9.

I regained consciousness in an unfamiliar place. My head was pounding and my mouth felt like sandpaper. The electricity inside of me had slowed to a soft hum and my blood temperature had cooled down a bit. I must have been in the nurse’s office because I was laying on a soft cot and a metal, medicine cabinet sat directly to the left of me.

I slowly pulled myself into a sitting position and realized I was not alone. I rubbed my eyes and moved my tongue around in my mouth, but it was no use. I was dying for a glass of water.

Principal Saint sat sitting at a desk, arms folded, staring. A wave of trepidation swept over me.

“Are you feeling all right, Ms. Matthews? You took quite a fall,” his distinct, elegant voice was crisp and serious. He stood up and reached over to hand me a glass of water. I took it, my hands trembling a bit, and drank it quickly.

“I think so,” I still felt weak, and my head was especially fuzzy. “Thank you,” I said hesitantly. He took the cup out of my hand and walked over to fill it again at a sink that was positioned behind him.

“For what?” he sounded surprised.

“For the water.… and for not letting me fall,” I replied matter-of-factly.

“I did no such thing. You did fall, you fell hard. The student, who brought you here, said you possibly had a seizure. I am here to make sure that you don’t have another,” his voice was full of conviction, but I could have sworn I saw him catch me.

“A seizure?” I said pretending to be confused; although I thought I had been conscious of what was happening to me, I was not so sure now. I didn’t remember hitting the floor at all. I rubbed the back of my head, but nothing felt sore or tender.

“Yes, Mr. Angelo said you began shaking uncontrollably before passing out; you were lucky he was near and able to act so quickly. Do you not remember any of this?” he looked at me skeptically.

“No,” I said simply. I leaned my head forward to look at the ground, letting my long hair fall in front of my face. I could not look at this man in the eye when I lied to him; he seemed as if he would be impervious to a dishonest student. I was also confused though, I didn’t remember Talbott there at all.

“Hmmm…” he clearly didn’t buy it; but I wasn't sure I bought it either. “Well, the important thing is that you are alright. Do you have any idea of what could have caused this? Has this happened before? What is the last thing you remember?”

“I don’t know,” I took a long pause to clearly remember what happened. What made me convulse so terribly? “I remember talking with Kiran and then nothing.”

“Mr. Kendrick?” Principal Saint’s voice raised in alarm, although I had no idea why. “This was worse than I thought,” he mumbled cryptically under his breath. “Eden, I am afraid there is something we need to discuss. This has gotten out of control,” he looked at me gravely, but did not attempt to stand or come closer. A feeling of dread washed over me, but before he could continue, Mrs. Truance stepped through the door.

“Eden’s aunt is here, sir. Would you like me to send her in?” I was amazed at the tone of respect Mrs. Truance used with Principal Saint. Her quiet, subservient demeanor was nothing I had ever seen her exhibit before.

“Yes, that would be fine. I am sure she is anxious to see her niece,” Mrs. Truance left the room and Principal Saint turned his attention back to me. “Our discussion will have to wait. I am sending you home for the day, and strongly suggest you take the rest of the week off to recuperate. Kingsley does not tolerate sick and fainting students.” He said it with finality and stood to take his leave.

“Oh my word, Eden are you all right?” Aunt Syl was through the door and in front of my face before I could react. She was still in her green doctor’s scrubs and her hair was frazzled. She reached out to put my face in her hands and I inhaled the strong smell of hospital soap.

“I’m fine, really, I’m fine,” I tried to reassure her, but she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small flashlight to begin examining my eyes. I attempted to push her away but she was persistent.

“They said it was a seizure, I was so worried,” she exclaimed, finally giving up the impromptu check up to hug me tightly.

“Aunt Syl, I can’t breathe,” I said, struggling for oxygen.

“Oh, I’m so sorry dear,” she pulled back, but didn’t take her hands off of my shoulders.

“I have excused her for the day, as well as the rest of the week,” Principal Saint interrupted from the doorway. “Please, take this time to recover, and we will see you back here on Monday, healthy. I will have Ms. Mason bring over your homework and make sure you are caught up on classes,” with his final instructions he left us alone, closing the door behind him.

