Undone [Completed]

Undone: [Epilogue]

Super-fast (ish?) upload because your comments last time were awesome and inspiring, and thank you so much! Also, there is a long author's note at the end, please do read it.

Epilogue - Nick

Everything moved rather quickly from that point. The atmosphere in the room had taken a one-eighty degree turn; where there had been silence save for the scribble of pencils and the dead solemnity of working under the keen observation of a strict Mr. Kramer, there was the noise of helter-skelter everywhere. It wasn’t that anybody was shouting or screaming, but the scrapes of the stools as everyone came forward to look and the general tension that had filled the room sufficed to make it seem deafening. I found myself by his side – Leo had propped his head up on a backpack – and clearing the crowd he’d drawn the next minute.

“Does anybody here have water?”

Leo was still panic-mode. He’d seen it too; that he’d somehow caused Max to faint, and although he’d been quick to react, he was still shaky from all of it.

“Um, yeah, I-” he mumbled. He took a good look at Max’s pale face, then from where he was kneeling, pointed towards what I presumed to be his bag.

“Here?” I reached for a zip.

“Yeah.”

The sprinkle of water got him stirring. His eyes fluttered open a second later, and the room released a collective sigh of relief.

It was starting to quiet down again.

Lani had taken the liberty of asking people to step back and go to their seats, Max needed air, and they’d obliged, mostly, other than a couple of people who still loitered near the edges of the benches, watching.

Their presence hadn’t been significant till that point – the first priority had been to revive Max, and now that that had been achieved, I could feel them there. Their eyes, on me, on Leo, on Max…watching.

I felt myself getting irritated. Fainting wasn’t a big deal! It wasn’t something that was unheard of, and I don’t know, just the way they were looking at him, at my best friend, had a new wave of protective…indignation, I think, build up.

Leo had helped him sit up, but he hadn’t recovered entirely. The color had started to return to his face, but only just, so I suppose in his place, Mr. Kramer was justified in starting to loosen his clothes, but I only heard the warning bells sound off immediately.

‘What does he think he’s doing?’

It wasn’t anything we’d discussed, but I hadn’t forgotten that day in the hospital, and every small incident that had followed – from Max refraining from wearing short-sleeved tee-shirts to keeping his jacket on even in the hottest of weather. And I was all too aware of the people still looking on like it were a show for display.

“Don’t-”

Mr. Kramer looked at me questioningly, but I ignored him. Rather, I ignored his question and only shook my head when he tried to reach for his shirt.

“I’ll take him to the nurse,” I volunteered quickly instead, and thankfully he stopped and simply nodded his permission. I’m not sure he understood, but I was grateful to him for that.

‘Thank you, sir.’

The background faded away again.

Max struggled to get to his feet despite the help he had from both a now seemingly calm Leo and me, and although he tried to pretend as though he were fine now, that he could walk himself to the nurse, I had seen the shakiness of his steps. His eyes were open now, but it was taking a lot of effort to keep them that way.