「 The Professor & I 」VOLUME II

(163) Fracture

Lynn's POV

Drafts of surprisingly chilly mid summer's air that rushed into the sweltering enclosure induced my damp body to shiver terribly in the biting cold, and even my incapacitated parts were not pardoned from the spontaneous and seemingly never ending shudders, as I stared helplessly at the only towel atop the shelf overhanging from the faraway vanity.

Shutting my eyes tight, I tried to distract myself from the freezing environment but my head pounded like it would split before I even managed to lift a corner of the absorbent material off its rack. Beaten and sighing, I tediously hoisted my dripping body into my wheelchair and laboriously propelled myself towards the dresser, disregarding my flimsy legs that were once again tangled in shambles.

Remembering to anchor it this time, I shuffled to the brink of my seat but my useless limbs trembled horribly, albeit struggling to provide me any balance at all. Tightly clenching my core and with a palm firmly gripped around my rim to keep myself upright, I stretched out my other hand but even so, my target was still undesirably not within reach.

Stubbornly determined to avoid assistance, I pressed my palms onto the counter and garnering everything I still possessed, I extended my arms to support myself into a standing pose albeit with my lower half dangling lifelessly beneath my waist. Deliberately steering my eyes away from the repulsive sight of my droopy limbs, I focused my gaze on the only drying agent that remained available to me for the others had yet to return from the laundry.

My arms shook vigorously, threatening to give out, but I adamantly leaned my center of gravity to my weaker left side as I strenuously aimed for the towel with my free and nearer right hand. My straightened joints furiously protested before I achieved anything and barely getting any fingertips to my objective, my moist palm skidded from the marble top.

Crashing to the cool tiles, there was a loud crack as my body impacted the ground but the only pain that could be experienced emanated from my forehead which was scraped by the corner of the vanity, my right forearm which had been slit by the foot plate of my toppled wheelchair and my left wrist that seemed to have been sprained when breaking the fall albeit cushioning the huge shock to no avail.

While I made extreme effort to contain most of my potential shriek, the clamorous noise of tumbling metal was admittedly attention-seeking and immediately, the door of the bathroom burst wide open like my embarrassment and annoyance through their seams.

"Lynn!" Jean yelled as she dashed in and quickly cloaked my drenched naked frame in the towel she readily whipped off its inaccessibly located storage mantle.

Spitefully refusing her service, I snatched away the furry cloth and Jean stunned as she simply crouched beside me on the wet flooring. Feebly wiping my front, I gaped at the utter mess before me, harshly biting my lower lip as I registered my slightly deformed and reddening left thigh placed in a dangerously odd angle.

Soon, a gentle whir followed and while they were quiet as she backed away for him to close in, it was evident that Charles and Jean were also scrutinizing my inanimate legs though definitely more appalled by the scratch wounds that were clearly not sustained as a result of the recent hazard.

"Go... Away..." I muttered softly, intentionally not looking at Charles but his approach frightfully did not cease.

"Please..." I begged desperately as I attempted to scoot myself away on the slippery surface.

While my sore and injured arms performed disappointingly to benefit my evasion, the brief shifting of my body was enough to land my crippled left limb spasming violently and uncontrollably in an apparent severe cramp of my hamstring and quadriceps. Supposedly, it was a reflexive muscle reaction towards the highly plausible fracture caused during the trauma prior, yet agonizingly without any tangible sensation at all.