The Teacher's Pet

Chapter Thirteen

Kat Claire:
The bright light is haunting my soul once again. This time not the bright daylight, it's the light right above my head. The brightest light on earth I have ever seen. The light bouncing off the bright white walls doesn't help either.
Where the hell am I? I am wondering to myself, just myself, because there is no one around. Not a single person in this room.
Am I dead?
Where is everybody?
Why does my head hurt so much?
Where are those stupid beeps coming from?
My eyes open wider to look around the room some more, it still looks the same. A empty room, with just a bed, a supply closet... Then I spot it, the machine next to me, tubes lead to my body, one in my hand, and some to my face. The one to my face I immediately rip off, it's too close, wrapping itself around my nose.
"You really need the oxygen princess, please put it on."
"Where am I?" I ask the person.
He seems to be leaning in the doorway, his arm above his head. His wide posture is very attractive on him.
"The hospital, your parents will be here any second."
With the hand that isn't hooked up to machines, I rub one of my eyes to get a closer look at him.
Who is this man?
"Dad?" I guess, my vision still refusing to focus on this person.
"It's James princess, you're okay now." James moves closer, which makes my heartrate spike. The words he said to me... Yesterday? Today? Tonight?
"What day is it?" He doesn't answer me, he just grabs the few tubes I threw off my face, and puts them back in my nose. They're for oxygen, is what I learned in medical school.
"Keep this on, you need it."
"Can anyone answer me? What happened?" My eyes scan the room for more people, but still, it's just him and me, which makes me even more anxious. If he wants to kill me too, he has all chances now.
"Don't kill me."
The look of worry in his eyes gets replaced by anger and confusion.
"What? I would never do anything to hurt you, you know that." There it is, there is the pain I've once seen before, but this time I can hear it.
"Hey, how's my baby doing?" A sweet lady's voice says, she sounds far away, but even from across the world, I would recognize her voice.
"Mom!" Tears fill my eyes, I am tired of crying, but these tears are happy tears. The silhouette of her appears in my blurry vision as I wrap my arms around her so tightly, I will never let her go.
"Where's dad?"
"Right behind me." With the sleeve of my sweater I wipe away the tears, some make-up gets stuck to my sleeve as I wipe. And after blinking a couple of times my vision goes back to normal, and I see my dad right behind my mom. I hug him just as tired.
Less than a day apart from them and I am in a hospital. How will this end for me if I have to move out one day?
"What happened?"
"We don't know honey, but it'll be all right I promise you." My mom tells me squeezing my hand.
The squeak of a chair in the corner of the room replaces her concerned voice. "She collapsed from exhaustion, overworking, and mostly stressed, I was there when it happened," James speaks up.
"Excuse me, who are you? The doctor?"
"No dad he's..."
James pushes himself up from the chair before speaking, "James Levine, a friend of your daughters." And holds out his hand to my father politely.
"You look a little old to be my daughter's friend."
"Dad!"
James says nothing, he just laughs for a second. "I am just 30 sir, and promise I have no intention of harming your daughter."
"Good, because I'll have to kill you if you do."
"Dad! Stop!" I repeat again, laughing this time.
"Just kidding." He says looking at James like he's not kidding. Even if it was a joke, among these circumstances it's not funny.
"We are just going to get a coffee, call us if you need anything kiddo."
As soon as my parents both left the room, the tension grows. James' expression is constantly fixated on me.
"I believe we have to talk." I would love to tell him no, because it's far from what I want to do, talk, with James.
"There is nothing to talk about?"
James places his left arm against the wall besides him, his shirt lifting up a bit as he does so. "Is that so? Then why..." A pause. "Are you so upset right now?"
Some day I will have to talk about this with him, so I decide it's best to rip the band aid off and get to talking. "You..." I lower my voice so only he can hear it. "Killed someone..."
James seems to want to explain himself, but before he can I speak again. "How am I supposed to ever look past that? Have you done it before?"
"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to."
"James." I insist. "Have you... Killed someone before?"
He doesn't answer my question, doesn't even bother making eye contact with me. He doesn't have to. The silence tells me all I need to know. James has killed before. Not just one person, not two, but many... Of course, the one guy I fall deeply in love with, that I create an obsession over, is a serial killer.
"You are thinking a hundred things at the same time, let me in on your thoughts."
My cheeks flush bright red, my favorite color of red. I want to let him in on my thoughts more than anything, but I can't. I am too embarrassed, because the truth is. No matte how many people James kills, I will always be in love with him, my feelings don't change.
"Kat?"
Foot steps sound louder and louder each second, but I'm not sure I even hear them.
"Keep your eyes open for me Kat."
I try, I really try, but they have become as heavy as steel. Steel eyelids, with glue to them, so I can never open them again.
"Come on, let me see those beautiful eyes.""
James is so close, I don't even need to see him, I can smell him, his strong perfume, the usual minty breath, the warm breath that straddles my skin, making it even harder to open my eyes, James is killing me with just his presence. His hands are touching my cheeks, the bright red cheeks, in his hands, his hands seem huge around my face.
"Don't do this to me." There is something sensitive in his voice. A feeling I never thought I would see compared to James.