Chapter 43: Healer (Clara's POV)

I don't know why my stomach has been hurting since last night. It could literally be anything. Maybe I ate something wrong, maybe I've been overthinking and getting stressed about getting killed by Atticus, maybe I'm about to get my period, maybe the constant feeling of butterflies is making it hurt, I don't fucking know and it is extremely annoying! 

"Do you want me to call the nurse?" 

"No," I mumbled, flipping onto my stomach and hugging a pillow, trying to ignore the pain. 

"It's past lunch, you've been like this since last night. You're barely eating too." 

"Because it hurts to eat," I whined. 

"That's not normal. In fact, it's very concerning. Are you on your period?" 

I glanced at him. "Not yet." 

"Is it coming up?" 

"I don't know," I mumbled. "I have reminders on my phone." 

He grabbed my phone, handing it to me. 

"0620," I answered, not taking the phone. 

"Is that your birthday?" he chuckled knowingly. 

"Yes." 

He unlocked it and found the reminders on the calendar app. "You don't have a set cycle." He knows an awful lot about periods. Most guys don't even understand the concept of a cycle. "Sometimes it's twenty-eight days, sometimes it's thirty-five. You'll get it within ten days so it could just be pre-period cramps, that is if you get those. If you don't then it could easily be something you ate. Or your sleeping pattern." 

I stared at him, listening to every word, somewhat in awe. 

"But if it is your period, you can take an Ultracet. It's a painkiller but it's mostly used for period pains. You can't take it on an empty stomach so you should eat a little something beforehand if you want the painkiller and I should ring up the nurse and ask for a heating pad," he sighed in conclusion, putting my phone back. He turned to me, blinking. "What?" 

"How do you know so much about periods and how to deal with them? I've never met a guy who knows so much about them," I stated. 

"I did my research when I was with Kiara," he shrugged. 

I felt a pang of jealousy. Or maybe it was insecurity. But I wasn't too happy knowing that he took care of her the way he takes care of me now. 

"I never got to help her though. She would never tell me if she was on her period." 

I nodded, feeling a little better about his past relationship. 

"I would keep a track of her cycle and in that whole time period, I would just stay away from her actually. She got pretty angry on her period," he said, staring ahead. "It was quite annoying." 

I couldn't help but laugh. "She sounds extremely stupid to me. I know mood swings are inevitable but why would you react like that to someone who only wants to take care of you?" 

"I think she didn't like being taken care of, you know. She was raised like a princess and once she got older, she thought it was time to be a queen. She was obsessed with acting independently. Enough that it formed into arrogance." 

"It sounds like she was taken care of too much and got sick of it." 

He nodded in agreement. "You're the opposite. I think you weren't taken care of enough, I could be wrong," he shrugged. "Your parents both worked, didn't they?" 

"Hmm," I nodded. "I was with my grandma a lot, otherwise alone. You're right. I wasn't really taken care of by my parents. Maybe that's why I like being taken care of." 

"Well, I'm glad that you like it," he sighed, shifting closer to me. "Because I get to take care of you." 

"Do you like being taken care of?" I asked. 

"Mm-hmm," he nodded. "It doesn't happen much but I appreciate it when it does." 

I smiled, brushing his hair out of his eyes. 

"Do you remember anything about what you mumbled right before you fell asleep last night?" he asked, smirking. 

I frowned in confusion, trying to think back to it. I don't really remember anything clearly after I came to his room. "Did I say something?" 

"Hmm," he chuckled, kissing my cheek, keeping his lips there for a minute. 

"Oh no, what did I say?" 

"You told me something about yourself." 

"What?" I narrowed my eyes at him. 

"You said you were falling for me." 

I blinked, processing. "I did?" 

"You did," he whispered, nodding slowly. "Did you mean it?" 

I didn't have to think twice about it. "Yeah." 

He chuckled, scooting impossibly closer to me. 

"What did you say when you heard me say that? Or what did you think?" I asked, ignoring the stomach ache that was getting worse. 

