Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Morning came, and Steven went to school earlier than usual, feeling down and uncomfortable. Last night, he was down with a fever again. His wound does not hurt, but the effect is still impactful. Luckily, his parents were still home, and his mother treated him.

When the sun was up, his fever was not that great, and he went to school with the help of his older brother, who sent him in front of their school gate. He just put his arms on the table with his face facing the table. He is being awkward and getting uncomfortable.

What his father had said last night stayed in his mind after that. He could not shoo the thoughts away. His father might be wrong, but his father must be right. He is afraid of their reaction when they learn about his secret. Would they still act normal if they knew? Or would they throw hate at him?

It had been running through his mind since he entered the university. He is still determining what he should do or how to act toward them now.

"Steven?" Someone called him. He looked up to see Chris looking at him. "You came early?" Chris asked.

Steven sat properly. "I just got here too." He replied.

Chris nodded. "I see. Are you still sleepy? Sleep while it's still early. We will wake you up." He told Steven and headed to his chair.

Steven followed through his eyes when Chris walked back to his chair. He is now considering whether Chris would approach him again like that if he knew that he was not human. He went back to his position, facing the table, wide awake.

His mind kept shouting that he was uncomfortable, and he wanted to go home. He is now thinking about why it came to this matter. He just wanted to get a diploma and widen his knowledge, but why is he confused now? Why is he hesitating and thinking of his classmates' reactions when they learn the truth?

After a few minutes, his classmates started to come. He was glad they were not touching or calling him to wake up. He also heard Chris telling their other classmates not to wake him up. They also did not make any loud noises or talk loudly. It makes him torn and overthinking if they would still do this when they discover the truth. He has this urge to stand up and go out. Go home and decide what he should do. He felt like he was not ready yet.

He is scared. He is worried. And he does not want to disappoint them.

A light tap brought him back to reality even before he could decide.

He looked up and saw Chris again. "Our professor is here already." He said, smiling.

He was not able to say thank you or anything. He just looked at Chris and saw him walking back to his chair. A lot of questions are on his mind. He was occupied.

Their professors called him, but he was not able to hear them. His seatmate needs to tap him to bring him back to reality. He must have needed to ask the question again and paused for a few seconds before answering. This went on for the whole class. He did not know that his classmates were getting worried about him. They could sense that he was not in good condition and he was not physically with them, but they could not approach him since they still had a class and their professor was still lecturing.

Sunny kept on looking at Steven's side. She was worried about him. She was checking to see if she could determine what was wrong. Steven might look like he's listening, but if they look closely at him, he is just sitting and staring into space. He did not even put his notebook out to take notes, which he always does. Sunny was already thinking, why is this happening? She even recalled what happened yesterday. Steven advises them to minimize going out for our safety, and there is no more. She can't think of anything that could cause him to act that way. She is just waiting for the break to come so she can walk to Steven to ask him.

"Steven?" A voice interrupted the lesson. Their professor stopped talking and looked where the voice came from. "Steven?" Justin asked his seatmate again, trying to get his attention.

Steven was holding his chest tightly. "Ahh..." He only managed to reply and clutched his chest using his two hands.

Steven's heart was pounding too much, and it hurt like hell. He tried calming his heart down, but it was not helping. He crouched himself, stopping his body from changing its form. He can feel his sharp, long nails growing out. His eyes are turning red and then back to their normal eyes.

"Steven?!"

"Steven!"

He was stopping himself from growling. He does not want to get caught.

"Let's take him to the clinic!"

"Steven? What happened?" He heard a crying voice.

He turned his head to see Sunny beside him. Sunny held his hands, crying. As Sunny's tears ran down her face, Steven's heart suddenly stopped working. His pounding heart stopped. He was trying to find some air, but he could not. Steven fell and became unconscious. Fortunately, he was caught by his classmates. The boys quickly carried him towards the clinic. The nurses immediately attended to Steven. They put on oxygen to help Steven breathe as they saw his pulse beating slowly.

"We will send him to the nearest hospital." The nurse concluded.

Fear engulfed the whole section. Their worries increased after hearing what the nurse had said. They were following the nurses as they moved Steven to the van.

"Class, go back to your room." Their professor said.

"Ma'am, can we go too? We want to know his condition." Marco replied.

"We are all worried about him but we can't go outside. Please listen to me. We need to send him as fast as possible," Their professor responded. "Please go back to your room. I will send your adviser a message and give you an update."

The students nodded, defeated. They watched the van go before they went back to their room quietly. They were not able to talk about what had happened. They were all shocked by the situation.

"Sunny, you should give his brother a call." Shiela told Sunny. Sunny looked at her, perplexed. She was not able to understand what she was trying to say. "Call his brother. He needs to know what happened." Shiela repeated.

"Ahh, you are right." Sunny replied, stuttering.

She fished out her phone and dialed Mavin's number. After two rings, Mavin picked up the call. "Yes, Sunny? You do not have class right now?" Mavin asked enthusiastically on the other side.

