New Student (G/t)

Chapter Fifteen

            I opened my eyes with blurred vision. I stood up and fell back down.

"Hey, take it easy." I heard the doctor say. "You weren't supposed to be awake yet. The serum must've been faulty ."

"Everything is blurred, doctor." I said. Everything looks as if I was looking through water. It didn't seem to be fading either.

"The serum will cause visual difficulties until it wears off. You still have about an hour left." I heard movement and yelped as I felt wrap around me.  "It's just me, Annabelle." The Doctor said. His voice was calm and quiet in order to make it clear he was no threat. I relaxed and he lifted me up. My shirt was lifted, only up to the bottom of my rib cage this time.

"Didn't you already examine me?" I asked.

"I have to examine you before the serum and after. Our medicine for Borrowers is rather new so I have to study their efficiency." He turned me over and examined my back. Then my arms and legs. "It appears that they do remove and heal bruises. All the bruises you received from Lillie are missing." I shuttered. Her name was like a bad omen.

"Where is Lillie?" I asked.

"The police arrived to get her shortly before you woke up. She'll be charged with kidnapping as well as assault. Nathan didn't press financial charges however. He simply kicked her out of the school." The doctor laid me back down gently. "He seems like a nice man." I looked at my shoes, what seemed to be the blurred vision of shoes at least.

"Mmhmm..." I said quietly.

"Can I ask why you ran away from him? He said over the phone you were in his office before you disappeared."

"I didn't run away from him." I stated. "I went to try and find my parents. It's a long story but I have a feeling they're out there."

"And you thought that going out without a single clue would be a good idea?" The Doctor asked calmly.

"Look, I get it wasn't smart. Please don't remind me."

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, it's admirable that you care that much about your parents. I just need you, for your sake, to think before running off. Okay?" He was sincere and concerned. Reminded me of Nathan in a way. I nodded.

"When is Nathan coming here?" I asked.

"Over the phone he said he was in a meeting so it'll take him a bit to get here. He is coming though, don't you worry." I heard something make a small ding noise. "Now, you need rest. I'm going to be injected a small dose of sleep serum. It'll put you to sleep long enough to get rest and for the healing serum the wear off. It'll only hurt a little bit so please relax." I felt the needle prick and move less than a centimeter, even less than that, into my arm. Then it was removed. Within minutes I had fallen back asleep.
                I'm not sure how much time had passed but it was definitely more than an hour. When I opened my eyes, it was dark. The lights were off and the blinds were closed. I couldn't really see but my vision wasn't blurred either. I could see the light seeping from behind the blinds clearly. It took a minute but I realized I was leaning against something. Or someone possibly. Confused I pushed the large squishy wall with my hand, making the person stir in there sleep.

"You know it's rude to poke a person's neck?" A familiar voice said as I felt them move around. A lamp switched on and saw Nathan rubbing his eyes with a yawn. We were in his room rather than the hospital room. Just knowing I was safe and at home caused me to a surge of energy and excitement mixed with relief. I smiled and jumped onto his leg then climbed up his shirt, startling him. I got to his shoulder and nuzzled and hugged his neck.

"Thank you." I said as I somewhat hugged him. He pulled me off with a humored smirk.

"I'm glad you're happy to see me, Annabelle." He said as I sat on his palm. "As well as that you're feeling better."

"I'm sorry for running off." I said quickly. "You've cared for me and I was ungrateful to that. Thank you for everything. I'm really happy to be back."

"You don't need to be sorry for anything, Annabelle. Just don't run off again, okay? You gave Victor and me quite a scare." He set me on his pillow and laid back down. It was clear he was tired from work.

"Victor worried about me?" I asked a bit surprised while also not being shocked.

"Yes. He was actually the one who posted all the fliers around town for me. I've had meetings after meetings and it was hard to find time to look for you. Not many had sympathy for me or you." He sighed. "Victor has been suspended however. He'll be back to school next week."

"Suspended!" I exclaimed. "Why?!"

"He attacked Lillie shortly after hearing the news about what happened. I had no choice but to suspend him for at least a few days. He understood this as well."

"How did he know it was her?" I asked curiously.

"It hit the local news stations quickly that Lillie was responsible for your disappearance. As well as your near death. She's been getting a mixture of back lash along with support since then. Some say she was fine and shouldn't have been charged so heavily, others said she got what she deserved for treating you so poorly as well as knowingly taking you." Nathan made another yawn.

"Did you have a long day at work?" I asked.

"Meetings, dealing with Lillie's case, then Victor's, yeah the day was a lot of running from place to place." He said with his eyes shut.

"I'm sorry..." I told him. I recognized this would have been avoided if I had stayed put like he said.

"Don't be." That was the last thing he said before he sunk into a peaceful sleep. I was too awake to sleep so I decided to rummage around his phone. He didn't have many photos. I avoided the folder with my parents and opened a different one. He had a few of photos of me. One was the photo of me napping away. Others were from simple times. Sitting on the desk looking a different direction and such. There is were photos of scenery as well. The outside of the school on a sunny day was rather pretty. The tree outside had sunlight shining through. Other photos were of fields and flowers and such. In one photo however I noticed something. It was a simple photo of flowers near the school. But near the bottom I could see something that looked like an arm and leg. As if someone was hiding. Meaning there was someone my size and they could be living out there. Thoughts raced through my head of them possibly knowing the location of my parents however I shut them off. I wouldn't run off again. When Nathan wakes up later on I will tell him what I saw and ask if we can look around. I press an app made for watching videos and begin watching a multitude of things with Nathan's earbuds plugged in so I didn't wake him. They were loud enough for me to hear but quite enough not to wake him. I just kept watching videos while he slept away.