On Fire

‘I’m going to call your parents. Stay here, OK?’ the teacher asks. Helia nods and looks down. She presses a cold pack, wrapped in a tea-towel, against her left cheekbone. She closes her eyes for a moment, because of the coldness, but she still presses the cold pack against her head, until the spot turns blue. Next to her stands a cup with a dancing cow on it, filled with water. It’s waiting for the moment that she drinks a slug of water. She sighs. She is not allowed to free run this afternoon, although she agreed to meet Andrew. Her mother will bind her with a thousand of warm doyens; she will get an enormous cup of scalding hot tea and like eight pieces of steak around her head to reduce the pain. Then her mother will tell her that Katy and Dan are such idiots and after that she will tell some boring stories about the past. Yikes. She rather wants to free run, so she can get rid of the adrenaline she built up when she was confronting Dan and Katy. The school nurse comes through the door and hails Helia friendly. Helia only gives a small nod, but she can’t work up to say something to the large, big, friendly woman. The nurse removes the cold pack and holds Helia’s head. She presses her thumb against the festering spot and looks pensive.
‘That is going to be a black eye, sorry, girl.’ The woman says. Helia trembles of the word. The word Dan uses to describe Katy. “His girl”. ‘How do you feel?’
‘A bit of a headache,’ Helia says with a husky voice.
‘Sick, probably?’ The nurse asks slightly worried. Her too tight dress pulls taut when she bends to the forward.
‘A bit, ’Helia answers.
‘Take a tablet and don’t come out of your bed for the next two days. The sickness can go together with throw up, that’s a normal bodily response after such a big smash. If you don’t feel better the day after tomorrow, you should consult a doctor; he can give you a stronger medicine. Oh, and absolutely no effort for the coming week. That will aggravate the symptoms.’ Helia nods, as a sign she has understood what the nurse has said to her.Disappointed she thinks about the way she’s going to tell Andrew that she’s not allowed to free run for the coming week. A whole week no free running. Would she stick with that? The teacher enters the room.
‘Dan will be punished and I acknowledged Katy Summer was also involved in that incident?’ Helia nods hazy. The nurse turns to the teacher.
‘Report her sick for a few days; she probable has a slight concussion.’ The teacher nods.
‘I will arrange it,’ He responses.
‘Good.’ The woman smiles and nods to Helia when she presses the cold pack on Helia’s face again. Then the school nurse walks out of the room with her extremely pink crocs.
‘Should I bring you home?’ the teacher asks.
‘No, thanks. I’ll wait for Andrew,’ she says. ‘He brings me home by car and I have to cancel an appointment. We were planning to go free running together.’
‘Free running? Is that the new trend, or something?’ The men ask confused. Helia shakes her head butterfly-like. ‘Andrew and I are the only ones who do that.’
‘What is free running about?’
‘Running around the city, climb and jump over things, not a big deal.’
‘Sounds dangerous,’ the teacher says.
‘Well, it is dangerous,’ Helia says with a little smile on her face. ‘But we have protection on or hands.’
‘No protection for your heads or knees?’
‘No, that’s weird.’ The teacher burst out laughing.
‘Contemporary youth…’ He chuckles and his mouth turns into a bright smile. He rubs over his baldhead and put his hands in his back pockets. ‘Well, then I go to my lessons.’ Helia smiled.
‘Thanks for your help.’
‘No problem. By the way, my name is Mister Stewart.’ He nods his head and walk away.