As I was walking around the grounds of the school, it soon became very apparent to me that I had no idea where this "24 hour nursing staff" was located. So I decide to ask the 1st person I lay my eyes on. It worked last time. I turn and look around and the only person I see is a blonde girl sitting on a bench near a wooded area of the school with her eyes closed. I assume she is just taking in the peaceful nature sounds of the early morning. I decide to walk over to her.
"Hello there." she says without even opening her eyes. I am slightly confused by this woman, but I am sure just has really good hearing.
"Hello, my name is Andrew Thompson, would you be able to direct me to the nurse's building?"
"Is that an English accent my ears are hearing?" She asks in English. I am very surprised that I find an English speaking student so quickly. Another thing I notice is she has now opened her eyes, out of courtesy, and her eyes don't look quite right. Yes, they are a very pretty hue of blue, but there is cloudiness to them.
"Yes, yes it is. I just came to this school from America."
She then switches back to Japanese, I assume that she is now more comfortable speaking Japanese than English if she has been here a while. "Well then, it certainly is good to know another English speaking student here. My name is Lily Satou; it's a pleasure to meet you Andrew. So… this must be quite a big change for you?"
"Yes it is. I have been in the hospital for…quite a long time. So to be honest it is nice to be able to see new people." This is partly true at least.
She giggles a little, and I realize why soon after. I had just made a mistake in my speech, why didn't I catch it the moment I started talking to her. She is blind. That's why she has not been looking at me, rather than in my general direction. She is tracking my voice, not my body. This is good, maybe I can make a friendship in a blind person…how ironic.
"I apologize for my error in speech."
"Oh no Andrew, I should not have to expect for people to going changing the way they talk on my account."
She then slightly changes her facial expression. Most people would not notice, but I have that sort of eye for detail. I can tell she is thinking something. I fear I know what it is, but I decide to ask her about it anyway.
"I can tell you wish to talk about something. What is it, if you don't mind my asking? I hope you come to find that I am an easy person to talk to." It is true. I am a good person to talk to, because I listen, it is just hard to find interesting people to talk to. Most people just bore me though.
She waits for a moment before speaking "No, it's nothing. I was just thinking about where the nurse's office is from here. It is this way, follow me." She then picks up her cane and begins to walk down the sidewalk. I can tell she is lying because she doesn't want to mention what she is truly thinking. This makes me almost glad.
We talk some along the walk over to our destination. We arrive at a building a few moments later and Lily tells me that this is the Auxiliary Building and the nurse should be inside. I then thank her and go to walk inside when she speaks.
"If you would need to know anywhere else to go after this, I could always wait here on you to return."
I think about this for a moment, and then I come to a conclusion. I do need to know where to go to meet my teacher, but I do not want to keep this girl outside in the cold here waiting on my return, who knows how long I will be in there. So I opt for the compromise without even a second thought.
"I do need help to find another building after this, but I don't want you to have to stand outside in the cold the whole time. You can come inside with me if you wish to stay to help."
"Oh Andrew, I can't do that, I am sure the nurse has to talk to you about some very important issues. So he might not allow me to wait in there with you."
Oh right, what if he wants me to take off my mask. She will feel awkward if I ask her to leave and if not then she will see me like this and then…Wait a minute. I then move my hand up and down in front of her face. I'm sure she can hear me doing it because she gets a confused, if not slightly angry, look on her face and then she speaks again.
"Andrew, what are you doing?"
Oh crap, she did know I was doing that. "I am sincerely sorry Lily. I just had to…check something really quick. I am sure it won't be a problem if I explain you are my guide around the school." I have never met any of the nurses here, so I actually have no idea if it will or will not be a problem, but she nods and follows me inside so it is too late to think about it now.
Once inside Lily shows me to the office door with the word "Nurse" on it and a big green cross… I assume this is the place. I go to knock on the door but it isn't loud enough, but if I try to knock any harder and it will kill my hand. So I ask an awkward question.
"Um… Lily…Would you please do me a favor and knock on the door for me."
