Page 99 of Heal Me

"You interrupted me!" I'm angry.

"Amelia, it's good that you read all the material, but teachers don't like walking encyclopaedias who are confused by other questions."

"Twelve to eighteen percent," I answer and give him a murderous look. "I don't memorise the material, I understand it from A to Z."

"Let's go further."

"But I haven't told everything yet."

"Darley, it’s immediately noticeable when a student knows the material and when doesn't. I said let's move on."

He flips through the pages and finally chooses a question. I like that Danylo takes this seriously. I actually thought he would come, and we'd be fooling around, but no, we're really studying.

"Anticoagulants," he says.

"Substances that prevent blood clotting or slow it down."

"Contraindications to the use of indirect anticoagulants."

"Why do you keep interrupting me?"

"I don't want you to fail the exam," Danylo starts to get annoyed.

"So? And it seems to me that this is exactly what you do."

"Stop behaving like a child and answer the questions, otherwise it may seem to me that you don’t know the answer and are wasting your time." I can feel the veins on my neck popping out of irritation.

"Mental illness, alcoholism, old age, pregnancy, moderate and severe hypertension, aortic aneurysm," I tell, recalling the material.

"Well done, Amelia, you didn’t pass and killed the patient in a matter of seconds, we’re waiting for you at the repassing," Danylo puts the cards aside.

"What?" I shout.

"Instead of shouting, you should have listened to me carefully." He says.

"You said contraindications to the use of anticoagulants of direct action," I repeat his words.

"Indirect! Indirect action, mon amour."

"Either you stop yelling at me or get out of here," I warn.

"Okay," he puts his hands up. "Let's try again. Make it easy this time." I nod. We take deep breaths and exhale.

"Violation of pigment exchange in parenchymal jaundice."

I groan and bury my hands in my face. I have a headache. I will never pass this exam.

"Well, you know everything, I'm sorry that I shouted at you," Danylo touches my leg and I feel an impulse spread throughout my body.

It's hard for me to think when his brown eyes stare at me so piercingly. I don't know if he does it on purpose or not, but it works.

What works is that I can't think about anyone else but him.

I'm drowning in it. Right now. Sitting right in front of him, I suffocate, and his lips are the only salvation, the only chance to give me a flow of air.

I lean towards him and close my eyes. Danylo does the same.

His forehead touches mine.

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