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Evan Hansen knew something was off the moment he opened his eyes that morning. He didn’t feel refreshed and relaxed like he normally did when he woke up. More like a combination of dizziness and nausea. Still, he had a lot of work to do at school, so there was no way he was staying home. So he shrugged the feeling off the best he could, blaming it on a lack of sleep the night before, and pulled himself out of bed, despite how much his body protested.
He managed to choke down a piece of toast before heading to his car, praying that whatever he had didn’t get any worse. For that he was extremely grateful, the way that his stomach churning worse than a stormy sea, he wasn’t even sure he’d also be able to eat the banana he grabbed on his way out.
Several times on the way out to his car, he had to stop and steady himself on whatever solid object was nearest to him. Eventually he made it, but the minute he sat down in the driver’s seat he realized he should not be driving to school. His head was swimming, and he was seeing more spots than whatever was in front of him. So with shaking hands he barely managed to unlock his phone, and call Zoe. He hoped and prayed that she hadn’t left her house yet, and could swing by his to pick him up.
After a few rings Evan heard Zoe’s stereo through the phone, and then her musical voice.
“Hey Evan what’s up? You know I’m going to see you in like fifteen minutes at school right?” Her voice sounded amused that he was making such a seemingly unexpected and unnecessary phone call. Evan struggled to get the words out, both because of his current condition and because of the nervousness that she always made him feel anyway. Finally after what seemed like an eternity of Evan’s head swimming with anxiety and sickness, he squeaked out.
“Can you come pick me up for school?” Evan said it all in a rush, and had to take deep breaths to calm himself after he said it.
Zoe at first was puzzled, but tried to muster up the utmost understanding when she asked.
“Why is something wrong with your car?” The silence on the other end of the line worried her, she had finished getting ready and was almost heading out the door when Evan’s response stopped her in her tracks.
“Well, I woke up this morning, and I really didn’t feel too great. I thought everything was fine, for the most part at least, and then I got in my car and almost blacked out. So I decided that it would be better to try and find someone else to drive me to school so nothing happens.” Evan saw his vision clouding with spots and laid his burning forehead on the cool faux leather of the steering wheel. It helped for a few moments, and after little while he was able to raise his head and open his eyes again.
Zoe hadn’t said much yet, but after Evan had opened his eyes again she finally slowly said,
“Yeah, I’ll be there soon, but are you sure you’re alright to go to school?” Zoe knew Evan wouldn’t give her the answer she wanted, but she had to see his condition for himself before she condemned him to bed for the day.
“Oh I’m just dandy, I’ve gone to school in worse shape, and plus I really can’t afford to miss a day anyway.” Evan tried to keep the pain and sickness out of his voice, but he wasn’t sure that he had Zoe convinced. Through the phone, he heard her keys jangle and the car start up, concerned for her safety even in his weakened state Evan inquired,
“Zoe shouldn’t you hang up while you’re driving?” Zoe almost laughed to herself that Evan was concerned about her even now when he was falling apart.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got my car mount in here, and I’ll talk to you hands-free until I can get there.” At this point, Zoe knew she’d probably be late, but sent a text to her mother explaining the situation and told her to call the school and say she’d either be late or not be there today. Her mother having as much compassion for Evan as Zoe did, readily agreed to tell the school she wouldn’t be there today, and told Zoe to tell Evan to get well soon. Zoe silently prayed while she was driving and still talking to Evan that things weren’t as bad as they seemed over the phone. Yet, she steeled herself for the worst case scenario, due to Evan’s tendency to play down his sickness to keep her from worrying.
After what seemed like an excruciatingly long drive, Zoe pulled into Evan’s driveway in the second stall side of the garage and got out. She had just hung up with Evan, and walked in the side door of the garage. Approaching the car, she first saw him slumped on top of the steering wheel, and it took all her willpower not to slam the door open and start screaming to see what was going on. Instead she quietly and carefully opened the door, and gently tapped on Evan’s shoulder trying not to startle him. After a few moments, Evan wearily raised his head, and turned to look at her with a weak smile.
“Hey, I’m glad you came, I probably wouldn’t make it to school without your help.” Evan tried to keep his forced smile pasted to his face to keep her from seeing how much pain he was in. Zoe tried to keep her face neutral, but Evan looked white as a sheet, but also so green at the same time. She could tell he was struggling to keep his head up long enough to have a conversation with her. She figured the first step was to try and get him out of the car. This could be a mitigated disaster, but she hoped that they wouldn’t end up on the cold concrete of the garage.
“Okay, do you think you can try to get out of the car and stand up if I help you?” Zoe tried to keep the fear and doubt out of her voice, but struggled to keep it together.
