An Unexpected Call

"Ok, class, that's the end of today's session. You are free to leave."

The class began to trudge out slowly, the once riotous yelling and screeching now a pleasant, low babble of friendly chatter.

It was a definite change from the class a few weeks ago.

Joshua's absence was becoming more and more noticeable. Three weeks had come and gone, and he was becoming concerned. While he was still tutoring the boy at home, he had thought that there would be more improvement. Each time he had seen his student, he looked worse.

A low vibrating sound echoed from the pit of his bag and he rummaged around for his phone.

"Hello?"

"Professor Evenstad?"

The voice on the other end muttered with a wheeze, each breath sounded pained and struggled.

"I-I didn't know who else to call..."

He muttered in a low whisper, but even that tone didn't ease the struggle of talking.

"Need...doctor..."

Violent coughing sounded before the phone clattered to the floor, on the other end horrific wheezing was all that sounded as the boy frantically tried to take in a breath.

"Pokker." he cursed under his breath.

He wasn't sure if Joshua could still hear him so he raised his voice as loudly as he could.

"I'm coming over. Stay there, I'll call a doctor."

He was just relieved it was the end of his class. The marking would have to be done late tonight.

On the journey to Joshua's, he called the doctor, passing on the telephone number. Dr Agrigento was there by the time he arrived, letting himself in through the open door.

"Joshua?" he called, quickly striding in.

"Safir." The doctor greeted him as he came in. Agrigento gave him a warm hug which was returned, a little awkwardly by Safir.

They had known each other for a few years now, through friends. It was an odd situation to be in though.

Agrigento led him to outside Joshua's bedroom door. "He's not doing well. He should really be in hospital."

Safir frowned, folding his arms defensively. "That's not possible, he'll fail his course."

"He needs someone with him constantly." the doctor insisted. "It's not safe for him to be alone right now."

Joshua's illness had caused him to have an asthma attack, something he rarely experience, the severity of which had left him unable to take in a breath, in a panic he had called Safir because he could not find his inhaler.

When the doctor had arrived he was passed out on his bathroom floor.

He had been woken up and taken back to bed, being given the proper medication to ease the stress on his lungs.

Josh could hear taking outside of his bedroom door and gingerly pushed himself out of bed, he didn't like people taking about him when he couldn't hear what they were saying.

"I'm fine." He insisted as he opened the door, he was capable of looking after himself, this had been a once off, he had simply lost his inhaler after so long without it.

He simply refused to lose his scholarship, he wouldn't be sent back to America, no way in hell.

"I'm not going to hospital."
He added, the boy looked horrible, he had dark rings under his eyes, he hadn't been eating, going outside had become a rarity, he was thin, pale and sickly.

Safir bit his lip in thought, eyes staring at the floor in dull concentration. And then he sighed, scratching behind his ear.

"I will have to ask whether it is possible for me to be put in a room next to yours. That is the best I can do."

It would be inappropriate to be in the same room as Joshua. But Joshua had to have someone to call if he became ill again. And he couldn't go into hospital now, so that was his only option.

He turned to Agrigento with a frown. "How often are you available?"

The man's large shoulder's shrugged, his many chins wobbling slightly. "Difficult to say. One day I get one call. The next everyone calls me all at the same time, like "I have a cold I need medicine!" You would think that the common cold is no reason to call a doctor and you would be right, I need to sleep goddammit..."

As Agrigento went off on an irritated rant at nobody in particular, Safir started dialling the university number.

"Hello? This is Safir Evenstad, I need to arrange an appointment with on-campus accomodation? As quickly as possible. Yes. Yes. Perfect. Thank you."

He hung up.

"I have a meeting about it tomorrow afternoon."

Josh just stood there watching the two men in complete shock, why were they deciding all of this stuff without even asking him?
Did he even had a choice in the matter? Apparently not.

"You don't have to move in with me, I'm fine."

He lied, offering a weak smile as he tried to look as healthy as possible and failing miserably.

The boy blinked rapidly for a moment as he went light headed, sliding down the door frame to sit back down on the floor as he looked up at both men warily.

"I won't be moving in with you, I'll be moving next to you."

Joshua wouldn't be getting a choice in this.

The kid was apparently incapable of making decisions that a responsible adult would have taken, such as going to hospital and going back to university the next year, or calling a relative down.

Therefore, he would be forced to treat Joshua as he would a younger student and make the decisions for him.

"You're clearly not fine and someone has to look after you."

He sighed as the boy slid down the wall and briskly strode into the boy's room, collecting a duvet and pillow to make a makeshift bed on the floor. The boy wouldn't be able to move now, all they could do was set him up a bed and wait for him to recover a bit.

"Thank you."

Joshua wrapped the duvet around himself tightly, a chill taking hold of his body as he shivered softly, he was growing tired of being constantly sick.

"I'll call someone else to come over then, the last thing I need is the guilt of you losing your job because you were looking after me."

He replied, that was probably the one thing that would make him feel worse right now.

He rolled his eyes in faint exasperation.

"I won't lose my job. They know I have to look after you otherwise I wouldn't be getting the room in the first place."

There was absolutely nothing more tiring than forcing help onto someone who resolutely refused it. It was time to put his foot down.

The man's jaw flexed slightly.

"I am going to this meeting. You are going to accept my help, because so help me God, I am not going to have your imminent death on my head."

Picking up his coat, he marched briskly out of the door, slamming it loudly behind im.

Agrigento turned to the boy, a wide grin creasing his face.

"Huh. A death-threat. He must like you."

Joshua stared up at Safir in stunned silence as he was scolded and the man stormed off.

He wrapped the blankets more tightly around himself and nestled in against the pillow he had been given, glancing up at the doctor, his face portraying his utter exhaustion, he wouldn't fight against this.

"I doubt it."

He replied, shaking his head.