by Zac Moore
“You didn’t even give me a say in the matter!” exclaims Alexander.
…Alright maybe I took the lead on the vote, but I had a very good reason for doing so!
“I would’ve given you a say if you were even listening to me during the 20 minutes I was trying to explain all the candidates to you!” I exclaim “Besides, who would’ve you voted for?”.
“Well um” says Alexander.
“Exactly, you had no idea” I say.
We spend the rest of the day with our class unpacking our stuff, hey wait, did Alexander just pull out a laptop?
“Hey, Alexander, what's the deal with the laptop?” I ask.
“You remember how I have Cerebral Palsy?” he replies.
“Yes? What about it?” I reply back.
“Well, that affects my writing ability, and since my handwriting is so messy, instead of writing by hand I use a computer to take notes in class and then transfer them to books later when I'm not being rushed” explains Alexander.
“Why not just ask the teacher to slow down so you have time to write? It's not like it's an unreasonable request” I say.
“The teacher might not mind, but unfortunately not every school student is as understanding as you, Eliza. Long story short, I can't ask the teacher to slow down because I'm afraid my classmates would judge me” explains Alexander.
I'll admit I can't argue with that, I've never been in Alexander's shoes, for all I know he might've had a prior experience where he WAS judged by his classmates for asking a teacher to be more accommodating to his needs, I would ask if that actually happened but quite frankly, I don't really care about Alex's history.
Wait, did I just call Alexander his short name?
A few hours later everybody finishes packing and we have a short class meeting where we discuss things like room assignments and emergency procedures, all the guys have their own rooms separate from the girls but Alex and I, being class leaders, are roomed together, there I go again referring to somebody I'm only acquaintances with as if they were my friend! After the meeting Stuart gets up to speak to the whole class.
“Hey guys, remember that arcade we passed on the tour? Let's celebrate our first night together by going there!” says Stuart.
I could use a break, hey wait a minute, didn't Alexander say something about flashing lights and loud noises, something almost every arcade has?
“Hate to be a party pooper guys but Alexander is an epileptic, I'm not sure the arcade would be the best place for him” I say.
“Hmmmm, good point Lizzy, maybe somebody should stay back with him, we did agree as a class he is never to be left alone” says Bianca.
“I will, I have some CL stuff to do anyway” I say.
“Thanks, Lizzy, take care you two” says Tracy.
The class leaves and I turn to Alexander.
“Now see here Alex, I'm only doing this because it's the decent thing to do, in no way is this a sign of friendship between us! We're only acquaintances!” I say, firmly “Ellen will be here soon to discuss some stuff with us, so get ready for another meeting”.
“Elizabeth, you know I would love to join you and Ellen, but I'm not exactly feeling well right now, I have this huge headache and I kind of feel dizzy” says Alex, rocking from side to side.
“You better go lay down then” I say.
I walk him into our room and lay him down on his bed.
“Now you better relax!” I exclaim.
Oh, there's the doorbell! Must be Ellen!
“Ellen is here, don't worry about us, just relax” I say.
I go to answer the door.
“LIZZY BABE!” screams Ellen.
“ELLY BABE” I scream.
“Where's your partner?” she asks.
“Not feeling well” I respond.
“That's a shame” she responds.
Ellen and I head to the lounge room.
“So, what were we going to discuss again?” asks Ellen.
“An alliance between our two classes” I respond
So basically, I had this idea that the W and G classes should form an alliance of some sort, it was sort of a spur-of-the-moment idea so I hadn't had time to figure out the exact terms, but we'll figure something out.
Ellen and I spend about an hour discussing our alliance when I hear a loud noise come from Alex and I's room. What has he done now?
“Pardon me Ellen, I should go check on that” I say, leaving the lounge room.
I wall in to not a mess on the floor, but a freaking ALEX ON THE FLOOR!
“Hey, Alex, you alright there, buddy?” I ask.
No response.
