The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 151: People are visiting, at least. (Patreon)

God, you feel stupid. There are very few things worse than a dumb injury. Like when you hit your hand with a table just because you were about to scratch your nose. This only happened because you were distracted and tripped on one of the steps in the stairs.

“This doesn’t seem so bad, thankfully.” Ms. Fujiwara, the school nurse, says when she finishes examining your left ankle. You relax a bit as you lay on one of the six beds in the room.

You’ve been at the nurse office a couple of times before. Once because of a headache and the other because of an upset stomach. But still, for a nurse office, the place is kind of impressive. Your high school barely had 2 beds, this one has 6 and each one separated by a curtain. There are several cabinets with glass doors, so you can see all the medical supplies inside. There’s the nurse’s desk by the door with a desktop computer on it. There’s also one of those human anatomy mannequins you fucking hate, with all its plastic intestines showing and that creepy half-face.

“There’s not pain when I just touch you, right?” Ms. Fujiwara asks as she applies the slightest amount of pressure over your ankle.

You nod. “It only hurts when I try to take a step.”

“Then it really is just a sprain.” She says with a smile.

The girls beside you, Sophia and Katherine, sigh in relief.

“Still, it’s pretty swollen. I’d suggest you still go to a proper doctor and take a couple of days off school. For now, keep this ice bag on the swollen area. It’ll help.”

She presses the ice bag on your injury with such a soft touch that you can barely feel anything. She then takes your hand and leaves it holding the bag. Then you realize what she just said.

“W-What…?” You stammer. No. You can’t do that. At least, the school part.

“What are you so surprised about?” Sophia asks with a raised eyebrow. “Do you think you can walk around like that?”

“N-No, but… I can’t miss school now. Not when finals are so close.” You tell her.

“Seriously? You’re worrying about that at a time like this?” Katherine asks in disbelief. “Your health is way more important that some test.”

“She’s right, Mr. Walker.” Ms. Fujiwara tells you. “If you walk around like that, it’ll only get worse.”

You know, you’d argue more, but her sweet, honest and concerned tone doesn’t leave much room for it. She looks at you as if she’d be truly disappointed in you if you didn’t follow the medical instructions, and it’s oddly effective.

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You’re left alone for a while as Sophia and Katherine leave to tell the others what happened. Sophia went to tell Emma and Megan and she asked Katherine to look for Emily in Mia’s office. Of course, the redhead doesn’t know of your relationship with the English teacher, so she thinks she’s only telling Emily. You expect to see the jocks here in a few minutes, but doubt your teacher will come immediately.

Honestly, it’s just a dumb injury. It’s nothing major. You’ll be fine tomorrow.

Hopefully.

As you lay on the bed, still holding the ice bag and given enough privacy to rest thanks to the curtains around you, you begin to think of what this situation means for you. The worst part of it is not the pain or being unable to walk properly, but everything you’ll be unable to do. You’re supposed to meet with Mrs. Hayes and your brother tomorrow, and that’s important enough to disregard whatever the nurse or the doctors say. You’ll have to miss classes, which before finals are incredibly useful to ask questions and review material with the teachers. You won’t be able to exercise at all, either.

Dammit. Thinking like this only helps to give you stomach pains.

Before you can think much more about it, though, you hear people coming into the office. However, it’s not the people you expected.

“Excuse me, Ms. Fujiwara.” You hear Jessica’s voice and immediately straighten up. You notice three silhouettes behind the curtain, and since Jessica is clearly here, you don’t need to guess who the other two are.

“Yes, girls? What can I do for you?” The nurse asks.

“We heard David had an accident. Is he still here?” Jessica asks.

“He’s here. He’s resting for a bit. Mr. Walker?” She calls you, probably to check you’re not asleep.

“Yes.” You answer with a bit of a raspy throat, so you cough to clear it and answer again.

“There’s people here to see you.”

“…Okay.” How are you supposed to answer to that? It’s not like you can tell them to go away. Well, you suppose you could, but that would be rude.

