Nova's Semester

Chapter 5

When the nurse, a brunette woman named Molly Pattson, finally burst through the doors wheeling something in front of her, she looked a little panicked. Rose walks in behind her with a sinister smile on her face. When she finally focuses on what the nurse has in front of her, she realizes it's a wheelchair. "You have got to be kidding me." she says under her breath. Mr. Mikaelson chuckled before walking over to the nurse and explaining the situation to her. Soon she was transferred from her desk to the wheelchair all the while keeping pressure on the gash on her forehead. As Nova was being rolled down the halls, she couldn't be happier that school was over. All the kids that had stayed had eventually left when she was wheeled out of the classroom. Mr. Mikaelson had to kindly force Arnold to the buses and Rose squawked a goodbye at her "Hope you get better, ok?" she giggles and wiggles her fingers at Mr. Mikaelson. He didn't seem to pay her any attention and focused on getting her to the nurses' office. "Goodbye Mr. Mikaelson, see you tomorrow." he spares her a glance and a brief smile "Have a good day Ms. Sampson." Her lips turn into a sultry smile as she winks. She finally turns around and skips off to the buses leaving just her, Mr. Mikaelson and Ms. Pattson behind. Mr. Mikaelson was walking beside her as the nurse pushed her. Ms. Pattson kept asking her various questions to keep her aware of her surroundings. She vaguely remembers being wheeled into the nurses' room and transferred to one of the beds. As she lies there, she can feel the tissues be removed from her head and be replaced by a damp washcloth. She shuffles in her spot and heaves a sigh; she looks to her left as she feels the end of her cot dip. "Are you ok hun?" Ms. Pattson asks, stroking her leg waiting for her answer. "I feel ok, my head hurts, a lot." she said, pausing slightly in between each answer. "I bet." the nurse chuckled "The good news is you won't need stitches or a trip to the ER." Nova feels herself deflate a little, letting go of the air she didn't realize she was holding. She was glad she didn't have to go to the ER; she just wasn't ready to hear the bad news. "And the bad news?" she asked, "Well it's not bad new per say it's just going to leave a tiny scar on your forehead, and you have a mild concussion.'' She's glad that's all that happened. "Oh, ok that's better than getting stitches I guess." she says with a giggle. "Yes, I guess it is." The nurse gives her one last pat on the knee before standing up to check her head again. She removes the washcloth and starts to clean and bandage her head. Once she was done, she let her know that Elena had been contacted and would be on her way. Dread filled her bones, and it made them ache. She didn't want to deal with Elena, all she would do is complain about how clumsy she was, and yell at her for messing up everyone else's day. "Where's Mr. Mikaelson?" Nova asked. The nurse lets out a bark of laughter. "He looked a little green, I think blood may freak him out a little, he left as soon as he knew you would be ok." She smiles and hands Nova an ice pack. "Here keep this on your head." The rest of her time was spent laying in the cot waiting for her sister to eventually arrive.

She thinks about ten minutes go by before she can hear an exchange between the nurse and someone, who she assumes is her sister. She waits a little longer expecting to hear her sister walk into the room but after a few minutes of silence she's assuming it wasn't her. She finally decided to check with the nurse herself. Sitting up she had to fight off some dizziness and pain before she stood up and made her way towards the door. Standing in the doorway she sees the nurse sitting in her chair and Alaric standing a few feet away right in front of the printer. Her mind puts two and two together and realizes the person she heard conversing with the nurse earlier was him.

