Teachers Pet

36: From The Begining

        "And do you remember when Blair fell out of that tree outside her house?" Such a long time ago it seems. Blair had lost her footing and came down hard. Dean had been there after school every day to help take care of her. Her mother was doing overtime on night shifts are was never really around.

       "She broke her arm," I added. Dean nodded with a small smile that was too sad to feel happy.

      "What does that have to do with you being here?" We looked to Mr. Pierce who was giving us both an odd look. It was as if Deans words antagonized him. I narrowed my eyes at him which he noticed. I could see that he quickly realized he stepped out of line. He cleared his throat and shrugged nonchalantly. "Because you're going to need a reason to tell the school why you left."

        "I have one. When Blair came here for her broken arm, her moms' phone was shut off because she couldn't afford to keep it on. I was with them at the time so I gave them my number. I've been Blair's emergency contact since."

       "The hospital called you," I realized.

       "I have to be here." Dean was wrong. He didn't have to be here. His excuse as Blair's emergency contact was just that... an excuse. If he were here to make sure she needed anything or if she could go home tonight then that was reason enough to be here. I knew Dean and that's not why he was here.

       "Dean, why are you here?" Mr. Pierce moved away a bit to look at Nolan talking to the cops still. He was using his hands to speak. Mr. Pierce had his back turned to us, but I was fully aware of him listening in.

       "I told you." Dean gave me this broken look that told me why he was really here. He was proving me right. "She needs me, Jilly." I hadn't heard him call me that since we were kids.

        "What she needs is her boyfriend. She needs Nolan." It was hard for me to say this when for so long I had wanted them to get back together. I didn't want Nolan to be what Blair wanted, but he was. And Nolan has proven himself to be someone completely different. I think I saw what Blair saw in him. He was what she really needed now. From the look on Dean's face, he didn't like me saying this. He hated it, but he knew the truth too. They were never getting back together. Besides, he had Bailey now.

       From the corner of my eye, I could see Mr. Pierce turning his head towards us. I was speaking to both of them. Mr. Pierce had to be here for his brother and Dean needed to be here for both Blair and her mother. They were both listening to their hearts instead of their heads.

       "Ow," I groaned. My eyes slowly opened, trying to adjust to the light. From the familiar smell and sounds of machinery, I knew exactly where I was. There was a slight tugging on the side of my head that I didn't like.

        "Don't move, sweetie. I'm just finishing up." The voice was a deep females, maybe an elderly lady. Was I getting stitches on my head? Did they shave off part of my hair? Did they do that for stitches? "There you go. Now that you're up, how are we doing?" I was absolutely miserable. Everything hurt. I felt like a giant bruise. I turned my neck to see her withered face and regretted it.

       "Ow." The old woman nodded with acknowledgment.

       "Pain killers, coming right up." She picked up a tray of bloody bandages before leaving out of my small room. There wasn't much in here besides the essentials. A small chair sat in the far corner near the door. The lights were bright but not fluorescent. They gave off an orange like sort of hue. As I looked down at myself, I could see all the wires connected to me. The IV in my hands made me cold.

       "Hello." I looked up to see a male nurse come in with two cups. "I have your pain killers for you." He came over to me and handed me both. I groaned with each movement I made. He looked as if he felt bad for me. I felt worse than I looked. After taking the pills and drinking the water, I handed both back to him.