11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Winnie

I must be so dumb...

My living room seems a bit too quiet despite the television being on. I'm not watching, and I can't listen to a word from the system. My heart is still racing even though I'm in the comfort of my home and on a nice couch.

I take a sip of my lemon water, trying to calm myself.

But I can't...

I can't stop seeing Telke on the hospital bed...

I let out a breath as I stroke Ossa's back. He purrs and seems to be the happiest kitty cat ever.

It was such a wait... But at last, the red light turned off and the doctors came out. Telke is as fine as he could be. But he won't be good for work for another week or so.

Given what happened, one week is like nothing.

The doctor said that the spaceship's auto system likely halted the spaceship, so it wasn't a full impact hit, which was good for Telke. And he rolled off the spaceship, which probably made it better, too.

I sigh. Maybe Telke thinks he is strong enough to get away unscratched. Or maybe he didn't give that enough thought.

Just enough thought to know that the kid would be fucked, but not enough to know that he could get fucked too...

Ossa hops off my lap. Maybe he thinks it's time for bed.

How is Telke? The doctor said he would most likely be fast asleep through the night after the operation. Even though he is a big being, the painkiller won't wear off that quickly.

I hope Telke won't be in pain.

It didn't take long before I had no reason to stay behind. Even Telke's brothers were heading home. As a coworker with Telke, who has only gotten to know him for a few days, there's no reason for me to stay around.

I don't understand why I care that much about him.

Maybe because he is a nice guy.

I shake my head. But I'm not supposed to care about anyone else other than myself. It took so long for me to get out of a stupid situation, I don't need to get myself into trouble again.

I get off the couch and head to my room, pulling out my phone to check the story I'll be telling the next day. One of the nice things about being the story lesson teacher is that I can prepare a single story and tell that again and again to all the kids in the school, regardless of grades. I only have to prepare different sets of discussion questions so that the older students will be able to look deeper into the stories and think about more complex topics.

But it still doesn't mean it is going to be easy when I can't focus on anything. Maybe just by witnessing the accident, I have quite some emotions to get through.

I suppose I can read a book myself to calm down for the night, but at the same time, I'm not in the mood to pick up a book. It feels like... The mere idea of focusing on the pages stirs my stomach.

Maybe I should just sleep. I check my phone again, making sure my alarm is set.

I stare at the ceiling after I turn off the lights and get ready for bed. Is Telke also staring at the ceiling?

No... He is supposed to be asleep, so he won't be staring at anything.

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.