The Art of Forbidden Romance (Student x Teacher)

Chapter 35

I sat in the ambulance, my face being tended to by a paramedic as the officers asked me questions. I detailed how Zac had been pestering me all semester and how the incident unfolded tonight.

"We're going to have to take you to the hospital," the paramedic advised. "Your hand is probably broken given the bruising and swelling but they'll need to confirm nothing else is wrong." I grimaced as he laid my hand on an ice pack, electric shocks of pain shooting through my arm. I nodded, knowing that was the case already.

"How did you know to find me?" I asked the officers.

"A student was leaving and heard someone yelling and pressed one of the emergency towers near by. We dispatched immediately but before we got here, a Professor was flagged by the student. He unlocked the door and came in to see what was going on just as we were pulling up." I nodded, my stomach feeling sick. I resisted the urge to puke and covered my mouth with my left hand.

"I... t-thank you," I stammered. My body began to tremble and shiver. The paramedic quickly grabbed a blanket and wrapped me in it.

"You're going into shock, deep breaths," they advised. I nodded quickly, taking a deep breath through my nose. I blew out a shaky breath as tears began streaming down my face.

"W-w-where is Chuck?" I asked, shaking uncontrollably.

"Chuck?" The officer asked. I nodded.

"P-P-Pro-professor Hill," I stammered. The paramedic tilted back the gurney in the ambulance and laid another blanket over me.

"Focus on your breathing," they advised.

"I-I-I ne-ee-ee-d Ch-Ch-Chuck."

"Professor Hill? Chuck?" I heard one of the officers call. A few shouts broke over the chatter around the ambulance and then I heard his voice.

"I'm here!" Chuck shouted. The officers called him over and helped him up into the ambulance. Chuck appeared at my side, and grabbed my left hand.

"I'm here," he said. I instantly started sobbing, my body shaking with my tears. Chuck crouched down next to me and rubbed my back, holding my hand tightly.

"I'm here," he repeated. I looked up at him, trying to find his eyes. Through my tears I could barely make out the busted lip he had and slightly black eye.

"We need to take her to the hospital," the paramedics said. "He can't ride with us if he's not family."

"I'm family," Chuck said, his voice stern, tearing his eyes away from me. "I'm not going anywhere." I took a deep shaky breath.

"He's f-family," I gasped out. The paramedic looked at me and nodded after a moment. They closed the doors and the sirens started back up as the ambulance took off. Chuck sat down next to me, his hand tightly gripping my non-injured hand.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Don't apologize for this, ever," he immediately said. "This is not your fault."

"You told me to be careful," I said, tears slipping out again. My tremors had finally started to calm down.

"You did not do anything wrong," he said. "That asshole had it coming. The officers said they have gotten a few complaints about him harassing other students." I nodded and turned towards the ceiling of the ambulance. I stared at the metal in front of me, suddenly becoming aware of the fast paced beeping of the heart monitor I was hooked up to. I focused on my breathing until my heart came to a normal level.

The ambulance took a turn and then came to a stop. The doors swung open quickly and a flurry of nurses swarmed the vehicle, getting me out and into the emergency room. They quickly took me to a bed to take my vitals and began asking me more questions. Chuck stood off to the side of the room as they worked, his eyes glued to me the whole time, a grave expression on his face. A nurse came by and gave him an ice pack and he thanked her before pressing it to his bruising eye.

Once my vitals were taken and things were settled down, the nurses advised it would be a couple hours before I could get an X-ray done. They brought me some water and a chair for Chuck and we settled in to wait for the X-ray. I brushed my non-injured hand across his cheek where it was beginning to purple from his black eye. Chuck brought his hand up to mine and grabbed my hand gently, lowering it to the bed.

"Thank you," I said softly to Chuck. Chuck gave me a half smile.

"Please don't thank me," he said, rubbing the back of my hand. "I'm so thankful I stayed late tonight." I nodded in agreement. I opened my mouth in a wide yawn - my adrenaline having worn off.

"I don't want to know what would've happened if you hadn't," I said, my voice cracking. I blinked back tears furiously. Chuck clenched his jaw and turned away from me.

"I would've killed him," he said. "And I swear to god I will if I ever see him again."

"Please don't," I said. "I don't want you getting in trouble. We're already going to have to deal with administration on this." Chuck let out a heavy sigh and turned back to me.

"I don't want you worried about that," he said. "You need to rest right now." I shrugged.

"I'm too stressed," I said, fighting back another yawn. He gently brushed my hair out of my face. His eyes focused on my cheek and I grimaced.

"How bad is it?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"It's going to take some time to heal," he said. I nodded, knowing it was bruised. I could feel the head still radiating from my cheek where Zac had hit me. I looked down at my hand, wrapped between two ice packs.

"I don't know how I'm going to finish my paintings," I said.

"We'll figure it out, please rest right now," he said. "I'll wake you up for the X-ray." I looked up at Chuck's usually radiant blue eyes. Now they were tired and stressed, and instead of blue they looked grey. I nodded.

"Stay here with me?" I asked. He nodded.

"Always," He whispered. I slowly closed my eyes, exhaustion overtaking me.

"I love you," I mumbled as I fell asleep, not waiting to hear Chuck's reply.