Stuck in Yesterday

Chapter Eight

Virgil's P.O.V
 
  For a moment, Virgil stared blankly at her. But once the words had finally sunk in, his face morphed into an expression of panic. "Wait! Please! I don't need to go to the school therapist!" He pleaded.
 
  "Why not?" The nurse asked, a hint of concern noticeable in her voice as she turned back to look at him.
 
  "Well,-" but before he could begin, Virgil was cut off by the sound of the office door being opened.
 
  He looked over to see who it was, then quickly looked away when he was met with the worried faces of his mother and his step-father. How am I going to explain this to them? Virgil worried as he heard them approach the nurse's desk.
 
  "Good afternoon, who are you here to pick up?" The nurse asked them politely.
 
  "Virgil Black," he heard his step-father reply calmly.
 
  "He's lying on that cot over there," the nurse said, "and I would like to have a quick word with you before you go."
 
  Only one pair of footsteps rushed towards him, and from the sound of the beginning of a hushed discussion between the nurse and his step-father, Virgil knew who it was. His mother quickly sat down in the chair next to the bed where the nurse had previously sat. But despite having urgently come to his side, her voice came out as soothing and even.  "Hello Virgie," she cooed, softly placing her hand on his arm, "how are you feeling?"

  Virgil gave a weak smile. "Better than before," he replied.

  Her smile grew, though only slightly. "Well, what's better than before?" She inquired.

  He laughed quietly before telling her about what had happened, starting from the interaction between him, Roman, Logan, and Patton, to when he woke up and was carried to the nurses office. By the time he had finished his story, the nurse and his step-father were wrapping up their discussion. During the retelling of the events that afternoon, Virgil had kept his gaze fixed on a cabinet that sat in the corner of the room. But when he finished, he finally glanced over at his mother. For the most part, her facial expression hadn't seemed to change. The only changes he saw were that her previous smile drooped down to form a thin line and how her eyes were clouded over with confusion and... panic? He wasn't quite sure. But Virgil didn't have enough time to dwell on what he thought he saw because at that moment the nurse walked over to them, his step-father in tow. "Alright, Virgil. You're free to head home." The nurse announced.

  "Okay. Thank you, " was his simple reply as he carefully sat up, holding the icepack as gently as he could to his forehead without letting it fall into his lap.

  He shifted so that he was sitting on the cot with his legs over the edge. He took a deep breath, then stood up. He wobbled a bit, having to keep his arm that wasnt holding the icepack to his forehead outstreched in order to keep his balance, but after a few steps he was doing alright. He turned to the nurse and asked, "what should I do with this ice pack?"

  "For today," she explained as she sat down at her desk, "you can take it home with you. But tomorrow please come back and return it."

  Virgil nodded in understanding, then turned to face his parents. His step-father placed a hand on his shoulder and started to lead him towards the office door. "Let's head home so you can rest, bud," he said, his voice soft and caring.

  Virgil once again only nodded as he was lead away from the nurses office, out the front doors of the school, and brought to his step-father's dark blue SUV. But before he could even place his hand on the car door, a thought struck him. "My bag!" He cried out in a panic.

  He turned to sprint back to the school and was about to take off running but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about that," his mother told him.

  That bag has my headphones and sketchbook in it! Why shouldn't I be worried?! Does she know who she's talking to?!

  Those were the thoughts going through his head as he turned around to protest. But once he turned around, the stressed teen could see the black schoolbag was resting in his mothers gentle grip. She gave him a gentle smile before asking, "were you looking for this?"

  Virgil breathed out a sigh of relie before taking the bag into his own hands. "You know, Virge," his mother suggested as they piled into the car, "try not to worry too much about little things like this, okay?"

  The teen looked down at his lap before replying calmly, "this wasn't a little thing. At least, it wasn't little to me."

  The drive home was mostly silent. It felt so overwhelmingly quiet at one point that Virgil had pulled out his headphones, clicked 'shuffle' on his favorite playlist, and watched as cars, homes, and trees seemed to fly by. When they had finally pulled up into the driveway, the song that played in Virgil's ears was "One For The Money" by Escape the Fate. As soon as the vehicle stopped moving, Virgil reached for the door with his free hand. "Now hold on a minute, bud," he heard his step-dad call out, depite the loud music, "we need to have a quick talk."

  Virgil felt himself tense. He knew that nothing good came out of a 'quick talk'. But he knew there was no getting out of it so he lowered his hand from the door, slipped off his headphones, and waited. His mother was the first to speak. "Virgie," she began, turning in her seat to look at him, "you seem to be very stressed recently. more so than usual."

  She paused for a moment, then continued, "I know a lot of things have happened over the past year or so. So, we've decided to send you to a therapist. So that you can work out... everything."

  Virgil looked up from his lap. He couldn't help but look at the long scar that ran down her face. "What about you?" He blurted out.

  His hand immediately flew up to cover his mouth. Why did he say that?!

  But he didn't see anger in his mother's dark eyes. Although he could see a wisp of sadness whirling around in the raven depths, he could see a glimmer or even a spark that he had never remembered seeing there before. Hope. "I will be seeing a therapist too," was her answer, her voice only a little louder than a whisper. "Soon, Virgie, we'll be able to put all of this behind us."

  Virgil offered her a small, if not a bit strained, smile. He wasn't sure he believed her.