She then gets a puzzled expression and then asks why.
"… because… my knuckles are sore. It will hurt them to knock any louder."
"Oh, I'm sorry, sure thing…" She still gives me a puzzled look, but her good manners tell her not to ask why. After she knocks I can hear a man's voice yell "Come in." With that, I gingerly open the door and say "Lady's first." Lilly smiles at me and goes in, and after which I follow.
Once inside I see a man sitting at a desk typing on a computer, he sits there for several seconds typing before turning around to greet us.
"Hello there, Lily. Oh and you must be the new student. I am the head nurse here at Yamaku." He looks on his desk for a moment before finding what he was looking for and picking it up. "You're name is Andrew Thompson, right?" He says with a large cheeky grin. I find it slightly annoying.
"Yes, I am. It's nice to meet you." He reaches out to shake my hand and I look at it for a while before responding. Being the head nurse, and already mentioning that he expected me, he should have read up on my condition before I came. I give him the benefit of the doubt in thinking that he might not have expected me so early, and then I speak.
"Yes… I do hate to be rude in asking this. But before the… handshake… would you please look over that file really quick."
He raises an eyebrow to my statement; I think I may have offended him by not accepting his handshake. Lily also look confused as to why I didn't shake the man's hand. I assume I may have to explain some of my condition to her afterwards. Otherwise she will think I am a jerk. After looking through the file for a few minutes he makes a face that says he realized what he has done.
"Oh… I am so sorry Andrew. I knew about your condition before hand, I just forgot. You have to understand. I have a lot of students to keep up with. I am truly sorry. Um…Miss Satou, I will be speaking to Mr. Thompson about his condition. If you would not mind stepping outside for a few minutes then…"
I have no reason to hide my condition from someone who can't see it. She wouldn't be able to understand the technical terms or be able to see my skin, so I see no problem in her being here, and I say so.
"It's quite alright, Nurse. I forgive you for the mistake. I can't expect you to have my entire file memorized by the time I got here. And I don't mind Lily being here. She is my guide for the day. She took it on her own accord to show me around the place here and for that I think she should get a little explanation of my problem. Plus, since she is blind, she can't see it anyway. So it is honestly no problem."
The Nurse and Lily both seem a little taken back, but they both just accept what I said and move on. The Nurse speaks.
"Well then, Andrew. If you have no problem with it then I suppose it shall be alright. Well then if you don't mind please take off your mask for me."
Lily had just settled down from my last statement, but the mention of a mask had her back to making that worried expression. She had no idea that I even wore a mask. I begin to wonder if this is a good idea.
I remove my hat and mask and stand there as the nurse stares and my face for a moment. I would be offended if it were not his job to get a good understanding of what I have. He then asks if he could touch my face. I told him it was allowed, just to be gentle. The slightest touch could cause excruciating pain. As he does this I cannot hold back my tears. I don't know if it is from the slight pain or from the shock that I am standing in front of 2 relative strangers without my mask. Granted, one is blind and one is a medical professional, but still.
Just then something horrible happened that I wish could have been undone. If only I was a few minutes later this could have been avoided. But it is too late now, I am on a crash course to disaster. I hear the door opening with a bang and see something to the left of the nurse's head. It is a mirror. The Nurse has now jumped from the noise and dug his fingers into my skin Causing unbearable pain. I jump out of his grasp and look in the mirror to see two girls, one dragging the other by the sleeve of her shirt and yelling at the nurse. She doesn't look at my face in the mirror, but at the nurse. I am thankful for this. I quickly drop down and cover my face. Not sure if it's from the pain the Nurse unintentionally inflicted, or to hide from the two girls, both of which gifted with the ability of sight.
"Nurse, this is an emergency! I just caught Rin drinking the entire bottle of medicine you gave her for her cold. You have to pump her stomach NOW!"
The Nurse then yells at this new girl in the room.
"Emi! Look what you've done! You have caused me to hurt our new student! He just happens to have a condition that causes him to feel pain 10 times stronger than we do! It's called Fibromyalgia." At the mention of this news I instantly sink deeper in my ball I am now in, covering my face even more.
