Chapter 5-Birthday Fever

It was a few days after the new term had started at the House of Anubis and it was early morning on Jerome's 16th birthday. Everyone was sleeping soundly in their beds except for one.

Jerome was tossing and turning as strange dreams plagued his subconscious.

Jerome stood in the middle of a field, shielding his eyes from the blazing sun. He looked up as the cry of a falcon rang out across the clear blue sky. He spotted the dark shape of the small bird of prey circling above him.

A warm breeze kicked up and blew gently all around him, carrying whispers of voices to his ears, though he could only catch bits and pieces of what they were saying.

"Child of the Sky…. find them…. the power awakens in you… stop the Chaos…. the dark side of the moon will be revealed and destruction will befall anything that catches the Serpent's eyes…."

Everything suddenly darkened and Jerome's eyes widened as he saw that it was now night in his dream and a blood red moon was hanging in the sky. He took a step back as shadows darted in out of view around him. The voices became more urgent, but he could no longer make out what they were saying.

He looked around for the source of the voices. "Who's there? What are you talking about?" he called, a slight hint of nervousness in his tone. Why did this dream feel so real? Why were these voices bothering him instead of Nina and her gang? This seemed like a mess they would be involved in.

"FIND THEM! CHAOS IS STIRRING! EVIL WILL NOT WAIT!" the voices rang loudly in his mind.

Then he was falling. Darkness swallowed his vision and he could no longer tell which way was up. He sucked in a sharp breath as a huge pair of reptilian amber eyes appeared in the inky black void, gazing right at him. There was a low hiss and two gleaming white fangs as long as his arms flashed towards him, a strangled cry of alarm escaping from his lips as he was jolted from the dream.

A few hours later, at 8:00 in the morning, Alfie awoke as per usual on a school day to head to breakfast. He sat up in his bed and rubbed at his eyes, yawning widely. He remembered that today was Jerome's birthday and he grinned as he thought about various ideas for a present to get for him after school. Soft whimpering sounds met his ears and his smile faded a bit, peering across the room at the bed occupied by his best friend. His eyes opened wide and all traces of post-waking sleepiness vanished instantly at what he saw.

Jerome was shivering violently under his covers, and he appeared to be trapped in a bad nightmare. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was groaning under his breath. He was even paler than usual and there was a light sheen of cold sweat on his forehead.

Alfie leaped from his bed and ran over to Jerome's, putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking lightly. "Jerome, buddy, it's just a dream. You're in your room and it's your birthday!" Alfie exclaimed, trying to comfort him with his cheery tone, but it came out a bit strained. Alfie furrowed his brows in concern as he received no response from Jerome other than a few mumbled words he couldn't make out. He shook him a bit harder. "Snap out of it! I've had plenty of bad dreams about all the crazy stuff that's been happening around here… I'm sure most of us have… just wake up now Jerome." he rambled in his concern.

Alfie let out a relieved sigh as Jerome blinked open his eyes, but his relief was short-lived. Jerome gazed up at Alfie, but his normally sharp, clear blue eyes were glassy and distant, his friend's form blurred around the edges. "Alfie…" he murmured, trying to push himself up to a sitting position but failing due to the trembling in his arms. He collapsed back onto his pillow with a grunt of frustration, his eyes falling shut again. He felt so tired and he just wanted to sleep more. He idly wondered why that was. He was normally wide awake and eager for breakfast at this time. He continued to lay there shivering, pulling the covers tighter around himself and curling up on his side. "Go away Alfie… trying to sleep…." he said groggily, his words slurred somewhat.

Alfie looked around, trying not to panic. "Oh no… um… Trudy… yeah, she'll know what to do…" Alfie said to himself. He took one last look at Jerome before bolting out of the room towards the kitchen.

The students of Anubis house were all gathered around the table for an extra-special breakfast that Trudy was preparing in the kitchen in honor of Jerome's birthday. She was humming as she finished preparing scrambled eggs just the way he liked them while the students sipped their drinks and chatted animatedly to each other.

They all looked up as Alfie came bolting into the room. Trudy beamed at him as she strolled into the dining room. "Oh, Alfie there you are! Where's the birthday boy? I made his favorite chocolate chip pancakes!" Trudy exclaimed in her usual cheery manner.

"Guys, I think Jerome's sick! I woke up and he wasn't looking so good… I don't know what to do!" Alfie said quickly, his eyes darting around as he bounced up and down nervously.

Mara gasped, Nina and Fabian exchanged concerned glances, Patricia and Nolan both looked a bit skeptical, Joy gave him a sympathetic look, and Amber got up and gave Alfie a hug. "Oh Alfie, I'm sure it's alright. Trudy made pancakes. That'll make Jerome feel better." Amber tried to reassure him, smiling at him in her sweet and ditzy way. Alfie's lips twitched into a faint smile, though he didn't look convinced.

Trudy put a hand over her heart as she set down the plates of food she had been holding. "Oh my! Stay calm everyone and Alfie do try to relax dear. Let's go take a look and I'll see what I can do to make things better." she said, trying to keep her voice calm and soothing. She shuffled out of the room with Alfie darting right after her and Amber and the others all following close behind.

