Saving Mattie (nh)

Chapter 5: Antiseptic and Ice

The plastic chair I was situated on hurt my butt.

James sat beside me, flipping through a magazine. We were sat in the waiting room of some hospital, I didn't even care to read the sign before we came inside. James had instantly gone to the desk, and made a appointment for me to be checked out by a doctor. I really hadn't ever seen a doctor before, and James had been astounded by that.

"You don't have a family doctor?" James had asked, his forehead scrunched in disbelief.

"Well, no. All my immunizations had been covered in school and stuff, so it's not that big of a deal." I'd said.

James just shook his head in disbelief, and told me to go and sit on a chair.

I watched him make the appointment. He just flashed the secretary some health card or something. The secretary's eyes had widened,which I didn't understand, but she typed something into her computer and told us to wait.

Flash back the the present, and I was bored out of my mind.

A shrill ringing interrupted my thoughts. I groaned and began tugging my phone from my breast pocket.

Luckily, it didn't short out on me when I flipped it open. James eyes it, mouth agape. "They still make those?" he asked, slightly smiling.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, no, actually. This was my grandmothers. I got it when she died."

James shook his head, grinning. "Things like that belong in museums."

I laughed, before opening my phone. "Hello?"

"Mattie, where the hell are you? The headmaster called your house, and nobody answered, and I tried calling you before, but you didn't answer, nobody has heard from you since yesterday! Where the hell are you hiding?"

"Darcy," I said, trying to stop her rambling.

"-asked around, nobody has even seen you since-"

"Darcy, calm down, okay! I'm fine." I said, sighing.

"Where the hell are you?" She asked. I could hear weariness in her voice.

"I'm-" I stopped short. I couldn't really explain the fact that I was in a hospital with a guy I had only met a few days ago. "I'm with a friend." I said, nodding. James was a friend, right?

"Well, you've got to get down here. We're practicing for the grad ceremony tonight."

Ah, shit. Graduation. Totally forgot.

"You are coming, aren't you?" Darcy asked, her voice staticy from the old speakers on my phone.

"Well..."

"Mattie, graduation is a huge deal! After today, we're fully independent adults."

I rolled my eyes. I reallt didn't want to go, especially not looking like this.

"You know what? Screw graduation." I said, and slammed the phone shut. James gave me an odd look, but I just brushed him off and sank into my seat.

***

I had flicked through about six magazines, and by now had resorted to seeing how hard I needed to push my bruises until it hurt.

I rested my fingers on the bruise on my cheekbone. Just having my fingers lay on the darkened skin sent a rush of blunt pain through the right side of my face, but even then, I pushed.

A large hand wrapped around my wrist, sending tingles through my entire being. Their hand was so large, it wrapped around my wrist and still was able to touch the pads of its fingers together.

My eyes flashed up, and met James face, about three inches from mine. "Don't." he mumbled quietly. I felt his eyes study my injured face from behind those damn dark glasses he always wore. Little blond and brown hairs fell out from his hood, a stark contrast to his dark moustache. I furrowed my brow. There's no way that's possible, having brown hair and a dark moustache. But before I could even think it through, James took the hand that wasn't holding my wrist, and moved towards me.

He raised it, and caressed my face softly. The bruises were carefully explored, his fingers softly tracing the injury. Next he moved onto my eye, carefully etching patterns onto the swollen skin. He explored the cuts on my forehead, and cheeks from the glass.

His fingers dropped, hovering over my last un-touched injury before carefully placing the pads of his fingers on my lips. The top one had recovered, no longer swollen, but my bottom lip was still split. His long fingers traced the open wound, being careful not to apply any pressure. His brows furrowed, as he lightly laid a finger straight on the wound.

A breath hissed out from my lips, straight onto his finger. My lip stung with his touch, but his touch also brought tingles to the area. I felt like his touch was healing, but also made my wound sting.I wanted him to keep his finger on the sore, keep the tingles running through my being, but also just wanted him to let the wound heal on its own, even if it left a scar.

"Mattie?" someone called. James touch snapped away from me, his hand leaving my wrist. I felt cut off without the tingles running through my core. My eyes snapped to a nurse, staring at us. It was then that I realized that we had subconsciously moved towards each other during our trance, thighs now brushing.

James quickly stood up, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. I stood, much slower than he, and began walking towards the nurse.

She pointed to a room, and I began padding down the hall to get there. James followed closely behind, until the nurse grabbed his jacket. "I'm sorry sir. No friends allowed."

James looked back at her, then back at me. I watched him intently. It was obvious that he wanted to make sure that I'd be alright.

"I- I'm..." he said, thinking quickly. "I'm her boyfriend." he said quickly.

I furrowed my brow. The nurse looked between us, before huffing. "Is that the truth?" She asked me.

I turned to James, asking a silent question; "Do I go along with it?"

James let out a minuscule nod, small enough that the nurse didn't notice it. I turned back to her. "Erm, yes. He's my boyfriend."

The words felt foreign on my tongue. I had never dated anyone before. But with James it felt- almost natural saying it.

The nurse nodded, and ushered the both of us into the room.

***

"Here's the pain medication, rubbing alcohol, and prescription if you need refills." the nurse smiled. I would smile, but I didn't want to stretch the stitches in my bottom lip, so I just nodded.

"Thank you so much." James said, smiling kindly at her. She nodded, and went back into the room.

James laid an arm around my lower back, ushering me out the door. The warmth of his arm burned through my flimsy uni shirt, still on from yesterday at school.

"Thanks James, that really means a lot." I said, quietly, as though not to stretch my stitches.

James just grinned. "That's what friends are for, right?" he shrugged. I rolled my eyes at his cheesy statement, but continued walking.

It was cold, now that it was getting towards six o'clock. I looked up at the darkening sky, watching as the stars peeked out from behind the light of the sun.

"I should've brought the car." James said, stopping.

I turned to him. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"To mine." he said nonchalantly, quickly hailing a taxi as he did so.

My brows furrowed. I only met him a few days ago, and he's taking me to his flat? This seemed quite a bit stalker-like.

"James, I can't go to your flat, I hardly know you."

He turned to me, smirking. "I saved you from your flat, took you to the hospital, paid for the medicine, and you still don't trust me?"

H had a point, but I still couldn't shake that uneasy feeling that comes with anxiety. Hopefully my gut feeling was wrong, and James was a good guy. Only time will tell.