Teacher's Girl (Aflyingwhale)

Chapter 51: Watchful Eyes 

EMMA’s POV :

My head felt so heavy.It took almost everything in me just to pry my eyes open.The first thing I saw was this white fluorescent light.The ceiling and the light didn't look like my room.

I must be someplace else.I was trying to remember if I had seen this place before.

My eyes then traveled to the white walls and window, and I noticed it was daylight outside.

Then I felt my ears started ringing.

I closed my eyes to drown out the noise until finally, I was left with only this beeping sound.

I looked to the source of the beeping and it came from a machine right next to me.

Finally I realized where I was, I was in a hospital.

I was lying on the bed and I had a tube stuck on my arm.

My body was too weak to even move or speak, so I just lay there and did nothing but breathe.

I felt like I was in a daze.

A part of me was thinking that I was just dreaming.

"Bill! She’s awake!" mom's voice pierced through the air.

I looked down and I saw her standing in front of the door with my dad.

They looked tired and worried as they came racing towards me.

"Emma? Emma, honey?" she said as held my cheek.

"Emma, can you hear us?" dad followed.

"..Mom.... Dad..." my voice croaked.

It took so much energy just to say those two words out loud.

"Oh, honey.We were so worried," mom was showering my face with kisses and tears trickled down her face.

"Oh, thank God," dad kissed the top of my head. Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

"What happened?" I breathed.

Mom and dad exchanged a look before turning back to me.Mom took a deep breath and said: "Honey, you were in a car accident,"

A car accident...That's right.I remembered it now.

After I turned off my phone, my foot was hitting the gas pedal to the floor and my car was speeding down the road.

I wasn't sure where I was going, but I just needed to get away from that clinic.My chest was beating so fast and my head was a mess.

Tears were blurring my vision, and in the midst of all that, suddenly I saw a little dog or a raccoon or whatever jumped in front of the road.

I was so shocked, the car swerved uncontrollably until it hit something hard and everything went dark.

I couldn't fully remember everything but there were flashes.

I saw an ambulance car and I heard the voices of Tiff and Carrie crying out in the background.

I saw images of the paramedics lifting me into the car.

I saw some lights and faces of doctors in masks.

And the next thing I knew, I woke up here.Mom’s hair was disheveled and her eyes were swollen and dark.Dad was normally clean and happy, but now he looked so old and tired.

"I'm so sorry..."was all that I could say to them.

"Oh, it's okay.It’s alright.We're just glad you're safe,"mom shook her head and squeezed my hand.

"Are you cold? Do you need anything?"dad asked.

"No..."I answered weakly.

"Bill, get the doctor.They should check her up,"mom instructed and dad nodded.

"Okay.Be right back," Dad left the room in a flash.

Mom was still holding onto my hand, caressing my skin.Everything felt like a haze.I still couldn't believe that this wasn’t a dream.

"Mom, is this real?"I said as I looked at the ceiling.

"Yes, honey, unfortunately it is,"she sighed.

"What day is it?"

"It's Monday, dear.You've been resting for the past two days,"

Monday? I was in the clinic on Saturday...Did I sleep for two nights and two days straight? Wait...what about lan...? I was supposed to meet him that day...

"Mom, what happened to my phone?" I said as I scanned my surroundings and I couldn't find it anywhere.

"It got smashed to pieces in the accident.We'll get you a new one once you're feeling better.If you want to call your friends, you can use mine?"she offered her phone out.

I thought about it for a split second, but calling my teacher slash boyfriend on my mom’s phone did not sound like a wise idea. So I just shook my head and said, "No, it’s okay..."

"Tiff and Carrie are at school, but they said they'll come by later,"

"Okay," I said, pausing for a moment before continuing , "Mom, how bad was the accident?"

"Well, you totaled the car, but it's insured so you don't have to worry about that.The doctors said you might have a concussion, so they're still running more tests...oh and there’s something else..."

"What?"

"Honey..."her eyebrows were furrowed and the crease on her forehead appeared.

"What, mom, tell me?"

"They told me...you had a miscarriage,"

"..No..." I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Was I really hearing this?

"Emma, you were pregnant?" she asked, and she sounded hurt and upset.

"I...I.."

I couldn't speak or even breathe at this point.

Was this really happening? I got into an accident and I lost my baby...? And on top of all that, my mother was the person to give me the news...

"Did you know about that? Why didn't you say anything, Emma?" mom pressed on.

This was really happening.Everything was happening all at once.My heart rate picked up again as the machine beeped faster and faster.

"Emma? You're awake,"

Suddenly I saw a woman in a doctor's uniform on my periphery.She stepped to the side of my bed and said, "Hi, I’m Dr.Burke.Let me take a look at you, dear,"

"Is she gonna be okay?"Dad asked the doctor as she checked my eyes and pulse.

"She'll be fine.She just needs to rest," the doctor smiled warmly.

I was rendered immobile and in shock.I was so confused.I couldn't do anything but stare at the three faces that were staring back at me.

The doctor smiled, but dad looked worried, and mom had this pained look on her face.

"Emma, we're giving you a sedative, okay? You need to relax and you need to rest," the doctor spoke again and a nurse came in soon after.

The nurse injected something into the tube on my arm, and I was trying my best to ask a question, but I couldn't.Everything faded to black as I said, "But...the...bab...y..."

The next few days went by like a blur.I was barely awake as they put me under so much heavy medication.They were doing a bunch of tests on me and mom was always around.Tiff and Carrie would

stop by every day after school.