"Omigosh! I am so sorry. Is he alright, here, stand up let us see."
I then hear her as she runs past the nurse, who I can hear being pushed aside with some force. I hear a strange metallic sound as she runs. She comes over to me where she then grabs onto my back and attempts to pull me up. This sends waves of pain through me and I show it through the noises I make. Luckily I am able to keep my arms and hands over my face.
The noise I make causes her to stop trying to pick me up and back away a little. I hear her, Lily and the Nurse all gasp. The Nurse then begins to yell at Emi again.
"Emi! I just told you he feels pain a lot higher than we do! The slightest touch is incredibly painful, and you just pulled as hard as you can on his back!" Emi then gasps louder at this news.
"Oh my God, I am so sorry, I didn't know that'd hurt him. But if he can't stand then how do we know he is alright. I'll just come down there to look. Move your hands for a second."
She barely touches my hands that are covering my face, more pain crosses them, but I manage to keep my face covered. Dear God I made a terrible mistake. I think at this point I am in the fetal position and my cries can be heard by everyone in the room. Is it even possible for this girl hurt me any more than she already has? The Nurse snaps at her again.
"Emi, go out and stand in the hall right now!" The girl I now know as Emi slowly stands up and walks outside along with the other girl, who I assume as simply been observing the whole time. That or she is passed out on the ground from the drugs she has apparently downed in one fowl swoop. After a minute on the ground I slowly stand up. I peek through my fingers to make sure the girls are still not in the room, I only see the nurse and Lily sitting there with worried faces. The Nurse is rubbing the back of his head.
"That Emi," the Nurse says "…she is always busting into my office, she never knocks. I'll be sure to lock the door from now on whenever you are in here Andrew." I just stand there, looking at him; I can feel the tears run down my face. "Listen Andrew, I know you are probably mad at Emi right now… but she didn't know, and she couldn't of known. Please forgive her for what she has done."
I stand there in silence, but after a while I nod. I know she didn't know… but still…damn that girl.
"Great!" The Nurse said, "…now get your stuff back on and head on back to your tour. Please send in Emi and Rin on your way out, and please, try to forgive her."
I already planned on it, but I don't say so. I just get dressed and head out the door with Lily. A worried Emi is standing there with an uncaring Rin. Now that I can see the two girls better than just in the mirror, I can tell that the girl known as Emi is missing her legs and is wearing prosthetics. And the girl known as Rin has no arms and has sleeves that end in knots on her shirt. The second I walk out the door, Emi's eyes dart towards me. She was about to say something, then stops when she sees that I am wearing a mask. After she takes a second to collect herself she speaks…at a lighting pace.
"…"
I am feeling generous today and decide to save her life by cutting her off and allowing her to breathe once more.
"Hey, it's ok. You couldn't have known that I had that. And it's just that I don't like people looking at my face…that's all."
The other girl then finds it is now the appropriate time to speak up.
"Does it have something to do with your condition or are you just ugly?"
The way she says this makes me want to punch her in the face, even if she is a girl. But considering she is currently high on drugs, I let it slide. Emi does not though.
"RIN!"
"It's quite alright given her…circumstance…"
Then in a high sing-song voice she says "You haven't answered my question."
"…Well then, I suppose I should get right on that then."
Both Emi and Lily at the same time say "Andrew, you don't have to…"
I interrupt once again. "I suppose I do owe a bit of an explanation, but I am not telling you the whole story. To answer your question Rin…Both…it is kind of because of my condition, but not entirely, something else…happened… and yes, it is because I am ugly."
At saying this both Emi and Lily tried to argue that they are sure I am not ugly, but I hold up a finger.
"I don't want to argue this. Alright?"
At that, he girls drop silent, not knowing what to say next. I tell Emi and Rin to head on in to see the Nurse and then tell Lily our next destination. On our walk there we are silent. I am not sure if having her stay was a good idea or not, but what's done is done. All I have to do is move forward from here.