They all entered Alfie and Jerome's room and froze as they gazed at Jerome with worried eyes. In the few minutes that Alfie had been gone getting Trudy, his condition seemed to have worsened, though he was conscious. He had kicked off his blankets and his shivering had ceased, but his eyes were unfocused as he stared up at the ceiling after having turned over onto his back. He didn't even seem to be aware of the presence of all of his friends in his room. Trudy walked over to the bed and Mara and Alfie followed, Alfie hovering behind them, trying to peer over Mara's shoulder.

Mara crouched down beside the bed and took one of Jerome's hands in her own. "Jerome? It's Mara. You'll be alright. Trudy is here to check what's wrong and then we can get you something to make you feel better." she said softly, her voice kind and gentle. She smiled encouragingly as Jerome's eyes shifted to her briefly before returning to the ceiling.

Trudy put a hand on his forehead and stifled a gasp. "Oh dear… he's burning up. I'll go get the thermometer." she murmured.

When she left, the others came up and patted Alfie and Mara to show their support. "I don't think pancakes will help a fever." Amber announced, receiving a half-hearted glare from Patricia.

"No, but some rest and medicine will. Jerome will be fine Alfie." Nina told him, keeping her voice steady to placate him.

Fabian and Nolan both nodded in agreement with Nina.

Alfie tried his best to relax as Trudy had suggested. "Yeah… yeah, you're right. Thanks guys."

"I feel sorry for him. No one should have to be sick on their birthday." Amber said. "Amber…" Nina scolded quietly, giving her a stern look. Amber just gave a sheepish smile and kept quiet.

Trudy returned then with the thermometer and the others moved back to give her some space. She sat on the edge of the bed next to Jerome. "Sweetheart, I'm just going to take your temperature okay? Then you can sleep this off and feel better in time for presents this evening." she said lightly, covering up her motherly concern by trying to stay positive. Jerome just let out a sigh in response and allowed her to put the thermometer in his mouth under his tongue. Mara stayed by his side and stroked her thumb lightly across the back of his cold hand.

A few seconds later Trudy removed the thermometer, paling at the display.

Alfie began to go into panic mode again. "Trudy, what's wrong? How bad is it? Will he be okay? Please tell me he will." he pleaded, Nina and Amber gently holding him back and whispering to him to calm down.

Trudy frowned and ruffled Jerome's blonde hair in sympathy. "I think so but we definitely have to get him cooled down. He's running a bad fever. It says 40 degrees (Celsius; 104 Fahrenheit). I think it might be best if we let the hospital take a look at him just in case." she told them grimly.

Mara covered her mouth with her free hand and squeezed Jerome's hand. Then she turned to the others, taking charge. "Joy, go call an ambulance. Patricia, can you go get a few ice packs? We should try to lower his temperature until the paramedics get here." she suggested. Joy and Patricia nodded and ran out of the room to carry out her requests, Nolan glancing at Jerome and then following after Patricia.

Alfie sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands, the remaining Sibuna members sitting next to him to show they cared by being there for him. No words were needed.

They did their best to lower Jerome's temperature with the ice packs as he fell into an exhausted sleep, but their efforts didn't do much good. His fever stubbornly refused to go down, but at least it got no worse. The ambulance arrived and they carried him out on a gurney, Trudy going with him to the hospital.

The Anubis students wanted to go as well, but Victor came down and ordered them to get to school. They tried to protest but he wasn't hearing it.

"Only one of you may miss school to go to the hospital. Work it out between yourselves." Victor commanded gruffly.

Alfie looked at them all with wide, pleading eyes and everyone readily agreed that he should be the one to stay with his best friend. Alfie quickly ran after Trudy to go with her and Jerome.

"Very well, off to school with you lot." Victor grumbled, shooing them with a wave of his hand.

They sighed and muttered various complaints about Victor as they all headed off to school reluctantly.

Meanwhile…

Alfie sat in a chair next to Trudy in Jerome's room as Jerome slept on the hospital bed. A doctor did various tests but couldn't seem to find what caused the sudden fever. "A fever can sometimes be caused by exhaustion, but usually one this high is a symptom of a virus or bacterial infection. His blood test shows no signs of disease. Everything appears perfectly normal as far as we can tell." he explained, sounding a bit confused at the strangeness of the situation.

"Normal?! Something has to be wrong! He has a fever and you should have seen him this morning! You should check again!" Alfie demanded in agitation, standing up. Trudy put a hand on Alfie's arm and gave him a steady look, tugging gently to get him to sit down. Alfie reluctantly did so, but was still looking at the doctor with his arms folded across his chest.

The doctor was about to say something else when the heart monitor started beeping like crazy. Alarmed, he whirled around to check on his patient, Alfie and Trudy both jumping up and rushing to the bed.

Jerome was semi-conscious but unaware of his actions as his heart raced and his legs kicked out, trying to get the suffocating blanket off. The doctor tried putting a hand on his arm to settle him down, but he lashed out and hit him in the chest.

"Jerome! Jerome! What's happening?!" Alfie yelled hysterically at the doctor as Trudy helped the doctor restrain the struggling teen.