=Normal POV=
(Monday, 5/28/2018-7:20 am)
(Archian Island, Berk)
(Berkian Academy)
The friends, and Nicole were excited because today, Hunter was returning to school. The group hadn't seen him since the 19th, when he told everyone to leave him alone and get out of his hospital room by going home. Nicole explained, through her father's words, that Hunter was probably feeling a bit overwhelmed with everyone there as he woke up from a long surgery. Also, his father didn't help matters any by starting on Hunter just minutes after he'd woken up. And maybe, just a feeling, that the day itself wasn't good because it marked the one year of his mother being gone. So the mix of emotions caused Hunter to need time to sit with everything and sort out his thoughts. The friends understood, but it still sucked to have not seen him at all and only get very little updates Nicole, who only got them from her dad, and those weren't big either due to doctor/patient confidentiality. All they ever got was that Hunter was okay and his recovery going well. So, today, they would get to see him and hoped everyone would go back to normal.
For Hunter, the first thing he did on Monday morning was shower how he was supposed to for his wound to be okay. Hunter got dressed, bag set, and then grabbed himself breakfast. The last thing he did before heading out was grab his pain medication; he'd need it to get through the day if the teachers accepted his plan to make everything up before grades closed, otherwise; he'd be stuck in summer school and he didn't want to do that. Hunter left early to get to the school to be able to talk to his teachers; he arrived at 7:00 am and was able to get them rounded up into a conference room. Hunter was sure it was pity that got them to accept, but he didn't care. Hunter had his way to get his make up work and exams done by the end of this week, which was Friday, June 1st. It would be a lot, but Hunter reckoned he could manage. When the meeting was out; he headed to find his friends, knowing they'd want to see him and there was still nineteen minutes until the warning bell anyway.
The friends were already hanging outside along the C-Hallway classrooms, and waiting for Hunter, assuming that he'd be there as he drove himself and usually arrived around this time.
"So, he's all good now?" Travis asked.
"Still recovering, but the tumor was removed," Shane stated. "That's what Uncle Spencer told mom and dad."
"I see him!" Heather beamed, pointing to Hunter coming through the breezeway and heading towards them.
Nicole about cried, but kept herself together. Once he was front of her, she went to hug him tightly and he stopped her. "Easy, Milady…No tackling, no bear hugs…" Hunter reminded softly.
Nicole nodded and gently hugged him as she would if it were newborn baby in her arms. "I've missed you…" She sighed out softly, being careful of where the wound was.
"Missed you too, babe." Hunter replied, lightly hugging her back.
"I call full tackle bear hug when you're healed." Nicole smiled up at him.
"It's all yours, but get in line with dad and Glenn because they called it last Friday morning." Hunter stated as he looked in her eyes. Nicole carefully got her hand around the back of his head and pulled him towards her for a deep kiss, not caring that it technically wasn't allowed. She didn't care, there was about three weeks left of school. Hunter kissed her back and then they broke it before they got in trouble. "Wish we didn't have to keep them so short or clean…" He mumbled quietly as Nicole blushed.
"We still on for dates this week?" Nicole wondered.
"Of course. I owe you for last week when I was in the hospital during our anniversary, and then one just because we do it weekly." Hunter stated.
"What days are we going for those?" Nicole asked.
"I'll get back to you on that, love. I gotta figure out how much make up work there is first…Remember I missed an entire week, right before exams too…" Hunter sighed.
"Nah, cuz; you're good." Shane smiled as he went to smack Hunter on the back, but he moved.
"Don't…" Hunter said. "No hard hits; nothing to the back or chest…Even the stomach is pushing it. No tight hugs, no tackling. My body feels like it was hit with a truck…" He informed.
"Ouch…" The others said, knowing it had to suck.
"Total recovery is six weeks, and he's already done one as of Saturday the 26th. So five more to go…Chest pain, especially where the surgery was, and a lot of fatigue…Right, baby?" Nicole explained, but looked to Hunter for confirmation; he nodded to her.
"The pain will fade as I recover, but right now…It's still pretty fresh," Hunter added in. "Now, what about being good?" He looked at his cousin.
"You don't have make up work to do, just focus on the exams." Shane smiled.
Hunter arched a brow as Shane wasn't make sense. "What your idiot cousin means, Hunter, is that Fisher and Nicole got all your work while you were out…" Ashley sighed.
"And we split it up among us to do for you, that way you wouldn't have so much to do when you returned on top of studying for finals." Mindy said lightly.
"We turned it in on Friday. You don't have any make up work to do, Hunter…" Fisher nodded.
Hunter couldn't believe they'd done that for him? Taking all his work, on top of their own? "We knew you'd probably feel overwhelmed with so much to do, and stress wouldn't be good for your recovery…" Raelyn stated.
