Bleeding To Seek A Memory
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I almost forgot I had detention, at the cemetery, at 7 AM early in the morning, along with Luce and Arriane and the other people who got detention. We've been general cleaning for punishment at the cemetery for about thirty minutes now, wiping windows, gravestones, and angel statues, and trash-poking dead leaves.
Randy handed me a bucket of water and a washcloth as he assigned me to clean the old chapel's large stained glass window that had only three colors: white, green, and a dim yellow that looked mostly like gold.
"I didn't expect getting a first detention in my second day of school." I wiped the colored window with an image of warrior angel.
Luce scoffed, wiping her red nose from the cold. "Welcome to Sword & Cross Academy," she stated, trash-poking the brown leaves and candy wrappers on the ground.
I squeezed the washcloth after putting it in the bucket of water. I let out a sigh "Lovely school."
"Okay, I think I got almost everything here— I'll go next to the building," Luce said as she noticed another new mess over there and turned to face me as I climbed the short ladder.
"Alright."
"See you, and please do be careful." Luce pointed at the ladder as I reached the top.
I looked down at her, "Will do if you do," as I continued wiping the upper right window. Luce nodded, a tight-lipped smile on her face, and proceeded to the building's front yard.
So, I yawned so loudly that I had to cover it with my arm, and then I heard Arriane's yell from about thirty feet away, where she was cleaning in the graveyard. "Oi! Be careful up there (y/n)!"
That made me swallow half of my yawn and widen my eyes. I looked over my shoulder and waved my hand at Arriane with a small smile, "Scream one more time and I'll fall this time."
"Sorry!" Arriane gritted her teeth apologetically, her brow furrowed before continuing to wipe the dirt off the gravestone next to her.
Then I noticed Molly and Cam had just arrived, carrying buckets full of water and washcloths on their way to the cemetery with Arriane. I mostly waited for him to look at me, but I realized I was too far away, and he wouldn't notice me if his eyes were focused on his path.
I turned and continued wiping the stained glass window of angel, face to face, his wings were gold and similar to my dream I had this morning. Hm, what a coincidence.
But there were times when I felt Cam's eyes glancing at my back in my every wipe on this window, as if I was being guarded by someone, by him. Okay, that's odd.
I gave a look from behind me and I think I caught Cam's eye before he poured the gravestone with a bucket of water. Why was he suddenly avoiding looking at me? Okay, why I'm overthinking over a small thing? I gotta stop as why should I care?
The blue sky above me has darkened, as if rain is about to fall.
Gosh, this is slowly killing me, I miss my iPod and wished I can listen some punk rock music right now to get energized or motivated somehow— but, my iPod was confiscated along with my phone when Randy obviously caught it from my bag and decided to include it in the box of "hazards" which is sucks.
I kept working my sleepy ass off with wiping the every detail with dust on the window then suddenly, a sound of thunderstorm started roaring from the dim sky that made me startle and almost fall off the ladder just as my heart from my chest when the ladder wobbled under my feet, caused my body twitch from panic "Shit." I placed my hands swiftly on the cleaned stained glass window to support my weight. My face in front of the angel, then a sudden flash of lightning boomed from the gray clouds.
BOOM!
Thud!
A sharp thunder light struck on the tree near me and the archangel statue from the roof where Luce was standing at the same time.
The tree cracked in half, a large piece of the bough did not survive, and it was falling down just as the archangel statue over to Luce, the bough slammed into the stained glass window, and I immediately covered my face with my arm as my foot unexpectedly slipped on the ladder.
I gasped as I fell with my eyes closed, but someone caught me and grabbed me, turning me away from the shards of broken glass from the window flew in all direction, I couldn't imagine how the hell that just happened that it was so quick.
I could smell his cologne and sense his familiar touch, his arm were around my chest and his other hand covering the top of my head for protection, his body behind me to secure and make sure any pieces of glasses didn't hit me. Cam's face was closer to mine with his chin almost touching my shoulder. My face buried on his broad chest, and when I opened my eyes, lowered my arm, and looked over my shoulder, I met those green eyes.
Cam frowned deeply as he caught his breath, as did I, because the lighting almost struck me with broken glasses, and I was on the danger of death. Cam's hand was slightly shaking, but his voice was soothing as he asked, "Now, this is the time I have to ask you if you're okay?" He began to look at my body to see if I was hurt or if the glasses had gotten to me, but I quickly stood up and backed away from his arm around me, and he eventually let me go.
