "I don't know. It just came to me." Nods and smiles. "Brilliant, huh?"
Rikki: holds her hand up in an ok symbol. "Award-winning performance."
"Even Rikki thought it was top-notch acting," Cleo said. "Sweetheart, I believe that was sarcasm," Don chuckled.
"You could've just said you didn't feel good instead of fainting. That makes it seem worse than the symptoms you explained," Bella said. "Well except for the dizziness. It could be connected to that. Otherwise, it's not such a bad excuse," Ash remarked.
Cleo: "Someone had to think of something."
"And it just had to be you," Kim rolled her eyes, laughing.
Emma: "So, do you have any plan happening here?"
Cleo: smirked. "I'm making it up as I go along."
"Which is not a very good idea. Just stick with the symptoms you have and don't make it seem any worse than it actually is," Zane said. "You sound like an expert at this. How many times have you used a sick excuse?" Harrison questioned him. Not enough, Zane chuckled to himself, shaking his head. "Sorry, dad. That's for me to know and for you to figure out."
Lisa: walks back into the living room, not hearing the conversation they had. She shakes the thermometer, getting it ready then leans forward to give it to Cleo. "Here we go."
Cleo: frowns, looking a bit nervous. "Um, do I have to?"
Lisa: "Yes." Sticks the thermometer into Cleo's mouth.
"Didn't think this part through, did you?" Max chuckled.
"That's what happens when you 'make it up as you go,'" Kim grinned. "Yeah, I should've expected that as soon as I said I felt hot. I should've known better," Cleo winced.
Emma: looks at her mom a bit worriedly. "Mom, I-I don't really think she has a temperature."
Lisa: "Well, we'll wait and see, won't we?"
"That's because she doesn't," Elliot said. "Well, it doesn't hurt to check and make sure," Lisa said.
[While the two were distracted, Rikki looks over at Cleo and raises her hand slightly, and uses her power just enough to make the thermometer a little hotter. Cleo watches her curl her fingers then look at the thermometer. Rikki stops and lowers her hand back onto the couch, smirking as she does so. Emma looks over at Rikki, sensing the magic being used.]
"Now that is brilliant," Ash grinned. "Very clever," Max smiled in amusement. Julia never would've thought of doing that.
"I can't believe you didn't notice that," Neil shook his head. "Well, Emma had me distracted. And how was I supposed to know she had magic?" Lisa frowned. "Actually mom, I didn't know Rikki had done that until after," Emma said.
"That's my girl," Terry chuckled, before quieting down as he saw the other looks that the adults were giving him for cheering on his daughter for using her powers in a mischievous way.
[Lisa takes the thermometer from Cleo's mouth and reads it. She frowns once she notices the temperature it shows.]
"I should've known that something was wrong. The temperature was higher than a normal fever, and she didn't even seem like it was a dangerously high one," Lisa stated.
"I'm guessing you added a little too much heat, huh Rikki?" Lewis looked at her. "I wasn't used to using my powers on non-liquid objects. And plus, we hadn't mastered our powers yet at that time. But I had to do it or else she would've realized that Cleo was faking," Rikki replied. You still haven't mastered your powers. Well, not your weather ones at least, Lewis thought.
Cleo: notices her look. "What's wrong?"
Lisa: shakes her head, a bit confused as all three girls look at her. "Oh, there's nothing wrong. You just stay here and relax." Stands up and heads back into the kitchen.
"It's all I could do, couldn't go nowhere else," Cleo sighed.
Emma: watches her go then turns back to them, whispering. "I hate lying to my mom. We have a family policy to always tell the truth."
"You broke that policy the moment you became a mermaid," Rikki scoffed. "Not true, it was when I had to lie to them about having to quit the swimming team," Emma corrected before she wiped the smile off her face at being reminded that she had lied so much to her family.
Rikki: looks at her. "Have you told her you're a mermaid?"
Emma: looks away. "No."
Rikki: "So, it's a flexible policy, you might say."
"You got that right," Lewis snorted.
The Gilbert family looks at one another, feeling a bit bad about the policy that they created. From the sounds of it, it put a lot of pressure on Emma. She always grew up to be an honest person, and because of their new life, she was forced to choose to be either honest or keep a huge secret from her family. And it was obvious to anyone that it was hard on her.
