The Smile She Gives You

Chapter 17: Rescue

Light! There is light! It is so bright in here! Wait, where am I? And why am I lying on the floor?!

I feel a wet cloth on my forehead and as my eyes slowly adjust to the brightness, I can make out two faces. There is a noise but it seems very far away. Is it coming nearer? It gets louder and clearer. It's a voice! One that's calling me.

"Tori? Tori, can you hear me? It's ok. We're here for you."

It sounds like Ryan. His soft voice is growing clearer and clearer with every passing second.

My eyes have finally adjusted and my thought is confirmed as I see him holding the cloth to my head. The other person is Lukas. He is holding my legs up so that the blood can flow back to my heart. Why would he need to do that?

We remain in silence for a while. My foggy mind is causing troubles but after a moment I feel better and slowly sit up.
I clear my throat and look up at the boys. "What happened to me?" The confusion is still large.
Instead of an answer, I receive a question from Lukas: "What do you remember, Tori?"
Images come back to me: holding onto the wall, having a headache and difficulties with breathing. And then I remember: "I fainted, didn't I?"

Both Lukas and Ryan are avoiding eye contact and I can tell that I've hit the bullseye. Why is this happening to me? When did I become so weak? Why is everything going wrong?

A tear rolls down my cheek. I don't want the others to see me like this because it makes me feel too vulnerable so I quickly lower my head and my hair falls in front of my face like a curtain, protecting me and my innermost feelings from the outside world.
Suddenly, I feel a hand on my right shoulder and make out Ryan's voice whispering: "It's ok Tori. Take your time."

My whole body starts shivering as I desperately try keeping myself from crying out loud. It's bad enough that I show my weakest side to others. I don't want to seem even more pathetic!

"Let's go home, Tori."
What? Ryan's question catches me off guard and I lift my gaze to look into his eyes: "Sorry? We can't leave now, can we?"
"Yes, we can and we will. Let me help you up."

We are both standing now and Ryan has his hand placed on my back for support. Lukas hands us our bags and looks at me: "Don't worry about it, Tori. You just need a moment to rest. I won't tell the teachers the details if it makes you feel uncomfortable."
Then he turns to Ryan: "Take good care of her, mate."
"Will do."

Ryan slowly leads me out of the classroom and we begin to descend the stairs. Everything passes in silence. Ryan is holding me from behind and carefully guiding me down the stairs. Now that I am not alone, the stairs don't seem as scary anymore as on the way up. Ryan is here and if anything happens, he will help me. The feeling of selfishness is still tearing me apart but he keeps insisting on coming and my weakness has led me to the point that I'm too tired to resist.

Soon enough, we enter the underground station and sit down next to each other in the tube. We will be heading to Ryan's home. He has assured me that he wants to personally ensure that I get some rest. And he knows that things are not going too well at home which is why we are not going to my place.
"We'll take ten minutes to reach my place, Tori. Take a short nap, if you need it."
He offers me to lean on his shoulder and I gratefully accept. I am so tired that everything around me seems very hazy. Before I can even think about how close I am to Ryan, my vision already darkens once again on this faithful day.

~~~

"Hey, Tori. This is our stop. We should get up."
I am woken by Ryan's gentle breath tingling my ear. We exit the tube and get out. On our way to Ryan's home, doubts emerge inside me. Is it really ok for me to be at Ryan's?
"I don't want to disturb your family, Ryan."
"Oh rubbish, you're definitely not disturbing us, Tori, please don't worry. The most important thing is for you to rest and feel better."