“Sure I’m feeling better than when I called you,”
Evan lied through his teeth desperate to keep her from seeing how bad he truly felt. In fact he felt much worse than when he had called, his throat felt on fire, and he had blacked out several times during their phone call. Thankfully, he didn’t think she had noticed, but he wasn’t so sure he could cover it up now. Zoe reached out her hands to him and tried to help him to his feet, then suddenly she felt him falling towards her, and managed to catch his weight and lay him down in the floor before he hit his head. For a moment she stood above him paralyzed and unable to decide what to do. Thankfully she regained her wits, and ran to get a cold washcloth from the house to try and revive him. It was abundantly clear he would not be making it to school today, or probably for the next few days.
She sat with him with the cold washcloth on his head until he came around a few minutes later. After he realized what had happened, he turned a shade of bright red, which was miraculous considering the white as a sheet look he had going on only minutes ago. After he had calmed down, Zoe took his hand, and tried to reassure him.
“Hey it’s okay, you realize you didn’t have to lie and tell me you were feeling better than you were?” Zoe searched his blue eyes, and hoped to find a flicker of something to calm her frayed nerves. Evan nodded his head slowly, and pulled himself up against the wall of the garage. He had gone back to ghostly white, and he sat for a few seconds before saying anything.
“I just didn’t want to worry you, and I also didn’t want to miss school today, but I’m assuming that’s now out of the question?” His sad blue eyes almost broke Zoe’s resolve, but she couldn’t shake the image of Evan passing out in her arms.
“You’re right, you are going straight to bed. Can you walk by yourself or do you need some help? I can get you some water or something?” Zoe’s words tumbled out in an avalanche, and the minute she said it she realized it was probably more than he could process at once. So she silently slipped away for a moment to grab a glass of water, and then rejoined his side after he had finished most of it. They sat for a few more minutes before Evan decided that he was strong enough to make it upstairs. It was slow going, and they stopped several times since Evan almost blacked out and needed to steady himself.
They made it up to his room, and Zoe’s non-existent nurse skills kicked in. While he sat on his bed, she took out pajamas and let him change. She also got another glass of water, and stayed until he fell asleep. As he was falling asleep he reached up to kiss Zoe on the cheek, but she pushed his head away playfully saying she didn’t want whatever disease he had.
Later that night after Evan’s mom Heidi came home, Zoe explained the whole situation to her, and Heidi told her to go home and drink some orange juice to hope that she didn’t get whatever Evan had. After she thanked Zoe, Zoe slipped out the front door and into her car. She fell into bed almost immediately after getting home, and woke up to another text from Evan’s mom thanking her. Later that day after she took Evan to the doctor, she let Zoe know that Evan had mono brought on by exhaustion. Heidi kindly told her that she could visit Evan from a distance the next few days, and thanked her again for taking care of him yesterday. Still worried about Evan, but satisfied with the care that he knew Evan’s mom would provide him, she texted Jared and Alana to fill them in on why Evan had missed school yesterday. After going to school, she texted Evan to let him know she was stopping by to visit him. She snuck in quietly in case he was sleeping, and cracked open the door to his bedroom.
He had seemingly just woken up from a nap, and seemed glad to see her. His face lit up, and she held a conversation with him from his doorway. Zoe spoke first,
“Are you feeling a little better than the other day?” She was hesitant to hear the answer, but did still want an honest one regardless.
“I mean I may not look it, but I’m definitely doing better. I don’t think that I got to thank you the other day, but thank you. I know it was probably scary seeing me like that, and honestly I kind of scared myself. You were such a trooper though, I can’t believe how well you handled all of it.”
Zoe almost laughed in spite of herself,
“I almost started screaming when I saw you slumped down in the the front seat of the car, but I knew I’d probably startle you if I did.” She looked him directly in the eyes as she said it, giving him permission to be entirely honest.
“Well I hadn’t felt great for a few days leading up to it, but I didn’t think anything of it, so I didn’t say much.” Evan looked terribly sheepish, and couldn’t immediately meet Zoe’s eyes.
Zoe sighed, and responded with a weary tone, “You never have to hide how you are feeling, I know I tell you that all the time, but it seems like you don’t believe me when you pull things like this.”
Evan took a moment to respond and said, “You’re right, I don’t always believe you, just because it makes me feel like a burden, but in the future, I’ll try and be better about letting you know when I’m sick.”
Zoe for the first time in several days cracked a genuine smile and said, “It’s a shame you have mono because I’d really like to kiss you right now.”
Evan just smiled and said, “Well I wouldn’t be opposed to us being sick together,” and pursed his lips together as Zoe just laughed.