When I saw his knuckle had a long cut and was bleeding, "I'm— yes, I'm okay." I stared at his cut, profoundly concerned, "But you're not," I motioned his left hand, flushing my cheeks and swallowing a hard lump in my throat.
"This is nothing. I'm totally okay." he said, shaking his head and hiding his hand behind his back.
"Are you?" I snapped, not meaning to, because I had just witnessed his knuckle was bleeding. Then I noticed Luce and Daniel in the distance, lying on the ground next to the archangel statue that had nearly fallen on Luce. "Oh my god, are they okay?" I took two steps forward to get a better look at them. Daniel saved Luce by pushing her before the statue hit her. Thank God.
Then I saw Daniel get to his feet quickly and walk away from Luce as if nothing had happened. That was strange, but then Gabbe came over and helped Luce get up instead, asking how she was feeling.
Then I winced from a sharp pain in my bicep beneath my sleeve and looked down to see a small piece of broken gold glass dipped slightly on my skin. "Oh."
I didn't know how to react. I was in shock. What the fuck.
Cam had a stunned expression on his face as I stared at him blankly, Am I okay? No, I'm not.
I started feeling the sting spread through my bicep. Cam approached me as I pulled the small glass from my skin and held my arm, and he looked at it. Ugh, I hope it was just a minor cut, but Cam seemed more concerned than I was.
"(Y/n), let's go to the infirmary right now."
"No, no, it's okay. Cam, I'm fine," I shook my head in denial, and then blood began to leak from under my sleeve.
Alright, this just gotten worse.
I became lightheaded when I noticed more small amounts of blood spilling from the cut. I think I'm going to pass out, I never like seeing blood—
That much.
Personally.
The blood won't stop dripping over off my bicep.
From a small cut?
I looked up at Cam, and he gave me a stoic look as he was annoyed at how denial I was to myself, and he said, "You don't have to lie, (y/n)," then he looked down to his pocket and I watched him take out his pocket watch almost accidentally, and he moved to his next pocket and took out a white handkerchief. Wait, I think I've seen something like that before.
"Here, apply pressure." he said, putting his handkerchief against my bicep.
My curiosity was still gazing at the pocket watch's chain clipped on his belt. "What is that?" I asked, despite the fact that I knew it was a pocket watch.
"Oh," He glanced at it and he touched my back as he was trying to lead me back at the castle "Let's get to the infirmary now."
"Ugh, let me," I said, motioning for him to let me apply pressure to it. "OK, fine." I said, winced again as I applied pressure to my wound on my own.
Cam led me to the place where he suggested, as we were heading back inside the castle.
Arriane muttered under her breath "Damn, someone's hella mad." She glanced up at the dim grey sky, and then gave a Like what the fuck just happened? Look as she just watched the two guys saved the girls who almost faced death.
"Let's just hope it's just a weather." Roland's doubt caused his denial.
Molly scoffed "No way." and she turned to Arriane and smiling slyly "He's pissed as fuck."
༛
At the infirmary, as we arrived, the room is nearly dark and empty, no one's around.
I looked around as I stepped inside and did I just spot a small dot of dusts floating in the air next to a window? This looked abandoned. "Where's everyone?"
"Vacation." Cam joked but his face exchanged into regret of saying that in a wrong time but despite the fact that it was still true. He headed to the nurse's desk and grabbed the med kits from the cabinet.
"You kidding? There's a no single nurse around?" I asked as I watched Cam move left and right in front of me while gathering medical kits.
"Nope, I believe there was one last spring but she left after some teenager threatened her with a scalpel knife. I guess she got scared." Cam stated while was washing a clean cloth he stole in the sink.
I winced again from a pain when I moved my arm little "Are you kidding? Really?"
"I'm not, but that was a funny story, the kid just wanted a lollipop, but the nurse couldn't give it to her because she wasn't behaving herself." He turned around to face me without looking me in the eyes, motioning me to the desk with his head.
"Damn." I pouted and flabbergasted from a ridiculous story. Cam walked to the desk and paused as he looked down at the med kits on the table with a blank expression, he seemed distracted as he frowned when he heard me shut the door and then approaching him, and thinking the fact how we were alone in a abandoned room.
"That's insane." I commented, standing behind his back, and Cam's mouth twitched into a small smile, he asked "Which one?"
"Both of them. The girl, the lollipop and the nurse leaving. So, who's the charge for this job now?" I tapped the glass jar of lollipop.
"I guess it's us now for a while, because that's what Sword & Cross does to discipline their troubled kids."