“Alexander?” I ask again, trying to get his attention
Still nothing. His heart is still beating and his breathing seems study, he also appears to be awake. Hey, wait a minute, heart beating like normal, breathing normal, eyes open, no response, slumped over on the floor, HIS HAVING A SEIZURE! I run back to the lounge room.
“Ellen! Could you please go keep an eye on Alex while I call the front office?” I ask, as calmly as I can.
“Oh, uh, sure Lizzy” she says, heading towards where Alex is.
I run to the house phone and call the front office.
“Front Office, Mrs Boyd speaking, how can I help you 7W?” says the office person.
“Yes, this is Elizabeth Gotthold, Alexander Moore is having an epileptic seizure, we need medical assistance immediately!” I scream into the phone.
“Elizabeth, please calm down, we're sending somebody from the Support Unit and also informing Alex’s guardian, now how long has he been out for?” asks Ms Boyd.
“About two minutes” I say.
“In that case, we're also sending an ambulance. Sorry, but he won't be sleeping at home tonight” says Ms Boyd.
His guardian; which turns out to be our languages teacher Mrs Herriot, as well as Mrs Waltz from the Support Unit, arrive within 5 minutes, they storm the door.
“Where is he? Is he with somebody?” asks Mrs Herriot, frantically
“He is in the class leaders’ room, he is with Ellen Carr from 7G” I respond.
They run towards where Alex is, and not 10 minutes later leave with him – still out like a light – in an ambulance.
Please be OK, Al.
The rest of the class return that evening, they have no idea what happened, I should tell them about Alex, but they look so happy, I don’t want to ruin their day.
“Elizabeth, you look upset, is everything OK?” asks Tracy.
I’ve been caught.
“Oh, I’m fine, but Alex on the other hand…” I say.
“What’s up with Alex?” asks Hayley.
“What isn’t up with Alex! He had a seizure while you guys were gone and the last time I saw him he was being driven away in an ambulance!” I say while crying.
“A seizure? How on Earth did that happen?” asks Nela.
“I don’t know! All I know is that he has Epilepsy!” I exclaim, crying even harder.
“Guys stop questioning poor Lizzy, it isn’t her fault that Alex had a seizure! Lizzy, chill, you had no way of knowing that Alex would suddenly have a seizure, none of us could’ve known!” screams Tatiana.
“Tatiana is right guys, all we can do now is wait for news regarding Alex’s condition” says Eve.
“Thank you everyone, I’m going to go lay down for a while, it’s been a long afternoon” I say.
I nap for about an hour, after which we go and have dinner, the whole class was quiet, I didn’t see Ellen after Alex left for the hospital, she’s probably quite traumatized after seeing him on the brink of death. When we get home Mr Davin and Ms Janson gather us for an emergency class meeting.
“Alright, so does everybody know what happened to Alex this afternoon?” asks Mr Davin.
Everybody nods.
“Well we have news from the hospital, Alex is in a stable condition at Sutherland Hospital, and provided he sleeps well tonight, his doctors have ordered that he b
e transferred to the Princess of York hospital in Randwick” says Mr Davin.
“We’ve been told he’ll be allowed visitors the day after his transfer, so your first opportunity to visit him will be this weekend” says Ms Janson.
I can hear murmurs reacting negatively to the fact we won’t be able to visit Alex until the weekend, “This weekend oh come on!”, “That’s bullshit”, “What a load of crap”.
“Miss! With all due respect, many in this class feel very strongly about Alex, could we please visit him sooner?” I ask.
Chapter 5
A Surprising Visitor
Author’s note: We’re back to Alex’s perspective
It’s the 1st of February, I’ve been out of school for 2 days now and I hate it, stupid Epilepsy *sigh* Oh well, what’s there to do? A nurse pops her head into the room.
“Master Moore, you have a visitor” says the nurse.
“It’s not Doctor Bi is it? I can’t stand anymore blood tests!” I say.
“No, Alex, it’s somebody from school, one of your classmates, Elizabeth Gotthold” says the nurse.
