Hello fellow readers, it's ThomasZoey3000 again. I want to say sorry for delaying the release of the newest chapter, but I've been a little too busy to really look over and edit the other chapters. Thankfully my friend SF64Rules has agreed to help edit more than a few of them. The following chapter was edited by SF64Rules, and hopefully with his help, we should be able to get the 30 already posted chapters out and get Episode 31 out before Summer begins.
Sodor High School: Thomas & Friends Tales
Written by: ThomasZoey3000/Edited by: SF64Rules
Based on the Railway Series by: The Rev. W. and Christopher Awdry
Based on the Television Series by: Britt AllCroft, David Mitton, Lionsgate and Universal Pictures
Episode 6: Sick as Blazes
Based on the Season 7 Episode "What's the Matter with Henry?"
Henry is a 16-year old teenage boy with long light green hair tied into a ponytail, and always wears a t-Shirt with the number three on it. He's really happy to be attending the Sodor High School, and to get involved in school activities as much as he could. Sadly, Henry is not like most of the other students. There are days when he feels terrible and feels like he can't go on.
Shortly after the autumn festival, everyone who had gotten the flu were feeling much better and ready for school. Especially when they all learned that Spencer was not exactly a good cook of a sort...though they would have to tell him off another time.
"Well there's always next year." said Thomas to Percy.
The green-haired boy nodded. "I guess so. Still, I'm happy that you brought the cotton candy to my place."
"Is that your favourite fun fair food to eat?" asked Emily.
"Sometimes, yes." Percy smiled. "Though I do like the hot dogs there too."
Rosie was sitting at her desk, and she was still smiling. Why? Because she thought for sure that Thomas would be her boyfriend in no time.
Soon, everyone was seated in the classroom. All except for...
"Has anyone seen Henry?" asked the teacher.
"He's properly skipping." said Gordon cheekily. "That Henry sure does have an annoying habit of doing it."
"He's properly sick, like most of us were." called out Emily, "Just like you were for example!"
Gordon only pouted. Just then, everyone saw the door open and there was Henry. His face was going red and he was breathing heavily. The sight quickly perked up Gordon's mood.
"Got caught, Henry?" he asked, grinning cheekily again.
"No," Henry groaned unhappily, pulling something out of his jean pocket. "I...I'm just...not feeling well. I...do have...a late slip...sorry for being late."
"No problem, Henry." said the teacher, then said kindly to him; "if you're not feeling all that well, then you should go to the nurse's office."
"Nah, I'm okay."
"We don't need you skipping again!" called out James in a mean way.
"It's not my fault." Henry protested. "I've always been sick. Ever since I was born. You know that, James."
"Pah!" snorted Gordon, who didn't sound the least bit convinced. "You're just faking to get out of doing school work!"
"That's not true!"
"Alright class, settle down." scolded the teacher, and went on to doing the next lesson.
Emily could see that Henry looked worse than when he came into the classroom, and this started to make her worry.
Later that night, she spoke with Thomas about Henry, for she wanted to know why he was sick nearly all the time.
"Well, from what we all know, Henry was born with a serious illness that nearly claimed his life, but he was able to get over it and go on to being the Henry we know today," Thomas explained. "Sadly, there were times when we were younger when his illness nearly took his life away."
"I guess he was able to fight it off then, am I right?" Emily asked thoughtfully.
"That's right, Emily," said Thomas as he brought over some hot chocolate for himself and the dark green-haired girl. "He does that all the time. Although I remember it used to happen every two months and now it's two years."
"Do you think that's why he's feeling sick right now?"
Thomas nodded. "It's possible, but Gordon and James both don't think he's really sick. They never have and likely never will."
"Gordon, I can understand, but not James." Emily said unhappily.
"Oh yeah, he's always had his doubts about Henry's illness and never thinks that he is really sick." Thomas explained grimly.
"What about everyone else in the school?"
"Oh, we all know, and we know what to do whenever he does get sick. Half the time, it's Percy, Edward or myself who help him out."
"That's good." Emily smiled, but then had to ask; "What's his illness called?"
"None of us really know, not even Henry knows the name of his illness, and there is no known cure for it."
"Poor Henry, he has to go threw all that by himself. He must be so scared, and to hear those rude remarks from Gordon and James. Thomas, is there anything we can do to help?"
"There is; we can defend him whenever Gordon or James start teasing him and be ready to get him to the nurse's office if and when that time comes."
Somehow that didn't make things any better.. If anything, it just made Emily worry even more.
The next day, Emily could see that Henry was getting worse. His face was nearly red and he had a difficult time breathing, walking, and doing his assignments.
"Quit being a chicken, Henry!" called out Gordon rudely. "We know you're not sick."
"Maybe he is being a chicken," suggested James. "Or maybe he's just getting to be as lazy as Spencer, Dennis, or Daisy."
