"Okay, I've got enough left today for two more, any takers?"
He looked around the room to see if anyone was willing and everyone was silent, like they were begging to not be called on.
Curious to see what she came up with, he called on her. "All right then, Charlotte, you're up."
Letting out a deep breath, she grabbed her notebook headed to the front of the class. Something was off with her but he just couldn't put his finger on it.
Sam watched the way she moved intently. It looked like she was focused on her breathing and taking long deep breaths that seemed a bit exaggerated. She looked at Jules who in turn cocked his head to the side. It was like they were having a silent conversation and Jules turned in his seat to looked at him.
"Sam," he whispered. Sam's face grew hot and he knew it was red. It was the first time they'd ever acknowledged each other and he closed the small gap between the two of them. Charlie said the name of her poem "When we two parted by Lord Byron."
"What?" he snapped, at Jules.
"Dude, she's not doing good today, like sick and I'm not talking about the flu. I think you should have her go tomorrow." The concern on his face made Sam immediately look at Charlie as she started to read.
When we two parted
In silence and tears
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss:
Truly that hour forehold
Sorrow to this
Sam took in every word she said. The poem just for him and she was talking directly to him. Even though she wasn't looking at him. She stopped reading, and swayed as she gripped the corner of his desk.
All of the color drained from her face and her body started to give way to the floor. Jules shoved his desk over as he jumped up and sprinted for the front of the room. Sam hopped over the row of backpacks and made a beeline for her as his heartbeat echoed in his ears.
"Charlie!" Sarah yelled as she clambered out of her desk and rushed to her side. Grant must have seen her going down because he got to her before her head hit the floor. He was cradling her limp body in his arms looking horrified. Jules slid under her head and lightly tapped her cheek. Sam stood over them frozen with fear. He wanted nothing more than to scoop her up in his arms.
"Charlie, come on wake up. Charlie— don't do this to me, please I need you. Wake up," Jules pleaded with her.
"Sarah, call 911," Sam demanded.
"What about the nurse?" She asked with the phone to her ear.
"Fuck the nurse, we need an ambulance," Jules yelled in a panic.
The rest of the class was huddled around them, talking at the same time. Sarah handed her phone to Sam and took off in a full sprint toward the nurse, at least he hoped that's where she went. Trying to stay as calm as possible, he was doing his best to not freak the fuck out.
"Beaufort County 911 whats your emergency?"
"I am a teacher at Northridge High School and I have a female student that collapsed in classroom. She is unconscious and not responding." Sam tried to keep his voice calm and even but it was shaking just like his hands were.
"Sir, is she breathing?"
Sam looked over at Jules. "Julian is she breathing?"
Jules put his cheek to her mouth and held his fingers over her carotid artery like he'd done it before. "Yeah but I can barely feel it.. Please tell them to hurry," he pleaded and continued to try to get a response by tapping her cheek and calling her name.
"He says it's there but faint, please tell them to hurry."
"Ok sir, they're already in route. I need you to try to stay calm and talk to me. Do you know this Students medical history?"
"I'm not sure, let me pass the phone to someone who knows." Sam's heart beat like a bass drum in his chest and he felt nauseous. Watching the life fade from Charlie was excruciating, and not being able to hold her was like a knife in his chest.
Sam tapped Jules on the shoulder and handed him the phone.
"Switch places so you can focus on what they're asking you," Sam said.
Jules slid out from under her head as Sam dropped to his knees to replace him. The room was total chaos and all he wanted to do was kiss her and tell her he loved her but he knew he couldn't. He was forced to stay professional even though the love of his life was unconscious in his arms. The nurse ran in the room with the Principal, Mr. Thomas and Sarah flanking her. She was on all fours next to Charlie and checked for a pulse on both wrists and her neck.
"Does she have a history of passing out?" she asked, looking at Jules.
"Yeah, when something is wrong with her heart," Jules said, on the verge of tears.
Her eyes went wide as she checked for a pulse again."I can't find a pulse, Sam." She tried to wave smelling salts in front of her nose and it didn't work.
The next thing Sam knew the paramedics rushed in the room with a stretcher and asked a million questions while they took her vitals. Sam felt like he couldn't move. Get a grip, you are no help to her like this. The first thing he needed to do was step back and let them work on her. The second thing he needed to do was calm his students down and get them under control.
Before he could say anything, Mr. Thomas spoke up.
"Guys, everyone needs to back up and take their seats. We need to give them room to work, I know the bell is going to ring any minute. Stay in your seats, we will get you to your next class once she is out of here."
"Does anyone know anything about her medical history?" The first paramedic asked as he checked for a pulse.
"It's pretty vague. All I know is she's a new student with a cardiac history." The nurse replied, obviously shaken.
"I know her entire medical history. What do you need to know?" Jules asked, as the second paramedic cut her shirt open with scissors. Knowing Charlie was very conscious of her scars, Sam stepped forward to obstruct the view of the students as they rolled her out of the class.
