Page 19 of Teaching the Kot'oll Coach

And... I still have work tomorrow, so...

I close my eyes, but I’m still thinking about what happened. Telke... I can see his smug smile when he flexes his arms. Now that I think about it, there were a lot of arms when I was with Telke’s brothers. And... There would be even more arms when they have family gatherings. Hm...

I roll around and cover my face with the blanket. That’s such a stupid thought that won’t help my need at all...

I pace in the library before the kids arrive. There are still minutes before they will be around. The problem is that...

I can stare at the shelf and imagine Telke standing nearby.

What’s wrong with me?

Maybe I miss him. It has been a while since someone has been nice to me, even though it feels like he is a creepy guy at times, which may have to do with how he has been hanging around me a lot.

But... He does seem like a nice guy. Even though I’m not sure what his intention is with getting close to me, at least I’m certain that he doesn’t mean harm, and he doesn’t deserve the spaceship accident.

Is he fine?

Has he woken up? He must be upset with that. Now he has to stay in bed until the doctors release him. There won’t be floatball practice for him.

If I were him, I wouldn’t be too upset about not having to work, but he seems to enjoy interacting with other beings a lot more than me. Not to mention, if it took a life-threatening accident to get a week off, I’d pass on that.

I guess I’d rather have him follow me everywhere, wanting to show me how good he is with all his arms than knowing he may be in pain.

I don’t know why, but I want to hug him and tell him everything’s going to be fine. Except I don’t know whether everything’s going to be fine.

The bell rings and I better get ready to talk to kids and make sure everyone will enjoy the lesson. There’s no excuse for not putting out great work. Maybe Telke would flex his arms and grin, saying that this is a great day, like always.

Chapter 12

Telke

So...

I let out a breath as I stare at my hand with tubes attached to it. A tube is connected to nothing at this moment. The doctors said it is there to connect to a syringe when needed and when it is time to put painkillers into me.

I don’t want painkillers. My head hurts and I wonder whether that has to do with the painkiller. But if my head feels better but other parts of my body will be in pain, that’s not desirable either.

Efaze was here a while ago. I don’t remember how long it has been since he left for work. The painkiller is to be blamed. Now that I think about it, having another pair of arms means that I have more stuff that can get injured. That’s not very fun.

Not that I would ever wish this on someone else, but if a human got injured, they can only be hurting in their two arms.

Speaking of humans... What’s Winnie up to?

I think I heard her scream that day when the accident happened. But... my mind draws a blank and I can’t remember what happened. Maybe this is also the painkiller’s fault.

Efaze always wants to help me, but this is one of the times when he can’t do a thing. He always cares about everyone in the family.

I clench and release my fist, trying to feel my arms. They aren’t as strong as I hoped.

Wait...

I wiggle my toes, but the blanket covers them, and... what if my toes aren’t actually moving?

Then there won’t be floatball for me anymore.

Fuck...

I close my eyes when my blood seems to freeze. I need to make sure I’m fine!

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