「 The Professor & I 」VOLUME II

(162) Not My Day

Lynn's POV

"Do you want me to tell them?" Charles kindly offered, pouring those precious eyes into mine.

"I think you've done enough," I politely declined but despite my heart feeling slightly alleviated from a burden it had unknowingly carried, my lips still could not quite curve into a smile.

"I'll do it myself," I asserted cheerlessly as I struggled to sit myself up and Charles instinctively cradled me in his arms, disregarding the restrain he used to practise.

"Would you excuse me for a bit?" I requested, consciously not looking at him, as I ran my fingers through my hair but they got trapped in the tangles more often than fulfilling the intention of combing my locks.

"Shall I get Jean?" Charles suggested, already aware of what I had in mind but I was irritated by the charity only I imagined coming from his genuinely thoughtful tone.

"I want to manage it on my own," I argued and he smacked his lips, simultaneously worried yet relieved as he seemingly contemplated.

"Alright, then," Charles finally conceded.

"But be careful," he appealed and I hated that his fret was almost fully justified.

"Just call me if you need help. I'll be right here if you need anything," he reiterated, stroking my back in an ironically mollifying yet disturbing manner.

"Charles, please... I appreciate it... But don't..." I begged shakily.

"Lynn, I'm not-" He quickly replied but I did not let him finish.

"I know you're not pitying me..." I clarified, burying my face into my palms.

"But I just feel like even you are... I can't help it, I'm sorry..." I apologized, my guilty heart experiencing an awful pain for the horrible and insuppressible thoughts.

"I know, Lynn. And it's alright," he graciously consoled, immediately drawing me into an irresistible hug but recognizing from my reluctant body language that I was emotionally battling myself to escape it, Charles only pecked my temple delicately before he scooted off into his chair, slowly exiting the room.

As the door shut behind him, I closed my eyes and inhaled a deep breath in preparation to muster the energy I had not conjured in a long time. I worked my mind and gradually, it translated into the faint sound of my chair rolling across towards the bed but by the time I had it arriving at my desired spot, I was panting in exhaustion. Engulfed in unanticipated fatigue, I rested for several moments against the headboard to catch my breath before I tried again but I could not effectively perform any further telekinesis.

Surrendering to my mental weariness, I clawed my way to the edge of the mattress but it was clear I had been entirely rusty with the procedure. Mindlessly neglecting the covers that was basically a disorganized mess atop my inactive legs and somehow forgetting to secure my brakes, I clung dearly onto the armrests when my chair naturally glided away, only stopping when its hind wheel collided deafeningly into the nightstand.

Although I was eternally thankful the conspicuous impact had not tipped it over instead, it was an ungraceful fall that landed my front on the lip of my seat with my deadweight sprawled in a disarrayed fashion on the floor after I defenselessly watched the flimsy and impotent pair tumble off the mattress. 

"I'm fine," I frantically whimpered in reassurance as I heard the knob unfastening and Charles froze, sensing my escalating discomfort for him to witness my miserable state.

Unable to formulate any response, Charles merely released the lever and remained stationed on the other side of the door, persistently acting like the bodyguard he really wished he could be.

Rattled by his obscured yet definite presence but realizing that my attempts to chase him away would only go to waste, I did not bother with him as I locked my chair and difficultly dragged myself up into my seat. Tiredly righting my posture, I could finally deal with the quilt that was still partially but sloppily draped over my inanimate limbs.

Peeling the thick fabric off myself, I grabbed my rims and my palms were relentless stung by the cool metal as I deliberately trained my muscles that had unfortunately loss their memory and tolerance for the motion they desperately needed to be familiarized with.

The path to the washroom was relatively short yet journeyed intermittently as I was forced to consistently pause by my burning biceps. Eventually getting to my destination, my equally sore triceps were additionally tortured to tug off my nightgown from my bottom as I pivoted from side to side. Raising them to lug the short frock off my head was only more agonising but it was unexpectedly most tedious to wrestle the small piece of lingerie off my useless legs.

After the demanding routine, I drove my naked self towards the shower stall, knowing for certain that transferring in and out of the tub would only end in disaster with my lack of stamina, and repeated the cumbersome sequence to load myself onto the shower chair, albeit with more prudence this time to ensure I did not shift myself onto the ground again.

Lethargically, I raised my trembling hand to the faucet and my wrists literally screamed as I spent more effort than I ever knew to turn the tap on.

Essentially defeated by what was meant to be a simple endeavour of a bath, I slumped back into the plastic chair and tears automatically streamed down my cheeks. The area around me began to fog up with a white mist, further blurring my vision, as I allowed the warm water to drench my body like it could miraculously mend my soul, sincerely hoping that its splatter on the surrounding tiled walls and glass panel was loud enough to mask my uncontrollable sobbing.

As the temperate liquid sloshed upon my skin, mildly soothing the aches that plagued every tissue I could feel yet not at all curing my mood though the weeping had ceased only because my fluid bank was depleted again, I reduced the flow from the nozzle above and shakily picked up the bottle of shampoo. The next moment, my heart almost leaped out of my chest when the heavy container nearly slipped through my grasp but I was grateful that enough of my reflexes still existed to not create another commotion.

Lazily squeezing some of the citrus formula onto my palm, I randomly smeared it amongst my soaked mane and casually scrubbed my scalp. Although without much strength left in my fingers to do any thorough job, the viscous cleansing extract served its function to ease the knotted strands that had accumulated over the days of tossing on the pillow. Rinsing off the froth that had collected, I did my best to wring out the excess water from my dripping locks and applied on a layer of conditioner before I proceeded to clean the rest of myself.

Rubbing the strenuously obtained pumps of soap against the surface of my body, my heart was continuously stabbed as I slid my hands towards my limp legs that were still in their awkwardly placed angles since I no longer had any inclination to trouble myself in adjusting them after that whole consuming ordeal to actually earn me my current position.

Agony hit me pang after pang as I purposely slapped my unfeeling thighs with shower gel but was reciprocated with only a tingling sensation in my palms. Overwhelmed by anguish and resentment, I frustratedly dug my nails into my numb flesh as I washed my paralyzed portions. Although leaving several bleeding blemishes and trails of red marks that hinted a moderate abrasion, not so much as a tinge of searing could be felt as I wetted my lacerated skin to flush away the residual foam over the exposed wounds.

Successfully completing the taxing sequence, I pushed open the transparent door and instantly, I concluded that it was absolutely not my day.

XXXXX

Good morning guys! It's the last chapter for the week again. I know it's not been such a great week but I hope you all have enjoyed the story regardless. Don't forget to vote/comment! 😘

By the way, it's Lunar New Year's Eve today and the New Year over the weekend. Anyone else celebrating the festive occasion? 😁