Meanwhile! For those not having a giant slumberparty.

The infirmary of Beacon was very quiet and sparsely populated, most of the doctors and nurses not coming in until tomorrow, considering that most students tended to avoid injury the first day on campus.

However, the single doctor-nurse pair that was present that day were kept busy caring for a sick faunus third year, her partner having to wait for her in the silent, empty room, alone and unattended.

"Come on, come on..." Whitney mutters, hoping for either of two things to happen soon. Preferably both, but he knows how long those odds could be. He sits in the waiting room, nervously tapping his feet in rhythm, alternating between tapping with the toes of his boots and the heels as he whiles away the time. Every few seconds, he glances at one door, leading to his partner's sudden chamber, where she is receiving treatment, and then over to another, through which he earlier entered. After getting Maria admitted, he'd sent a message to his team, in the hopes that they'd be there with him to help support the feline faunus for her recovery. "Come on..."

A repetition of thuds are heard, eventually growing louder. Suddenly, the door to the infirmary slams open, revealing the familiar blonde standing in the doorway. "Where's Maria?!" Asks Rudil, quite loudly at that, as she scurries over to Whit, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Where is she?! Is she okay?! Sagen sie mir!" She says, asking in rapid-fire succession.

Briefly stunned by Rudil's dramatic entrance, Whitney can only stare back at the distressed woman until his mind catches up with everything. "She's in the room over there right now," he quietly says, eyes flickering over to the door behind which his partner lies. "She lost consciousness before I managed to bring her here; I'm really worried for her..." A moment later, he averts his eyes from his teammate, instead looking down and off to the side, much like he had little over a year ago, when he brought Rudil in.

"...Oh, no." Rudil whispers, her eyes welling up with tears. She averts her gaze for a moment, trying to suppress sobs, and looks back at Whitney. "Dumm! Why aren't we in there with her?!" She asks, grabbing Whit by the shoulders again, burying her face in his chest, desperately trying to calm herself- for Whit's sake, and Maria's.

Before Li was able to give a proper answer, the nurse exits the room, carrying a clipboard with a few papers clipped to it, Maria's medical records. She adjusted her glasses and looked at the two with a slightly concerned, yet detached, stare.

"I'm sorry. The doctor may have a diagnoses, but it doesn't seem right given what we know now. Did the girl leave Vale for any time recently? Was she displaying odd behavior earlier in the day? Something that may suggest she felt poorly?"

When the nurse exits Maria's room, Whitney turns to face her, his answer to Rudil's question dying before it leaves his mouth. Instead, the barrage of questions from the new woman takes precedence in his mind, and he takes a few seconds to think back to the brief meeting he and Rudil had had with his partner earlier in the day. After mentally compiling all the information, he starts to answer. "She left Vale to visit with her family, but she wasn't really behaving in any way out of the ordinary that I could see."

The nurse nods and turns and heads back in the room. Before the door could swing closed, one could catch a glimpse of Maria's usual attire cut off of her and scattered upon the ground, as well as her mask. The doctor stood next to the bed, preparing a needle that was filled with a familiar teal colored liquid, something Maria was given to "help her calm down," whenever she was in the infirmary.

"Wha...What do you think the diagnosis is, Whit?" Rudil asks, sniveling and wiping her eyes with her lone sleeve. Luckily, she wasn't able to see inside of the room. She probably would have leaked like a faucet again. Thankfully, she managed to calm herself down some.

Having seen the state Maria is in, Whitney remains silent for several seconds before answering. Rather than a verbal response, though, he only shakes his head in indication of how clueless he is on the matter. Seeking his own comfort on the matter, he reaches out to Rudil, and pulls her into a gentle hug, his breath shaking with worry over his partner as his mind runs back to when Rudil had been rushed in.

"Figured I'd find you here..."

A male stands in the doorway of the infirmary, dressed in a garb that suggested he'd just returned from a vacation in an eastern country. Nagisa looked different from when he had left, hair combed down, dressed in traditional garb, but it would all be back to normal tomorrow. He looked at the two distressed classmates with his usual detachment, looking rather bored.

"Vera told me to ask why Maria hadn't yelled at her today. You weren't in your dorm, and lo' and behold, I find you here..." He jokes casually, looking at Li, his eye contact asking for an explanation.

Rudil allows herself to be pulled into Whitney's embrace, not reacting whatsoever for quite a while. Her eyes seem nearly devoid of any light, though in her mind, she's fighting desperately to regain her usual, optimistic attitude. But she was just too damn worried. Forcing a small, obviously fake smile, she wraps her arms back around Whit. "Heya, Nagi." Rudi greets to the other boy, glancing over at him best she could.

Lí looks up at Nagisa for a moment, after Rudil identifies him, but then turns his head back down, not wanting to look at anyone while he continues to shake with worry for Maria. With his mind flashing back to Rudil's incident over a year ago, he tightens his hold on her, as if to reassure himself that she's still there with him.

