MI High Sick Series

Tom Tupper

"Blane, promise us that you won't damage the house this weekend." Grace and Steven Whittaker were going away for the weekend, leaving Blane in charge, trusting him to be sensible. Having MI9 agents for parents had its perks, as he could invite his friends without having to worry. "I promise, mum. Am I okay to invite the boys over for the weekend?" Grace groaned at the boy, although he could see the smile that she was trying to conceal. "You spend every day of the week with them, yet you still want to see them at the weekend?" Steven chuckled as his son just nodded, he knew how much Blane's friends meant to him. "I'm surprised you don't want Daisy over here when you know you've got the house to yourself." When Blane shook his head, his mother looked worried. "You didn't dump her, did you?" She walked through the house to find her handbag, handing the boy twenty pounds for food. "No, I didn't dump Daisy, she's round at Kaleigh's for the weekend. Thanks for the money." His parents said their goodbyes before loading up the car, ready to go. "We'll be back on Sunday evening. Please behave yourself and be careful. Any issues, you call us straight away, but if it's an emergency, phone Edward." As soon as the adults had left, Blane grabbed his phone and called his friends, arranging for them to arrive in the next hour or so.

At 5pm, the doorbell rang, and Blane opened the door to greet his first guest, which happened to be Tom. As the dark-haired boy entered the house, Blane took his bag and the two of them went upstairs to wait for Oscar and Dan to arrive. "Are you okay, Tom? It's been a really long week and you look shattered." Tom sighed as he ran a hand through his un-gelled hair, letting his hand drop into his lap. "I am actually shattered, to be honest. I slept for about twenty minutes before you called, but you know I'd never say no to an adult free weekend, so here I am." Blane suspected that there was more to it than just being tired, but he let the matter slide as he heard the doorbell chime again. Opening the door, he greeted Oscar and Dan, who stood on the doorstep with Edward. He hugged the two boys and ruffled their hair, playfully pushing them into the house. "Bye boys, have fun!" Heading upstairs again, Blane wasn't surprised to see Tom had started to fall asleep on the bed, and he turned to his friends to explain. "Tom's shattered, apparently he's barely slept, so if he falls asleep, you know why. I have a feeling that there's something else besides just being tired, but I'm sure we'll soon find out."

The boys ordered pizza, and when it arrived, they headed straight upstairs to the games room. Sitting on the floor of the games room, they ate the pizza and played Call of Duty on the Xbox. Blane, Dan and Oscar were having lots of fun, sprawled out across the room, food cartons and empty snack wrappers littering the floor around them. Tom was the only one not playing, but for once, it didn't bother the boy, who was extremely comfortable in his position on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket. "Tom, are you sure that you don't want to play? I thought you loved Call of Duty." Blane asked for the second time that evening, receiving the same response both times. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'm actually struggling to keep my eyes open." When Blane looked over at him five minutes later, the boy was already asleep, arm dangling off the edge of the sofa. "He's way more tired than I anticipated. I hope he's okay." Dan turned his head to face the sleeping boy, looking thoughtful. "Now that we can look at him properly, I can see he doesn't look that well, actually. Hopefully just from lack of sleep." As the three boys continued playing their game, nobody noticed the boy's eyes open for a split second before immediately closing again, hoping that he could hide his sickness for a while longer.

A couple of hours later, Blane and Dan were still playing Call of Duty. Oscar had fallen asleep half an hour ago and was sprawled out on the floor with the controller still in his hand, much to the boys' amusement. "Perhaps we should call it a night, Dan? You win this round." Dan nodded and he nudged Oscar gently, making the boy jump slightly. "What's happening? Did I fall asleep?" Blane nodded as he packed away the controllers and tidied up the floor. Oscar turned to look at Tom, who had stirred a little bit at the noise in the room. "What time is it?" Dan looked up at the clock, sighing quietly. "Twenty past one in the morning. You slept for a long while, are you sure you're okay? You don't look well." Tom shook his head as he stood up slowly. "I won't lie to you; I do feel a little bit unwell. I think I wanna just go to bed, hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow." The four boys crossed the landing and entered the bedroom, dropping down onto their makeshift beds, yawning. "Perhaps you're right, Tom. A decent night's sleep will make you feel much better." As soon as the boy had rolled over, Blane immediately turned to Oscar with a frown. "I know it's late, Oscar, but please text your dad and let him know that Tom isn't feeling good and may need picking up tomorrow." Pulling out his phone, Oscar quickly typed out the message and was surprised to see the instant reply from his father. Soon, all four of them were fast asleep.