"I thought it's great that you're falling for me because I'm falling for you too." 

I smiled helplessly while he leaned forward and kissed me. After pulling away, I looked at him for a minute before wincing loudly, my hand clutching my stomach. "God," I hissed, rolling onto my back and clenching every muscle in my body. 

"Yeah, okay. I'm calling nurse Nora," he said, grabbing his phone. 

"No, please," I whined, grabbing his arm. 

He put his phone in the other hand and dialed anyway. "Clara's sick," he said as soon as she answered. "Her stomach has been hurting since last night but it's been hurting like crazy for the past couple of minutes. I think you should check it out. She isn't eating much either and that's why she can't take any medicines because she's on an empty stomach. What do I do?" He glanced at me. "Okay, see you then." 

I groaned, sending him a halfhearted glare. 

"You'll be fine, it's not like she can make it worse, only better. She's a healer," he rolled his eyes. 

After five minutes, there was a knock at the door. He went and answered it, bringing nurse Nora inside. "What's wrong?" she asked, taking a seat beside my legs. 

"Nothing," I mumbled, sitting up slightly but she grabbed my legs, making me lay still. 

"Her stomach has been hurting since last night. She's refusing to eat, if she ate I would have given her a painkiller." 

"Are you cramping?" 

"Sometimes," I nodded. 

"What kind of pain is it?" 

"Constant but it gets worse when I start cramping," I answered. 

"Tell me where it hurts." And then she started pressing down on my stomach. And I winced everywhere she touched. "It hurts everywhere, doesn't it?" 

I nodded again. 

"Did you eat anything different or new?" 

I shook my head. 

"She ate the food we all did from the cafeteria. Nothing else," Callum said. 

"Are you lactose intolerant?" 

"No." 

"So, it can't be the ice cream either. Hmm," she nodded. She turned to Callum, both of them just looking at each other in silence. "There's something I need to try. I want you to close your eyes," she said, turning to me while grabbing the kit that she brings. 

"What are you going to do?" I asked nervously. I hate doctors, hospitals, injections, medicines. Anything of that sort. Anything that reminds me of the time I spent recovering from the accident. 

"I won't know what's wrong with you if you don't let me test out the possibilities," she said pointedly. 

"Is it going to hurt?" I asked, feeling queasy. 

"Only a little." 

"Doctors always lie when they say that," I mumbled, leaning my head back and facing my Callum, letting her take my right arm. I felt Callum sitting down beside me and holding my free hand. 

"What are you going to do?" he asked. 

She cleared her throat and I opened my eyes, watching as she opened the kit and took out rubber gloves, pulling them on. 

God save me. 

She grabbed alcohol wipes and ripped the packet open, taking it out and cleaning my inner forearm. "Close your eyes," she demanded. I let out a whimper, closing them shut, following her orders. "Relax yourself and take a deep breath." 

I inhaled deeply and then exhaled, my grip on Callum's hand tightening. 

"Make sure she doesn't look." 

"Okay," Callum said. 

"You know, this isn't very reassuring, it actually makes me think I'm dying," I mumbled. 

"Well, you're not," Nora replied, scoffing. 

I clenched and unclenched my jaw while she looked through the first aid kit. I could hear the ointments, cotton pads, bandages, medicines moving around. Then it all stopped. And I felt a prick of a needle in my arm. I winced, resisting the urge to shift away. Then the pain stopped. 

She just pricked me, didn't she? Is she drawing blood? No, she would tell me. "You can look." 

I looked down and she was done. There was nothing. No blood, no bandaid, nothing. "What did you do?" I frowned in confusion. 

"I pinched you," she shrugged.

She can't possibly think I'll believe that.

"No, you didn't. That felt like you pricked me."  

She glanced at Callum before throwing her gloves off and in the trash and packing up the kit. "Come outside," she said before standing up, leaving everything behind, and walking out. Callum glanced at me and then quietly followed her.

What just happened? What's wrong with me?

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Chapter 43

what do you think Nora actually did??

next chapter: unknown