Rodwood Academy

Chapter 50: Bargaining

As Nina walked away from the doctors hut, she was lost in her head imaging what sadness had ensued after her departure. Her arms still had a warm feeling to them as she could feel Lauren back in her grasp.

It was going to be a tough few days for the both of them.

But while Lauren was resting and healing with the doctor, there was much to do on Nina's part.

Back in the cave she knocked on Alex's door.

After a few seconds its wooden frame opened slowly as he yawned tiredly in the doorframe. "Hey Nina, what's up-" he tried to greet but the worried woman brushed past him. "Oh ok well then. Come on in." He chuckled to himself as he shut the door behind them.

"Can I help you with something?" He stretched his arms high above his head while Nina took a sigh as she sat down on his bed.

"Lauren's stuck with the doctor." She bluntly stated.

And suddenly Alex's chill demeanor switched. His face dropped as he looked to Nina. "I'm sorry to hear." He took a seat besides her. "What happened?"

"She hit her head."

"Is it bad?" He asked on the edge of his seat.

"The doctor said she'll be fine. She just has a big bump on her head at the moment." She wrapped her arms around her torso as her breathing deepened.

"Oh." Alex looked ahead as he fell back into his seat. Peering over to his friend, he could feel the agony coming from her. "Well if you or Lauren need anything, you know you can always ask."

Nina nodded silently as she continued fighting the saddening image engraved in her head of Lauren calling out to her in a name she hasn't been called in years.

There was a gap in Nina's heart.

One that had been hidden until now.

But with Lauren pulling at the woman's heart the way she had, she unknowingly opened that hole of nurturing that Nina needed to fill.

The awkward silence between the friends was becoming unbearable.

Alex coughed and cleared his throat several times hoping to see if Nina was going to bring up other matters that would require his attention, but instead she just sat besides him staring out into the empty void in her arms.

"Um...Nina I'm glad to hear Lauren's alright after what happened, but are you okay? You seem pretty checked out." He eventually broke the silence.

"Yeah...yeah I'm fine." She struggled to say as remorseful tears fell from her eyes.

Alex's eyes grew in size as Nina began to cry. It was rare he got to witness this sight. The last time that he saw Nina break into tears was after news about Luke hit. But before then he couldn't recall a time at all.

Putting his arm over her shoulder as he comforted her, Alex embraced Nina as any good friend would.

"What's wrong?"

"I feel guilty leaving Lauren." She hiccuped as she cried out into his shoulder.

"Why would you feel guilty? She's there to get better."

"You didn't see her Alex. I didn't leave behind the Lauren that's too hard headed to even consider anything I've said. It was like we were back in time." She cried harder.

But this time, she couldn't tell whether her tears were purely from feeling guilty after leaving Lauren behind or not.

Instead she felt that it was only partially the reason why tears fell from her eyes.