School, Prejudice and Survival

Chapter 4, Part 2

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I sit silently in the cold, empty waiting room at the hospital. No matter what I do, I just can't relax. People come in, people leave, but as the hours tick by I just feel as though I should be with Matt. What good am I doing him just sitting here? I start to think maybe I should leave. Matt will be fine, I know that. None of his injuries were life threatening or permanent, as many different doctors and nurses have reassured me. The worst he has is a small fracture in his left forearm.                                                          However, every time I wonder whether I should leave, I just plant my feet much more firmly under my chair. When Matt wakes up, he will need a friend. And who could be that friend if I wasn't here? I can't leave him alone.

I have been told by a nurse that his bone is set and in a cast, and his smaller injuries- that barely needed anything done- are fine. All we need now is for him to wake up.                                                               I'm not sure if he was put on anesthetic, or if he is just sleeping off what happened to him. He's been out for a while, either way.                                                                                                                                                      My face grows hot again as I think back to what happened to my friend. Who in hell could do something like that?! Who in their right mind could beat up someone defenceless? In a group, as well! I hate to think what may have happened if me and Annie hadn't walked round that corner. Or if we had just been a few minutes later.                                                                                                                                     What if we had been earlier? Could we have prevented all of this?

After I realized what had been happening, a senior staff teacher- Mr Hart- had turned the corner. Thank all the little demons in hell that he did, otherwise I would have... I don't really know what I would have done actually. Something.                                                                                                                              He had stayed calm, going straight to Matt whilst pulling out his phone. Slightly ironic, that students are banned from having phones in our school, when a teacher's phone saved the day. He hadn't said anything to Matt, just phoned for an ambulance and then sent Annie to college support to warn them what had happened.                                                                                                                                                               Then he had asked me questions. I'm not sure why he asked me and not Annie, maybe he had seen me talking to Matt in the past. Or maybe it was because Annie was much further away from Matt then I was when those bastards ran off. He hadn't accused me, he just asked me the sorts of questions you would expect a teacher to ask in a situation like this.                                                                                             "What's his name?"                                                                                                                                                                 "Did you see who did it?"                                                                                                                                                              "Do you know him?"