Each time she heard James or Gordon tease Henry, Emily got crosser and crosser.
"Never mind them, Henry," Toby said kindly. "We know you'll get better soon and be your old happy self once more."
"I...hope so...Toby."
Henry then asked if he could run to get a drink of water from the fountain. He was allowed and he left the classroom weakly.
"Chicken!" called Gordon meanly.
That was the last straw. Emily stood up and faced Gordon and James both furiously. It was crystal clear that her anger had reached its limit.
"Stop that!" she shouted. "What is with you two? Henry is seriously sick!"
"No he's not." snickered James, "He's just faking it."
Emily gasped when the red-haired boy said that and slammed a fist onto her desk angrily in response, making James and Gordon both jump up in surprise. Nearly everyone was staring at Emily now, but she didn't care at this point.
"He's not! Henry has a serious illness that nearly claimed his life more than once through out his life!" Tears welled in Emily's eyes as she started to cry. "I suppose you two think it's funny to see a friend die then, huh?"
She couldn't take anymore and just ran out of the classroom and down the hallways, sobbing the entire time. Thomas quickly hurried out of the classroom to try and follow her. Gordon and James started thinking over what Emily said while being surrounded by their classmate's staring eyes, several of which started to speak rather severely.
"I'm ashamed of you two." said Edward sternly. "Emily is right, Henry does have a serious illness and could have used your support."
"But instead you picked on him." added Percy. "Thinking he was faking it when it is really true."
"What do you have to say for yourselves?" asked Toby.
Gordon and James both said nothing.
It didn't take too long for Thomas to find Emily, she was found crying hard under the stairwell to the downstairs level. This heartbreaking sight was enough to break Thomas's heart.
"Emily..." he whispered with sympathy.
"I'm sorry." The dark green-haired girl sobbed. "I just couldn't hold it in anymore."
"It's okay Emily," said Thomas kindly as he approached and gave her a small hug. "if you ask me, you did the right thing telling them that."
"What?"
"Well, to be honest, we've all wanted to say that to them for years." Thomas explained. "Besides, I think Gordon and James both think that Henry is faking because he's a lot like them sometimes."
"But he's seriously sick!" Emily protested.
"I know and everyone else knows that, and I'm sure that someday Gordon and James will see that too."
Hearing those words from Thomas and feeling the warmth of his hug made Emily feel better as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you, Thomas."
Then they let go as someone came rushing down the stairs towards them. It was Percy, and he looked alarmed.
"Henry's fallen!" he called. "He was on his way back to class when he fell, he can't walk anymore!"
Thomas and Emily were both shocked to hear this bit of news.
"Then we'd better go help him," Thomas advised.
He and Emily both got to their feet and ran behind Percy back upstairs.
It didn't take long to find Henry, although now he was surrounded by other students.
"Get back everyone!" cried Percy. "Get back!"
Thomas, Percy and Emily each pushed their way through to Henry.
"Are you okay old friend?" asked Thomas, his voice breaking down a bit.
"No..." coughed Henry weakly. "I...feel...terrible."
"We'd better get you to the nurse's office. Emily, I'm going to need your help this time!"
"All right, I'm coming!" she nodded.
Together, Thomas and Emily both helped Henry back to his feet. The poor teenager was feeling worse with every second that passed.
"Please get out of the way!" Percy pleaded. "We need to go!"
Some of the students didn't and the green-haired boy was having a difficult time getting through.
"At this rate, it'll take us forever to get to the nurse's office." Emily said in despair. "Oh, where's a teacher when you need them?"
Henry only moaned and groaned again, getting louder with every second that passed. He felt like he was going to pass out again.
"Hang in there, Henry." cried Thomas. "We'll get you through."
"Of course you will!" called another voice. A very familiar one too.
Thomas looked and saw Gordon and James both coming towards them.
"We'll help you guys through!" James declared.
"Oh, thank heaven. I knew you both weren't that bad." said Emily, sighing with relief.
"We've always believed that Henry was faking his illness." James stated. "But after hearing what you've said to us, Emily, we knew then that we were wrong and now we're going to help our good buddy out."
"Thank...you..." groaned Henry again.
Gordon and James both charged through, this time the students did back off.
"Typical of those Smelter Class Teens," said Thomas crossly. "They don't give a hoot on what happens to anyone but their own sorry selves."
"Don't forget-" Percy spoke up. "-that at least a few of them are our friends, too."
"And at least we got some help now." smiled Emily.
With a pathway cleared, Thomas and Emily both helped Henry down the hallways, slowly foot step by foot step. Gordon, James, and Percy each made sure there was a clear pathway all the way down the stairs and down the next set of hallways to the nurse's office.
"Thank you...Thomas...Percy...Emily...and you too, Gordon and...James," Henry said weakly and quietly. "I...know I'll...be okay...now that...my...good friends are...helping...me...out."
