September in Salus

September 13th

 Caelum opened his eyes, disoriented for a moment by the bright light streaming in the infirmary windows. Immediately, memories of the night before flooded back. His entire body was sore. There was a dull pain in his face and torso. He smelled like smoke.

Caelum got out of bed, wincing. Dr. Ken walked into the room. "Good morning, Caelum. How are you feeling?"

Caelum shrugged. "Fine."

"Have you taken a look at yourself?"

"No." Caelum stumbled into the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. He drew a sharp breath. His left eye was a shiny black and blue. He unbuttoned his pajama top, not sure he wanted to see how extensive the damage was. Bruises darkened his chest and arms. His curls were matted with blood. He walked out of the bathroom. Dr. Ken raised an eyebrow.

"Eli-" Caelum started.

Dr. Ken held up a hand. "I believe you were both responsible for the fight, and I think you hurt Eli more than he hurt you. You're lucky your nose isn't broken."

Caelum grimaced. "Yeah."

"I would suggest getting dressed, then you can go talk to Dr. Nichols."

"Where's Eli?"

"Already in Dr. Nichols' office."

Caelum reluctantly went to his bed and picked up the clothes he'd worn the day before. The front of his white shirt was stiff with blood. The cuffs were singed. "Can I go to my room and put on clean clothes?"

"After your meeting with Dr. Nichols. It was my understanding that he wanted to talk to you as soon as you woke up."

"Fine." Caelum pulled on the stained clothes, then grumbled, "Thanks for taking care of us."

"You don't have to sound so grateful, Caelum."

Caelum refrained from voicing the comments rushing into his head. He finished getting dressed and left without another word.

Caelum knocked on Dr. Nichols' office door. Even his hand was sore. "Just a minute, Caelum," Dr. Nichols called.

Caelum slumped against the wall. What were they going to do to him? He tried to think of what they might use as punishment. Surely they wouldn't... "Come in," Dr. Nichols called.

The look of intense disappointment on Dr. Nichols' face was so severe that Caelum almost walked back out of the room. He opened his mouth but couldn't bring himself to say anything. Dr. Nichols cleared his throat. "Caelum, Eli has already told me what happened. Would you like to give me your perspective?"

"It was partly his fault!" Caelum said.

"I know. He told me. He says that you started the fight, but that you two had been arguing. He told me that's he's been antagonizing you for years."

Caelum looked at Eli, surprised. Eli was standing off to the side, avoiding Caelum and Dr. Nichols' gazes. His eyes were red, and he still looked pale and forlorn.

"That's true," Caelum said.

Dr. Nichols nodded. "I thought it was. Anything you'd like to add?"

"No." Caelum felt like he was standing under a very bright spotlight. His face was heating, and his palms were starting to sweat.

"This will be a short meeting, then. I understand that this has been coming on for a long time, but there will be consequences. Physical fighting is unacceptable. There will always be verbal disputes, but you two of all people should know that self-control is of the utmost importance, especially to us."

It was a simple comment, but it took Caelum's breath away. Don't panic. Stay in control. Self-control is of the utmost importance. It rang so painfully true that Caelum didn't even nod in acknowledgement. Eli barely acknowledged what Dr. Nichols had said, but Caelum knew he was listening from the way he tilted his head ever so slightly.

"I've decided that the best punishment is probably to suspend your leaving rights for a month, Eli; that means no driving lessons." Eli nodded weakly.

"Caelum, I wasn't sure what your punishment should be. We need you to be able to leave and go on missions. We just do." Dr. Nichols opened a desk drawer and took out Caelum's charys gun. "However, using this was unacceptable and inexcusable. I'm going to have you retake the certification test."

"But sir!" Caelum couldn't help but protest. "I've been using that since I was ten!"

"Yes, and somewhere along the line you seem to have forgotten the lesson on the ethics of carrying it. It's to be used on magical threats only."

"I'm sorry, sir. I'll never do anything like that again. It was a mistake."

"Mr. Sharp has agreed to recertify you this afternoon. He'll do an abbreviated version of the classes."

"Sir, that's not necessary."

"You'll meet him at the soccer field at lunchtime."

"Can I please have my gun back? I don't need to take lessons!" Caelum hated how desperate he sounded, and he could feel heat creeping into his cheeks.

Dr. Nichols put the gun back in his desk. "I hope you listen to Mr. Sharp better than you're listening to me, or it might be a long lesson."

"Sir!"

Holding up a warning finger, Dr. Nichols looked from Caelum to Eli. "I'm going to dismiss you two, if I can trust that you'll work out your differences. I don't want another show like the one you put on yesterday."

Caelum nodded, his entire face on fire. "Yes, sir."

Dr. Nichols looked down at his desk, the dismissal clear. Caelum numbly followed Eli out of the office, stung by the fact that he'd never left Dr. Nichols' office without a friendly goodbye until now.

As Caelum and Eli walked out, Eli looked over at Caelum and stopped walking as though he was going to say something. Caelum waited, but after a few seconds, Eli shook his head and walked away, leaving Caelum to wonder what had been left unsaid.