EVERGREEN, elijah hewson

aftermath

CHAPTER SEVEN
"aftermath"

MIN-HEE EXPLAINED THE EVENTS LEADING TO THE FIGHT. She tried to make the Irish boys sound as heroic as possible—completely disregarding the fact that Ryan shoved Daniel into the water which really riled up him. That didn't need to be mentioned. She wanted to find a way of getting Daniel and Derek sent home, not any of her new friends. Although, when she glanced down at Eden tending to Elijah's vast array of bruises, she wondered if it was better to get them driven back so they'd no longer be clamped over the duress of the expedition. It all just depended on Mr Sahni's choice. He was probably asking the other teachers for their opinions because the line had gone silent.

Colin approached the group once again with frozen peas and cloths for both boys. He also brought his jar of muilticoloured lollies he passed around. Eden allowed Elijah to hold the peas himself with his non-injured left hand. She held his right hand in hers, felt the calloused pads of his fingertips scrape her skin. She cleaned away each drip of blood carefully, trying not to focus on the length of his fingers or the multitude of veins stretching up his forearm.

Elijah believed that she was hating this whole situation. She was only inclined to help him because she felt guilty. If not, she probably would've let Min-Hee worry about him.

By the time the blood had gone, Mr Sahni and Mr Orman were running towards them. Mr Orman ran with elegance like he was in the Olympics whereas Sahni stumbled behind like a dog off a leash. They were an unlikely pair. Yin and yang. Polar opposites. Eden had heard Belle was already shipping them together. It was understandable. From snatching quick glances to the light blush staining Mr Orman's cheeks every now and then, it was getting pretty suspicious.

"Happy birthday, Min-Hee! Miss Alderidge told us," Mr Orman said. He passed her a box of dark chocolate-coated ginger biscuits and skittles. Eden was pretty much drooling at the sight of them. Mr Orman's face then dropped at the sight of Elijah and Robert sat on the pavement. "Lads, I was not expecting this from you. Do you need any more first aid things? Is anything broken? Are you being properly patched up?"

"Sir, I'm a medical genius," Eden said as she placed a plaster on Elijah's cheek. Somehow the only plasters she could find were 'hello kitty' themed. They were out of place on his battered face. At least it brought some kind of light to the situation. His breath was fanning her cheeks, his teeth making marks along his plump lips, his freckles more noticeable than ever before.

Mr Sahni didn't seem to agree with what Eden had said. He'd seen her problematic attempts of patching up Belle when she fell over on a school trip.

Mr Orman frustratedly sighed. He was pacing around, probably trying to figure out what on Earth to do with the two boys. "Well... you've made this difficult for me. I should be calling your parents and arranging to take you home—"

"Sir, you wouldn't—" Robert butted in. He stood up, wagged his legs around. "See, look." He pointed down to his perfectly stood up frame. "I'm fine. I can keep walking."

"But, Robert—"

"Me too, Sir. I'm fine." Elijah followed suit and stood next to Robert. His bright pink hello kitty plasters glimmered in the sunlight.

"Do you really think you can cope for four more days?" Mr Sahni was scanning each of their injuries, his face crinkling at the sight of blood. "We could shorten the route for today to give you some time to recover."