Now that they weren’t being carried around by hand, Noah felt comfortable enough shutting his eyes, and he allowed himself a few minutes of rest.

He usually wasn’t able to fall asleep so quickly, but he must’ve drifted off almost immediately because the next thing he knew he was being jolted awake by someone shouting seemingly straight into his ear.

“Hey, stop that,” he said, opening his eyes.

The worker that had been shouting went silent with a yelp and stepped back quickly.

They had arrived at the health center; he could see the building through the open doors of the vehicle, which they were still inside. For some reason there were two square pads on his chest. All four health workers were crowded around his stretcher, staring down at him in alarm.

“What? What is it?”

“You were completely unresponsive,” one of them said. “No breath, no pulse, no reaction to shaking or touch.”

“Oh,” Noah said. “I thought you said you already knew my heart rate was at zero. I was just resting.”

“It didn’t look like resting. It looked like death.” The health worker shook his head. “We were waiting for you to lose consciousness, and then you did just that. What did you expect us to think?”

Noah looked at May. To his surprise, she looked shaken as well. “They’re right, Noah,” she said. “They used a defibrillator on you and everything.”

“Oh, is that what these are?” He picked at the two square white pads on his chest. “I didn’t feel it.”

“Of course not,” she grumbled.

“Everyone can’t just freak out every time one of us wants to take a nap,” Noah said.

The worker narrowed her eyes. “What if one of the times, it isn’t just a nap? Nobody would be able to tell.”

Noah scratched his neck. “Sure they would, after enough time had passed.”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “You’re going to have to accept that people will get nervous.” She glanced outside and exhaled. “Regardless, we’ve arrived. I’ve got half a mind to tell you to walk after that stunt just now, but since you’re still technically on the verge of death- past the verge, really- I suppose we can bear to carry your stretcher inside.”

Noah sat up. “It’s okay, I don’t mind walking.”

“Lay down,” she barked.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Noah complied.

They lifted the stretcher and carried it outside. The others were waiting for them by the back entrance.

“You weren’t sitting around for long, were you?” Noah asked as he was brought closer to Brian and Leah. Leah was sitting upright with her legs dangling off the edge of the stretcher, and neither of the workers carrying it seemed brave enough to tell her to lay down properly.

“Nah, we just got here,” Brian said.

“Oh, good. I kind of fell asleep on the way over,” Noah said.

“Seriously? It’s like a six minute drive,” Leah said. “That’s kind of impressive, to be honest.”

“I’m glad you think so. My attendants were not so pleased with me. I’m starting to realize that the only way to wake one of us up if we fall asleep is with sound. I mean, they electrocuted me, for crying out loud, and I slept right through it.”

“Well, that makes sense,” Leah said with a shrug. “I don’t think it’ll be much of an issue anyway. I typically don’t need to have somebody shake me awake in the morning. I just use an alarm, like a normal person. That will still work.”

Brian nodded. “And if it doesn’t work, I’ll just scream at the top of my lungs until you get up, no worries, man.”

Noah shot him a look. “Glad to know I can count on you.”

“Of course,” Brian said, looking pleased.

As they talked the workers carried them into the building. They must have been informed that the front entrance was closed, because they didn’t even try to use it and had them brought straight in the back door.

A couple of wheeled gurneys were lined up against the wall immediately inside, and the workers quickly transferred them onto the much more easily transportable beds. Leah simply stepped off her stretcher and hopped onto the gurney, while the others were carefully lifted from one frame to the other. From there it was a short trip down the hall to Dr. Jansen’s office.

They stopped outside her office, as there was just no feasible way to fit all of their gurneys inside, and one of the workers stepped inside to let her know they had arrived.

“Well, why don’t they come in here themselves?” Her voice carried easily from the office, and a moment later she stepped out into the hall. She took one look at them all on the gurneys and her eyebrows shot up.

“Why are they being transported like this?” She asked the closest worker.

He looked confused at the question. “It’s standard procedure, Doctor. We responded to a call that their hearts had stopped.”

“And how long has it been since that call?”

He rubbed the side of his head. “Uh, maybe twenty minutes.”

“Have any of them fallen unconscious at all in that time?”

The workers beside Noah pointed at him immediately. “Yes, he did.”

Noah threw his arms up in exasperation. “Oh, come on! It was just a nap!”

Brian glanced at him. “You could probably have picked a better time.”

Noah rolled his eyes. “I didn’t expect to fall asleep in a single minute. I only meant to rest my eyes.”

“Put the gurneys away,” Dr. Jansen said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You all have satisfied your job; feel free to go on your way. Well done for getting them here, I suppose.” She turned her gaze on the four students. “Get off those things. We need to talk.”

She spun on her heel and stepped back into her office.

Noah shrugged apologetically at his attendants as he stepped off the gurney. “Thank you for trying to help us,” he said.

The guy looked bewildered. “Of course.”

Noah followed his friends into the doctor’s office.