"What are friends for?" smiled James.
"We're almost there!" called Gordon. "just a few more steps, hang in there Henry!"
Soon enough, they had made it to the nurse's office. One of the nurses could see all the teens coming in with Henry, who was barely able to walk by himself.
"It's happening again, isn't it?" asked the nurse, sounding concerned.
"Sad to say, it is." sighed Thomas. "You have to help Henry."
"He's faking!" cried another voice, which belonged to a black-haired boy named Diesel, who also gave a sneer. "That silly Henry is always making up silly excuses to get out of doing anything related to school."
Thomas and Percy both had angry looks on their faces. Emily was about to snap at him, but was surprised to see Gordon and James both stand up for Henry.
"He is not faking it." snapped Gordon, "Henry is really sick."
"He's had a serious illness ever since he was born." added James. "Though I will admit that we never saw that and would have agreed with you before. But now that we know, we're not going to let our best friend down."
Diesel snorted and walked away in a huff. Henry felt more relieved hearing this.
"Thank...you...James...and...Gordon..." But then it happened, Henry had no energy left as he fell to the ground. He had finally passed out. More than that, he had fallen into a coma.
The nurses brought Henry into one of the rooms, while the five teenagers were left worrying about their friend.
"Get better soon, Henry." said Percy quietly.
"Come on." said Gordon, "We'd better get back to class."
"I'll get Henry's notes for him while we're there." said James sadly.
As they all walked back to class, Emily spoke to both James and Gordon.
"Look, you two. I'm sorry I snapped at you back in class," she said, feeling guilty for earlier.
"Don't apologize." Gordon sighed.
"We actually deserved it," James added. "If anything, we should thank you for making us see just how sick our friend was, and apologize for being the complete fools we were."
"Well from what I saw in the nurse's office, Henry was pleased to see you finally believe him, and I think he forgives you, just like I do." This brought a smile to the two teen's faces, but only for a moment. Emily then spoke to Thomas. "Do you think he's going to be okay, Thomas?" she asked.
"I sure hope so. Let's just hope that he's still strong enough to face this illness of his again and beat it."
"Hope..." said Emily quietly to herself. "That's all we can do now."
There was still no word on Henry's condition all day long, and the teenagers were starting to worry even more now. Days had passed, and it was reported that Henry was transferred to the hospital, but there was still no sign of him waking up.
Thomas and Emily both often went to see how their friend was doing, although they weren't there as much as Gordon and James were.
"Get better soon, buddy." said James quietly.
"We know you're not going to give up." said Gordon, "You can do it, Henry. Don't give up on yourself."
"Looks like you really got through to them," whispered Thomas to Emily. "Only I think it might be too late."
"Don't you start to lose hope, Thomas. Henry will pull through." Emily replied firmly.
"Yeah, he will." The blue-haired boy agreed.
Two weeks passed, and poor Henry didn't wake up. He was still breathing, which was a good thing, but he didn't smile or say anything to anyone. Nevertheless, Gordon and James both continued to tell Henry that he was going to be okay.
At night, before going to sleep, Emily often would wish upon a star for Henry to recover.
"I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish that I wished tonight." she prayed, before looking up. "I wish for Henry to wake up from his coma. I don't want my friend to die."
Suddenly she felt someone touch her shoulder. She turned around and saw it was both Annie and Clarabel.
"Come on, you need to go back to sleep." said Annie.
"I know." Emily sighed sadly. "But I just can't stop worrying about Henry's condition."
"We know Thomas can't either, but you both can't let it get to you." Clarabel said wisely for her age.
Emily agreed to it and went back to bed.
Then, on a cold wet rainy day, the five teenagers (Thomas, Emily, Percy, James, and Gordon) all came by to see how Henry was doing. When they came in, they were in for a shock. For there was Henry, wide awake and smiling broadly.
"Hello, my friends." he greeted, sounding much better now. "How are you all doing today?"
"Henry!" cried Emily.
"You're awake!" added Percy.
"We're doing just fine, Henry." smiled Gordon.
"And we're glad to see that you're doing so much better now." added James.
"Thank you, my friends. You know, there were times when that illness of mine had nearly beaten me, but I kept on remembering the encouraging words you all said to me and that gave me more determination to pull through this."
Gordon and James both looked down to the ground in silence.
"Listen, Henry, we're both sorry for the way we were acting before." said Gordon, feeling nothing but regret.
"We had no idea that you were really sick, that was until Emily showed us that we were wrong." added James.
Henry smiled, then he looked over to the other three teenagers. "Thank you again, my friends." he smiled, but paid extra special attention to the dark green-haired girl. "Especially you, Emily. You've done so much to help me. Thank you so much."
