A/N: Thank you for reading! More to come soon…
It took a while, but eventually all of the kids had been poked, prodded, and left to wait for their results. The award for sickest patient went to Mike, who was sporting an impressive 103.5 degree fever and a massively swollen spleen. He would be out of commission for a while. Vying for second and third sickest were Artie and Tina. The rest of the kids lessened in varying degrees of illness following that, though it didn't seem to stop them from whining any less. Even Mercedes and Kurt, who were just beginning to feel the effects of the illness, were doing their fair share of complaining.
The door to the conference room opened, and everyone looked up to see Quinn returning from her ultrasound. "Everything's okay," she said, smile on her face. "The baby's fine. Look," she said, holding up a black and white image. The group collectively leaned closer to see.
"She's getting so big," Finn said amidst the "aws," and there was a twinge of sadness to his voice.
"How can you tell?" Puck asked, taking the picture and tilting it to the left, then to the right. "All I see is a bunch of squiggles. Can't they, like, use a digital camera or something? Or at least color?" That comment earned him a smack upside the head from his mother.
"She's amazing." Mr. Schuester patted Quinn on the shoulder. "I'm glad everything's okay."
Quinn's eyes became slightly teary. "Thanks. Me too. I mean, I'll have to be really careful for a while, but everything should be fine."
The door opened again and Dr. Jackson reappeared. Everyone in the room got quiet. "Well, I have the results you've been waiting for, and I can't say it's any surprise. Eleven confirmed cases of mononucleosis."
There was quite a bit of groaning even though the results were expected.
"I told you I was fine," Rachel said to no one in particular. "All it takes to stay healthy is a well-balanced diet, regular exercise and rest."
"I'm afraid not, Ms. Berry," Dr. Jackson said, checking his notes. "Your test came back positive as well. Eleven cases did not include the test we did earlier on Finn. If we include that one, it rounds out to an even twelve."
Rachel's expression was caught somewhere between anger and shock. "But…I'm not…I don't…I feel fine," she protested.
"Just wait," Finn said. "Pretty soon your throat will start hurting, you'll get a fever, and you won't be able to keep your eyes open." He patted her on the back. "You've got a lot to look forward to."
"I've printed up home care directions and excuse notes for school," Dr. Jackson said, starting to pass them out. "Our office number is at the top if you parents have any questions or concerns." The group gave their collective thanks, and Dr. Jackson left.
"Mr. Schue, what about regionals?" Artie asked, awake at the moment.
Will's heart sank a little. It was obvious what implications this could have for the group. He forced a little brightness into his voice. "Don't worry about that, guys. We've got plenty of time. All of you just need to concentrate on getting better, okay? Let me handle the rest."
"We're sorry, Mr. Schue," Finn said.
"Yeah. If we would have known…" Tina trailed off, maybe too tired to finish the sentence.
"You couldn't have known. It's okay. Really. Just rest up and feel better, alright?"
Parents and kids alike started packing up before Kurt paused. "Wait a minute. Rachel, you didn't play spin the bottle, but you still got sick. What gives?"
A few murmurs passed through the room. It wasn't often that Rachel Berry's cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but this was definitely one of those times.
"Guilty," Puck said, raising his hand, smirk evident on his face.
More groans went up, mostly from the girls, and Will had to shake his head.
Good thing he liked these kids.
Two days later…
It was Friday, and Mr. Schuester was walking down the hall between class periods, flipping through the junk he'd just taken out of his box in the mailroom. His planning period came next, and he was hoping to get a lot of papers graded so he didn't have to take them home over the weekend.
"Hola, Mr. Schue."
"Hola, Finn," he responded automatically, barely glancing up. He made it a few more steps before it registered in his mind that something was wrong with that exchange. Finn wasn't supposed to be at school. Will spun on his heel, hoping he had been hearing things, but sure enough, there was Finn, walking away towards his next class. "Finn," he shouted over the hallway noise. He jogged a few steps to catch up and pulled him off to the side. "What are you doing here?"
"I feel better," Finn said, not meeting Mr. Schuester's eyes. "I decided it was time to come back to school."
Will knew that Finn wasn't the world's best liar, and there was definitely something going on. The teen was staring at the floor, shuffling his feet, and he didn't look much healthier than he had at the doctor's office on Wednesday. "Really."
