Iceheart

Chapter 10: Confrontation

Jason groaned as he opened his eyes. His head pounded, and his arms were stinging.

Expected, he thought to himself. I did just kind of beat the crap out of myself... and boy, do I feel it... not enough to make me regret it though.

As he looked around, he found that he was no longer in the bathroom. Instead, he was laying on a cot, his body covered by a blanket. Jason groaned, rubbing his head and wincing.

"Where the hell am I?" he muttered. However, a thought popped into his mind.

Oh crap, am I in another dream? Well then why does it feel so real... but dreams always feel real... ugh derealization... making my head spin...

Jason tried to grip onto a nearby side table, but he nearly slammed his head on the corner. He quickly caught himself and pushed himself back up onto the cot. As he kept himself from falling, he thought to himself what could possibly happened to allow him to end up here, real or not.

Hm... I guess someone could have seen me and freaked out. But knowing the guys, they'd think I was a druggie... but my arms were bleeding... hm... in all honesty, the only guy who would care enough to drag me all the way to the nurse's is Maxwell...

As he thought of this, he glanced around the room, only to find it was empty. As he attempted to sit up, he heard a click of the door. He looked up to see the nurse, Mr. Bracciano.

Heh, he thought to himself. Everyone thinks he's gay because he's a guy nurse. Typical high schoolers. But he's not gay. I've seen his wife. She's a nice lady. Has a little girl.

As Jason recalled the information he knew, he felt Mr. Bracciano's hand on his shoulder.

"Lay back down," he said calmly, gently pressing Jason back to the cot. "You need to stay pretty still. You were badly rattled."

Jason didn't argue. He merely lay on the cot, his head spinning. Mr Bracciano sat down next to him, looking him over.

"So," he muttered, looking over a piece of paper. "You were found in the bathroom at... 12:40. Or at very least, that's what Tom told me."

"Mulligan?" Jason questioned, looking confused. Tom Mulligan helped me?

Mr. Bracciano nodded. "Yes. He and Maxwell came with you, but Tom was the one carrying you. They both seemed quite distressed, and in all honesty, I can see why. Even if they didn't know you, I'd probably freak out seeing someone passed out in the bathroom.

Jason nodded a little. "Alright," he mumbled. "Well I've got to get to class, so... yeah, bye." He sat up and grabbed his head.

"Just a moment," Mr. Bracciano chided. "Lay back down."

Jason nervously laid down on the cot, his heart beating quickly. Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap.

Mr. Bracciano sighed. "I would like to know how you got into this mess. It's not exactly every day that a boy ends up passed out in the bathroom with his arms bleeding."

"Look, it's nothing, alright?" Jason said. He began to sit up. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm awake and fine, so-"

"Jason."

Jason looked at Mr. Bracciano. That stern voice got to him. He went as still as a statue.

"I need to know how this happened," Mr. Bracciano stated. "This was clearly not an accident. And bullying is not tolerated in this school."

Jason remained quiet. Craaaaaaaaaap. I do not want to tell him. I mean, what would he do if he figured out that it was me? He'd ship me off to a psychiatric ward... those places are filled with people who'd eat me alive! I don't belong there!