Between the Lines✔ [COMPLETED]

[13] The First Fight

Kyle

The school nurse sits busily at her desk spraying her desktop computer screen with some sort of cleansing liquid in a spray bottle before wiping it with a piece of cloth that will only damage the screen further, but I don't want to tell her what she's doing wrong. Malory is lying on a bed right behind a blind board, and I'm sitting just where her feet are, observing how her chest inflates and deflates as she breathes in through the oxygen mask placed over her face. She's asleep, but her eyes are twitching ever so often. She's asleep, but her fingers still tremble with anxiety. She's asleep, but she's not at ease. She's not at peace.

I frown.

Olivia and Ron appear from the auditorium. I'm guessing that by this time practice has ended.
Olivia stops short of a breath as she spots her best friend lying helplessly. "What happened?" she asks, worriedly. 

"She blacked out after running," I explain, unable to look anywhere but down at my own two hands.

"After you?" Ron asks.

I nod once and drop my head to stare at my feet.

"Oh no... She hasn't had an asthma attack in ages..." Olivia trails off.

Suddenly that reminds me that I'm the reason she got one in the first place. My eyes unfocus.

"I didn't even know she had asthma," I say. "I didn't expect her to run after me, either."

"Do you want me to stay with her?" Olivia asks, turning to me. "You and Ron can both head home... I know Ron's mom would be concerned about him." She turns to Ron. He shrugs. She turns back to Malory. "Should I let her mother know?"

Her mother...

"No," I say, almost cutting her off suddenly.

"No?" She asks, taken aback. 

I look at her and speak calmly. "Don't tell her. She's not here anyway. It's of no use making her worry and try to rush back all the way here." I turn to look at Malory. "Nurse Kelly already said she'll be fine."

"I don't know..." Olivia says with uncertainty. A moment of silence passes before she continues. "Actually," she goes into her bag to pull out her phone, "I'll call my mom and tell her to come now. We should take Malory home. I'll ask my mom if I can stay with her for a while. She's got the medicine that she needs there –pills, inhalers, syrups, whatever. I know she does. It's been stocked away for a while but I think they should still be good. If not, I'll ask mom to stop off at a pharmacy and get new ones."

I can't believe I was so stupid. If something worse had happened to Malory –whether we're cooperating or not –whether we're friends or not -I wouldn't be able to live with myself... and I've done much worse than cause someone to have an asthma attack.

Why am I so worried about Malory Lloyd?

God, it always comes back to this, doesn't it?

"I did this," I mutter to myself. 

"No you didn't. Don't even think about it," Ron scolds me.

"She's lying on a bed with an oxygen mask unable to breathe, Ron," I say, my voice raising before falling low. "Because of me. Because I didn't want to stop..."

"Hi, mom..." Olivia says over the phone, "there's been an incident."

Suddenly I consider what she's said. She'll be going over to Malory's place.