What is she doing here? Probably some class leader business.
“Send her in, please” I say.
Here she comes.
“Al! So good to see you!” says Elizabeth
That’s odd, she didn’t call me Alexander.
“Alright, how much money am I transferring from the class budget to your personal account?” I ask.
“Idiot, I don’t need money! I came to see you as a friend!” she says.
Did she say “friend”?
“You consider me a friend now?” I ask.
“Yes, I do. Don’t know why but after your seizure I felt this sudden feeling of concern for your health” she says.
“I thought I’d never say this but, thank you Elizabeth” I say, sincerely, “So how are the rest of the class holding up, and more importantly, how are you Elizabeth?”.
“Please, Alex, call me Lizzy, you’ve earned that right. The class is pretty shaken up but otherwise they’re doing pretty good. I’m still a little upset by what happened that afternoon but I’m slowly working my way past it” says Elizabeth, sincerely.
“So how did you get out of school today? It would’ve taken you at least at least an hour to get here by public transport so no way you would’ve had time to attend many classes” I question.
“Oh, well funny story, I used my class leader entitlement to get a day off to visit you, the rest of the class, officially at least, won’t be allowed to visit you until the weekend, I protested the restriction, put up a fight, and they said, “yeah you know what, just log this as CL business, you have 1 day off a term for that kind of stuff”, Ming gave me evil eyes when she found out what I did” says Lizzy, while laughing.
Lizzy and I spend about 3 hours talking, eating biscuits, and watching Cartoon Network (possibly the best, and really the only good part of being in hospital).
“Well Lizzy, thanks for visiting me, you’ve really made me happy, now you better get going before Ms Wine gets back” I suggest.
“Ms Wine? I thought your guardian was Mrs Herriot?” asks Elizabeth.
“Oh yeah, see the thing with that is that I actually have two guardians, Mrs Herriot takes care of me during the day and basically acts in place of my parents, but because she doesn’t live on campus, Ms Wine looks after me after hours and during the mid-semester break” I explain.
“Oh, I see, well, hope to see you back soon, Al!” says Elizabeth.
She leaves quickly, and about an hour later, Ms Wine returns.
“Hi temporary mum!” I say, excitedly.
“Hello Alex! You seem excited! What’s the occasion?” asks Ms Wine.
“A classmate of mine came to visit today!” I exclaim.
“Oh, so that’s why your class was 1 short, let me guess, Lizzy?” she asks.
“Yes!” I exclaim.
“Y’know, she was supposed to be class leader business today” she says, suspiciously.
“…Oh crap, you aren’t going to report this, are you? Please! Don’t! I beg of you!” I say.
“Oh don’t worry Alex, to be honest I’m one of the teachers that thinks that your class should’ve been allowed to visit you today” she says, reassuringly.
“Phew! Thanks Ms Wine, you’re the best” I say “By the way, you didn’t happen to find out when I’m being discharged did you?” I ask.
Please let it be soon!
“Oh yeah, the doctor said provided your blood comes back fine you’ll be discharged on Saturday” says Ms Wine.
“Wait, SATURDAY?! But that’s the first day my class is allowed to visit me!” I scream.
“Calm down Alex, your class is being informed as we speak, here watch this live stream” she says.
It’s a bit choppy because of the hospital’s crap internet, but I can make out most of it. Ms Janson is addressing the class.
“Good news, guys, provided the doctors deem Alex healthy, he’ll be allowed to come back on Saturday” says Ms Janson.
“Define healthy” says Cal.
“Oh geez, whaddaya THINK it means, Calvin!” says Elva.
“Alex has had a number of blood tests, and provided they all come back clean, he’ll be allowed out” says Ms Janson.
Ms Janson, you saint!
“Alright, now would you all like to say something to Alex? it looks like his watching us through the camera” asks Ms Janson.
“Alright guys, just like we rehearsed, raise your pieces of paper!” says Lizzy.
