Stolen Voices ✓

January 25th

"Don't be weird, I'm stronger than I look, Elias," she smiles. On instinct her long fingers wrap around his wrist to pull him upwards into a standing position. Surprisingly he doesn't recoil in distaste, though his fractured state does make him a little less wound tight. 

He doesn't help much other than stumbling forward, being caught by her fingers wrapping around his broad shoulders. Her red, manicured nails, digging into the fabric of his shirt.

"Woah," she drags out, breathing heavily, as she makes sure he's stable before retracting her touch. Even if he could talk, he wouldn't be able to right now, feeling both embarrassed and disoriented. Extending the crumpled piece of paper to her, she unfolds it, reading the words.

"Nurses office, hmm," she bites her lip, racking her mind for where that is again. The principal, with his beady-eyed gaze had showed her that small box played off as a room first. Backtracking her steps, she wraps an arm around his torso.

Elias flinches at the touch, freezing up. She instantly retracts her arm. The ringing in his ears springs up again as he painfully squeezes his eyes shut, blocking away the traumatic images that rush through his mind. Nobody other than his mother is allowed to touch him, and on the bad days he even rejects her touch. 

Mara looks impossibly apologetic, her lips folding into a frown, but she doesn't leave him. Still lingering at his side, teetering back and forth on her feet, trying to think of what she can do to help. It's clear there is no way he can make it there without some sort of support.

"Can you at least put a hand on my shoulder? To steady yourself is that.. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I don't know how else to get you there" she asks, tripping over her words as she shifts her backpack to her other shoulder so he could place his hand on the one closest to him. Like an offering, she is giving him the option for touch.

He can do that. As long as he is in control of who he touches, and when he touches them, the thoughts don't seem to appear. 

It takes them a little while to get to the nurse's office, stumbling the whole journey. The pair receive a few odd glances from students who skip their classes. The on teacher disregards them, the two being the least of their worries as the rush to wherever they are going, their head in a stack of papers. 

In a Mara-like fashion, they burst through the wooden door of the office. Its hinges keen as it slams against the brick wall, the nurse's wide-eyed gaze turning to where both Mara and Elias stand in the doorway. Elias, leaning his weight into a stronger Mara.

Mara's smile is broad and manic-like. Her straightened teeth beaming, while Elias collapses into her side. The bleeding has stopped since Mara's shoved a tissue in his hand and insisted he keep it to his nose. 

"You don't have to see me until later, Mara," the nurse shakes her head, her eyebrow raised. She has striking gray hair and pleasant blue eyes that are a much darker shade than Mara's. Her voice is soft, the type meant to read children's stories at the library. Her room, too, resembles the image of calm. Light pastel medical pictures decorates the plain white brick walls, the soft cracks of a computer playing soft jazz in the background. 

"I know, Miss Patricia," Mara laughs, helping Elias to sit in the last chair against the wall. He somewhat falls into it, his head sagging against the wall in pain. "I'm here for my friend Elias. He's sick or something, I don't know I just found him like this. Fix him, please."

Miss Patricia moves to Elias, shaking her head in a gentle type manner. He looks a reck, his face losing the last drops of blood, turning pale. His eyelids are heavy. As his head falls to the side, he notices the light blue cots in the back room, hidden behind a door, longing to rest in one.

"You can go back to class Mara, I will keep Elias here."

Mara nods, winking at Elias in secret, who meets her eye with a small smile.

"Don't mess him up Patty, he's my only friend," she snickers. Spinning on her heels, the door slams promptly behind her. It only makes his headache hurt more, but still, the ghost of a grin brushes over his lips as the nurse ushers him to the back room to lie on the cot.

He is asleep before his head hits the tuff pillow, swallowed by the blackness of his dreaming state. His body is so exhausted by the nightmares that kept him awake last night that in this room he dreams of nothing. A rare, if ever, occurrence. 

Two years of nightmares, years in which he's spent not talking. Two years of being afraid of a simple touch. Most of the boys his age love physical attention from others, but it only terrifies him. Years of vulnerability spent being afraid of his own shadow. 

All because of her.

---

Authors Note:

If you don't know by now, Elias was the one who was assaulted. We will learn more about his story throughout, but I want to bring awareness that this can happen to boys too and I don't think it is touched on enough. 

Thoughts?

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- ❤ Nia

Edited 3/26/23