“What happened?” Aunt Syl asked exasperated. “The school called me at the hospital and I rushed over here right away.”

“I guess I had some sort of seizure or something…. I don’t really remember to be honest. But I feel much better now, I think I’m fine. Let’s just go home,” I looked up at her with pleading eyes, giving her my strongest smile and hoping to convince her.

“Nice try, but seizures are serious Eden. I am going to take you to the hospital for a full checkup and then we will go home…. ok? Who is Ms. Mason?” Aunt Syl was serious and I knew there was no getting out of all of the tests I was about to have run on me. I inwardly groaned, not sure if I was up to being poked and prodded. But still, I wondered if there was a diagnosis for blood made out of lightning?

“Lilly, the girl I was telling you about yesterday,” I hopped off of the cot and adjusted my uniform. Aunt Syl had to check out with Mrs. Truance before we could leave, but we eventually made our way down to her car, parked in front of the school a little askew.

To my utter despair and frustration, before we could begin our escape, I noticed Kiran jogging down to us from the Administration Building. I cringed, not sure why he just couldn’t leave me alone. Since I was still not feeling like myself, I really was in no mood to deal with him.

“Eden,” he called from a few feet away as I tried to slide into the passenger’s seat as quickly as my trembling appendages would let me. “Eden!”

“Who is that?” Aunt Syl was both impressed and confused by the unbelievably good looking boy jogging in our direction.

“What?” I shouted exasperatedly, stepping back out of the car and closing the door, hoping to shield whatever this was about from my Aunt.

“Are you ok?” he came to a stop too close to me for comfort, but thankfully I didn’t feel any more electricity than the soft hum that had come to be normal.

“I’m fine,” I said quickly, hoping he would just get to the point.

“Are you sure?” he reached out to hold my hand and I was reminded of the dream I had about him last night. I let him hold it for a moment, feeling butterflies instead of overwhelming energy, before taking it back. He smiled slightly.

“Yes, I’m sure, but my Aunt is taking me to get a checkup anyways,” I said slightly irritated. “What do you want?” I hoped he was not here to ask me about the trash can in the theater again.

“I just wanted to make sure you were ok,” he smiled wider and I found myself smiling back. I couldn’t help it, he was just beautiful. His white teeth were surrounded by perfect lips and adorable dimples. Even his eyes smiled at me.

“Thank you,” I said softening a little. “But really, I’m fine. Like I said, I’m going to the hospital, and I am sure they will tell me that there is nothing wrong with me. So…… I’ll see you later,” I tried to turn away from him and get in the car, but he was not finished.

“I brought you your backpack,” he said suddenly, never taking his eyes off of mine. I reached out to take it from him, willing myself to look away from his crystal blue eyes. I could feel the heat rush to my cheeks and let my hair fall in front of my face to hide the embarrassing blush.

“Thank you,” I mumbled again. I took the backpack and our fingertips brushed softly together. I felt a surge of both butterflies and electricity this time and realized it was time to get out of there, before Aunt Syl had to witness one of my “episodes.”

“Can I bring you your homework tonight?” his eyes wavered for a second and I realized that he was nervous.

“Um, actually I think Lilly is going to bring it,” I said in a rush.

“Mr. Kendrick, get back to class,” Principal Saints’ voice called from the top of the hill. Kiran looked up and then looked back at me, clearly annoyed. His entire body tensed and I could see that he was torn. I was surprised by his reaction, but could almost relate. Every time that Kiran tried to talk to me, Principal Saint showed up out of nowhere to keep us apart. Maybe it was just a coincidence, maybe not.

“We’ll see about that,” he whispered before turning around and jogging back up the hill. I stood staring after him for a moment, wondering if he was talking about class or my homework tonight.

Kiran had left me once again confused but excited at the same time. With so many mixed emotions no wonder I couldn’t keep myself in control. I climbed back in the car, thankful I would have something to distract me the rest of the afternoon, I was almost looking forward to the promised MRI and CT scan; maybe Aunt Syl would even throw in a PET scan just for good measure…. one could only hope.