"I promise, now that you know, no more secrets from you guys. I will be completely honest," Emma promised her family. They smiled at the thought. "It's okay, darling. When you need to tell us something next time, just take your time to think it through," Lisa said gently.
Lisa: comes back into the room, this time on the phone with her husband. "Yes, darling, I thought that too. Alright, yes, you do that. Ok, then. Bye-bye." Lisa hangs up the phone and sits back down on the table in front of Cleo and talks to her. "That was Neil, he's just going to call a doctor."
"Thanks for calling them first instead of us, Neil," Don called out. "I was going to call you while Neil called the doctor, but once the girls started acting up even more, I didn't know what was going on. We didn't need anyone else getting sick," Lisa said carefully.
Cleo: eyes widen, shaking her head. "Eh, you don't have to do that. I'm fine, really. It's, it's not that serious."
"Afraid of doctors, huh Cleo?" Charlotte chuckled. You have no idea, Cleo thought as she looked over at the marine biologist. "When we became mermaids, one of the first rules we made was to stay as far away from doctors as we can, even if we do get sick. We weren't too sure if they would find something about our secret in our blood or other samples," Emma explained. "And when the whole Denman thing first happened, we found our proof out there." The others nodded along until Max paused. Wait, what does she mean by first?
Lisa: "People don't faint without a reason, especially young, healthy girls. You just stay there and don't move."
"They do when they can't go out in the rain," Cleo muttered, hugging herself.
Lisa: points to the other two girls. "You two, on the other hand, have to get to school. But I will call your parents first." Lightning flashed outside, brightening the terrified faces on the two blondes as they realized they had to do something quick too. They look at Cleo, trying to figure out a plan. Cleo shrugs.
"And you just gave them an idea," Neil said, lowering his head into his hand. "I didn't know. How on earth was I supposed to know?" Lisa said a bit annoyed.
"Huh, so she was going to call us," Don hummed. "She already told you that," Bev muttered.
[Rikki and Emma pull the curtains back to peek out the window, finding that it was still flooding outside. Rikki closes the curtain back and she and Emma turn back around, facing the living room. Cleo looks up at them as they walk back to her couch.]
Rikki: "We've got to do something."
"Why didn't you three just use your powers against the rain?" Charlotte asked. "Because like I said earlier, we didn't have full control over it yet," Rikki explained. "That and the fact that it was out in public, people would've asked how we stayed dry, and we couldn't risk it while my mom and brother were still there. Somebody would've seen us," Emma sighed.
It might work now that you've got these new powers, Lewis thought. Since you guys have the power over the weather, I'm sure it'll work even better.
Lisa: hangs up the phone after talking to Neil and puts it back on the line. Walks out of the kitchen and into the living room. Talks to Emma and Rikki. "Alright, come on girls. Let's get going."
Emma: and Rikki hesitate until Emma slouches, her poise frame drooping. Rikki reaches out to catch her but stops when Emma grabs ahold of the couch. "Oh no, I'm feeling dizzy." She limps against the side of the couch, holding on tightly to it as Lisa grabs ahold of Emma gently. "And hot. I think I'm about to cough." Emma lets out a weak cough.
"Yikes, and I thought Cleo's acting was bad," Kim grimaced.
"Sorry, mom. I shouldn't have lied," Emma winced. "I understand, darling. Although next time if you ever feel the need to fake a sickness again, make sure you do it correctly. You really need some practice," Lisa chuckled. "Are you teaching our daughter how to fake being sick?" Neil asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "I'm not talking about in front of us. Just in case she needs to do so in front of a teacher or maybe her boss. This won't be her last rainy day," Lisa informed.
"Have you ever faked a sickness mom?" Elliot asked, looking up at her. "Heh heh, maybe later sweetheart," Lisa smiled widely, not wanting to talk about her teenage years in front of him.
Lisa: "This must be very bad. You, young lady, never get sick." Lisa leads Emma over to the other couch. Emma sits down and tenses up as her mom stands right behind her, feeling weird about lying to her mom.
"What about the time she had the flu when she was nine?" Bev asked, remembering she had to keep Cleo away for a few days. "That was the only time we've ever known she was genuinely sick. Otherwise, she was always completely fine. Emma always kept herself tidy and healthy," Lisa informed, making Emma blush.
Rikki: begins fanning herself with her jacket and lets out a breath as Cleo looks over at her. "Come to think of it, I'm feeling a bit hot myself." Lisa looks up at her in surprise.