With a sarcastic smile on my face, I chuckled a little and said, "Oh that's for sure beneficial." but in all seriousness, is there any plan for this academy to acquire a new nurse who can operate here for the sake of everyone? Cam eventually turned to look at my eyes and my wound when I sat down on the desk next to a medical kits.
"Take it off," Cam said softly, a worried expression on his face as he hoped the wound wouldn't look too bad.
When I put down his handkerchief, there was a blood stain on it and my sleeve, I slid off my jacket's sleeve slowly, there a was a drop of blood slithered down to my arm. I panted in discomfort at the sight of the amount of blood, I whispered at myself "Oh fuck."
Then, as I turned to face Cam, he was silently staring at my face in awe.
I frowned slightly from the deep cut, it wasn't that big but surely it was deep and still hurts, I asked "You know what you're doing?" mostly teasing him.
"I, um," he almost stammered, a small sheepish smile on his face, dust pink on his cheeks as if he had a deja vu, before his gaze averted and turned to the med kits beside me, he confidently said "Don't worry, I've done this before."
"Ugh, okay just give me that." I extended my hand to grab the cloth but he raised it higher and he looked down at me, at my eyes again. Cam raised a brow with a little sass "Right, but you don't know what you're gonna do, so let me help you instead."
"Whatever." I sighed as I gave in and rolled my eyes before looking away, and when he started cleaning my arm and bicep, it was a gentle wipe. Despite how gentle it was, my heart was beating rapidly.
He poured hydrogen peroxide over my wound, and I grimaced slightly when I felt a tiny sting, actually— no, it was like a giant ant biting my wound.
"Sorry." He said soothingly while he wiped the liquid off my arm. Then he looked at me and I groaned with a grim look I said, "It's okay."
Next, Cam added a tiny bit of hydrogen peroxide. I winced once more, bit my lower lip, clenched my fingers over the desk, and my eyes blinked firmly. I did not realize that my forehead was resting over Cam's shoulder because of the pain causing me suffer like this.
Cam apologized once more, and the sight of my unexpected touch on his shoulder made him feel stimulated.
"Damn, that hurt." I laughed little harshly. Like no really, it felt like a small knife stabbing me.
"Aw don't cry." Cam started teasing me and made me scoff from his sarcasm.
"Shut up, Cam." I blinked my eyes firmly as I winced again, and I don't know why I could feel Cam's eyes gazing at me oftentimes than my wound even though he was being focused at wiping carefully with a clean cloth. While he was cleaning the cut, I looked down at the chain clipped on his belt to his pocket, and I wanted to ask him where did he get that pocket watch from as if I've seen something like that before— and I don't know, it is just a feeling that I've seen it before.
Cam showed me an anesthetic syringe and softly whispered near to my ear, "Okay, I will stitch you up." I just nodded. Well, Cam seemed have done this before as he really know what he was doing. Before beginning to stitch my cut, he brushed his messy hair off his forehead and put on a pair of surgical gloves.
When Cam inserted the needle close to the wound, I winced once more for the last time. I almost buried my face on his chest as I cocked my head to the side and peered out the window next to us to catch a glimpse of our reflection. I noticed how Cam looked so serious and gentle in everything he was doing.
"Take a deep breath." He pushed my hair to my right shoulder softly to make a clean way to stitch the cut, and he was taken a back as my neck was exposed.
"I can manage." I muttered under my breath, Cam just smirked faintly from my response and shook his head to focus on my wound.
He then inserted the thread into my skin and stitched the wound shut with such gentleness that my spine shivered. I joked,
"Yeah, my first battle scar."
Cam's mouth curled up into a small smile and teased "A cute little battle scar from a warrior angel." and I scoffed from his silly flirt.
His green eyes were completely focused on my wound this time as I moved my head to look up at his face. I was just.. observing him. Cam's face was so close and his hair is so dark and pretty just as his eyelashes, he's so attractive being, but I still can't comprehend why there's a part of me drawn to him and think I've known him for a while.
When Cam put a cotton ball with iodine on my stitches lastly. I asked as I plan to "What's that in your pocket?" then he glanced at me and exhaled and he said "Hold on, I'm almost finished."
Again, he ignored my question for the second time.
I pursed my lips and looked around the room, realizing we're literally in a room alone, just the two of us. Then I recalled his knuckles were bleeding, I looked down at his other hand.
"Your hand."
Cam moved around me to throw all the trash under the desk "What, I'm okay." he avoided looking at me.
