Left Behind (Snowbaz fic)

Chapter: 9

SIMON
My body came back to me before my mind did. My hand grabbed for whatever was closest to me. It was the corner of a bed, the sheets were coarse and scratchy. Slowly my senses came back to me one by one. I felt the thin blanket draped over my body. I could smell the distinct sent of antiseptic all around me making me feel sicker than I already did. I heard the whispering of voices hovering above me. I couldn't make out what they were saying but I heard my name being said among many of them. They were talking about me like I wasn't even there. I was able to pick out Penelope's voice among one of the voices.
   "Simon?"
   I groaned a reply letting her know I was still alive. I forced my eyes to open. The bright lights above me stung my eyes and everything was out of focus. I felt sick and rolled over in the bed clutching my stomach.
   "Take it easy, Simon, just relax." She cooed she placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. I took in shallow breaths trying to make the room stop spinning.
   After a few minutes of breathing in and out I was finally able to sit up without a threat of puking. Penny watched me carefully before she spoke like she was worried I might fall back into unconsciousness. A crowd of students leaned in behind her. Some I knew from my time at the school but some were complete strangers.
   "Simon-"
   "Okay, everybody out!" One of the school nurses pushed her way through the crowd, interrupting Penelope, and herded them out of the door. Once the room was finally empty and still Penelope sat on the end of the bed and opened her mouth to speak again but I interrupted her.
   "Penny what happened? Where's Baz?" I craned my neck over her shoulder trying to see if Baz was standing outside the infirmary doors. But he wasn't.
   All the color drained from her face. Her muscled tensed up and she avoided eye contact.
   "Penelope, where is he?!"
  "We don't know," she said softly. She looked down at the blanket and fiddled with one of the stray pieces of string. My heart pounded against my chest and I gripped the ends of the blanket tightly.
   "What do you mean you don't know? He was with me! He was right there! Why don't you know?!"
   "You were alone. You were in the barn I was surprised someone even found you."
   "The barn? That's not possible we were in front of the catacombs."
   An image of Baz picking my limp body up off the ground and carrying me away flashed into my head. He was running as fast as he could away from something, or someone, whatever it was it had to be dangerous because Baz wouldn't run from anything. I faintly remembered him placing me in the hayloft and whispering in my ear.
   "I love you, I love you, I love you so much you have no idea."
   "It was her!" I shouted.
   "What are you talking about?"
   "Amara Noel, the vampire in the yearbooks, she was there too! She took him. She's behind all of this. She's the reason why this is all happening! We have to find him."
   "Okay, Simon, breath, we're going to find him."
   I kicked off the blankets and attempted to get to my feet. My legs felt like they disintegrated beneath me and I fell to the ground. Penny grabbed my waist and pulled me back up to my feet. My legs buckled under me until I sat down at the foot of the bed.
   "Take it easy, alright?" She said. "She used a pretty powerful spell. You've been out for a day." I looked out the window to see the rising sun. I thought it was the same rising sun I had seen before with Baz but I was wrong. I didn't even think Amara used a spell on me. Without a single word and a snap of her fingers I was reduced to a vulnerable heap on the ground. It scared me to think of what other power she had built up inside her.
   With the threat of tears I buried my face in my hands. I felt something soft brush against my face that poked out of my sleeve. I knew what it was before I even pulled the white fabric out of my jacket sleeve. It was Baz's handkerchief. But it was ripped in half. It was the same handkerchief that I hated so much because it was the one he gave to Agatha. I thought he was stealing her away from me and I hated him for it.
   I traced the green lettering stitched on the corner of the handkerchief with my thumb. It was his initials. T. B. P. Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch. Such a grand and dignified name belonging to someone that I used to consider as my enemy. But it just took that one kiss to change everything. Is it going to take one girl to ruin everything?
   I buried my face in the fabric and took a deep breath. It smelled like him. Like fresh pine needles and fire. I imagined him laying me down in that hayloft in an effort to protect me. He hugged me, kissed me, and told me he loved me before slipping the handkerchief into my sleeve. The rest I couldn't visualize. And I honestly didn't want to.
   Suddenly there was a knock at the door. For a split second I though it was Baz but, of corse, it wasn't. To my surprise Headmistress Bunce stepped into the room. She directed a stern yet sympathetic look at me and I felt myself get smaller as she drew closer. When she finally stood just inches away from me all the sympathy washed away from her face. All that was left was pure anger.
   "I want you gone before sundown," she practically yelled.
   "But, Mum!" Penny stepped in but her mother gave her the same dirty look she was giving me.
   "No, Penelope!" She turned her attention back to me, "If it weren't for you none of this would have happened. Because of you one of my students was taken by her!"
   My mind flashed back to that boy laying at Amara's feet. When I first laid eyes on him I thought he was dead but then I noticed his entire body trembling in fear.
   "Mum, this isn't Simon's fault!"
   "I don't care! Too many things has endangered the students at this school and it's because of this boy!" She pointed her long, boney finger at me. I looked down at the floor letting my head hang low. I gripped the handkerchief tighter in my hand.
   "I want you gone and I want that boy found. If you can't do that then you'll suffer a fate worse than death."
   My blood ran cold and body tensed up. I was terrified to speak back to her or even move for that matter. I just helplessly nodded my head. More protests came exploding out of Penny but I couldn't hear her. The Headmistress stormed out of the room with Penny following close behind. All I heard was the sound of my own heart hammering against my chest.
   A fate worse than death. My brain rattled with possibilities of what that could've meant.
   I finally built up the courage to get out of the bed and walk down the long, dark corridor outside the infirmary. My legs graduated from feeling like jelly to feeling like they were filled with sand. Every step I took felt slow and heavy.
   When I reached the end of the hallway I heard quiet sobbing coming from the front lobby. Headmistress Bunce and a young crying woman sat on a bench in the corner. I stopped in my tracks; my eyes glued to the woman clutching a red baseball cap in her hands.
   "Please, find my boy!" She cried, "Find my Jamie!"
   She gripped the baseball cap like it was the only thing keeping her alive. Just like I held on to Baz's handkerchief. The woman and I were on the same boat. Both of us lost something so important to us and only had pieces of them to hang on to for dear life. I twisted one of the frayed strings of the ripped handkerchief around my finger from inside my pocket.
   The crying mother met my gaze. Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was streaked with tears. She looked as broken and empty as I felt.