She was conflicted; she didn't know if she should go lay back down and wait for Alaric to leave or talk to the Nurse now and Alert him of her presence. Unfortunately, she didn't get to make that decision for herself, Alaric had finished up what he was doing and was turning to leave when he spotted her. He smiled at her at first before he noticed the bandage on her head and remembered the fact that it was after school hours. "Nova? What on earth happened? Are you ok?" He questioned. The nurse turns and quickly stands from her chair ushering her back to her cot. "Honey you shouldn't be up and about you need rest." she gives a sheepish smile "Sorry I just wanted to ask when my sister will be here." The Nurse stands back up and looks at the clock "She said in about fifteen to thirty minutes." Nova let out a huff of laughter, she thought it was funny, they didn't live more than ten minutes away from school. "Ok, thank you." the nurse turns to leave and is met with a very distraught Alaric "Is she ok? What happened? How did this happen?" The nurse puts her hands up and tries to calm him "She's perfectly fine Mr. Saltzman. She has a mild concussion and a small gash on her head but otherwise she's as fit as a fiddle." Alaric can't believe what he's hearing. "That doesn't really sound fine to me Molly." He retorts back. "Well how about you go to school for a medical degree in nursing then come back to me and tell me if she's not going to be ok, she'll live Alaric." she says. She walked around him and out the door back to her desk to continue whatever they had interrupted her from.

The second she was out of the room Alaric had sat down on the cot next to her. "How did this happen? Are you ok?" letting out a yawn as she nods her head as much as it will allow. "I'm ok, I'm just clumsy." she laughs. He's not buying it or laughing. "What happened Nov?" he asks again in a softer voice. She laughs once again "When I was getting ready to leave, I tripped over someone's backpack and slammed my head on the corner of Mr. Mikaelson's desk." The explanation gave the opposite effect she wanted. Instead of calming him, he became frantic, just like this morning. "Nova, are you sure that's what happened?" She had no clue where all this suspicion was suddenly coming from; she just wanted to be left alone. "Yes, Alaric I'm pretty sure I would know how I gave myself an injury:" He doesn't say much after that, just a few questions mainly about when Elena would be arriving. Relaying the same information, she was given by the nurse Alaric decided he was going to stay and wait for Elena to show up.

Another ten minutes go by, and she still isn't there. Nova isn't too surprised it's not the first time Elena had ignored her needs for her own. Alaric on the other hand seemed to be having a meltdown that she wasn't there yet. With all the fidgeting and pacing Alaric finally decided to call Elena himself. He stood up and excused himself from the room. It only took two rings before she picks up, he starts the conversation immediately asking where she is and that's all she can hear before he walks away from earshot. She can only hear bits and piece of their conversation

"Elena this could be bad"

"I don't know"

"I thought Finn and Klaus"

"She's ok"

"Maybe"

"You need to get here now"

"I'll talk to her"

When he walks back into the open, she has to pretend she wasn't listening, so she holds the ice pack to her head and slings her arms over her eyes. "Hey Nova?" she hears him ask "What's up?" she says as she sits up once again to face him. "Well first Elena's going to be here in five minutes." She takes a deep breath and nods her head. "Ok." "Second, I think you should switch homeroom teachers. "She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What, why?' she asked, her eyebrows furrowed, and she scoffed at the suggestion. "I just think it's in your best interest, I just don't think you're safe." she was floored, astounded she couldn't even speak. "Safe." she repeats "Yes, the man that teaches your class only brings bad luck, he's a bad man Nova you need to stay away from him." she blinks, once. Twice, and once more before she burst out laughing, "Are you kidding me? Are you going to tell me someone is a bad person because I happened to hurt myself in their classroom?" "No Nova I know this man, I've met him before he's bad, you need to stay away." At this point her head was pounding; everything that was going on was making her head spin. Alaric suddenly grabbed her wrist and took off the bracelet around it. She had received the bracelet from Stefan as a Christmas gift three years ago, he told her she was to never take it off no matter what, she thought the request was funny, so she humored him and wore it all the time. Soon it just became a part of her everyday life, and she never went anywhere without it. So, when Alaric yanked it from her wrist, she was starting to get extremely angry. "What the hell-" "Look at me." he says looking into her eyes. She does what she's told and waits for his explanation to his sudden rudeness. "You think changing classes is a great idea, it's the only thing you want to do." He lets go of her arms and places her bracelet back on her wrist and takes a step back. "Maybe you're right, it does seem like a good idea,'' she says. She lays back down and places the ice pack on her head once more. "Maybe there's something we can do later." she yawns trying to keep her eyes open. "Yeah." he replies, taking a deep breath and cursing the fact that Elena has not been there sooner.