Then he took another cotton ball with iodine and while he was putting it gently over my stitches, I looked over my shoulder and just watched him suspiciously, and he gave me another glance, yes, just a quick glance before he leaned in, his face was closer before he blew the wound to dry off the iodine on my bicep, his breath was warm but yet it made shiver my spine, I was so mystified from this moment we were having, it feels like I had this moment before.
"Oh you sure?" I asked him with a puzzled look because I swear I saw his hand bleeding.
He just nodded his head in saying-yes, then put a bandage on my bicep lastly, he gave me another glance when he grabbed the tape and cut it with his teeth.
"You're the one who was bleeding here, (y/n)"
Cam covered my stitches with bandage before turning to face me and stating, "Here, all finished," he bowed slightly to match my height as he placed both of his hands on either side of my thighs, and then he smirked softly as he waited for my response.
My cheeks was flushing from the way he was looking at me as he was just pleased to see that I'm doing all right now. "Why are you doing this?" I questioned him as he had it expected than thanking him.
A smirk on his face faded slowly when he straightened his spine as he crossed his arms "Cause sometimes I'm doing a right thing,— like helping you." His hand motioned at me. Okay, we both knew that explanation wasn't enough, so I asked again-
"But why?"
"Cause that's what—" His eyes averted as to think what to say next.
"Hm?"
"That's what friends do?" He stated that like a question.
Friends.
Friends huh?
When he moved back a little, I grabbed his left hand and pulled him closer, which he wasn't expecting it, because I just wanted to look at his knuckles.
The cut— it disappeared.
Wait what?
Did it heal quickly?
Hey don't be ridiculous (y/n), that shit is impossible.
Then I looked up at him with my eyes narrowed, "There was blood on your knuckles."
An amused smile spread across Cam's face, he tilted his head to the side and said "I washed it off."
"No, I saw it— you got hurt."
"I'm fine, (y/n)."
"So, the blood wasn't yours?"
He moved closer, face to face, our eyes-locked together, his smile was turning upside-down and said "Why worry much?" Cam leaned closer to my neck, my heart raced up from his closeness as I let his hand go, but he just actually reached out for the hydrogen peroxide and iodine bottles from behind my back and he looked back at me.
He glanced at my lips and said softly, "And, as I said, I'm okay." His green eyes darkened as he looked back at my eyes and my cheeks had gone numb from blushing due to the tension we were having. Is this really happening? He's making me feel something I've had before which was making me feel dazed and confused.
My cheeks indeed were flushing and I waited for Cam to look away first from this staring contest we were having, but— I lost in shame, when I gazed off into the distance and saw our reflection on the mirror from the wall above the small sink. Then, suddenly, a lightning strike outside the window behind us startled me, and my head began to hurt as I caught a glimpse of a blurry image in the back of my head. I saw a couple from the 1800s because of the way they were dressed; she was wearing a red dress and he was wearing brown trousers and a white blouse with black suspenders. The woman was leaning on his broad shoulder and appeared to be pleading with him to stay a little longer, while his hand wrapped around her waist miserably.
When I opened my eyes and went back to reality, Cam smiled in amusement at my reaction. He teasedly said, "But are you okay? You seem a little jumpy."
"Ugh, thanks for the help." I said sarcastically but deep inside, I meant it. And I give a last look on the bandage on my bicep with impressed look before I jumped down to the floor and straightened my spine.
Cam headed to the cabinet and was returning the medical kits.
[▶️]
"Hey," I called on to him after he closed the cabinet and paused, I swallowed a hard lump in my throat before I continued "Have we met before?"
"What?" Cam frowned with a bit of act-amused, he let out a sheepish chuckle as he shifted to the sink and washed his hands again.
Before I could speak up again, Cam interrupted my another new thought of question from my mind that was about to ask.
"Come on," He said as he wiped his wet hands with tissue paper and threw it in the trash bin after, "You don't wanna be late on your first class." He added as his hand motioned the outside the room when he passed by me and opened the door.
Cam ignored my new question, once again.
I chewed my bottom lip and scoffed "Speak for yourself." I didn't mind to ask once more question or repeat it as Cam seemed in rushed heading off. I followed him outside before I closed the door behind us.
Cam began walking in the opposite direction, and I asked, "Where you going?"
"I've already had all those classes before." He announced with a faint smile he gave me before he headed to the next hallway.
How clever.
I smiled, bewildered, and continued on my way.
We parted ways until we could meet again.
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