Nagisa sighs, his head dropping. The fact that neither offered an explanation said enough. He figured it was Maria they were waiting for, considering she was in the infirmary more than anyone else on their team. Though they usually weren't worried, as it was a result of some sort of fight she had gotten herself into most of the time.

"What's wrong with her? Something broken or something failing?" he asks, his voice still steady as a rock as he walked closer, standing next to the two of them.

Robin walked into the infirmary shortly after Nagisa, sweat dripping off his blonde hair onto his shoulders. Looking around, his eyes dart everywhere until they fall on his teammates and neighbor. Walking briskly up to them, he takes half a second to catch his breath. "Li! Rudil! Please don't tell me M's in there." He said as his chest and shoulders rose and fell quickly, "I think she was feeling bad so I tried to get her to open up about it then she stormed off and I couldn't find her! I've been looking everywhere for her! How is she? Is she alright? Don't tell me I made it worse!"

Hearing Robin enter the room put Rudil a little more at ease: the more of her friends that were around, the easier she felt with the situation. Her friendships were powerful bonds she was proud to have made. When Robin drew closer, her sleeved arm reached out to grab as much of his shirt as she could, looking at him with a wobbly smile. "Yeah, she's in there," Rudil says, her voice faltering. "Don't worry, Birdie. She...She'll be good as new, in no time at all. She just...She just..." Rudil trails off, her voice becoming shakier, cracking more with each word spoken. "Ach, arme Maria..." She whispers, clenching Robin and Whit's shirt tighter in each hand.

Robin, as worried for Maria as he was, felt a deep concern for Rudil as his hand went over hers, squeezing it reassuringly. "I know she will, Rudy." Robin said in his gentlest tone though his concern for their bedridden teammate still showed. "She'll be fine... but I need to talk to her. If she isn't sleeping or resting, I gotta get in there." He urged, squeezing her hand gently in both of his.

"No." Robin's words had drawn Whitney's attention, and the insistence on talking to her right away caused him enough concern to speak up. "Let her rest. You can wait until she wakes." For a moment, he closes his eyes, and holds Rudil tighter, then loosens his grip to face his other faunus teammate more directly. "If it comes down to it, Rudil and I can give you space to speak to her privately after she's back in the dorm."

Upon hearing that she was asleep, Robin stopped trying to pry off Rudil's hand on her shirt, his hands resting weakly on her's. "Oh.... Alright. I understand." He said in a defeated tone as he stood there, staring at Maria's door. "Thanks for that, though. I can wait until she wakes up. She needs to rest and I can't do anything to help.... I.... Thanks, Whit. " He said softly before he gently pulled Rudil's hand from his shirt as he sat on a nearby bench, face buried in his hands.

He watches Robin walk away, only to see the faunus bury his face in his hands. "Robin, I keep telling you," Whitney says, a slight scowl in place in addition to his exasperated tone, "call me Lí." He forces a smile, trying to lighten the mood, only to fall back into the depressive mood permeating the room.

Before any further conversation could be made, the door to Maria's room opens up, and a man in a long white labcoat steps out, staring at a clipboard. Once the door swings shut, her raises his eyes, and makes a small noise of approval.

"Team is entirely accounted for..." he mutters under his breath, looking back at the chart.

"Well, unfortunately the illness she displays is hard to diagnose. It could be nothing more than a bad flu. However, she is displaying a small bit of Jaundice in the skin on her ears, which is a physical symptom of a new strain of virus that has popped up in several animal populations around Vale. Faunus are also able to contract it due to their animalian features, and if she was visiting any of those areas over her break, it's likely she contracted the disease from a bite of an insect. She does have a mosquito bite on her left shoulder, which only furthers the suspiscion."

He looks up and turns so that his eyes locked on Robin, Rudil, and Li, ignoring Nagisa.

"The disease is very similar to yellow fever, and that means there isn't much we can do for her right now. We can treat for her symptoms, and keep her under watch. Unfortunately, she will need to be taken back to your dorm. We'll need the beds for any possible injured first years tomorrow, and Ozpin has advised against keeping Ms. Moguel here for any extended period. We'll send along with you medication to ease her fever and pains, as well as nausea medication and a general depressant to keep her calm and make it easier for her to sleep and rest. She isn't contagious as far as humans are concerned, but there is to be absolutely no fluid exchange with other faunus."

He looks down again for another moment, before looking back up, his stare feeling much more grim.

"You absolutely must bring her back if she still has symptoms after five days, or symptoms reappear after vanishing. This usually means that the virus has entered a second stage that is VERY volatile. It will cause internal hemoraging and there is a high chance she will die even with proper treatment. We have to do everything we can if she does enter this second stage."

He continues before any have a chance to worry yet.

