He woke up quite disoriented. His head was still swimming and his body felt heavy. Groaning, he sat up on what looked like a hospital bed though he guessed he was in one of the university's treatment rooms.

"Careful. You might fall over." Said a familiar voice.

He turned in time to see Lily walk in.

"What happened?" He asked.

Of course he already knew what happened. He could only imagine his classmates thought he had fainted at the sight of blood.

"You know, if you can't stand the sight of blood then you're taking the wrong career path." She said to him in a mocking tone.

Great, he thought. She was laughing at him.

"It's not that it's..." He stuttered.

"It's okay. I'm just messing with you." She said with a smile. "Take it easy though. You were literally burning up."

He took a deep breath before he got off the bed.

"How long have I been out? We need to get to our next class." He said whilst putting on his shoes.

"Uhm, about that." She began nervously. "Classes ended about an hour ago. You've been unconscious pretty much half the day."

"What? No, that doesn't make sense." He said, mostly to himself.

Just then, the doctor walked in.

"Somebody's awake." She said with a cheery smile.

"Mom?!" Lily exclaimed in shock.

"Hello darling, how was your first day?" The petite blond woman said.

Mic could see the mother - daughter resemblance between the two.

"Mom, seriously! Besides, you're still on duty." Lily said whilst gesturing to him.

"Hello. Micah Francis, is it?" She asked whilst checking his vitals.

"Yeah." He said warily.

"Your vitals look good. Heart rate's stabilized and your temperature has gone down but I'll like to keep a close eye on you for a while." She said to him in a stern voice. "I want you to drop by everyday before you head to your first lesson as well as after your last lesson. I don't like the report I got from your nurse. I'll need you to take these tablets for now for the hypertension."

"Hypertension?" He asked in shock. "I'm sure everyone is just overreacting."

He caught Lily's eye and she signalled for him not to argue.

"Okay then." He said is a resigned tone.

He took the tablets from her hands together with glass of water and downs them.

"Can I go home now?" He asked primly.

"I don't see why not." She said once again cheerfully. "Remember, first thing tomorrow morning."

"Sure thing doc." He replied.

He grabbed his backpack and turned to leave.

"See you tomorrow." He said to Lily.

She smiled and gave him a friendly wave. She watched as he retreated

"So, tell me more about your boyfriend." The cheerful blond said to her daughter.

"Mom! He's not my boyfriend okay. I barely even know him!" Lily protested.

"Oh please! Like my pretty daughter would be concerned about some  random guy. There's chemistry between you too. I can feel it." The young mother said in an enthusiastic voice. "Do invite him over for Thanksgiving."

"Mom!" Lily exclaimed turning crimson from the embarrassment.

******************************
"Hey dad! I'm home!" He called out whilst throwing the backpack onto the counter.

Opening the fridge, he took out a plate of Mac and cheese and put it into the microwave. He turned in time to see his old man enter into the house. Probably from  the garden. He had taken up to gardening a lot these days.

"Hey, kiddo." Mr Francis said. "How was your first day at med school?"

"It was...okay." Was all Mic said.

Of course that was a lie. He wasn't okay. He'd blacked out in anatomy and he'd blacked out after doctor Jordan's class. But that wasn't even the icing on the cake.

"What's with that face?" His father asked in concern.

Darn it! So much for not getting his father worried.

"It's nothing, just tired." He lied. "Med school is a lot harder than I thought."

"Oh okay." Mr Francis said.

Mic grabbed his plate from the microwave and started to down his food.

"I ordered some pizza. You can head over and do your assignment. I'll let you know when the pizza's here." Mr Francis said.

"Sure, dad." Mic said as he made his way to his room with his plate of Mac and cheese.

Of course when he got to his room he was too distracted. He put the empty plate on his desk and walked up to his bed. Kneeling down, he felt for the floorboards with his hands. He finally found the loose board and, pulling it out, he reached into the shallow hole and pulled out the small and intricately carved wooden box from its hiding place.

He took off the box's lid. With a hesitant hand, he pulled out a photo from within the box. The photo was old but it had faired well over the years. It was an image of two boys, identical in every conceivable way and they were playing by the park. Turning it over, he read the inscription writing in a delicate handwriting.

Mike and Mickey, December 31, 2008.

He put it back into its place and returned the box to its hiding place. There was a knock at his door.

"Pizza's here." His father said out loud.

"Coming." He replied.

Taking a deep breath, he got up from the floor and headed to the kitchen. It was no use digging up buried memories. He would just have to let the past be the past.
*****************************