"Yep." He glanced over his shoulder. "I should get going. I can't get anymore tardies in biology. I'll see you after school."
Something clicked in Will's mind. "Did anyone else come back to school today?"
Finn shrugged. "I don't know. I guess a couple of people. You know, mono's really not as bad as everyone makes it out to be."
"Who's here?" he asked, ignoring the way Finn was squirming and obviously ready to get away.
"Rachel, I think. And Matt. Kurt. Mercedes, Brit, Santana, and Tina."
Will nodded slowly. "Okay. Listen, why don't you go hang out in my classroom for a minute? I'll write you a pass for biology. I'll be there in a second."
"Really? That's awesome, because I think today's the day we're supposed to be dissecting a sheep's eye, and I'm all about dissecting something cool, like a frog or something, but really a…"
"Yeah," Will interrupted. "Go head. I'll be right there."
Thinking of the stack of papers on his desk that would now likely go ungraded, Will walked around the building, collecting various glee club members and sending them to his room as he went. When all eight present members were accounted for, he returned to his room as well. They were a somber, tired-looking group, and he knew his suspicions were correct.
"So," he said, perching on the edge of his desk, "who wants to tell me what's going on?"
"We feel better," Brittany said, only it was with the same flat, rehearsed tone that Finn had used.
"Really. Didn't the doctor say you guys could be out for up to a couple of weeks?"
"Not if we had a mild case and took good care of ourselves," Rachel countered. "Which, we did."
"Mmhmm," Will murmured, tapping his chin. "And you're all planning on being at rehearsal this afternoon?"
"Yes," they responded unanimously.
Will looked from Matt's flushed cheeks to Mercedes' glassy eyes to Kurt, who was wearing sweatpants. True, they were probably designer sweatpants of some kind, but they were sweatpants nonetheless. All was not right in this room. A plan suddenly formulated in his mind. "Well, since all of you are feeling so much better, and since I have a free period, why wait until after school? Why don't we do a little rehearsing right now? I'll write excuse notes for your classes."
"Yeah," Santana said eagerly, making Will wonder what class she was missing out on right now.
"Sounds good to me," Kurt added.
"Great," Will said as he stood and pressed his palms together. "Sit tight. I'm gonna go grab some sheet music that I left in the choir room."
In the hallway, Will turned left like he was going to the choir room, but stopped instead at the nurse's office. He gave a brief synopsis of what was going on, and the nurse gave him what he needed with an added comment of, "Good luck."
When he returned to the room, his normally chatty and energetic group was silent, heads drooping on their hands, which was proof enough to him that they should be at home.
"I thought you were getting sheet music," Rachel said, her voice already on alert.
"Well, I was, but then I ran into the school nurse and remembered that you can't return to school until you've been fever-free for 24 hours, so I thought we should check. Just to be sure." He turned on the thermometer and placed a cover on the probe. "Who wants to go first?"
The kids squirmed a little bit, the cracks in their plan becoming obvious.
"I will," Finn said, though his tone was reluctant.
Mr. Schuester gave him the probe to put under his tongue and waited for the machine to beep. "101.4," he read when it did.
"Man," Finn protested, chucking the cover in the garbage. "I took three Tylenol before I left, too."
"Sorry, Finn. Looks like you're out. Who's next?" Brittany volunteered, only her result didn't turn out quite the same as Finn's. "92.5," Will read, more of a question than a statement.
"That's good, right?" she asked, confused, and Will didn't know what to say.
"Brittany," Rachel said, a fake layer of sweet coating her obvious annoyance, "was that a slushy I saw you drinking on the way to class?"
Her face lit up in response. "Oh, yeah. Those are like the only things I can eat right now because my throat's so sore. Cherry. It was really good."
"Mystery solved," Will said, choosing not to remind Brittany that she'd just further blown their cover. "Next?"
The rest of the group had fevers ranging between 99.5 and 102. None of the teens would be sticking around today. "Look guys," Mr. Schuster said as he turned the thermometer off. "I understand and appreciate that you want to be here, but your health is what's most important. Regionals will wait."
"But Mr. Schue," Rachel sputtered, argument already set into her jaw.
"Sorry Rachel," he interrupted. "It's school policy, and even if it wasn't, I won't let you guys do anything that could further jeopardize your health. Give it another week or so, then try coming back."