They raise these sheets of paper to the camera, and it’s a poster that’s half blue (my favourite colour) and half black (what I see when I have a seizure), on the blue half a message spells out “AL MOORE RULES” and on the black half “EPILEPSY DROOLS!”.
“Hey Ms Wine, is there any way I can actually talk to these guys?” I ask.
“Uh, yeah I think so, if I just push this and this” she says while pressing various buttons on the computer, “Alright, you’re live, go ahead”.
“Hey guys” I say to 7W, drearily.
I’m really quite tired.
“AL!” screams the entire class.
“Thank you so much for your undying support, it’s what is keeping me alive at the moment” I say.
“You’re very welcome, Alex, but I’m pretty sure medicine also has something to do with it” says Ms Janson.
“Oh yeah, that too!” I say while giggling, “Well guys, I won’t keep you from dinner, I just wanted to thank you all”.
“You’re very welcome, Al” says Hayley, “Now please, get some rest, and remember…”.
“FUCK EPILEPSY” screams the entire class.
“Can’t say I agree with the words themselves but yeah, Epilepsy can go stuff itself” says Ms Janson.
I close the live connection and a few minutes later, the nurse comes in with my dinner – ugh, MORE potato and pumpkin?! It’s bad enough outside of hospital! Oh well, if I finish this I get jelly and ice cream, and that’s the best!
Friday comes and goes, my blood tests come back clear, and on Saturday morning my brain doctor comes in.
“Good news, Alex, you’re going home this afternoon!” says the doctor “Are you excited to see your family again?” says Doctor Bi.
She does know that I live AT A SCHOOL, right?
“Sure am Doctor Bi but I think you mean school instead of home and classmates instead of family”
“Oh yeah, that’s right, my mistake Alex!” she says.
I spend the morning signing forms, packing my belongings, and buying some souvenirs from the hospital gift shop (What? People don’t normally like to remember their hospital stays? Well neither do I but this serves as a reminder to always have my medicine, which we discovered was the cause of my seizure). That afternoon Mr Davin comes in.
“Alexander Hamilton! You ready to get moving?” he asks.
“Hell yeah Dav-man! Get me out of this dump” I say.
Oh, right, I almost forgot…
“Nurses, thank you so much for assisting me these past few days” I say to the nurses at the nurses’ station.
“You were an excellent patient Alex, see you in a few years for that eye test!” says one of the nurses.
“Oh, don’t remind me!” I say.
Dav-man and I make our way down to the lower ground floor of the hospital, but instead of walking to the parking lot, we go the other way.
“Hey Mr Davin, where are we going? The parking lot is the other way” I say.
“You’ll see” he says.
He leads to one of the school’s buses, he didn’t charter a bus just for me, did he?
I walk into the bus, and what do I see?
“AL-LY MOORE, AL-LY MOORE” chants all of 7W.
“Aw, you guys came to pick me up! You truly are the best class” I say.
“Eliza begged me to use a bus, but I never imagined she would bring the class” says Mr Davin.
We drive off back to the school, and Elizabeth and I have a little talk about what’s been happening in the class.
“I heard there are some new procedures in place to prevent another trip in an ambulance” I say.
“Oh yes, from now on two people will be required to stay home with you, one of which must be able to reach you within 10 seconds, and the other must have the phone in arms reach, we have also installed a PA system and wired a handset in every room in the house to it, in the case of a suspected seizure, the person closest to you times the seizure, goes to where you are, and checks you over, while the person with the phone prepares for the worst, if you are indeed having a seizure, they pick up the PA handset and say “Urgent call for…” and whoever the person with the phone is, this signals the person with the phone to call the Support Unit’s emergency line, which was also established because of what happened, after that, we follow their instructions” explains Lizzy.
“What if more than two people are at home” I ask.
“We figured the only time that would happen is if everybody’s home, since the class is mostly required to travel together, so in that case, I’m with the phone and Eve is the person closest to you” says Lizzy.
Man, they really have this all planned out.