"Mavin... Steven was being delivered to the hospital right now. I don't know what happened. He suddenly fainted a while ago." Sunny cried.

"Calm down. He will be okay. Where are you?" Mavin asked.

"Our professor asks us to go back to our room. Can you please go and check on him? " Sniff in between, Sunny replied.

"Okay. Don't worry. I will message you. We will go to the hospital where they brought him. Stop crying now, and he will be fine," Mavin responded, trying to calm Sunny down. "I will call you later. Okay?" He added before ending the call.

After a few minutes, their adviser advised them to stay in their room. Their adviser asked what happened. Chris shared what he had learned, and Justin saw what happened after. Their class was silent after what happened. After class, they headed immediately to the hospital, where they brought Steven. They headed to the floor where he was staying since Mavin texted Sunny where it was. They slowly opened the door that made Steven's family look back.

"Good afternoon, Auntie and Uncle." Sunny greeted.

"Good afternoon." Their classmates seconded it.

Ellena, Steven and Mavin's mother, smiled at them and approached them to open the door wider. "Good afternoon, come in." Ellena said and walked back beside Steven's bed.

"You just finished your classes?" Mavin asked them.

The students nodded back. "How is he? What did the doctor say?" Marco asked right away.

All of them were waiting for their reply. "According to the doctor, Steven had tachycardia. His heartbeat was irregular because he had been sick with a fever for a few days, which was taking a toll on his body. The doctor said that he would be okay. We do not have to worry." Alexander, Steven and Mavin's father, explained.

The students sighed in relief after hearing the news. Steven's parents and Mavin look at them. Their eyes were swollen, especially the girls, as if they had been crying.

"Why is he so hard-working? He should not force himself to go to school if he is not feeling well. One absence is not the end of our grades." Philip commented.

"Next time, bro, auntie, and uncle, if he is not feeling well, lock the door immediately or stop him from going to school. The excuse letter is working." Chris said.

"Right, absence is better than failing health." Their president also commented.

"I will buy an electric chair for him," Mavin replied, which made them laugh. "We didn't know you would all go here." He added.

"We were about to go with him when they decided to send him here. Our professor stopped us from doing so, and we had to wait until the class ended." Sam explained.

"Our classmates' health is very important to us as well. We can't just go home without checking up on him." Bentley added.

"Thank you for taking care of my son." Ellena told the students.

They smiled. "You don't have to thank us, Auntie. He is our classmate, and he is part of our family. It is normal to take care of each other." Jericho replied.

"Differences do not matter as long as you are in our section. Steven deserves to get us worried. He is a good friend." Gino also added.

"Did he wake up?" Sunny asked.

Mavin shook his head. "The doctor said that he would wake up today. Maybe he needs to rest more." He explained.

"Why was he down with a fever? Is it because of dengue? Stress?" Shiela asked Steven's parents.

Steven's family does not know what to say. They cannot just tell them that he was shot by a bullet, making him sick like this.

"Ahh, we have an issue. Maybe it's because of stress. We can't resolve the issue right now. It's confidential. I hope you can understand that." Mavin explained.

The students nodded. "Would you be okay? Or do you need our help?" Ivan asked.

"If there is a way we could help, do not hesitate to ask for help from us. Maybe we could help you." Sam added.

"Thank you. We will." Ellena replied, touched by Steven's classmates.

Ellena realized that it was no wonder Steven was hesitating to leave. His classmates are kind.

"Uncle and Auntie, was Steven drinking some vitamins to be brainier? He seems to know every lesson. He knows a lot of words that we do not know. He is like a walking genius in our school." Bentley shared.

"Really?" Ellena asked.

"Yes, Auntie. Even his penmanship was to die for. We envy him. I only have chicken penmanship." Marco replied, laughing.

"Since Steven was young, he was very interested in books. He read a book every day, and he spent his days studying. We also want him to go out and play sometimes, but it's no use. He would not like to go out. He will also cry if we stop him." Alexander shares some childhood memories of Steven.

"We are not going to wonder why he is brainy." They all commented.

The class showed Steven's family the pictures they had when they were at the resort. His family was happy to see many photos of Steven smiling widely, which they did not always see.

"Would you like to have a copy, Auntie?" Aira asked.

Ellena nodded. "Can I?" She asked again.

Aira handed her the copy she had. "You can have this. Steven did not request copies, so I created new ones. So that you will know that Steven was happy and he will be while he is still with us." Aira added.

"Thank you."

"Would you stay with him if you found out one day that he isn't one of you? You would not hate him and hurt him when that time comes?" Alexander asked the class.

The class was astonished by the unexpected question about Steven's father.

"We are all different in our way, Uncle. Some are unique and not extraordinary, but Steven is still Steven. We might get shocked, but he only needs to give us a few minutes to absorb it. After that, we will be okay." Justin replied.

"I agree. Based on my experience, I withheld my status from them because I feared they would change their opinion of me now that they knew my true status. Their treatment never changes." Gino added.