"You see there? At least she seems like she's actually feeling a bit sick," Lewis shook his head. "She's a better actor than you two!" Kim pointed out.
"Really, Rikki? You too?" Terry sighed. "You know me, dad. Can't miss out on all the fun," Rikki joked. "Not the time, Rikki, not the time," Terry shook his head.
Rikki: walks over weakly to the couch, breathing deeply. As she sits down, she furrows her eyebrows and slugs her shoulders. "Wait, now I'm cold." Lisa turns around and puts her keys back on the table. Rikki and Emma look over at her. "No, hot again."
Emma: glances at Rikki. "Me too. Hot and cold flashes." Cleo lowers herself further into her blanket, giving the two an odd look.
"… Never mind," Kim said, lowering into her seat in defeat.
"Ok, change that. I am now going to get you guys a groupon to an acting class," Lewis told them.
"I knew right then that things weren't going to be good. You guys were overdoing it more than I was," Cleo chuckled. "Says the one who fainted," Bella joked.
Lisa: "This is terrible. How could you all come down with something so quickly?" Walks back over to them and puts a thermometer in Emma's mouth. She straightens back up and thinks about it. "Unless you ate something." Turns over to the kitchen and sees the bowls of yogurt that was left out on the counter and picks a bowl up that was empty. "Did you all eat the yogurt?" They nod as lightning flashes in the background.
"That is a good lead to it. Could lead to what caused it at least," Max thought.
"There's always a risk of food poisoning when making something, especially when it comes to products that deal with bacteria," Denman commented. "But I made yogurt all the time and they never got sick from it before," Lisa said. "It was just strange that they all got sick from it all of a sudden."
Lisa: shouts upstairs. "Elliot?" She puts the bowl down and walks over to Emma, grabbing the thermometer from her mouth. As she does so, Rikki raises her hand slightly and curls her fingers, making the temperature rise on it. Lisa gasps. "Oh my."
"I wasn't sure what scared me more at that moment. The fact that Emma was sick, or the fact that the temper rose so high that quick," Lisa chuckled.
"Took some practice but I finally got it under control on a thermometer," Rikki grinned. "Exactly how many times have you used one?" Terry asked suspiciously. "I don't use my powers on them all the time, dad. Occasionally I am sick," Rikki told him. Terry nodded, but then scrunched his face up. "What do you mean by occasionally?"
Elliot: walks downstairs with an empty bowl in his hand. "What did you want, mom?"
Lisa: turns and rushes over to him near the kitchen. "Elliot, oh, just don't eat any of that-." She grabs the bowl from Elliot and finds that it's empty. "Yogurt." She puts the bowl down on the counter and checks Elliot's forehead with her hand, finding that he felt normal.
"You really had me believing that you girls were sick from that yogurt. I was scared to make any for weeks because of that," Lisa sighed. "We went yogurtless for so long," Elliot pouted. "Sorry, El. But some sacrifices had to be made in order for us to be safe," Emma chuckled, giving him a small smile.
[A bit later, the rain continues on, soaking everything it can reach. All three girls remained in the living room, still sitting where they were, except Cleo had switched sides on the couch, closer to the girls and still covered up in her blanket. Emma and Rikki laid back on the other couch, with the latter having her knees brought up closer to her. Meanwhile, Elliot observed them from the side table in the living room, keeping quiet until he finally spoke up about it.]
Elliot: "This is good."
"How is being sick good?" Will asked, deeply confused. "It'd been so long since I had been sick, that I didn't know what it was like anymore. I thought it was cool seeing what it was like," Elliot shrugged. Until it happened to me.
Cleo: "Why?"
Elliot: "Because I haven't been sick in three years. I've forgotten what it felt like." Rikki looks over at him as lightning flashes some more. Squints his eyes. "Actually, I don't feel any different." He gets up and walks over to the counter.
"Three years? You haven't been sick in three years?" Kim asked in shock. "That's impressive," Will grinned. "Just like Emma, he was always a tidy one as well," Lisa chuckled. Because I didn't have a choice, Elliot thought.
"You'll feel very different soon, El," Emma chuckled, remembering how he came down with the measles that same day.
[Someone outside rings the doorbell, and Lisa turns around from the sink, glad to hear that sound.]
Lisa: "That'll be the doctor."
