I'M DYING 4: FLU MISERIES
(Fourth in the "I'm Dying!" series. Based on an RPG I was in for a time. This time I kept the number of sick people small and easy to manage.)
It was a weekday afternoon, and the X-Men were spending a
few hours at the Bayville Mall.
So, unfortunately, were the Brotherhood.
Inevitably, a fight broke out . . .
It had been such a nice day too, thought Toad. He'd gotten a lot of shopping done, and for once he'd actually had the money to pay for it.
But the X-Geeks just had to come along and spoil everything . . .
"Leave Kitty alone, you--you rock-head!" Kurt shouted at Lance.
"Rock-head, huh?" Lance smirked. "That's funny
coming from a stupid blue geek!"
"Vell, at least I'm on zhe same side as her!"
"You think you and her--? Forget it, Fuzzy, she only likes bad boys!"
"Both of you SHUT UP!" Todd's head was suddenly
spinning, and he felt like he might faint. Nobody noticed. They were too busy
arguing.
Finally Brenda noticed that Todd was being unusually quiet. "Todd?"
He tried to speak, but nothing came out. Everything seemed really far away all of a sudden . . . and his head was throbbing.
It took a few minutes for the fighting to die down, but soon, order was restored.
"Come on, guys, let's go home," said Evan. "We got better things to do than—"
Toad let out a moan, and then all of a sudden, started to vomit. He wasn't actually aiming for anyone's shoes . . . but he hit Kitty's anyway.
"Eeeewwwwww! Like, gross!"
"I can't help it . . ." Toad mumbled.
"We should get you home," Brenda said.
The other X-Men looked at her. "Ve?" Kurt said.
"Oh, come on, we can't leave him here like this!"
"Sure we can," said Evan. "He probably just ate too many bugs or something. He'll be okay."
Brenda looked down at Todd, who was rocking back and forth and moaning. "We can't just let him suffer!"
Scott sighed. "All right," he said. "You do what you have to do. But call us if there's a problem."
"Right."
So she went with Todd back to the Brotherhood's house.
It was a mess. And that was being generous . . .
"Don't you ever clean up around here?"
"Too busy," Todd said.
She cleared some stuff on the couch and helped him lie down. "How's that?"
"Hot . . ." he gasped.
Brenda didn't like how he sounded.
She found a throw that had clearly seen better days and tucked it around him.
"Thanks, Brenda."
"Do you want me to make you some soup?"
"I don't know if I could eat . . ."
"Can you try?"
He groaned, and then started shivering all over. Brenda grabbed more blankets.
"I wonder where everyone else is," she thought absently.
Everyone else was coming through the front door . . . and they went straight for the TV.
"Hold it!" Brenda blurted, making them freeze in their tracks.
"What? Fear Factor's on!"
"It's Todd! He's sick!" Brenda told them.
"No kidding! We were there, remember? Almost got splattered!" Lance shuddered at the memory.
"I mean really sick!" She grabbed Lance's hand. "Feel how hot he is!"
"I'm not touching him!"
She pressed his hand against Toad's forehead anyway.
"Ow! You're right, he is hot!"
Boiling hot, it turned out.
"We should call a doctor."
"Oh, yeah, right. Like we have the money for that."
"We have to do something!"
Toad kept moaning . . .
Just then there was a knock on the door.
"Somebody get that!"
It was Kitty.
"Hi, Lance," she said. "You forgot this." She held out his book bag.
"Thanks," Lance said, and started to close the door. Then he remembered about Toad...
Kitty saw the look on his face and immediately rushed inside.
"What's wrong?" she asked. Then she saw Todd on the couch. "He looks awful..."
"I don't know, but I think we need to get him some help."
As if to underscore the point, Todd threw up.
"Eeewwww! Not again!"
"I can't . . . can't help it," Todd moaned.
At least he had spared her shoes this time . . .
Lance got a mop and bucket. For once, the lack of carpeting in the living room worked in their favor. He didn't even want to think about what he would have had to do to get it out of carpet.
"Maybe you should, like, take him to our place,"
Kitty suggested.
They all looked at her as if she was insane.
"And have your professor scramble his brains?" Pietro answered disdainfully.
"Well, you guys probably don't have any medicines or anything. I'm just trying to help."
Pietro had to admit she had a point. "We'll take a vote."
However, before they could even raise their hands, Todd made the decision for them . . .
"Not again!"
Kitty called the professor.
A short while later, the X-Van showed up.
"What's goin' on?" Toad asked.
"We're getting you some much-needed medical attention." Brenda was relieved the burden was off her now.
"You're not gonna scramble my brains, are you?"
"No, of course not," Kitty said.
"Good, cause my stomach's scrambled enough already," he groaned.
Some time later, Toad was lying on a gurney in the Mansion's medical ward, wishing he'd never been born.
"Somebody make the room stop spinning . . ." he groaned.
Presently someone walked in . . . with one of Brenda's books. "Mind if I read to you for a bit?"
It was that Ororo woman. "Just not too loud, OK?" Toad said.
"The doctor will be here to look at you soon."
"I hope he's not too late . . ."
Meanwhile, back at the Brotherhood house . . . things were
not going well.
The strange virus had struck another victim.
"No! I'm too good-looking to die!" Pietro wailed.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
(Note to riye, who asked for more romance: which couple did you mean? I aim to please, so just tell me and I'll do my best to satisfy you . . .)
