Lifesaver | Nick & Charlie

An exhausting, confusing day

Nick Nelson

Charlie Spring – my new seatmate – walked into the classroom and placed his bag on the floor beside the table in an unexplainably sluggish movement. I smiled up at him in a silent greeting, but it wasn't returned. It was confusing at first, but I instantly got distracted by the dark circles around his eyes.

I'd seen them there for the past couple of days too, but they appeared another shade darker today.

"Hi," I greeted verbally, trying to defer my wandering thoughts away from something that wasn't my business.

The reply didn't come again. Instead, Charlie just slammed his head onto the table, the noise making me flinch with sympathy. The teacher continued on with roll call, but Charlie was yet to lift his head, undoubtedly not paying attention.

"Are you okay?" I asked, unable to fight off the concern.

His head rose from the table, easing some of my worry momentarily, but it instantly returned when all I received was a nod before he rendered to the same position. The reaction was less than believable, but it was clear it wasn't up for discussion.

There was only another five minutes left in form, but Charlie was beginning to worry me more than comfortable. I tapped his shoulder gently, emitting a disapproving noise from him, but I hardly paid it mind.

Lifting my hand in the air, I waited until it was suitable to ask the teacher to use the bathroom... together. Which sounded kind of weird, but our professor wasn't bothered.

Standing in the bathroom, there was this overwhelmingly anxious expression on Charlie's face, distracting me from the point as I debated the reason behind his fear.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I finally mustered up, finding the point. "You had your head down the whole class, and you look really exhausted." The explanation was met with an almost shocked and confused expression, drowning us in silence.

"I... uh..." he started, but something was clearly wrong. Suddenly he was too pale and standing too weak. His eyes slowly fluttered closed, and his body began falling in my direction.

My reaction time was quick thanks to my years of rugby, and I didn't hesitate to reach out for him, wrapping my arms around his slim waist in a desperate attempt to stabilise him.

With an unconscious boy stationary in my arms, the panic set in.

Why the hell did he just faint? What was I supposed to do? Why didn't I pay attention to the health class procedure for faint victims?

Utterly clueless on how to help, I instinctively lifted him up into something suspiciously close to bridal style and rushed through the empty hallways to the front office where the nurses' station was.

Upon catching sight of an unconscious student, the nurses took charge straight away. Thank God for that.

The bell had rung for the first proper class of the day, and I watched the hallways flood with plenty of students. I should've been one of those students, travelling to engage in school, but I found myself too concerned and intrigued to leave.

An hour of sitting in the small waiting room, my knee constantly bouncing up and down out of restlessness later, a nurse finally called my name. I'd definitely skipped the entirety of my first class, but I hardly cared. My main focus was projected onto a boy I'd met three days ago.

"What are you doing in here?" the lady asked, confusion lacing her expression. To be fair, even I wasn't sure about the reason behind my being there.

"I'm waiting to see if my friend is okay," I explained, although I was well aware we weren't considered anything close to friends.