Emma: tenses up as the others look a bit concerned about what to do. Looks over to Rikki and whispers. "My life, as I know it, is over. Mom's never going to trust me again."
Rikki: "Oh, please."
"Your life as you knew it was over when we jumped in the moon pool," Rikki snorted as Emma hits her on the arm. "I meant my life as a mermaid," Emma whispered.
"Emma, just because you lie once doesn't mean I can never trust you again. You're my daughter, I will always trust you," Lisa said, smiling sweetly. I've lied more than once though, and who knows I might have to do it again someday, Emma thought a bit sadly.
Lisa: opens the front door and sees the doctor standing at the door. She opens it wider to let her in. "Ah, Miranda, thank you so much for coming. I am a little worried."
Dr. Holt: walks in with a briefcase and an umbrella and hands the umbrella to Mrs. Gilbert. "It's probably nothing more than a cold, Lisa. Never hurts to check these things out."
"Ah, Doctor Holt, she's a good one, but can be a little too hasty if you ask me," Harrison chuckled. "How do you know her?" Lisa asked, looking over at the doctor. "She's one of my colleagues at the hospital. In a different building of course, but still run into each other here and there," Harrison mentioned.
[While the two were talking in the entryway, Rikki grins as an idea pops in her head. Quickly yet sneakily, she raises her hand and curls her fingers once more, this time at Emma herself. Emma looks over at her as she feels the right side of her face heating up and notices Rikki using her power. She touches her skin where she feels a few rashes have popped up. She looks over to where Cleo is and notices some coming up on her as well. Cleo, feeling the sensation of the heat rising in her cheek, puts a hand up to it and looks over at Rikki in shock. Rikki turns her hand around and points it at herself, quickly curling her fingers again to make a rash on her neck as well. Rikki bites her cheek and breathes in deeply, not used to feeling the pain of her own powers. Cleo sighs and looks away, rolling her eyes.]
"That's how you got those rashes?!" Lisa asked in shock. "The idea came to me quick. I figured if I could use it on a thermometer, then why not on ourselves as well. I already do it to us in our mermaid form, I thought maybe it could work on our human forms also," Rikki explained.
"I knew the feeling felt similar to when you dry us off," Emma chuckled. "You could've asked us first," Cleo said. "Relax, it went away quickly afterward," Rikki waved it off.
"It's definitely not a common cold now. Good luck explaining that," Ash chuckled.
Dr. Holt: walks into the living room with her briefcase, smiling. Lisa shuts the door behind her. "Hello, Emma. Hello, girls. I'm Dr. Holt." She lays her suitcase on the table next to Cleo, who looks up at her, and opens it up. She picks up a pair of gloves, fixing to put them on when she notices their skin conditions. Lisa stands next to her. "How long have they had these red blotches?" Emma pouts, a bit embarrassed by her supposed skin condition as Cleo bites her cheek, looking over at them.
Lisa: "It's the first time I've noticed it."
"Yeah, it was the first time we noticed it too," Emma chuckled too, looking over at Emma.
"We had to look the part too, our acting wasn't good enough," Rikki smirked. "Rikki. It was bad enough that you were faking a sickness. You shouldn't add on to the fire," Terry scolded. "Sorry, dad," Rikki sighed.
Lisa: "They've also had some stomach cramps and some dizziness." Dr. Holt puts a thermometer in each of the girls' mouths, with the gloves now on.
"How come you didn't check my temper, Mrs. Gilbert?" Rikki asked curiously. "Well, I only had the two. I figured it could've waited until the doctor came," Lisa admitted. "Fair enough," Rikki nodded.
[Emma quickly holds her hand up to Cleo's thermometer while the doctor gives Elliot one and the temper on it quickly dwindles down. She points her hand toward Rikki's and does the same. Rikki and Cleo give her weird looks as Emma does hers as well.]
"Emma!" Neil gasped. "Ah, so that's how your temper changed," Lisa grinned. "It had to be done! What else was I supposed to do?" Emma exclaimed. "Leave it alone so they would still think that it was a fever," Ash suggested.
"Well, well, well, good girl gone bad," Zane snickered, earning a glare from said girl.
I guess magic really does beat science, Mrs. Chatham was right. If it can change the temperature on that, then it should be able to do anything against it, Lewis thought; unbeknownst to him, Denman was thinking the same thing, looking at the screen in bewilderment.