The first paramedic was now straddling Charlie on the gurney as they ran down the hallway with her.
"Holy shit, she obviously has a serious cardiac history. Look at all of these scars--Give me the run down kid, her pulse isn't strong."
Sam and Jules ran along side them down the long hallways on the way out to the waiting ambulance.
"She had a congenital defect that needed emergency surgery at birth. She's had two valve repairs and a valve replacement. The pig valve they tried to replace tore, and they had to go with a mechanical valve. She had a heart attack a couple of years ago too. Each surgery was two years apart from the time she was five. She has atrial fibrillation too."
"Do you know what meds she's on?"
Jules made eye contact with Sam and his heart broke in half.
"I know she's on a blood thinner and other heart meds but I don't know the names of them. My mom will."
Sam took in everything Jules told them. He knew she had been through a lot but he had no idea how bad it all was and he understood why she didn't want to talk about it. In the fluorescent lights of the hall way her scars stood out and were very prominent. No wonder she hated them and was so afraid for him to see them.
"She's too young for all of this," the first paramedic said.
They loaded her into the Ambulance and hooked her up to a bunch of machines. They started an IV and her heart rate on the monitor barely registered but it did beep intermittently. Sam stopped breathing and his knee's felt like they were going to give out. Jules turned ghost white when the intermittent beeps were replaced with one long drawn out beep.
"She's crashing, we need to go now," one paramedic said to the other. Jules climbed into the back and shook as they continued to work on her.
Bile rose in his throat and it burned but he swallowed it back down. They peeled two pads off of a strip and stuck them to different parts of her chest. One paramedic yelled to the other to stay clear as he watched her body jolt off of the gurney and fall back down into a unresponsive heap.
"Julian, get
out of that ambulance, now," Mr. Thomas growled from behind him.
Neither of them acknowledged him.
"Sam, he is not to leave this campus without permission!"
The sight of her laying there, limp and ash grey gnawed at his heart. The constant beep was the last thing he heard before they pulled the doors closed and sped away. The sirens echoed through him and he couldn't move.
♥♥♥♥♥
Sam couldn't keep the bile from rising in his throat any longer. He ran to the nearest bush and heaved into it. He took a minute to try to compose himself.
"My office, now," Mr. Thomas growled and disappeared inside.
He felt a hand on his back and turned to see the Nurse standing there with concern etched on her face.
"Are you okay, Sam?"
"Yeah, it must be nerves. I've... never—"
"Seen anything like that before?" she finished.
He shook his head. They walked inside together as a bell rang but the halls were empty.
"Which bell was that?"
"The second bell.
"I need to go dismiss my class."
"He had Mrs. Taylor cover for you. They've already been dismissed. I think he's pissed you left the room.
"What was I supposed to do? Just stand there and pretend I didn't have someone dying in my room?"
It felt like an hour had gone by but it had been merely minutes. Everything seemed like it was moving in slow motion. He should have listened to Jules when he said something was wrong with her. Why didn't she say something? Then it dawned on him that she did when she gave Jules the look. She silently told him, and he understood something about her that Sam could not.
Feeling sick to his stomach again, the back of his throat burned and there was no keeping it down. He made it to his trashcan just in time and puked. Jodi handed him the water bottle from his desk.
"Are you all right? You look pretty pale," she said, and patted him on the back.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Why don't you go clean yourself up and then meet me in Mr. Thomas's Office. We need to discuss what happened, apparently. Oh, and in case you were wondering, he called Mr. Evans already.
"I'll meet you down there," Sam said as he squeezed her shoulder and walked past her. He made his way to the faculty bathroom and washed his face. There's no way they didn't revive her, he wouldn't even let himself think that. He needed to know how Charlie was. He needed her to be okay.
Splashing his face with cold water one more time, he caught his reflection in the mirror. He looked horrible and all he wanted to do was go to the hospital and wait for news. It was then and there, he decided that was exactly what he was going to do.
He knocked on Mr. Thomas's open office door as he walked in.
"Close the door behind you and have a seat, Sam," he said, in a hollow tone. Sam's pulse started to race as he shut the door. Jodi was already seated in the chair next to him.
"So what happened in there? Is she on drugs?"
"No sir, she was in front of the class reciting her homework when she collapsed."
"Does she have a history of this, Jodi?"
"She's a new student, but she apparently has an extensive cardiac history."
"I've got a call into her father but I haven't heard back from him yet. First of all, why did you leave your class once the paramedics had her? And I specifically told you not to let Julian Montgomery leave and you did anyway."
"Are you kidding me right now?" Sam shifted in his seat.
A dark scowl washed over Mr. Thomas' face.
"What the hell did you expect me to do? Just stay in my class and pretend like nothing was happening? She's a new student, and I felt it was my responsibility to make sure she was taken care of."
"Well, she's not. Your responsibility was to make sure your other student stayed on campus and you failed to do so."
"Oh please. I couldn't have made him stay even if I tried. From what I understand their families are close. So he would have left anyway." Sam tried to keep his feelings in check and make everything sound as professional as possible.
