unOrdinary: An Old Friend Returns

Try It John

When my stomach starts to grumble, I realize that I have skipped breakfast. Making an exaggerated gesture to show that I am waking up, by giving a large yawn and stretching my arms, Dr. Darren comes to my bedside.

"You've slept a good three hours. How are you feeling now, Eloise?"

He looks me over and seems fairly pleased with the work of his tonic. My black eye does not bring me any more pain, though I am not sure if it has reached the old yellow, almost fully healed stage yet. The stiffness in my wrist is gone so I believe that the fractures are mended, and my arms and legs also look a lot better. Since I was able to get up off my back with no twinge of pain, I'd say the expansive bruise across my back is healed as well.

He walks over to his desk, grabbing another vial. I know the routine by now, so I uncork it and down it in one giant gulp, making sure to not breath in the vapors. He then takes the empty vial and puts it in his pocket as he goes to check on Elaine.

I go to my back and pull out my phone to send a quick text.

"Hey! Can you grab me a smoothie from the cafeteria?"

"Get it yourself. You have legs, don't u?"

John could be so obstinate sometimes.

"I'm in the infirmary and I doubt Dr. Darren will let me leave to get lunch."

"Why are u in the infirmary? Who did this?"

"Easy tiger! I'll explain once you bring me a smoothie. 😊"

"Fine! I'll be there in a few."

I stash my phone back in my bag before Dr. Darren returns. He frowns and points to the cot.

"Lay down and sleep. You may be feeling better but now is not the time to start bouncing off the walls. Internal bleeding is no laughing matter."

"Yes, Dr. Darren."

I say as I lay back down, closing my eyes, the perfect picture of compliance.

A few minutes later, I hear Dr. Darren leaving for lunch just as another girl sneaks into the infirmary behind him.

"Elaine, I came as soon as I heard."

That was Seraphina's voice.

Elaine seems to struggle to get upright, so Seraphina moves closer and helps her.

"I'm okay. I feel a lot better now. Thanks for coming to see me, though."

"Of course, Elaine. I brought you some lunch as well."

Behind the curtain, I can see Seraphina lay a tray across Elaine's lap before she sits on the edge of Elaine's cot.

"What happened? You came home so late last night. Did someone hurt you?"

"No, I was not attacked. I was just asked to heal someone and it took a lot more out of me than I thought."

"Who asked you to heal them, Elaine? It was Arlo, wasn't it?"

"It's not important. I'll just have to be more careful next time not to drain myself so much."

"It is important. Arlo should have known better. You treat him like he can walk on water but at the end of the day, he's an a-hole that only cares about himself. Has he even come to see you?"

"No."

The heart-broken sadness in Elaine's voice makes me almost tear up.

"Has he called to see if you were okay this morning or if you got back safely last night? You drained yourself so much that you were like a ghost this morning. I cannot believe I let you go to school today. If I see Arlo, I'm going to ..."

"Seraphina, stop. I do not want you or Arlo to hurt each other. Please let this go."

"Elaine, I care about you. I don't want to see anyone treating you like this."

Elaine and Seraphina come in for a hug. I can feel the friendship bonds between them, and I am glad that Elaine has someone as caring as Seraphina looking out for her.

The sweet moment is however broken when John walks in.

"Sera? What are you doing here?"

I can hear his surprise at seeing Seraphina here. Luckily, his shock doesn't cause him to drop my smoothie otherwise I would be upset. And hungry.

"I came here to check on my friend."

Her emphasis on 'my friend' is obvious. Clearly, Sera and John have not been able to make up last night. It seems John has only made it worse. Oh bother! As if I did not have enough on my plate, now I have to fix things with these two lovebirds.

"What are you doing here, John?"

"I came to check on my friend. Eloise, where are you?"

That's my cue. I pull aside the privacy curtain and wave at John.

"Here! Did you bring me my smoothie?"

He walks over and slams the smoothie down on the side table and turns to leave. Before he can, I grab his hand.

"John, stay a while. I've been stuck here all day. Keep me company while I eat at least."

He has brought his own lunch as well since he probably planned to leave the smoothie and then go up on the rooftop to eat. I motion for him to sit at the foot of my bed as I draw my legs up and cross them, so I sit on the upper half of the cot.

I pick up the smoothie and remove the cap. John has given in and begun to dig into his hamburger and fries. Elaine and Seraphina go back to their own lunch while an awkward silence settles in the room.

I take a long sip through the straw and savor the strawberry-banana goodness. John has brought me one of my favorite flavors. He may be as prickly as a porcupine with me right now, but he can still be thoughtful.

I steal a couple of French fries off his tray.

"Hey! Eloise! Stop taking my fries."

He reaches over to try to take them back, but before he can I dunk them into my smoothie, then bring them to my mouth and eat them.

"Ewww. Gross. I can't believe you still do that."

"Oh please. You have some odd food habits too John. Must I remind you of your Doritos and mac n' cheese obsession."

John takes a handful of fries and throws them at me. Beside us, I can hear a giggle. John and I look over simultaneously. Elaine has brought her head down causing her hair to partially block her face, but I can tell that she is the one who giggled. Seraphina also looked like she had found my playful banter amusing but now that John was staring, she had returned to her angry state.

If there's one thing I know, its that John doesn't like people laughing at him. I may be an exception though I know not to press my luck. I draw his attention away from the girls by dipping one of the thrown fried into my smoothie and offering it to him.

"Try it, John."