The curtain to your left opens and you can clearly see the three girls who once tormented you. You haven’t checked their scores recently, so you don’t quite know what you’re dealing with. You doubt the scores have gone down by much, if they have at all, so it’ shouldn’t be anything bad.

You notice that Ms. Fujiwara returns to work at her desk, yet she has her eye on the new group. Perhaps she’s wary that they’ll try something? She was there when they were caught in the whole picture scandal. Well, you’re thankful to her, even if it might be unnecessary at this point.

“We heard you fell off the stairs.” Jessica says. “Brought really unpleasant memories back.” She grimaces. Right. She went with Olivia to the hospital when she had her accident. “How are you doing?”

“Just a sprained ankle, thankfully.” You tell them, and you can see Olivia’s and Jessica’s expressions soften. Lilian doesn’t really look concerned at all. She’s probably here just because you couldn’t pull these three apart with a crowbar.

“…” Olivia looks uncharacteristically bashful, not meeting your eyes and even standing slightly behind Jessica instead of leading the charge as usual. She shifts in place as if she wants to say or ask something, but never does.

“Oh, by the way,” You start. “I asked Katherine about what you asked,” You tell Jessica. “She… said she’d think about it. And considering this…” You look at your left foot. “We might have to wait for Friday or the weekend if she says yes. Sorry.”

“Idiot. Worry about yourself before thinking of us.” Olivia grumbles.

You can’t help but smile wryly at that. That’s probably the nicest thing she’s said to you since you’ve known her. You can’t let that go unappreciated.

“Thank you, Olivia. I’ll try to get better soon so I can help you guys out. This time because I want to.”

The former bully flinches at your comment and her face starts getting pink. Jessica smiles at her, happy for her friend while Lilian playfully elbows her ribs with a teasing smirk.

Before things can go any further, however, you hear the sound of more footsteps coming. In no time, Sophia and Katherine are back with Emily and Megan. Their lively chatter comes to an abrupt stop when they notice who else is in the room.

The silence is deafening, broken only by the soft chuckle of the nurse working at her desk.

“My, what a popular patient I have today.” She smiles at you teasingly. “You’re a lucky young man, Mr. Walker, to have 7 girls worried about you.”

That somehow manages to alleviate the heavy atmosphere. Megan and Sophia giggle at that while Emily teases Katherine over her blushing face. Of course, the redhead adamantly denies the obvious heat going to her cheeks.

Olivia and her group know very well that their presence is making things awkward for everyone, so they quickly excuse themselves. Olivia and Lilian don’t look back, but Jessica waves everyone goodbye with an apologetic smile.

“Why were they here?” Katherine asks immediately after they’re gone. Her tone a mix of concern and reproach.

“They were worried, apparently.” You tell them. “They were barely here a couple of minutes before you showed up.”

“Sorry. Bad timing?” Sophia asks.

“With you guys? Never.” You tell her, and realize Katherine and Ms. Fujiwara are here too when the nurse chuckles in her corner and the redhead smiles shyly and looks away. Man, that’s embarrassing. You’re so used to being surrounded by just your girls that the corny lines are coming out even when unrelated people are near.

“Does it hurt too much?” Emily asks, her eyes glancing at your ankle.

“Only when I try to walk.”

“Want me to kiss it better?” Megan asks with an innocent smile.

“Not gonna lie. It could help.” You tease her. She looks around and realizing herself that Katherine and Ms. Fujiwara are here, she gets shy and doesn’t push it.

The girls stay here for a couple more minutes until the bell rings. You’re about to stand up and try walking yourself, but Ms. Fujiwara stops you immediately.

She looks… angry. No, that’s wrong. She doesn’t look much different, only her smile is replaced by a more professional, blank expression. But she definitely sounds annoyed.

“Oh no, mister. You’re not going to class like that. I told you already.”

You swallow and slowly sit back down on the bed.

The girls leave and now you’re alone with Ms. Fujiwara.

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 Talk to her?