Mr. Thomas leaned forward on his desk, with suspicious eyes. "And how exactly do you know that, she's only been here a few days?"
Sam stared him straight in the eye. "I've overheard them in my class."
Jodi looked through a file and interrupted Mr. Thomas before he could speak.
"Actually, Conner, it says here in her file that Julian Montgomery is one of her emergency contacts as well as his mother."
Mr. Thomas looked almost disgusted."Why would a parent list another student as an emergency contact. Especially when the student is not a family member."
There was a good reason why they had him listed and it made perfect sense to him, but he couldn't voice that. Charlie's dad was a hard man to get a hold of and Callie was the only mom she'd ever known.
"Regardless, Don't let yourself forget that you are still in your probationary period. You don't have tenure to protect you."
Fuck you, was all he could think at that moment. He handled the situation the best he could and that fucktard wouldn't have handled it any better. He needed to get to hospital as fast as he could.
As soon as his anger settled down and his nerves set in again, his stomach heaved.
"I think I'm going to be sick again, excuse me," Sam said as he stood from his chair.
"That's the second time I've seen you vomit. Just go home. I'll make someone cover your afternoon classes." Mr. Thomas rolled his eyes.
"Thank you," Sam mumbled and he left his office. What a heartless prick. Fuck him and his soap box. He rushed back to his classroom and tossed all of his stuff into his bag.
With that he turned on his heel and used every ounce of restraint he had to not sprint out the door to his Jeep. He looked at his watch, only thirty minutes had passed since the ambulance pulled out of the school but it felt like it had been an eternity. He climbed in his Jeep and sped off toward the hospital.
♥♥♥♥♥
Sam made his way directly for the reception desk.
"I'm looking for where they took Charlotte Evans. She came by ambulance not long ago," he said with desperation.
"Are you family?"
"Yes."
She clicked around on her computer for a minute and searched her screen.
"It looks like she is in the ICU, sir. Take this hallway to the left and follow it around the corner. You'll find the ICU waiting area on the right hand side," she said.
"Thank you." he tore down the hall toward the ICU and found Jules sitting in the waiting area bent over with his head in his hands. Sam took the seat next to him and patted his back.
"Hey, how are you holding up? Any word?" Sam asked.
"Hey, how'd you get here?" Jules looked up at him with red puffy eyes.
"I left school."
"Oh, no word yet. My mom is back there with her now. Only one person is allowed back at a time and my mom is not giving up her post anytime soon."
"Has anyone gotten a hold of her dad yet?"
"Not yet. He's in the middle of some sort of training exercise and can't be reached until it's over. They said it would be another hour or two until they're finished."
"Was she conscious at all?" Sam asked. He couldn't bring himself to ask if they got her heart beating again.
"She was in and out of it once they shocked her for the fourth time. She squeezed my hand when I told her I was there. But they rushed her back as soon as we got here and they made me wait out here. I don't know anything other than that," Jules admitted in defeat.
"I'm sorry I didn't catch on quick enough when you tried to tell me something was wrong. I knew something was off I just didn't know what."
"It's not your fault, Sam, you didn't know. She should have said something sooner and I'm going to kill her once they save her."
They made eye contact and shared a small smile. It sounded exactly like something Charlie would have said.
♥♥♥♥�
��
They both sat lost in their own thoughts for what seemed like forever. It was coming up on an hour when Callie emerged through the double doors. Charlie talked about her relationship with Callie all the time and it was obvious how close they were. He'd picked up on that the first time he saw them together. When she walked out and saw Sam sitting there, he was sure by her facial expression she didn't know what to think.
"Sam? What are you doing here?" she asked, with that same puzzled look.
"I... uh," he stammered.
Jules stepped in and took over for Sam immediately. "Mom, that's not important. What's going on? Is she okay?"
Callie walked over and sat across from them. She looked as exhausted as Sam felt.
"She's not doing well babe. Right now, she's in emergency surgery."
Callie watched Sam for a moment before she spoke and it made him very uneasy.
"So, have you and Charlie been dating this entire time? Is it serious?" she asked.
Sam didn't want to lie to Callie. She was important to Charlie and for all intents and purposes she was Charlie's mom. He respected her for that and looked to Jules for help. "Seriously, do you think right now is the time to give him the third degree?" he chimed in.
"I'm sorry, I just thought Charlie would have told me, but obviously you knew."
"She's allowed to date, Mom."
"I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to put you on the spot."
"It's all right," he replied, unable to make eye contact.
He looked up when he heard heavy footsteps echoing down the hall. Sarah ran toward them. She bent over with her hands on her knees and breathed heavily.
"Oh my God... I... can't... breathe... Is Charlie okay? What's happening?" she gasped.
"How'd you get out of class?" Jules asked.
"I ditched," she said, with pride.
Sam didn't know what to say, so he thought it would be best to keep his mouth shut. He had a bad feeling his secret wasn't going to be a secret much longer.
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