Chapter 29

Leaning against the wall of the corridor, Taliah tilted her head back to allow herself to get her breath. She couldn't believe what she had just done. Looking down at her hands, she could see the scrapbook in one and the other was covered in blood from a gash on her hand that she received from the glass. She could feel it throbbing so she made her way to the toilets just down the corridor to run it under the tap.

Turning the tap, Taliah winced as the cold water ran over the cut and she examined it closely and she couldn't see any glass in it and it didn't appear to be too deep. Putting her scrapbook down on the side, she rummaged through her bag until she came across the few plasters that she had put in it in case of emergencies. Dabbing gently at the cut with a paper towel, she placed the plaster over it and gathered all of her belongings back up. Holding onto the door handle she was about to go back out of the toilets but she didn't know where to go. She didn't want to bump into anyone in the corridor in case they knew about what had just happened so instead she went and locked herself in a toilet cubicle.

After sitting there in silence for a few moments, she pulled out her phone from her pocket and stared at it. She dialled in the number of the hospital that Louise had given her when the accident had first happened and forced herself to press the call button. Sitting there patiently, Taliah waited whilst the young sounding receptionist put her through to Louise.

"Hi Louise, it's Taliah. I was just wondering how everyone is?" She asked calmly down the phone and she could hear Louise in the background flicking through papers and typing on the keyboard then she finally spoke.

"Well, Finian is suffering from quite a bad headache today so we will need to keep him in another night in case it has anything to do with his head injury. Your Mum is doing well and should be getting moved out of intensive care sometime this afternoon and your Gran is the same as she was yesterday." Louise explained down the phone before pausing to allow Taliah to register everything that she had just said.

"Has Fin said anything about what happened last night?" Taliah asked nervously as she felt terrible for having to tell him but even more so for running off. She knew he only wanted to know what was going on like she does but she didn't have any idea how hard it would be trying to tell him the news.

"No, he's been really quiet since it happened but the headache he is suffering from won't be helping matters. Don't blame yourself for what happened." Louise explained but no matter how hard Taliah tried, she still ended up blaming herself as she did believe that the argument was her fault. Taliah wanted to carry on talking to Louise as she knew everything that was going on at the hospital but she didn't know what else to say so she hung up on her, not even bothering to say goodbye as her head was swarming with too many other thoughts. The harder she thought about things, the worse she felt and she could feel her own head starting to hurt.

The door to the toilets creaked open and she could hear a group of chattering girls entering symbolising the beginning of break. Taliah knew she couldn't hide in the cubicle forever so she unlocked the door and made her way out into the busy corridor where everyone was meeting up with their friends to have a catch up with them. Taliah however, barged her way through the crowds and up the stairs until she came to the art room. She loved this room the best as it was full of creativity and lots of different resources that she liked to look at but a teacher was still in there with a group of students so Taliah couldn't go in. Instead, she resorted to walking along the corridor and sitting down in a corner that was partly hidden out of view due to the two pieces of wall sticking out of create a kind of cove that she could sit down in.

However, the peace and quiet of sitting there didn't last long as she heard the door at the end of the corridor open and footsteps heading towards her before the sound of Mr Clarkson's voice broke the silence.

"Taliah, where have you been? Mrs Diamond has told me what happened in her lesson just then." Tom asked as he knelt down next to Taliah and as he did so he noticed the plaster on her hand.

"I'm sorry, I went to the toilets to sort myself out then came up here." Taliah explained but ensured that she avoided eye contact with Tom hoping that it would stop him from asking anymore questions, but it didn't.

"How did you hurt your hand?" Tom asked casually as he shuffled around on his knees as he had discovered that kneeling on the corridor floor when your knees are getting old isn't such a good idea.

"Cut it on some glass but I've cleaned it so it's ok now." Taliah replied, still avoiding all eye contact by looking at the floor. She was glad that it was Mr Clarkson who had found her as even though he does ask questions, he asks them in a casual way so that you don't feel pressured into answering them like you do with other teachers.

"How do you know that there isn't any glass in it?" Tom asked, again in a casual tone as he was trying to get her to open up to him but by not pressuring her to tell him stuff so that she can do it in her own time.

"My Grandad used to be a paramedic so he used to always teach me about what to do in different situations and he taught me how to check if there is any glass in a wound that would cause difficulty." Taliah replied. She used to love going round her Gran and Grandad's house as he always had stories to tell her from his day at work and was always teaching her first aid. She used to love wrapping people up in bandages and pretending to give them medicine in the form of skittles. It was because of her Grandad that she wants to do something to help people when she is older.

"Ah, I never knew that. What does he do now?" Tom questioned as he could tell from the tone that Taliah was using to talk about him that it was a tone of admiration.

"He died four years ago." Taliah said and she could feel herself becoming emotional again. It felt like everyone that she loved was leaving her. Tears slid down her cheeks and she knew that Tom had already seen them. He got up off the floor and stood next to Taliah who was sat sobbing on the floor.

"Come on you." Tom said as he held out his hand to help Taliah up off the floor and the duo walked down the corridor together towards the pastoral care office.