"It's all your fault," Melanie's angry voice yelled out to Johan as they sat in the infirmary. It has been over thirty minutes now since they brought Scarlet.
"What? Why are you blaming me? What did I do wrong?" Johan asked her.
"First you broke her heart and then you moved on with someone else and you clearly know she would be watching. Don't you know the kind of pain girls go through in situations like this? I can't believe she was trying to commit suicide all because of you."
"Shhh," the nurse attending to Scarlet hushed them when she finished checking the machine. "Your friend seems to have been stressed lately so she needs enough rest. Have you called her guardian?"
"No, uhm…I will take responsibility," Johan said, "I don't want her mother fretting about it."
The nurse gave him a puzzled look so he quickly added, "Don't worry. We are neighbors. I will get her home myself."
"Show kindness and then make her feel worthless again."
"Melanie!" Johan cautioned with raised brows. "I am sorry okay? I don't like this any more than you do so can you stop now, please?" he pleaded.
Melanie folded her arms across her chest and she moved her head to look at the front, fuming.
"Mel?"
They all moved their eyes towards the bed where Scarlet laid and seeing that she made to stand up, Melanie quickly rushed to her.
"Scarlet," she called and held her hand.
Scarlet let her legs slide down the bed to hang below and she rubbed the back of her head. The nurse came to her and raised her chin up, making her look at her and she flashed a light into her eyes. She felt a sting and she held the nurse hand and shut her eyes when she felt the headache coming again.
"Ow!" she groaned softly and turned her head to the side to see Johan standing few feet away. Confused, she looked at Melanie and then at the nurse. "What happened?" she asked, having no idea why she was in the infirmary.
"You were brought here after you passed out in the restroom, Miss Winters," the nurse answered her. "How do you feel right now?" she asked.
"Great," Scarlet replied her in a tired voice.
The nurse shook her head and said, "No Miss Winters, I need you to tell me how you really feel. The medical report I have with me now only says you are suffering from stress which is quite abnormal because your vitals are fine and you were out for thirty minutes."
"What?" Scarlet did not want to believe that and she looked at Melanie who confirmed for her. "I was just…" she paused and tried to remember what happened back in the restroom. "The voices," she said and looked at the nurse, "I was hearing the voices of people I've listened to today and it was very loud in my head. I couldn't concentrate."
The nurse gave a nod and walked to her desk, writing down something and checking out some medications. In the meantime, Melanie explained everything that happened to her from when she started behaving strangely in the classroom till when they found her in the restroom with broken pieces of ceramics before rushing her to the infirmary.
Scarlet moved her eyes to look at Johan who didn't move from the spot he has been standing on and he had his eyes on her. To have left the classroom and helped her must mean that he still does care about her, but it is quite sad that she does not want him to because the more he does, the harder it will be for her to move on and she does not want to be having a second thought about 'them' now.
When the nurse was done, she handed her a prescription note and medicines packed in a small brown envelope and she pocketed her hands into her pockets. "Do make sure to use them at the time I wrote down and get a lot of sleep. You might want to cut down from school for some time."
"No," Scarlet shook her head, "it's fine."
"Okay then. Make sure to write your ID number and sign before you leave," she said before leaving.
After spending few minutes with Scarlet, Melanie checked the time and she said to her, "The day is over already."
Scarlet felt bad that she had made them miss two classes and she bit her lips. "We should go," she said and made to stand up.
"Johan offered to take you home," Melanie said and stood up from beside her. "Your bag is at the corner."
"Oh, thanks."
"And make sure to get well soon, okay?"
"Hmm," Scarlet nodded and she received a hug from her. "Bye," she bade her goodbye and she saw her look at Johan before leaving.
Johan went to the corner and picked up her bag and then he walked to where she was before placing the bag on the bed. He looked at her and asked, "Are you fine?"
Scarlet gave a nod. "I'm fine," she responded.
The corner of his lips pulled a bit and he said, "You know, that was the same thing you said earlier today when I asked." He looked away from her for few seconds and let out a sigh. "Were you really going to commit suicide because of me?" he suddenly asked and brought his eyes back to look at her.
Scarlet could see the hurt in his eyes and her lips slightly parted. "No," she said and the skin on her forehead pressed together. "Why would I…do that?" Yes, it sounded even absurd to her.
"Melanie won't stop blaming me," he said.
"Oh," Scarlet whispered and she stood from the bed. "Just ignore her."
"I didn't move on with someone else," he said when she made to carry her bag and her hand stopped before she raised her eyes to look at him. "Harper is just a friend."
Scarlet could see clearly, the mess that Melanie had created and she reached for her bag before hanging it over her shoulder. She looked at him again and said, "I understand that Melanie said some things, but you really don't have to let it get to you. We don't have to…tell each other about what is going on in our lives, where we go or who we hang out with. You have your life to live and I have mine, so…can we go now?"
She walked over to the nurse desk and wrote down her ID number before signing and she turned her head back to look at Johan before walking outside.