Dr. Holt: takes the thermometer out of Cleo's mouth and looks at it with a frown. "That can't be right." She walks over to Emma and grab hers to find that it said the same thing, then takes Rikki's and looks at the numbers. "How peculiar."
"Yeah, very peculiar indeed," Denman nodded. The fact that the girls could not only use their powers on water, but could also use it on themselves, in human form, and on technology as well. It pretty much blew her mind how the moon could give them that much power yet make them seem so weak from a drop of water, just like this rain made them so right now.
Rikki: looks up at her. "Is anything wrong?"
Dr. Holt: ignores her and talks to Lisa instead. "Your husband said on the phone their temperatures have been very high."
Lisa: "Yes."
Dr. Holt: "Interesting." Takes Elliot's and looks at his. "Now, they're very low. Fortunately, Elliot is ok so far." She looks at him then walks back over to her briefcase. Rikki hides a grin as Emma leans back, once again feeling tense.
"Well good for Elliot," Annette said. "That's what you think," Kim grumbled, arms crossed.
"That's because we haven't been using our powers on him. His was normal for the most part," Rikki said, making Lisa feel a little relief that they weren't using it intentionally on him.
Elliot: stands up and walks over to his mother. "But I'm sick, right mom? And I haven't been sick for three years."
"Poor Elliot, he must've been so confused during this whole thing. It's like he really thought he was," Cleo whispered sadly to them. "That's because he was, we just didn't know it yet," Emma whispered back.
Lisa: to Miranda when she walks back up to them, taking her gloves off. "Do you think that my homemade yogurt might have done all this?" Rikki and Cleo smirk, glad that they had something to fall upon.
Dr. Holt: "Oh, playing with bacteria can be tricky."
"I had promised myself then that I wouldn't make it anymore after that," Lisa stated. "Oh, please do. We didn't mean to blame your yogurt, we just didn't have any other option," Cleo whined. "Yeah. Your yogurt is really amazing. Don't stop making it," Rikki begged. Lisa chuckled. "Don't worry girls. I eventually started making it again after a few weeks. But I didn't want you girls eating it for a while just in case."
Lisa: gestures to them. "You mean all this could be my fault."
Dr. Holt: looks around, grimacing. "Well, it's not a cold or flu."
"Which you should have made it out to be. Either the cold or flu is the safer choice to go with, not something they don't know yet," Ash said. "Oh, it gets far worse than that," Kim giggled, confusing the black-haired boy. "It would have been our better option, way better than the course we took," Rikki winced.
[Lisa looks a bit shocked but before she could comment further, Miranda interrupts her.]
Dr. Holt: "I don't want to alarm you, but I'm concerned about the girls' skin condition. I'd like to consult one or two of my colleagues." Lisa gestures to the phone and Miranda immediately takes it off the line and walks off. Lisa puts an arm around Elliot's shoulder, and they walk into the kitchen.
"Did she contact you?" Zane asked him. "No, I wasn't at work at the time, so I wasn't able to take the call," Harrison answered.
Rikki: to Emma and Cleo. "I say we give it an hour or two until the rain stops, and then we make a miraculous recovery maybe." The lightning gets stronger outside.
"I don't know how we didn't hear that. You weren't even whispering," Lisa shook her head. "You were a little too distracted by the fact that we were 'sick' and was blaming yourself. Which I need to apologize for. Your yogurt is too good to get anyone sick," Rikki replied. "Thanks … I think."
Emma: tenses up even more. "Maybe we could get Dr. Holt to write us a medical certificate. Then we can get another chance at the exam."
Rikki: eyes widen and shakes her head. Cleo frowns. "Let it go, Em." Emma lays her head back and sighs.
"What were you more worried about? The fact that you could get caught for lying or missing out on the exam?" Sam asked. "Both. I hated that I was lying to my mom, but I also didn't want all that studying to go to waste. I spent too long reading over the material," Emma sighed.
"I agree, forget about it. It's a lost cause. The exam is a waste of time," Ash said, waving it off. "But I don't want to get a bad grade!"
[They hear the front door close, and Rikki looks over to see Neil walking into the living room with his briefcase. He sees the girls lying on the couches then walks over to Emma and touches her forehead, checking to see if she was warm. Emma looks up at him in shock once he touches her head, surprised to find that he was home.]
Neil: to Lisa and Elliot, who is next to the counter. "I left work as soon as I could."
