Red

Chapter 9

Mike

I led Nate back to my sister's room, deep in thought. That poor kid. No way am I letting him go home. His father'll probably kill him. I sighed, opening the door for him and glancing at the clock. It read as 11:42am. It took me a second to realize that I was late for my exam.

"Crap! I gotta go you two, I'm late for my college exam, I'll be back in a couple of hours, bye!"

I closed the door, and bolted out of the house, grabbing my keys and practically jumping into my car. By the time I got to the college, it was noon, and the exam had been going on for an hour.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap," I muttered, running to my class. I burst into my class, out of breath and extremely embarrassed as all eyes turned to me.

"Ah, mister Bittanti, how nice of you to come by." My professor, Dr. Dorado, was not amused. "Why were you so late?"

Of course, he knew about my sister's injury, how else was I gonna convince him to give me the crutches, but I didn't want the whole class to know, so I said, "I got held up by the...issue, I told you about last night. It was pretty bad. Sorry."

I saw his eyes soften a tiny bit, but he still clearly wasn't happy that I was late. "Alright then, sit down and here's your exam. And when you're done I'd like to talk to you, so don't leave just yet." He then turned to his desk, sat down, and started to read a book.

I made my way over to my seat, uncomfortably aware of all the eyes glued to me. I caught my best friend Marley Aryanto's eye, a question clearly there. I mouthed to him, "I'll tell you later," and he nodded and turned back to his own test.

I sat down behind him and started on the exam. It was pretty difficult; everyone else had left by the time I was done. They also started an hour before me.

I finished around one thirty, one forty-five and handed in the test. Dorado motioned for me to sit.

I pulled a desk forward so I could sit directly in front of him. "What is it?"

He leaned back in his chair. "What happened this morning? Why were you so late?"

I shifted a bit in the chair. "Well, my sister, Clarissa, had a really bad fever and she wouldn't wake up. She kept tossing and turning in the bed, it looked like she was having a really bad nightmare. The exam completely slipped my mind. I had to take care of her."

My professor was silent for a moment. "I understand, Mike, and I actually wanted to know if you'll let me see her. Is her leg infected?"

I nodded. "I think that's what caused the fever and nightmares."

"Hm, yes, probably. So, will you let me see her? I might be able to help."

"Could you, please? I'm really worried about her and..." I let my sentence trail off, not wanting to cry in front of my college professor.

"Lead the way, Mike."