The Secret Life of a Nerd (a Student/Teacher romance)

Chapter 10

I woke up to an annoying beeping sound. Ughh... I opened my eyes and all I saw was white and bright lights. I brought my hand up to shield my eyes, but pain shot through my arm. I looked down and there was a needle in my arm...an IV attatched to me. Am I in a hospital? I looked down, and sure enough, I was in a hospital gown. I looked all around the room, but stopped when my eyes fell on Brett. He was sleeping on a chair beside my bed. His head was resting on the edge of the bed and he was holding my hand. He looked so peaceful, but he also looked like had been here a while. I combed my fingers gently through his hair. He stirred a bit in his sleep, and slowly woke up.

"Gertrude." he gasped when he saw me and kissed my forehead. "Thank god you're alright."

"What happened? How did I get here?"

"You fell unconscious when you were telling me and that policeman what your parents did to you."

"My parents..."

"They're in jail. They'll be in jail for a long time."

I sighed in relief.

"When the police searched your house, they found illegal drugs hidden everywhere. And your parents admitted to beating you. Gertrude, you're gonna have a better life from now on. I promise. I'm gonna take care of you.". He held my hand reassuringly and looked at me with hopeful eyes. I smiled at him.

"When will I be able to leave? I hate hospitals.".

Brett chuckled. "As soon as you recover. You had to get a ton of stitches. The cuts were deep...probably why you passed out. God...I can't imagine how much pain you went through. I should've been there sooner. I'm sorry, Gertrude. I'm so so sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. I'm just glad my parents got what they deserved."

"But they didn't. They deserve a lot more than going away to jail. They should get the death penalty for putting you through hell."

"They should. But you know this state doesn't recognize the death penalty anymore, right?"

"Yeah." he replied, disappointed. "But still...if this state did, then they should get the death penalty."

"Mhm."

"Where did they cut you, Gertrude?".

"My back, my stomach." I answered.

Brett helped me sit up and since these hospital gowns don't have a back, he was able to see how bad my parents had slashed me. He shook his head, not able to believe his eyes.

"How could they do this to you?" he thought out loud. "How bad is your stomach."

I shrugged. "Not as bad." I lied. I didn't want him to see what my mother wrote into my skin.

"Let me see."

I shook my head. "It's not as bad as my back, Brett."

"So why can't I see."

I looked in his sea blue eyes, trying to think of something...but I couldn't. "I just don't want you to see it."

Brett, then, got a look of realization on his face. "It is worse. Isn't it?"

I looked away from him, not wanting to answer.

"Gertrude, please."

I didn't move or say anything. Brett went ahead and lifted my shirt over my stomach. Shirt? Oh wow...they turned the hospitals gowns into a shirt and shorts. Cool. But anyways, he lifted my shirt up, just enough for him to see my stomach. I laid back into the pillow, wincing at the pain it brought to my back. He ran his hand over the part my father cut and rested his hand over the words my mother carved. He stared at it with anger filling his eyes. I pulled down my shirt again. Brett closed his eyes, trying to calm down.

"Brett, you can't change what they did to me. What's done is done."

"But it's gonna stay with you for the rest of your life." he said, implying that the words will become scars and stay there forever.

I shrugged "I could always get a tattoo to cover it up."

Brett smiled. "A tattoo. That would be hot."

"Mr. Anderson!" I said, pretending to be shocked. "Are teachers allowed to call their students 'hot'?"

He laughed. "No, but if the student is my girlfriend, then I think it's ok."

I gave him a confused look.

He leaned in and kissed me softly on my lips. "Gertrude Bambi Goldsmith, will you be my girlfriend?"

"But before, you said...". He kissed me again, stopping me from talking.

"I know what I said, and I'm keeping my word." . He smiled aginst my lips and pulled back and stared into my eyes. "Happy 18th birthday, Gertrude."

"I'm 18? Then that means I was born a year earlier than I thought." I chuckled.

"So...?". He nudged me, playfully. "You still wanna be my girlfriend?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah. I most definitely still want to be your girlfriend."

"Good. Because I still wanna be your boyfriend.". Then he kissed me again. "You know, since you're 18, that means you're an adult, and Child Protective Services can't put you in a foster home, which means you can come live with me...if you still want to that is."

"Lets see...living with you? That's a dream come true." I grabbed his tie, and pulled him back into a kiss.

He pulled away a while later. "You're gonna have to switch into a different English class." he stated, randomly.

"Why?" I whined.

"Because I would keep staring at you all period and people would get suspicious."

"So don't stare at me."

"That would be impossible. Gertrude, I can't keep my eyes off you. I'll make a request for you to go into the senior English class. After all, I'm sure you read all the books needed for the junior class. Am I right?"

"Yeah."

"I think you should be challenged and read books you haven't read yet. And we still have your three study halls and lunch together. AND we'll be living together. I think we'll be seeing a lot of eachother."

"Alright. I'll switch into another English class. Now, can you find out when I can leave this hospital?"

He chuckled. "I'll go find the doctor."

"Thank you."

He got up and kissed me me more time. "I'll be right back." he walked out of the room, but came back about a minute later with a doctor. The doctor was old, had gray hair, and she was seemed like a nice lady.

"Hello Gertrude. I'm Dr. Stanton. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. A little bit of pain, but it's nothing I can't handle."

The doctor smiled. "You're a tough girl, Gertrude. Mr. Anderson told me everything that happened. I'm surprised you never ran away from home."

"I would've, but I guess I was too scared."

Dr. Stanton gave me a sympathetic look. "Well, everything looks fine on your charts. You have quite a few stitches so be careful. I'm gonna prescribe you some pain medication. Take it once a day with a meal. And as for leaving the hospital, I have no reason to keep you here any longer. You may leave whenever you're ready. Just check out with the receptionist at the desk down the hall and you'll be free to go."

"Thank you, doctor."

"Anytime.". And then she left.

"Hear that? We can go home....to OUR home."

"Our home." I said in a daze. "I like the sound of that."

"Happy Birthday, Gertrude."

It certainly is a happy birthday.