"That's sweet of you, dad, but you didn't need to do that," Emma said with a small smile. "Nonsense. If any of my kids are actually sick, then I will do anything for them. Even if that means to take off work and care for them," Neil said, returning the smile.
Lisa: looks remorsefully at him. "This could all be my fault. We think it might be the homemade yogurt."
Neil: gestures to the fridge. "But I had the yogurt this morning. Come to think of it, though, I, well, I haven't been feeling all that great myself." Emma frowns as Rikki's grin grows even more.
"Do you think that's where I got the measles from?" Elliot asked his father. Neil chuckled. "No son, I doubt it. Kids are usually the ones who get the measles, not adults. I just had a bit of tummy trouble, that's all."
Dr. Holt: hangs up the phone and walks back to the family as the girls listen in. "I've been talking to a viral specialist. These symptoms are very unusual but specific to a group of tropical diseases."
"Oh, come on. Are you serious?" Ash complained as he looked over at the girls. "We didn't know that," Rikki exclaimed. "And that's why I said you should have only used common symptoms, like the cold or flu for example," Ash scoffed.
"Oh, I'm sorry for us doing everything wrong. How about once we get out of here, we time travel and go fix our mistakes from the past? Will that make you feel better" Rikki sarcastically said, getting annoyed about the incident with their sick day. "Well since we are here and watching the past, it's not impossible," Lewis laughed then quieted down once he earned a glare from Rikki.
Lisa: "What does that mean?"
Dr. Holt: "It's not food poisoning." The parents let out a breath of relief. "Whatever this is, it's highly contagious, likely. No one comes in or goes out." The girls lift their heads up in shock, their smile falling at once and their eyes widening, wondering what they were going to do.
"But there's a lot of diseases out there. It could be related to any of them," Bella argued.
"Although you're not wrong, the symptoms still narrow the list down, and from the sounds of it, it must've been in the contagious category, especially since all three of them had mysteriously gotten ill around the same time," Denman explained. The girls plus everyone else looks at her. "What? I might be a marine biologist but humans aren't the only ones that get sick," she said as if it were obvious.
"Bet you regret that rash now," Kim teased. Do you want one to match it? Rikki thought silently.
"That's a little extreme, isn't it? Why not just put the girls on lockdown instead of everyone else?" Zane asked. "Because if the girls were contaminated, then there was a chance they could have been too since they were in the same room as them, breathing the air and all. They wouldn't want to risk it exposing the entire Gold Coast," Lewis answered.
"Well, this ought to be fun. Much better than your sick says so far," Max chuckled as he looked over at Mrs. Chatham.
[A little bit later, as the rain continues, Dr. Holt has ordered the girls to stay upstairs. They bunker down in Emma's room, lying on her bed and covered up as Dr. Holt examines each one of them. She was evaluating Emma first as she has her eyelid pulled back and a flashlight searching for any signs of a symptom in her eyes.]
Dr. Holt: "Now, let's look this way." She turns Emma's head and looks in her ear with the light. Emma winces, not liking the situation they just degraded into. She straightens back up and looks down at Emma. She steps to the end of the bed and grabs some empty jars out of her opened briefcase, which was lying down on the end of the bed, and holds it out to the girls. "Hmm. I'm going to need some samples of sputum."
Cleo: they take the jars from the doctor. "Is that as gross as it sounds?"
Dr. Holt: opens up Emma's jar and puckers her lips at the jar as an example. "Spit, in there."
"Why couldn't she just have said that the first time?" Kim argued, giving the screen a disgusted look. "That's just the scientific side coming out of her," Harrison chuckled. "Not everyone knows the scientific terms," Cleo said shyly.
Rikki: rolls her eyes as Cleo and Emma give the doctor a gross look. "Ah, wimps." Rikki leans over the side of the bed and spits into her jar, then twists the lid back on. Cleo and Emma follow her lead, leaning forward in the bed and spitting into the jars then putting the lids back on. They hand it back to the doctor.
Dr. Holt: "Thank you." She takes the jars from them then puts them back in the briefcase.
"Yuck!" Kim gagged. "Gross," Charlotte winced, as the rest of the younger ones looked at the screen oddly. "Ah suck it up! You're all going to have to do it eventually," Rikki argued. "She's right," Harrison laughed. "It doesn't mean we have to like it," Cleo frowned.
