Sta.sh
Fox 009: Lingering Fox
by ~LadyQuindecim[AN: This is the ninth in the Fox Tale series. Please read them in order.]
[Creative property of Lady Quindecim]
Part Nine: Lingering Fox
The next thing I remember, I was lying in the nurse's office. The door was open and Fox was sitting in a chair across the room from me, tying her high-tops. One black shoe on already, on the other foot I could see the sock was striped with green and pink and red and blue... lots of colours and very festive. Then I thought about seeing her when the door open and the socks had been pushed down around her ankles. I was trying to imagine how high up her legs her socks went and figured they probably went well above her knees. There was a bandage on her arm. She looked up at me when I propped myself up on my elbows with a groan from both me and the bed. I was having a hard time placing her expression. First she looked kind of both curious and mad, then sort of started to smile, but warmly.
I realised the nurse was in the room, behind her desk, when she asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Okay, I guess. Is it headache in here?" I sat the rest of the way up on put my hand on my head only to find a bandage.
"No, that would be you. It was just a little cut, but you whacked yourself with the door pretty hard." She looked from me to Fox who was slowly putting on her other shoe and back to me again. "I think you should go ahead and have a dose of your medicine, even though you seem okay now."
I nodded and was handed two familiar looking pills and two I could not identify with certainty, and a paper cup of water.
"And a couple of ibuprofen for your headache. Your mother is on her way."
I rolled my eyes and drank the pills down. "Am I, like suspended or something?"
"No." It was a third person in the room with me, that teacher that walked me down.
"Your class?"
"They are reading, they are fine."
I started to wonder about Mr. Sherman and what was happening with his class, then remembered that it was his office hour; the very reason there had not been students streaming in as well as out, keeping the door open.
Then the nurse asked, "Are you quite done tying your shoes?" She was talking to Fox, of course. There was something commanding, but friendly and familiar and I got the impression that those two were not strangers.
"I wish I had been there to see you deck him," Fox pronounced, earning a crooked scowl from the nurse.
"Did I hit you too?"
"No." She stood and shrugged into her jacket. "Later."
I looked back at the teacher, trying to remember her name and it was not working. Then I looked at the placard on the nurse's desk: Nurse Kelley, Rn.
"Nurse Kelley?" I asked.
"Yes?"
"Never mind." This was a weird place. I looked back at the teacher whose name I was still trying to remember. "Cody? Mags?"
The teacher smiled, "Mags went back to class, and Cody is waiting in the office."
"What for?"
"To back you up."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he says he saw what happened."
"Yeah. How embarrassing."
Miss Can't-remember gave me a placating expression that grownups do when they think you are being foolish but don't want to say it. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about," and I got the impression that she was not talking about just today. My stomach clinched immediately and I was glad I had taken the pills.
It was about then that my mother came in. I have no idea how a woman that light could make such thunderous footfalls, but there it was. "Oh, sweetie, what happened?"
"I freaked out when the door would not open and I punched my teacher."
"You punched your teacher?"
"Yeah, Mr. Sherman."
"Oh," she sighed.
Miss Can't-remember came over next to my mom. "Hi, Mrs. Shunter? Miss Gradecko."
"Really?" Mom said it, but that was what I was thinking too.
"No, that's 'Miss Gradenko,' with an 'n.' I think maybe we could hear from Cody so we can let him get back to class."
"Sure," Mom said, then sat next to me and pushed a rogue strand of hair behind my ear.
When he walked in, he looked at me and grinned, "Hey, Chole."
"Hey, Cody. Guess I'm pretty stupid, huh."
"Nah. It was an accident."
Miss Gradecko encouraged, "How about telling us what you saw, Cody?"
"Yeah, sure." He took a breath and one last look at me, then turned to my mom. "Hi, Chole's Mom," then to Miss Gradecko. "Well, the door had just closed, so she made to open it, right? But it did not open. I guess she started to panic and it kinda built up and she was like, well, then Mr. Sherman came all like, 'I got you' and grabbed her away from the door."
Miss Gradecko tisked and Mom said, "Oh," like that explained everything.
Then Miss Gradecko confirmed, "And no one else was in the room? Just you three?"
"Yeah."
"What happened next?"
"Well, she hit Mr. Sherman and went back to the door. She was just trying to get out, you know? I don't think she really meant to hurt him, you know? So I could tell she was pushing on the door and I reminded her it pulled. That was when it whacked her in the head."
Miss Gradecko dismissed Cody, reminding him to not to talk about it with anyone, but he looked at me a little longer, dragging the momet.
"I suppose you are going to want a different date for Friday."
"Nah. You're alright." He smiled before turning out of the room.
"How much trouble am I in?" I really wanted to know.
"You are not in any trouble, but tell me, what exactly did you hear Mr. Sherman say?"
I thought about her wording. Not 'What did he say?' but 'What did I hear.' And with Cody, it wasn't 'What happened,' but 'What did you see.' She was careful. "I heard, 'I've got you, girl' and, 'calm down.'"
"Are you sure?"
I was. The words were haunting me. I knew the words; they were said to me once before when I tried to open a door and escape, over and over, not getting away.
My mom had her arm around me and asked what was going to happen and how was I, looking at the bandage. The Nurse explained that it was just a small cut over my brow and she used some liquid stitch to hold it shut, but that it probably did not even need that. Then Miss Gradecko asked if she could talk to me alone and Mom would wait in the office for a bit.
Mom stepped out, but Nurse Kelley stayed and reached for the door.
"No, Nurse, please leave the door open." Then the teacher spoke close and quietly, "Does your mom know?"
I tried to look confused, but I think I only looked frightened.
"Does anyone know?"
I shook my head.
"Will you tell me about it?"
I looked at her, fearful and un-answering. She was a teacher, so I was supposed to answer them when they ask me a question, but I could not. Panic was simmering, held at bay by the medicine.
"If you cannot convince me that you are not in danger at home, I am going to have to call-"
"No. Please, no. Nothing happened and it was a long time ago and far away. I am safe. Safe as houses, whatever that means." I wanted away from this woman and the doors she was trying to unlock.
She sighed then straightened up giving me more room. "Okay, but you really should talk about it with someone. My door is alw-"
"Would everyone quit talking about doors!" I complained with far more volume than I intended. I tried to hide behind my knees once more, fearing the drugs were going to fail me outright.
Mom poked her head in the room, "Everything okay?"
Everyone looked at me. "Yeah. Can I go back to class? I promise not to yell or hit anyone."
"Mrs. Shunter, I would understand if you wanted to take your daughter home."
"Does she have to go?"
Nurse Kelley reluctantly shook her head.
Mom looked at me to see if I wanted to get away from everyone. I answered, "No, I would rather stay. I don't want to think about what rumors may start if I leave." I did not tell them how badly I wanted to know what Fox had been doing there.
[You have been reading the ninth installment of the Fox Tale Series by Lady Quindecim.]
[If you received this text from a source other that DeviantArt, please let the author know via e-mail to lady.quindecim@gmail.com]
[I hope you have enjoyed this installment]
I will say this much for now: You are definitely growing into an exceptional writer.
I mean, yes, I appreciate any comment I get... you are the one I count on the most.
And on a more personal note, it's also bringing up some fond remembrances from my marching band days.
I am glad you find it interesting. Some of the coming chapters are really interesting, in my opinion.
Thanks for commenting! I can hardly wait to hear more!