They’d catch me up on homework and the latest gossips.Flowers and cards filled my room as the days went by, but none of them were from lan.I didn’t have my phone and I had no way of contacting him.

Did he know what happened to me? I was in the hospital for the sixth day, that day.

It was a Thursday.Tiff and Carrie stopped by like usual.

Usually they'd be here at 4 PM sharp, but today they were a little late.I was relieved when I saw them entering my room.I was bored all day and they were all the entertainment I had.

Carrie looked around carefully as if to make sure no one was around.She then closed the door shut and followed Tiff, sitting on the bed.

"Sorry, we're late.We ran into your mom at the lobby as she was getting coffee, and she wouldn't stop grilling us about your pregnancy,"Tiff sighed.

"You didn't tell her anything, right?"

"Of course.We've promised we wouldn't say a word,"Carrie said reassuringly.

"We told her we didn’t even know,"Tiff added.

"Good,"I let out a sigh of relief.

On top of everything, the last thing I need was to have my mom find out my biggest secret of all.She was disappointed and hurt enough already.One night, when we were alone, she asked me point blankly who the father was.

I told her it was no one important.I told her it was just a slip up at a party.

She didn’t look like she believed me, but that was my story and I was sticking with it.

"Are you feeling okay?"Carrie asked.

"Physically, yes.But mentally...I don't know,"

"We're really sorry about...it,"

Carrie said, her eyes darted tomy stomach.

"Me too,"

My eyes darted down too.

"But, hey, look at the bright side, at least now you don't have to worry about keeping the thing —"

"Tiff!"

Carrie snapped before Tiff could finish her sentence.

"Oh god, that was so insensitive of me.I’m so sorry.I just wanna cheer you up," Tiff said with a hand over her mouth.

"Not like that!"Carrie scolded her.

"I'm such an idiot, I’m sorry, Emma,"

"It's okay.I know what you mean,"

I smiled weakly at her.She was right.At least there was one less thing I had to worry about.

Still, my heart felt like it was scrunched up into pieces every time I thought about it.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" Carrie asked.

"Do you wanna use my phone to call him?" Tiff lent out her phone.

"Does lan know about me being here?"I asked as I played with Tiff's phone.

"Yes.Actually, the whole school does.We live in a small town, remember?" she replied.

"You probably don’t know this because you were asleep at the time, but a bunch of teachers came by to see you.They didn't stay long and your parents were there.lan was among them," Carrie explained.

"He tried coming here alone.He came as soon as he heard about the accident.But since he wasn’t family and you were in the ICU, the doctors wouldn't let him in.He also couldn't talk to your parents because they had no idea who he is," Tiff continued.

"He stayed in the hospital for days, Em.He just sat around the waiting area, just in case he might hear something about you," Carrie said again.

"We came out once in a while and update him on your condition,"

"He was a mess,"

"But he wouldn't leave,"

"Is he still here?" my eyes shot up instantly.

The thought of seeing him and talking to him face to face got me all energized.

That was exactly what I needed.

"Your mom is pretty upset with the whole pregnancy thing ..

Not only that she keeps grilling us for information, she’s also keeping a close watch on whoever's visiting you,"

"We told Mr.Hayes that he should probably lay low for a while.And we told him that you've woken up and that you're okay, so he wouldn't be worried,"

"I see," I sighed, pausing for a moment, I looked at my two friends and said, "Guys, I need you to do something for me,"

"Anything,"

"I need you two to sneak lan in.I have to talk to him,"

"How? Your mom won't stop hovering over the room,"

"The only time she left the hospital was to take a quick shower.She sleeps right there on that sofa,"

Tiff pointed to the blanket on the sofa.

"Please, guys, I need to speak to him," I begged again.

"You can call him?"Tiff raised her phone.

"No, I have to speak to him face to face," I said rather sternly, "Help me, please,"

Tiff and Carrie exchanged a look and let out a deep breath.

Finally, they turned to me and said, "We'll see what we can do,"

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Mom asked for the millionth time.

She was holding on her overnight bag and purse, standing there on the doorway.

Tiff and Carrie managed to get mom to leave the hospital for a night.

They told her they wanted to have a sleepover with me and keep me company.

"Tiff and Carrie are here, mom, don’t worry.You should go home and get some actual rest.If I need anything, !'ll call the nurse or Dr.Burke," I smiled reassuringly at her.

"And me.Call me,"mom said quickly.

"For sure,"I nodded.

"Girls, I'm counting on you two,"mom turned to Tiff and Carrie.

"Don’t worry about anything, Mrs.Sinclair.Emma’s in good hands," Carrie smiled back.

"Okay, have a good night, girls,"she had said that already, she was so reluctant to leave.

"Good night, mom.Say hi to dad for me," I replied.

"Good night, Mrs.Sinclair,"

Tiff and Carrie said in unison.

Mom took one last look at the three of us and sighed.She was about to say something else, but I just glared at her.Finally, she let out a sigh and walked out the door.

"Finally,"I groaned lowly.

"Okay, watch, make sure she gets in the car,"Tiff instructed as Carrie ran to the window.

"She's gone,"

Carrie said after a while of watching.

"Alright.We'll be downstairs keeping watch, just in case she comes back,"Tiff said as she pulled Carrie towards the door.

"Wait, where’s —"I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence as my eyes caught a glimpse of a man standing at the door.

"Emma,"he spoke.