Rikki: crosses her arms and forces a smile. "Well, it's been fun. But if you got what you need, we need some rest."
"Wish we could've rested, but Emma wanted to figure out a plan on how to get out of there," Rikki sighed. "You know we needed to," Emma argued. "You just wanted to go do that stupid test," Rikki shot back. "Sorry for wanting a good grade," Emma sarcastically replied.
Dr. Holt: looks up and shakes her head. "Oh, I'm not done yet. I need some more samples, blood samples." She pulls out a large needle and holds it up for them to see.
"You would let her get samples from you, but not me?" Denman raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit angry at the hypocrisy. "No. Just like you, she got nothing," Rikki said, staring daggers at her.
"The only reason we let her get the spit sample was that we knew that wouldn't show no proof of our mermaidness," Cleo shrugged. "We weren't too sure about our blood since at that point Lewis wasn't able to test it out yet," Emma said as she glanced at Lewis. "Which unfortunately just like the skin sample, does show a switch-and-flip from water with their blood. Probably just about their whole body could produce waves of the changes," Lewis explained, everyone nodded along in somewhat understanding.
Emma: looks a bit fearful at the needle. "Um, is that really necessary?"
"Scared of a needle, Em?" Lewis joked, hoping it would lighten the mood. "No, I was scared of getting exposed. I've had plenty of needles for my physicals whenever I was on the swim team," Emma shook her head.
Dr. Holt: "Oh, yes. We need to know your white cell count." She pulls out a band and begins sliding it onto Emma's arm. Cleo and Rikki look terrified.
Rikki: shoots up in bed, pulling the covers off of her and smiling widely. "Well, it's a funny thing, because I actually feel perfectly fine now."
Cleo: and Emma follow her lead. "Me, too."
"Rikki, are you scared?" Lewis asked, a bit surprised as a grin broke loose. "Powers or not, needles are not to get anywhere near me," Rikki huffed. "And you called us wimps," Emma smirked as Rikki looked at her.
"Strange how the sickness suddenly went away," Will laughed.
Dr. Holt: pauses her actions. "Girls, if this is what I think it is, it's a very tricky virus. I've never seen anything like it before. It's very important that I find out everything there is to know about you three. So, sleeves up." She pushes the needle up higher, and the girl's eyes widen in fright.
"What did she think it was?" Bella asked. "A tropical virus like she said, obviously," Rikki said in a duh tone. "Ok, but how could she think it was that if she's never seen anything like it before?" Rikki paused then nodded. "Ok, good point."
"If it was something she's never seen before then shouldn't she make you guys go to the hospital?" Annette asked. "Yeah, not gonna happen," Rikki said, refusing to cross that line.
[Lewis walks up the path with his umbrella to Emma's house. Once he gets under the covered porch, he lowers his umbrella and knocks on the door, and leans against his umbrella.]
Neil: on the other side of the door. "Who is it?"
Lewis: "Ah, it's me, Mr. Gilbert, Lewis."
"Were you there to check on them?" Charlotte asked. "I didn't think about how they would get to school with it raining. It didn't hit me until people were talking about the exam. Luckily, the teacher had asked me to go check on them during lunchtime to see if they were okay. Clearly, they were not," Lewis informed them.
Neil: leans against the door with Lisa and Elliot standing next to him. "Listen carefully to what I say, stand ten paces back from the door." Lewis hesitates, wondering if he was serious or not, and looks back at the rain. Slowly, Lewis makes his way back into the rain with his umbrella hanging above his head once again. Lewis walks backward ten steps, standing on the walkway when Neil finally opens up the door and steps out with Lisa and Elliot by his side. They stay near the door, however, making sure to keep the ten-pace distance.
The room erupts into laughter. "You can't be serious," Ash laughed. "One thing I know is that the Gilbert's never joke around," Lewis nodded. "We don't like to joke about a serious matter," Lisa said, defending her husband.
"Thanks for the warning, Mr. Gilbert. Instead of worrying about getting sick from them, I can get sick from the cold rain instead," Lewis joked. "Oh, please, you're wearing shorts and sandals and you're worried about getting sick?" Rikki raised an eyebrow, grinning.
Lewis: shouts over the rain. "Um, are the girls here? Be-because they're not at school." Jabs his thumb in the direction of the school.
