My Teacher | p.jm ✔️

29 - Collapse

Yours;
When I arrived at home after a nerve wracking bus ride that felt awfully short, I braced myself for facing the one who knows my secret. I wiggled the key in its rightful place and walked inside quietly. I took off my shoes and looked around.

The house was empty? I felt sick with worry and suspense. Was she at the school spilling my secret to the principal already? Or, was she at my dad's workplace telling my parents?

No really, I felt sick.

My tired eyes darted at the wooden stairs when I heard thuds coming down. Ah, there she is.

Mrs Jeon was wearing a pencil skirt and a turquoise satin blouse. She had her purse hanging from the crease of her arm. "You're here." She murmured.

I watched as she put on her shoes and stood in front of me with authority glistening in her eyes. "Let's go." she said, grabbing my arm.

"Where?" I asked in shock.

"To the school obviously. Did you think I wouldn't report this?" She scoffed.

"No, Mrs Jeon please don't. He'll lose his job! I'm sorry, i'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done any of this, it's all my fault! I'll stop seeing him I promise," I cried, standing still as if there were chains keeping me there despite the pulling on my arm.

She looked at me and I searched for even a sliver of sympathy. "I'm sorry, Areum. You know I love you but, he's not good news. You don't see it because of your feelings for him but, even if you stop seeing him, he'll just move on to another naive girl," She stroked the side of my head.

I felt offended and looked down at by her words. My brain was pounding against my skull, to make things worse. I felt like if I were to take as much as a step, I would seriously collapse.

Of course, Mrs Jeon had no way of knowing that. Actually, maybe she did. Try the paleness of my face or the wobble of my legs as I tried to win this tug of war on my arm or maybe the beads of sweat on my forehead.

Fed up with my protesting, she pulled me as hard as she could, dragging me towards the door. One step, two steps, three steps. Her irritation-filled voice was muffled suddenly and the world began to go hazy. Huh?

And then the world tilted, resulting in pitch blackness.

»»————-　♡　————-««

"—shows signs of overwhelming stress resulting in fatigue plus, dehydration," I heard a muffled voice say.

I shifted on the soft surface I was laying on, not bothering to open my eyes. It smelled like hand sanitizer, where ever I was.

"Is she still sleeping?" Another voice asked, shortly after.

I was quick to figure out that these voices were muffled because a wall or door separated us.

I'm awake. Barely.

I felt at peace for the first time since that day, as if I had just woken up from a hibernation. I decided that it was time to open my eyes. I blinked off the sleepiness of my eyes, forcing them to stay open.

Oh. A hospital?

The sanitizer smell made sense now. I hazily looked around the white room from my position on the bed. The door slid open and for some reason, my first thought was to shut my eyes.

Play dead. Or uh— play sleep.

I listened to the door close again, followed by soft cautious footsteps as if the owner was careful not to wake me. The footsteps got close and finally came to a stop when a large shadow fell over my eyelids.