Bruises- Modern Zelink- discontinued :(

Headache

*Tuesday*

Link opened his eyes, then immediately shut them again. The sunlight shining through the windows in the garage door was blinding him. It made his head pound.

After a few minutes, he groaned and sat up. He felt around for his phone, then found it. It was still in his back pocket.
He turned it on and looked at the time.

[6:57]

Shit. He was going to be late for school.

He quickly stood up. Fuck. He shouldn't have done that.
He clutched his head with both hands and stumbled forward. He felt to his knees, tears coming to his eyes. Why did his head hurt so goddess-damned much?

He looked up. The room was spinning.
He shook his head, which made it hurt more, but he didn't care. He just had to leave. Get to school.

He stood back up and grabbed his things. He went out the garage door and hurried down the street. He stumbled a few times, nearly tripping over his own feet. He was so exhausted... why? Why was this happening? What was wrong with him?

He got to class late. Like, five minutes late. He slipped into his seat next to Sean- no collapsed into it- with a sigh and put his head down on the desk. The cool wood against his forehead felt so nice.

Class was over like that. In fact, the day went by pretty quickly, up until lunch.
At lunch, he sat with his friends. He decided to avoid Zelda. He didn't want to bother her, not after yesterday.

About halfway through lunch, his head began to ache more than before. He just ignored it.
He just kept talking to his friends.

After a few minutes, the room started spinning a little. Maybe something was up.

He looked down at the table. Someone said something, but he barely processed it. His head felt hot. And it hurt. And he needed a drink. Hylia, he was thirsty.
He looked up before falling forward, face planting into his food.

<<×>>

Zelda was peacefully eating her lunch when there was a sudden commotion over by Link's table.

"Link? You okay?" "What the- holy shit!" "Link!"

She stole a glance over at the boys and saw that Link was slumped over in his seat, and all his friends seemed rather frantic.

People were starting to crowd around. She was tempted to join, but she stayed in her seat and tried to ignore it.
Midna clearly wasn't trying to do that, because she stood up, craning her neck to see. Urbosa firmly pulled her back down, shaking her head.

People started getting louder. Someone tapped Zelda on the shoulder.
"You know him well, right?"
"No."

Urbosa seemed to be changing her mind about Zelda ignoring the situation.
"Zel, I think maybe you sho-"
"No."
"I think our taking this a bit far. I mean, Mip-"
"I don't give a shit about what Mipha would do. I'm doing what I'm doing. You can't change my mind."
"But who would pick him up I'd he doesn't go to the hospital? His dad? You have to intervene at some point."
She clenched her fists. "No. He'll be fine. It's not a big deal."
"I'm pretty sure this is a big deal."
"Doesn't mean I have to get involved. He survived long enough on his own. He can survive without me."

Urbosa sighed and stood up. "If you won't help, I will."
She walked over to Link and pushed past everyone else. She gently put her hands on his shoulders. Nobody had moved him. His face was still in the food.

She moved he tray and looked around. A teacher was hurrying over. About time.

"What is going on? Get away, back to your tables. Sit down. Sit do-" The teacher interrupted herself, inhaling sharply. "Uhhh... "

Nobody had budged, so another teacher headed over. They also gasped and immediately pulled out their phone. They put it up to their ear and said, "Yes, this is a teacher at Hateno High School, a student passed of in the middle of lunch. Yes, I'm sending a student to tech the nurse. Mhm. Okay." They lowered the phone and ordered someone to go get the nurse.

"Okay, does anyone know his parents?"
Everybody shook their heads and looked at other people expectantly.
Urbosa raised her hand and said, "I don't know his parents personally, but they're good friends with my parent. I know his parents are both at work right now. My mom could come pick him up, though."
"Great. Thank you."

The nurse then got to the cafeteria and determined that Link was severely dehydrated, and he'd have to go to the hospital. Urbosa called her mom and explained the situation.

Urbosa walked back to the table and slipped into her seat. "See how easy that was?"
Zelda just groaned and put her head down on the table. "Shut up. I don't wanna think about him."
Urbosa ignored her complaints. "I winder why that happened. Why would he be so dehydrated he'd pass out? I didn't even know that was a thing."
"Me neither," Midna put in. "Weird."
"Yesterday I saw him and he looked absolutely miserable. Almost like he'd been sleeping outside for the whole weekend."
"Maybe he was."

Zelda's head shot up. Her eyes were wide. "Oh no," she said, her voice almost a whisper. "I made this happen. And I didn't even help. Hylia, help me. I'm such a terrible person..."
She let her head hang low. Of course this would be her fault. But she couldn't exactly go and apologize to him now. He'd probably hate her even more than before. But he had plenty of reason to hate her. Like this whole disaster.