Oxygen (Romance, Completed)

Chapter 21

Tuesday evening came and brought with it a cold. I hadn't felt well during dinner with Linc last night, but he'd bundled me up in a blanket and fed me chicken soup, and by the end of the night, I'd been feeling a little better.

But now my head pounded at the prospect of a practice session with Jansen, and I didn't see how I could get through two hours without my nose dribbling all over the keys. A delightful prospect.

Linc: Tell him you're sick.

Akari: But he'll make me stay tomorrow instead, and I'd rather be with you.

Linc: I'd rather you were with me too, but I want you to get better more than anything.

Akari: I feel okay. I've taken that medicine you gave me.

Linc: If you're sure, but the instant you feel worse, go home.

Akari: Miss you x.

Linc: Miss you too x.

I'd lied. I didn't feel okay. I also felt guilty for telling Linc I felt okay, but there were times when a tiny fib was better for everybody, right?

By the fourth run-through of Beethoven's Piano Trio No. 3, my wrists ached, and I could only breathe from one side of my nose.

"Would you stop that noise?" Jansen asked. He'd been tetchy since we got into the practice room. Perhaps he forgot to take his meds.

"What noise?"

"That disgusting sniffling."

I tried to clear my nose quietly, but a tickle in my throat set off a coughing fit.

"And the coughing, too. We don't want your germs."

That did it. "You know what? I'm going home. I feel like shit, so you might as well carry on without me." I shoved the stool back and got shakily to my feet, but Jansen planted himself in front of me.

"No, you'll stay. I've got the room booked until eight."

"I'll puke by seven thirty."

He shoved me back, and I fell onto the stool again. "Then do it quietly."

"Don't talk to her that way." Jude came up behind him, eyes narrowed.

"You can shut up as well. You clearly haven't practised since last week, so you need all the help you can get."

"I damn well have. I spent three hours in here yesterday."

"When? Because I was here for six."

I got to my feet again. "I'm going home."

Jansen whirled around to face me, but this time he kept pushing until he had me pinned against the wall. "Back to the janitor, more like. I know you're still slumming it with him."

As Jansen bore down on me with his weight, fears I'd kept locked away broke free, followed by the instincts I'd had to live on for so long. There was a satisfying "oof" as my knee connected with his crotch.

Hisashi's father had taught me how to do that, just in case I got bothered by the guards again. "You kick, you run, and you come to me, querida. I'll deal with it." I still remembered his soft voice as he instructed me on the best spot to aim for, a technique Emmy helped me to perfect a couple of years later.

Jude stared open-mouthed as I ran past him and Jansen, my only thought to get away. The slap of my feet on the tiles echoed through the corridors as I bolted for the front door.

I shot into the darkness, not knowing or caring where I was going. I didn't stop until I ran out of breath, and by then I'd reached the park three blocks away. The moonlight reflected off ripples in the duck pond as I gulped in air, tears mixing with snot. I wiped my face with a sleeve, thankful that Linc wasn't there to see me in such a state.