"Where did you think we would be in that downpour?" Emma asked. "I dunno. I checked Cleo's and you weren't there, I don't know where Rikki lives and Mako was too far to check," Lewis shrugged, not noticing Rikki look down at the mention of her home.
Neil: waves it off, giving him a serious look. "Forget the girls, just leave now while you can."
Lewis: "Well, when can I see them? I-What's going on?"
"I was so confused, especially after what they had me doing. But I'm glad that I wasn't there for the whole thing. That was chaotic," Lewis chuckled. "You should've figured it out in that sciency brain of yours that we couldn't leave," Cleo teased.
Lisa: "The house is quarantined." She heads back inside as Neil begins to lightly push Elliot back in.
Elliot: "Tell my teacher I'm sick. She'll be really surprised."
"Sorry, El. I have no idea who your teacher was," Lewis simply said. "Aw man," Elliot pouted.
"You were really proud of it," Will chuckled. "It was the most interesting thing that's happened to me all year," Elliot said.
Neil: "Go now, hurry." Closes the door behind him, leaving Lewis standing in the rain still. Lewis immediately pulls his phone out of his pocket and calls Emma.
"Why didn't you just call us first instead of showing up at my house?" Emma asked. "I wanted to make sure you all were okay," Lewis answered. "Aw, thanks Lewis," Cleo said sweetly, giving Lewis a big smile.
[Emma's phone rings on her nightstand next to her. The girls were now sitting up in the bed when the phone goes off. They turn to it and Emma picks it up from its holder and answers.]
Emma: "Lewis, hi, yeah, I can explain. I-."
"How did you guys get out of the blood samples?" Sam asked, surprised to find that they didn't have any band-aids or arm wraps on them. "I thought up an excuse that she couldn't get any blood samples without parental permission, since we were under the age of eighteen, from all of the parents. And luckily for us, Rikki's dad didn't answer the phone," Emma said, giving Rikki a high-five. "Yeah. Thanks, Mr. Chadwick, you're a real hero," Cleo grinned. "You girls are just lucky I was at work," Terry chuckled, shaking his head.
Lisa: walks inside with three glasses of water, interrupting Emma's phone call. She lays them on Emma's nightstand as the girls look over at her. "How are you girls feeling? Any more fevers?" She checks Emma's forehead.
Lewis: hears Mrs. Gilbert on the other end and frowns, confused. "Em, did your mom just say fever? Is everything alright?"
"And the confusion worsened," Lewis told them. "Did you have any idea what I was thinking?" "No, and we don't want to hear it," Rikki grinned.
"You could've knocked," Emma said, looking over at her mother. "I didn't want you to lock yourself in, in case you girls got any worse, and if that were to happen and we couldn't get to you in time? Then what were we going to do?" Lisa asked a bit sadly.
Lisa: checks Cleo's forehead. "And how's your dizziness?"
Emma: tries waving her away. "No, mom."
"It's not real," Cleo chuckled. "You still had me worried sick," Lisa said before realizing what she said. "No pun intended."
Lisa: "Now, I want you girls to stay in here until we get the test results, alright?"
Lewis: eyes widen, listening into the conversation. "Tests? Emma, what is going on?"
"I thought you girls were getting dissected or something," Lewis said, shaking his head at the thought. "No, Lewis as you can see that didn't happen," Cleo said before sneaking a glance at Denman and whispered to herself. "Not yet at least."
Emma: gets frustrated, trying to speak. "Look, Lewis, it's not what it seems, Lewis. It's really-."
Lisa: takes the phone gently away from Emma. "I'm very sorry, Emma, but Dr. Holt said specifically to be no outside stimulation. Alright?" Flips the phone shut.
"Ah, so that's what happened to the connection," Lewis nodded in understanding.
"Why couldn't you talk to him on the phone? What, was she worried that germs were going to spread over a phone call?" Zane scoffed. "No, she just didn't want word to spread about the girls being sick. Something you should learn to do; to keep your mouth shut," Neil scowled, muttering the last part so Zane wouldn't hear.
Lewis: back outside, still on the phone. "Emma? Em?" He looks at his phone and ends the connection, looks around worriedly, and walks away.
"I know that look. Zane has that look all the time. What were you planning?" Harrison asked. "Well, if I couldn't talk to them over the phone then I had to talk to them somehow," Lewis smirked, making the Gilbert's curious as to what he's done.