Stacey dabbed away at the sweat that was prickling all over her body. She couldn't tell if she was hot or cold. Only that she was really dizzy and couldn't seem to sit still. Her body kept swaying to the side. Ken, Endo and Flail sat closer to her and Ken put his arm around her back to try and keep her steady.
"Would my fellow mentors like to say anything or shall we get started?" Beryl glanced back at the other mentors.
"I just wanted to point someone out and check if she's ok," said the spiky haired woman, standing up. Her eyes were locked onto Stacey and she hurried over to where Ken and Endo were poking Stacey to try and keep her awake.
"Hey, she's coming over," Endo whispered.
"What's wrong, Stacey?" Ken asked, holding Stacey tighter.
"I'm really dizzy," Stacey said, trying hard to keep her eyes focussed. "Sorry."
"She looks like she's about to faint," said a voice from behind Stacey.
"She's been a bit out of it ever since she came in," said the blonde boy who was sitting on the other side of Stacey. She had forgotten his name. Oh. No, she hadn't. He'd said his name was Flail.
"She did miss lunch," Ken said in a doubtful voice.
"How about we help her out of the room to visit the doctor?" said the lady with short spiky hair, arriving at their aisle.
"Telea, how is she?" one of the mentors called.
"Might be low blood sugar," the spiky haired woman helped Ken support Stacey on her unsteady legs out of the auditorium.
A blast of fresh wind made Stacey want to heave a sigh of relief. It was easier to breathe out here. It didn't help with the prickly sweating, the urge to lie down or the dizziness though.
"Sit her down over here," the woman said, lowering Stacey down onto a seat. "She's getting worse. Go and run for the doctor. Someone bring a sweet drink."
Ken ran off and the woman let Stacey lean against her.
"Hey, hey kid. What's your name?"
"Anastasia. I'm Stacey."
"I'm Telea," the woman smiled, "as you might have recognised."
Stacey blinked, feeling awkward. She didn't. Really didn't know. Telea seemed to have read her face.
"You don't know me? Man, that's a drag. I thought I'd at least made it to be a household name. I guess I need to work harder."
"Please," Stacey closed her eyes to speak. Closing her eyes felt better. "Please don't feel bad," she tried to explain, wondering why she was feeling weaker. She was going to faint again. Why now? Not now. She should be able to hold on for a little longer. Why couldn't she hold on for a little longer? "I don't actually know who any of you are."
"You don't know who any of us are?" Telea laughed. "Man, that's gonna put some of us in our place. Where've you been, kid? Living under a rock?"
"I guess? I think? I don't know," Stacey murmured.
"Hey, stay awake," Telea shook her back awake and shooed someone away. "Don't bring the camera so close. Stacey, yeah? When was the last time you ate something?"
"Umm," Stacey's brain was starting to feel foggy. She had to search her memory for a bit. "Don't know. After the first few days, everything just seemed to blur…"
"What?" Telea stiffened beneath Stacey's head. "Why haven't you eaten anything?"
"Uhh," Stacey struggled to find the words to say. Eventually she decided on the simplest way to say it. "No food. No money."
"Oh, you're one of the lost kids Marvel found, huh?" Telea let out a long sigh of breath. "Must've been a difficult journey for you to get here on your own."
Stacey didn't answer her.
The doctor came rushing up with a small drink bottle of juice with Ken at his heels.
"Oh. It's her. I told her to eat and drink something after she came out of the clinic," the doctor said. "Please tell me she hasn't lost consciousness yet. Stacey, I'm just going to check your blood sugar level. This is just going to be a little prick on your finger."
A sharp jab bit at the tip of Stacey's index finger.
"Hey. Hey, Stacey. Wake up."
"Huh?"
"Drink this."
The drink bottle was thrust into Stacey's hand and was led to her mouth. Sweet liquid seemed to burst across her tongue. Stacey swallowed and swallowed some more. A renewed energy seemed to spread through her body bringing slightly more clarity to her foggy mind. Sitting up suddenly, Stacey gulped the juice down, not even noticing what flavour it was. She drank the bottle dry.
Then she was hit by a stomach cramp that made her bend over and hug her tummy hard. Another full bottle of juice was pressed into her hand and once the initial cramp had passed, Stacey gulped the next bottle of juice down as well.
It was amazing. Just some sugar had seemed to breathe new life into her body and clarity to her mind. Stacey was now awake and feeling mostly fine, except for the stomachache that was clawing at her insides. It made her want to throw up.
"Not so fast," Telea told her. "Since you haven't eaten for a few days, your stomach will hurt and complain now that you're putting food back in it."
"She hasn't eaten for a few days?" Ken stood up very straight. "Stacey, why didn't you say so earlier? I'd have given you my bar of chocolate."
Stacey just made a face and looked down.
"That explains her symptoms," the doctor twitched his nose. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you earlier, Stacey. It certainly explains some of your symptoms. I feel ashamed to have missed some things out because of my own assumptions."
The doctor flapped his hand at someone and they dashed away.
"I guess we ought to go back in," Telea patted Ken on the shoulder. "The doctor and crew will let her back in to join us when she's got something in her stomach."
Before long, Stacey was looking at a bowl of rice porridge. It was hot and so it forced her to eat slowly. The doctor checked her temperature, blood pressure and pulse rate in the meantime.
When she finished her porridge, her blood sugar level was checked again.
"Much better," the doctor smiled. "Looks like you're all good now. You may have a small tummy ache for a while when you eat, so I'll give you this pain killer for the moment. It's very mild and gentle on the stomach. It should be enough to do the trick. The crew will make sure you eat and drink enough on time from now on, so you don't have to worry about starving. If you are, just let somebody know. We can't have you fainting on us again. It'll look like we aren't doing our jobs properly. If you're ready, you can head on back in. Aaron will let you in the back door, so that you can sneak back to your seat."
"We'll direct the cameras to point at a different direction so that you can get back to your seat without too much disturbance," Aaron grinned at her. "Feeling better now?"
"Much," Stacey agreed. "Thank you."
"What made you decide to come and join the program?" Aaron asked her. "I'm just curious."
"Food," Stacey gave him a crooked smile. "I came for the food. Isn't that obvious?"
Aaron nodded.
"I guess you were feeling pretty desperate, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I can't say the food will be delicious all the time, but we're doing our best with the budget we've been given. We can at least say that you won't starve."
"That's all I need to know," Stacey returned Aaron's smile.
"Alright. This is the back door. Just give me a moment," Aaron listened to his earpiece. "Aaand, ok, you're clear to go. Good luck."