Page 79 of Stuck Behind Her

I nod my head, not knowing what else to do. I keep telling myself it’s going to be fine. I’m sure it’s nothing. I take out my phone to look at the time, and the screen lights up with a reminder. I tap on the bar, which expands to reveal the information. The notification reminds me that I have a meetingin thirty minutes. What? Thirty minutes! I twist my body around and away from Lorenzo.

I don’t have a meeting today. We didn’t have any set. I scroll down to see a message from Oliver, two hours ago, informing me of the new scheduled meeting.No, no, no, this can’t be happening. Not now.

“No, no, no!” I panic, raising my hand to my head. I push my fingers through my hair.

“What’s wrong?” Lorenzo asks from behind me. I turn around to face him again.

“I have a meeting in thirty minutes. I didn’t notice that Oliver had called me, and now I have to be at my office in the next twenty minutes if I’m going to get there on time.” I start panicking again.

“Wait, Oliver called you now?” Lorenzo questions, a hint of anger in his voice. I shake my head.

“He called me two hours ago, but I didn’t notice. How am I going to get there? I can’t leave. They haven’t even come out to tell me what’s wrong with Elias yet. I can’t leave without knowing he’s okay. But I need to be at the meeting. Shit. Shit!” I exclaim, pacing around.

How am I going to leave? He literally got hurt because of me, I can’t leave without making sure he’s okay. What kind of person would I be if I did that? And these nurses are taking forever to come out, what if that means it’s something bad. But I can’t miss a meeting, Oliver will kill me. I already have so much to do, missing a meeting would be horrible. What if Oliver decides to quit if I don’t show up? He’s been talking to me about the whole help situation, he’s probably sick of me not being on time. Missing this meeting might be the last straw.

“Vi, go. Go to the meeting. I’m here, I’ll tell Elias you had an emergency and had to go. I’m sure it’s nothing serious, okay?” Lorenzo tells me. I shake my head. I can’t go. I’d be a horribleperson if I did. He walks closer to me. “Val, go to the meeting. You’re afraid Oliver won’t accept this as an excuse, but I can tell you Elias will understand. But if missing one meeting is scaring you, then you really need to talk to Oliver about it. I don’t care if you’re a young singer, I don’t care if everyone is a thousand steps ahead of you. You should never have to be afraid to miss one single meeting for something serious,” he continues, whispering. I look at his eyes, how serious they are.

“Okay. I’ll go. But you have to text me the second you know what’s wrong. And tell them I have all the costs covered,” I say.

“No, you know he won’t accept.”

“I know but make him. You said it yourself; I don’t need to give Roland another reason to be an asshole. Tell him it’s covered; he doesn’t have to worry. Okay?” I demand.

Lorenzo looks at me for a second before nodding. I then run the other way, down the stairs, and out of the school. I have to run back home to get the car, then drive to the office. I’m going to be late. I already know it.

And I also know I’m going to worry the whole way there.

Chapter 47 - Trentotto

Lorenzo

I still stand in front of the nurse’s office when the bell rings for the next class. I don’t move, but crowds of students collide in the hallway, trying to get to their classrooms on time. They slowly start decreasing, and I spot Aurora pushing through the students. She stops when she sees me and runs closer.

“Lorenzo? What’s wrong? Where’s Violet?” she asks immediately, confused.

“Violet had to leave. It was an emergency. She texted me because of Elias. His arm got hit by a falling ladder, he might’ve broken it,” I explain. Her confusion turns into both horror and worry.

“What? Is he okay?” she exclaims. The students finally empty the halls, and the bell rings, interrupting our conversation.

“We don’t know yet. The door is still closed, he’s been in there for over an hour,” I reply.

She rubs her forehead with her hand as she turns around to look at the door. “Estas enfermeras estúpida tardan una eternidad,” she mumbles. I understand part of the sentence, but some of the words still leave gaps.

We wait in front of the door for a while before anyone comes out. A guy, the school’s emergency doctor, opens the door andsteps out. He’s wearing a blue coat, one of those hospital ones, and a stethoscope around his neck.

“Sorry for the wait, a lot of people have been in accidents today and it’s been busy,” he tells us. Even an idiot can conclude it’s because of the very extra decorations. Do they really need to renovate the school because of Christmas if it’s causing them this many injuries?

“It’s okay. How’s Elias? How’s his arm?” Aurora asks before I can, taking a step closer.

“Well, there aren’t any cuts to the nerves or anything. The hit didn’t injure his skin, but it did cause a fracture in his bone. It will take some time to heal. I’d estimate ten to twelve weeks,” he explains.

Aurora’s eyes widen at his news. “Twelve weeks? It was just a ladder!” she exclaims.

“Yes, but it fell directly on his arm. It looks like his arm was extended or placed right below the ladder, because the hit was direct. The school’s ladder is also strong and heavy, which could’ve caused the impact to break the bone.”

That’s what Violet meant. It hit his arm directly, it was in the way.

“Are we allowed to see him, or is this the ER?” Aurora asks, annoyed.

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