"Unless you have any questions you may go in and see her while I prepare the medication. She is semi concious and responds to voices, but doesn't seem to be able to reply right now. She also, by request, has had her face covered by a damp, cold cloth, both to conceal her face and to aid her fever, and has had her hair covered by a sheet. We complied only to keep her calm, and both of those things must stay when you take her. Unfortunately, one of you will have to carry her. You may keep her in the gown if neither of you brought a change of clothes, but please return it as soon as possible."

He gives a short nod of his head, and moves over to the medical supply room to begin preparing the medication. From behind Li, Nagisa's brow furrows as he silently walks to the corner of the room, pulling out his scroll and opening up a new message, addressing it to Vera.

"Moguel is very sick. Take some money from my suitcase and head into Vale, pick up a flower from each member of our team and a card or something of the sort. You are not to deliver it personally to her. To Whitney. She's very contagious to fuanas.

Clicking send, he closes it, and his gaze turns back to the toiling team members.

Robin's heart sank as he heard the doctor's explanation. "Great." He muttered, looking anxiously at Maria's door. "It's contagious to faunus. I need to apologize and I can't even go near her." His fingers curling into a fist, he hammers it on his knee before standing up with a grunt. "Whatever. Contagious be damned." He said, briskly walking over to the door. As his hand wraps around the handle though, he hesitates, sweating as he realized he wasn't sure about what to say.

Robin's insistence to see Maria brings Whitney to let go of Rudil, but he stops short of pulling his shirt from her grasp when he sees him hesitate at the door. "Robin, head back to the dorm," he commands, voice both weary and concerned. "Whatever it is you need to say, you can wait until she recovers. In the meantime, I think it may be best if you stop by VMLN dorm, see if Vera's willing to take you in while Maria's ill." Gently, Whitney pulls Rudil's hand from his shirt, then steps over to the faunus at his partner's door, and places a hand on his shoulder. "I don't want another teammate getting sick, Robin. You heard how bad it could be." As he finishes his sentence, Whitney chokes up slightly, his voice breaking to sound even higher than usual.

Robin's hand stayed glued to the doorknob, shaking slightly before he eventually let go, his hand weakly dropping to hang by his side. "Alright Whi-" He pauses, gently pushing Li's hand off his shoulder, "Alright, Li." With that, he walks away from Maria's door to the infirmary exit, hesitating with his hand on the doorknob once more as he looks back at his friends. "Just... just take care of her for me.... Please?" He asked, staring at his ill teammate's door.

Nagisa sighs and walks up to Robin, leaning next to the door frame, waiting to be the next one out. His eyes lock on Li for a second, trying to convey a wish to be contacted should something come up.

Nagisa's scroll would then beep, having obtained a response.

Code:

Message from: Veronique Milian
Oh, goodness. Tell Li I will deliver it to him with haste. And also, to give my best wishes to Maria when she's feeling better. Au revoir.

Meanwhile, Rudil manages to pull away from Whit, instead clutching her sleeved arm with her free hand in an attempt to hug herself. "S-so...When can we see her?" She asks shakily, her catatonic state having distracted her, not hearing much of what the doctor had to say other than "fatal."

Nagisa accepts that Li probably wont be paying attention to him, and turns his gaze down, flipping out his scroll once again and reading the reply,before tucking it away once more.

"Veronique will be by your dorm in a short while to deliver to YOU, a gift for her from my team." he says, stressing the fact that Li should receive it. He then turns and moves Robin's hand off of the knob, looking the other boy in the eye.

"Come on...you can use my bed until she's recovered." he says, using very specific tone to sound more reassuring. He sounded positive that Maria will recover, and the goal was to make her team more confident in that fact as well. Without another word, he stepped out of the infirmary, leaving the door open behind him for Robin to follow.

Immediately after Nagisa took his leave, the nurse exits, holding in her hands what remained of Maria's clothes, and her mask. She made her way over to where Li and Rudil stood, holding the cat mask out.

"Will you carry her, or should I bring out a wheelchair to use temporarily?"

Whitney nods at Nagisa, the other effeminate man having finally caught his attention. After the member of Team VMLN departs, he faces the nurse that had just departed from Maria's room. "I'll carry her," Whitney says, taking Maria's mask from the the woman as he walks by. At Maria's door, he pauses, hesitating to open it and walk through, but a few seconds pass and he musters up the courage to push on, walking through to see his partner's state.

The room was completely silent behind the door. In the bed, Maria lay on her back, her eyes and forehead covered with a slightly damp cloth, her hair tucked under a small pillowcase, her mouth slightly parted as though it made breathing easier. Her breaths themselves were long and drawn, yet shallow. She still shook ever so slightly, but not as violently as when she was brought in.

With her arms exposed and laying above the blanket pulled to her chest, one could see what was very clearly a twisted, pink bullet scar on her left arm, along with a thinner surgical scar that goes over it.
A slight twitch occurred below the pillowcase covering as the door squeaked, and Maria's head seemed to tilt as though she were trying to look up. She immediately moved to try to sit up, her shaking growing worse with every movement.