Hold My Hand

Chapter Nine

The next morning unbearable stomach ache was killing me. Pain makes us forget all other thoughts and worries and draws our attention only to it as if everything else is insignificant and stupid compared to it. Physical pain, such as abdominal pain, is often quite acute and unrelenting. The nausea made me feel extremely dizzy.  Despite this, I got up with difficulty and walked to school. I couldn't eat anything. I bought a 500 ml sparkling mineral water from the cafeteria and emptied it all at once before going up the staircase and luckily I felt a bit better. Before entering the classroom, the pain decreased a little. The clock showed 9:05, that meant that I was 5 minutes late. 

-"Damn, the teacher will kill me!"- I thought, and I sped up my step on the cracked floor in the hall. 

I knocked weakly on the classroom door, but nobody cared. 

I tried again. Again the response was delayed.

Finally, I tiptoed and peered through the window at the top of the wooden door.

There was a strange chatter and fuss in the class. Classmates were running all over the class and trying to stare at the "performance" from a distance. I realized that no one bothered to scold me for my lateness there, and I opened the door quickly with interest.

The noise muffled by the old walls suddenly hit my ears and made me dizzy. The air, rich in carbon dioxide, took my breath away and almost made me faint. The children gathered in one place and looked at a point on the laminate floor with interest. The others would climb on each other's backs so as not to miss the show; Some of them even stretched their necks like old turkeys. 

When I entered, I couldn't determine what was happening because of the living barrier of classmates, it wasn't hard to realize though, that it was nothing good. When the teacher saw me, she quickly made her way through the living barrier of students towards me. 

- Mary, Mary!  Do you have a bottle of water in your bag? Nobody has one!

- One second... I'll see.

-Quickly, Quickly! Hurry up! - she was screaming with a doomed voice.

- Okay, okay! What is going on?!

- No time for talking! 

I quickly opened the zipper and searched for the bottle in my backpack. Fortunately, I found one unopened, and without one more word, the teacher tore it out of my hand.

- Let me pass! - she screamed and kneeled down. 

I couldn't see anything due to my curious classmates, so I sat down at my desk when I noticed that the desk on my left was empty! 

- Gabriel! Honey, wake up! - the teacher was gently patting the young man's cheek. 

I thought he died.

I watched the trembling teacher's behavior and waited with great hope for Gabriel to remove his long eyelashes, which did not happen.

- He passed out,- I calmed down a little because we were not in a completely miserable situation, such as death. 

I looked around. I barely remembered the list of necessary actions to be taken at this time, until I felt nauseous of all the exhaled air going into my lungs pressing down my chest. Suddenly I realized:

- Windows! Hurry up! He needs oxygen! hurry! - I shouted, because I couldn't find a way between the desks and the children, and no one was listening. I turned to Alexander who was standing right next to the window.

-Alex, hurry, open it! 

He immediately obeyed my words and opened all the windows as widely as possible.