Chapter 9

                                    

                                          
    The nurse's office is surprisingly bigger than I thought it would be. It's large enough to hold two rooms and a supply closet. Pretty impressive for this small school. Now if only we could get decent tasting food in the cafeteria.
                          
    After I was treated for my cuts and scrapes, I was sent to one room to rest. I was told to skip the rest of the day due to my headache and injuries. Gabe was brought in next, and the nurse began treating the cut on his cheek. He told me that, when he first came in, he insisted he get treated in my room. He told me how he wanted to see me and make sure I was alright. While he was telling that part, caterpillars turned into butterflies and started fluttering around in my stomach.
                          
    "What did you two do to get hurt so badly?" she asks, handing Gabe a paper towel with rubbing alcohol on it. He looks at it wearily then reluctantly presses the tip against the open cut. Judging by the way he visibly winces, I'm assuming it stings.
                          
    "We were running in gym," I explain, "and we kind of just… Fell." No need to tell her the actual story, right?
                          
    "Well, y'all had better be careful from now on. I'll be in to check on you in an hour or so. No funny business, got it?" She raises her eyebrows and looks directly at Gabe, who smiles reassuringly to her. When she leaves, Gabe kicks his feet up onto the bed I was laying on, and crosses his left ankle over his right.
                          
    "I'm sorry," I say before I could stop myself. Gabe lowers the towel and looks over at me. His eyebrows are knitted together in confusion.
                          
     "For what?"
                          
     "You got hurt because of me." He sighs and shakes his head.
                          
     "I didn't get hurt because of you. Tasha pushed you, that's why you fell."
                          
     "Yeah, but if I would've heard that truck, I would've moved and you wouldn't-"
                          
     Gabe lowers his legs from the bed and pushes himself to the edge of his seat. He grabs my hands and looks me in the eyes while saying slowly, "You shouldn't blame yourself, it wasn't your fault. None of this is your fault." Deep down, I know it really isn't my fault. I know Tasha just has something against me, and I can't help the fact that I'm deaf. Still, that doesn't stop the unwanted, painful, guilty lurches in my stomach.
                          
     I nod and we both fall into a sea of silence. He sits back in his chair, still holding my hands. I lean my head against a pillow and sigh deeply. I stare at the ceiling for what feels like hours, and eventually find myself falling asleep. The last thing I see before my eyes droop close is Gabe sitting next to me with his phone pressed against his ear.
                          
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    "Gabe?" I ask when I wake up. I open my eyes and look around. He's gone. Where is he? The room is empty, it's even lacking the sunlight that was here a few hours ago. I sit up and throw my legs over the side of the bed. The door is cracked open, and through the crack I see my brother. He looks red in the face, and he's pointing at something angrily.
                          
    When I open the door and step outside, I see Mandy standing directly across from me, with Dalton to her right and Gabe to her left. Jacob is standing in front of Gabe, yelling at him. I don't catch what he's saying, but I can tell by his ladybug red face that he is very mad.
                          
    "What's going on here?" I ask, earning all the attention from my friends and brother. Jacob's shoulders rise and fall quickly, and I can see that his jaw is clenched, along with his fists. Gabe, on the other hand, looks cool and collected, as if Jacob's yelling had no affect on him.