"Your welcome, Henry." she smiled. "It's what friends do."
"So when do you think you'll be leaving the hospital?" asked Gordon.
"Tonight, at least that's what I heard the doctors say."
"Well if you want, we can help you home." said James. "I can get my mom to give you a drive home. What do you say, Henry?"
The older green-haired boy happily nodded to the idea.
Thomas, Percy, and Emily all left the room three minutes later, but they weren't ready to leave the hospital just yet, they had to visit an old friend.
"Hello my three young friends." greeted Hiro as they entered into his room. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"Well we've been a little busy as of late, Mr. Hiro." said Emily and she explained about what happened to Henry.
"At least he's okay now," agreed Thomas, when the dark green-haired girl finished explaining the events. "He's actually talking with James and Gordon right now."
"I'd say your friend is lucky to have good friends like you three, plus Gordon and James." Hiro commented positively.
"Especially Emily." Percy added. "If she hadn't knocked the much needed sense into Gordon and James, Henry would have ended up in a worse state."
"Not to mention most of those scrap iron students were causing trouble by blocking our path." groaned Thomas, not mentioning the few good ones. "When are those fools going to learn?"
"Probably never." Percy answered.
Hiro just smiled. "my friends, I'm just glad to hear that you're all doing well."
"And we're glad to see you're okay." smiled Thomas.
"Mr. Hiro," Percy piped in. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but I've been curious, how old are your children? Thomas and Emily never told me about them."
"Well, Percy, I'd be more than glad to tell you. My daughter Yoshida is 35-years old, my son Yuji is 30-years old, and my youngest, Sakura, is 14-years old."
"Do they come by to visit you?" asked Emily.
"They do indeed," smiled Hiro, "They come by every day and talk to me about what their day was like, and of course my beautiful wife Koyuki also comes here every morning and evening."
"That is so sweet." Emily gushed.
The three teens continued to talk to the former teacher of SHS for a while before it was finally time to go.
"It was nice seeing you three again." smiled Hiro and winked at them. "I do hope that you will stay out of trouble."
"We will." They all said in unison, and walked out of the room for their own homes.
The next day at school, Henry came back into the classroom and looked better than ever.
"You are looking so much better, Henry." smiled Emily.
"And I feel better too." he smiled. "I really want to thank you greatly Emily, for all you have done to help me, so I got you this." He pulled out a small box of chocolates and some roses on top of the box.
"Oh, Henry, that was so sweet of you." Emily smiled, accepting the gift.
Henry smiled again and walked off back to his desk. James meanwhile had seen everything and was looking rather cross.
"How dare that Henry," he huffed. "Giving Emily those chocolates and roses, does he secretly like her?"
Rosie was also wondering the same thing. "if Henry and Emily like each other..."
Her thoughts were cut off when she saw Thomas talking to Emily about their homework assignments. They were going over the notes and talking, this started to make her worry again.
"Does he really like her? I guess that means my chances are slim. I need to act fast."
For the rest of the day, to everyone's surprise, Henry did well. Better than well, he was on the top of his game in gym class and was always the first to finish a test in class. Even getting the highest marks on it too.
"Well." grinned Edward, "What do you think of that?"
Even Spencer was impressed. "He sure made a quick recovery, he makes all the school work look so easy."
Gordon and James both were certainly impressed with Henry's performance as well.
At last at the end of the day, everyone was ready to go. James was one of the last of the students to leave the classroom. That's when he saw Henry talking to Rosie.
"I wonder what they are talking about?" he thought to himself.
Henry was just telling Rosie all about what Emily did for him. She was curious, then a thought came to her and she asked him an important question.
"Do you have any feelings for her?" The pink-haired girl asked.
"I do like her, yes." he said. James gasped. But then he heard the older green-haired boy say, "but as a friend, that's all."
James sighed in relief, then he watched Henry walk away. Then he walked over to Rosie.
"Are you still trying to win Thomas' heart?" The red-haired boy asked.
"Yes." she sighed unhappily. "But I don't think he'll want me when he has Emily."
"Rosie, do you remember what I told you before?"
Rosie nodded. "Yeah I remember."
"Well, give it another try, and I'm sure this time he'll like you even more." James looked around for a moment, and whispered into Rosie's ear; "take him somewhere where you won't run into any of our classmates or any other girl in our school."
"Do you think it will work?"
"I'm sure it will." James smiled confidently. "Don't be afraid to try my dear Rosie."
"Thanks James!" Rosie smiled, and ran off happily.
"Perfect!" snickered James to himself, "If she does that then I still have a fighting chance for Emily's heart. Assuming if I don't get sick again."
"James!" Henry called out. It snapped the red head out of his thoughts, "hurry up, or you're going to miss the bus again!"
"Coming!" called James and ran off to catch the bus, smiling confidently to himself. "It will work. I just know it!"