The Institution

Chapter 14: The Wall

You know what's worse than hobbling across a frozen campus on crutches while trying to get to your class on time at eight o'clock in the morning?

Nothing.

I was forced to wake up at the ungodly hour of seven o'clock AM in order to drag myself out of bed in time to make it there. Dressing was a memorable experience; I had to balance on one leg throughout the entire process, and as balance isn't a skillset that I happen to possess I ended up on the floor three times. I was glad that Arthur was still asleep- I was able to escape the room with no witnesses to the event.

I did have several witnesses when I slipped those five other times on patches of ice on my way to class, though. I landed on my ass all five times.

By the time I made it to my Medieval History classroom the entire class was already assembled and the professor had started to lecture. I tottered through the doors as quietly as I could and found an empty seat in the back row of the lecture hall. My entire body was in pain and I was pretty sure I had broken my tailbone to go along with the other injuries I was already sporting. Which brings me to the other worst part of my morning- have you ever tried sitting in a tiny plastic chair with a broken tailbone?

If you haven't already tried it, I would recommend that you don't. It is a terrible idea. In the end I figured it was a lost cause, and spent the remaining half of the lecture standing behind the back row and wishing I had a photographic memory so that I could remember everything the professor said, since I couldn't take notes.

I've never been keen on skipping class before but I couldn't bear the thought of suffering through an entire day of hovering at the back of classrooms while my body screamed bloody murder. I slowly made my way back to Smith Hall, taking extra care to place my good foot and crutches on dry patches of land this time. Thankfully I made it back to the dorm in one piece.

Arthur was gone by the time I reentered the dorm room. As usual, he hadn't made his bed and left his dirty underwear and socks on the floor. This time I didn't bother to pick it up and instead struggled over to my own unmade bed and collapsed heavily onto the mattress. I reached over to my bedside table and grabbed at the bottle containing my pain prescription. I downed another three pills with a gulp of water and settled back into my pillows, waiting for the medicine to kick in and knock me out.

It seemed like two seconds later when hands were shaking me. I grumbled and tried to roll over, but the hand was now tapping my face.

"Eugghhhhh," I said, clumsily slapping the hand away.

"Ethan," came Arthur's voice. I opened my eyes and his concerned features swam above me. "Why aren't you in class?"

I felt so drowsy and I couldn't keep my eyes open for long. I let them slip closed again. This time Arthur didn't shake me. "M' tired," I muttered, already beginning to sink back into the realms of my dreamless sleep.

I heard him pick up the pill bottle. "How many of these did you take?" he asked.

"Just.... Tw-iive," I slurred.

He might've asked me another question then, but I didn't hear what he said. I was already asleep.

I didn't wake up again until six o'clock that evening when it was just starting to get dark outside. I rolled over and saw that Arthur was still in the room; he was sitting at his desk with his laptop screen illuminating his face and a pencil clenched in between his teeth. When I sat up in bed he jumped. He stared at me for a long moment and then he got up and came over to my bed. I was about to ask him what he'd been working on when he lifted a hand to feel my forehead. I swatted his hand away.