Hurters and Healers

8

At some point in the night, Alex and I had found each other. I woke up with his arms around my waist and I was facing him, which gave me the perfect opportunity to annoy him until he woke up. I started by poking his cheek. After a few times, he still hadn't woken up so I started squeezing his nose like a clown nose. This woke him up. Most people would probably just wake up and get out of bed, but not Alex. Alex decided that he would tickle me instead.

"Wait, stop stop stop. Please, stop," I begged

"Are you sorry for what you did?"

"If I say yes will you stop?"

"Yes."

"Then yes, I'm sorry for what I did."

I sat up and Alex was about to get up when I did it again.

"Cee, get back here you little shit," Alex chased after me.

My apartment wasn't big and there weren't a lot of places for me to go, but I could still find ways to get away from Alex. He cornered me into the kitchen when we were on opposite sides of the table. If he moved towards me, I would move away and if he gave up then I won, and Alex hated losing. I guess Alex realized this too because he did something I didn't even see as an option. He jumped across the table. Who see's that they have no options so they just decide to jump across a table? He didn't even know if he could make it across the table, he just did it, like the idiot he is.

I tried to run from him but I was too slow. Alex started tickling me again and I knew he wouldn't let me trick him again.

"You cheated!" I shouted at him.

"You tricked me," he countered.

"So now we're even. Now stop tickling me!"

"Why do you hate it so much?" he asked when he stopped.

"I don't know, I just always have. Gracie hates it too."

"I'm going to go shower and change. See you in the dining hall in half an hour?" Alex asked.

"Yeah."

Alex left and I got ready for the day then waited for him outside the dining hall the way we did almost every day.

"So, what are you doing today?" he asked when we were both sitting down eating our breakfast.

The dining hall food was on about the same level as elementary school cafeteria food. And not a private school or a public school in a rich area with a lot of funding. It was about the same as an inner-city elementary school lunch.

"I was planning on checking on everything in the infirmary and maybe helping out a bit if it's busy," I told him.

"When do you want to talk to my mom?"

"Whenever she's available. I can check on the infirmary anytime and unless there's an emergency I don't need to be there today."

"We can go to the infirmary together then up to my mom," he suggested.

"Sounds good."

We ate the rest of our breakfast then went to the infirmary where there were more people than normal for how early it was. It wasn't super crowded and I know my nurses could handle it but the fighters were getting more aggressive and careless about the way they trained. They were going against each other and their equipment harder and not using proper technique. We were seeing more broken hands, wrists, and fingers than we ever had before. And a lot of broken noses from fighters going too hard on each other during practice. The broken bones should be saved for fights where a broken nose could distract someone enough for us to win.