Inferno

~64~ Keeping Up With The Kids

Ellie's POV

I'm in my office, working on restocking some supplies, when there's a knock on my door. I look up and Mason is holding his hand, blood pouring out. He looks at me awkwardly, with a small smile. This is the last place he wants to be.

"What on earth happened to you?" I ask, motioning for him to sit.

"I was being stupid" he says simply as he sits down and holds out his hand for me to inspect it.

"Hang on, I've got to clean it before I can see if you need stitches" I say as I get my stuff.

He says nothing. He doesn't even look at me.

I get some supplies and sit in my chair. I take his hand carefully and start to wipe it with rubbing alcohol. He immediately flinches.

"I'm sorry. You've got, like, rock or something in this" I say as I attempt to clean it. I decide I need to irrigate it.

"Hang on" I say as I grab more stuff. I start to irrigate it after another minute and he flinches again.

"I didn't realize History teachers have such dangerous jobs" I say with a smirk.

His face softens a little. "I was on my break. The PE teacher and I are buddies" he says simply. He's not going into detail. He doesn't want to be here and he doesn't want to talk to me.

"Oh yeah?" I ask. I continue irrigating the wound. There is still a ton of debris in there.

"Ok, plan B. You've got a lot of stuff in here. If I get it out with tweezers are you going to slug me?" I ask with a gentle smile.

He actually cracks a smile. Not a big one, but enough.

"Go for it" he says quietly.

I get my tweezers and start pulling out pieces of black rubber.

"Jeesh. I know Luke loves Mr. Chase but I didn't realize he was such a hard ass. What is this stuff?" I ask as I drop it into a bowl.

"Nah, it was my fault. I was wanting to get a workout in. I went to the track with the PE class. Luke was actually in the class. I've been giving him such a hard time on the hurdles, that he challenged me to try it myself. Guess I'm not as athletic as I thought" he says, rolling his eyes.

I start to laugh. I didn't mean to. I'm supposed to hate this guy.

"And I'm guessing that Luke was sympathetic when you fell?" I ask with a smile.

He chuckles. "Not even a little bit ma'am. He was laughing harder than the rest of em'" he says, flinching as I get out a big piece.

"It's going to be harder to convince him to keep the hurdling event now" he says, shaking his head.

I double check that the wound is clean, and irrigate it once more.

"Luke can be a baby. He'd complain about anything" I say rolling my eyes.

"Ok, this looks good. You got lucky, it doesn't need stitches. I'll bandage it for you" I say as I get up and get my bandages.

Suddenly Lance comes in.

"Ouch! What happened to you, West?" He asks, looking at his hand.

"Just trying to keep up with the kids, sir" he says grinning.

Lance chuckles.

"Ellie, I've got a question for you" he says, leaning on the door frame.

"Shoot, boss" I say, grinning up at him. I get some ointment and start slathering it on the cut.