There were a few groans and grumbles, but most of them looked too tired to put up much more of a fight.
"Now, did you guys drive, or do I need to call your parents to come pick you up?"
"Don't call our parents," Mercedes said immediately, then stopped herself. "I mean…we drove."
Will narrowed his eyebrows. "Your parents don't know you're here, do they?"
"We convinced our parents to go back to work," Tina confessed. "Then we carpooled here."
He nodded, knowing he was still going to have to call the parents to let them in on the kids' shenanigans. That could probably wait a little while, though. He'd let the kids get some rest first. He idly wondered if they would be the first group of teens to be grounded for sneaking out to go to school. "Alright. Drive safely, then. Feel better, guys."
They said their goodbyes, and Will checked the clock. His planning period was over and his stack of papers was untouched, but somehow that was still okay.
The following Tuesday…
If someone would have told Will a few weeks ago that he'd be sitting with Emma at her pristine kitchen table after their fourth dinner together in a row, he would have called that person crazy. Tonight, however, he would have called them correct.
"Did you like it?" he asked, motioning to her nearly empty plate. He'd made dinner (using food that she'd purchased, cleaned, and prepared, but that was okay) and now they were relaxing at the table, making the most of the sudden free-time Will had without rehearsals.
"Very much," she nodded with his favorite smile.
His cell phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out to look at the display. "Huh," he said. "I don't know who this is. Do you mind if I take it?"
"Go ahead," she said, looking perfectly content to pick up their plates and silverware. Sometimes Will was allowed to help her clean up, but she was still in charge.
He held the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
"Is this Mr. Schue?"
He considered lying when he realized it was a student, but thought better of it. "Yes, it is. Who is this?"
"Hey, Mr. Schue! It's Finn!"
"Finn? How did you get this number?"
"Long story. But guess what? You're on speakerphone. Everyone wants to say hi."
Will wasn't sure who "everyone" was, but he thought he heard Puck, Kurt, and a few other familiar voices. He couldn't help but smile. "Hey, guys. How are you feeling?"
There was a rush of responses ranging from "tired" to "bored" to some other things he couldn't understand. He laughed when he had to pull his phone away from his ear a little because of all the noise.
Eventually, Rachel's voice broke through. "We just wanted to let you know that we've been back to the doctor, and most of us can come back to school on Monday."
"Legitimately this time," Mercedes added.
"Except for Mike, because his spleen's still swollen to 50 times its normal size or something," Puck added.
"Well, that's great. I can't wait to see some of you and start rehearsing."
"Us too," Finn agreed. "For some reason, any of us whose parents have to work have been getting shipped off to Artie's house during the day, and the adults take turns watching us there like we're five or something. It's kind of ridiculous."
"I wonder why," Will said. "I mean it's not like you are the types of kids who would sneak out of the house or drink or get each other pregnant or anything," he teased, and the kids laughed.
"Needless to say, we're slightly bored, so we were wondering if you could tell us what songs you're planning for regionals," Rachel's voice returned. "We can get a head start on them while we're just sitting around."
Emma returned to pick up a few more things from the table and she gave Will a curious look. He mouthed to her that it was the glee kids. She smiled and nodded in response, and Will humorously wondered what the kids would say if he told them that she said hello. He decided against it. "No way, guys. You're supposed to be resting, not rehearsing. We'll get started with whoever comes back on Monday, and everyone else can catch up when they return. We'll be fine." He'd said this to the group and himself so many times that he was actually starting to believe it.
"Not even one song, Mr. Shue? We're dying of boredom," Artie pleaded.
"Sorry. No can do. Hey, I have an idea. If you're that bored, why don't you work on some of the homework you've been missing? I can bring it to you if you want."
"Actually, maybe I am feeling kind of tired," Finn said.
"Yeah. Nap time, anyone?" Mercedes asked.
Will laughed at their change of heart. "That's what I thought. Thanks for calling, guys. Keep getting better and I'll see you soon."
There was a chorus of goodbyes and a lot of laughing before Will hung up the phone. He couldn't keep from smiling. Taking over glee club was the best thing that had happened to him this year. At that moment, Emma reappeared at the table.
Well, maybe not quite the very best thing…