"And we figured, as you confirmed, that you get tired easily while recovering," Heather interjected.
"So we figured to help out a little." Nicole held his hand.
"I-I don't know what to say…Thanks, guys. Seriously…" Hunter said, still astonished by what they came together to do for him.
"You're welcome!" The group said with smiles.
"Suddenly makes sense why the meeting I had with the teachers this morning kept smiling and saying don't worry about missing so much work; there's plenty of time til the 1st…" Hunter remarked.
"Yeah, it's because we already did it and all you gotta do is your exams." Travis grinned.
Just then, the bell rang signaling they had a minute to get to class. "Catch you at lunch." Hunter said as he left with Nicole and Fisher for their first class.
. . .
(12:00 pm)
(Cafeteria)
Nicole and Fisher noticed something wasn't right with Hunter during their classes leading up to lunch. The obvious something was that he was uncomfortable having to sit up so much, and the overwhelming fatigue. But it also seemed like there was more. Hunter was quiet walking in the halls between classes, only answering if needed and in the shortest amount of words he could manage. Fisher and Nicole didn't draw attention to things, but kept a watch on him throughout classes. However, the rest of the group noticed the same behavior during the first half hour of lunch. Hunter wasn't into anything, and not talking. Thankfully, he was eating, despite being quiet. The friends were trying to quietly decide what they should do.
"So, Hunter?" Shane got his attention as Hunter looked over. "Coach want me to as if you're free Friday night at 4 pm?"
Hunter shrugged. "Probably. Glenn won't let me work til Keith clears me as recovered…Why, he want me to play or something?"
Shane and Travis arched their brows at him. "Uh…Season is over, dude. No more games." Travis said.
"Then why am I needed?" Hunter asked.
"Uh, party for the team? Celebrate our last year…?" Shane reminded. "We do it every year."
"But gonna be way more epic this year. We're celebrating the victory, coach wanted to wait until you got released to be part of it." Travis added.
"What victory? That I didn't die on the court?" Hunter remarked sarcastically. The friend picked up on the sarcasm easily, that wasn't anything new for Hunter to do. It was the strange hint of anger in his voice when talking about the game last week. Or maybe the anger was just a mask to hide the sadness.
"Oh, right…You wouldn't let anyone visit you, so we never got to tell you…" Travis suddenly remembered.
"Oh my Gods, out with it, Trav…" Hunter sighed.
"Hunter, after you collapsed and were rushed off to then hospital…Trav and I stayed to finish the game with another player who had gotten sick but felt better. If we'd left and didn't have the other guy; we would have had to forfeit…But…We won." Shane explained.
"What?" Hunter stared.
"Berkian Hooligans won the game last Saturday, Hunt. We're the 2018 Basketball Champs for the High School leagues." Travis grinned.
"Yeah, the party is to celebrate that victory." Shane smiled. Hunter didn't say anything at first; he was glad they won and his near death hadn't messed things up.
"Yeah, it was pretty awesome when the buzzer sounded and all the cheering happened. We got away pretty fast before all the scholarship scouts reached us and started asking questions about the future of continuing to play on into college." Travis nodded.
It was like the whole aura around Hunter had shifted and everyone noticed that he was no longer surprised about the win, and he'd gone very quiet. Hunter realized what was wrong with him, what had been wrong since he woke up and understood he collapsed at the game and was rushed out to the hospital. His head was a mess because he was upset about what happened, how things played out. Hunter was going to miss Saturday's practice because of it being the one year anniversary of his mom passing away, but then he was suddenly called to play because it was the championship and they needed a player to avoid forfeiting. But even with the fact he ended up not missing the game; he blacked out in the last ten to fifteen minutes, a crucial time because things were close with the other team.
This is what was wrong with him; he was upset that despite getting the chance to play the big game that he would have missed if he ignored that call; his chance to get a scholarship…And he passed out and couldn't finish the game. He couldn't celebrate with the others. He didn't get to talk to any scholarship scouts. And everything was just over now. The season was over, and this was Hunter's last year at this school. Not even a year, just a few weeks. The one thing he strived for was gone. The chance he'd worked so hard for was gone. And Hunter hated it. He hated what happened and it didn't make him angry as much as it upset him.
"Uh?..." Fisher asked.
"Hunter? A-Are you okay?" Nicole inquired, putting her hand on his arm. Hunter closed his eyes and shook his head a moment before getting his stuff and rising to his feet; cringing a bit from the chest pain. "Where are you going? Lunch is for another twenty minutes…"
"Yeah, yeah I know…I'm just gonna see if the nurse has anything for pain. I can't exactly bring my pain killers here and the ones from this morning are wearing off…" Hunter bent down carefully and kissed her forehead before leaving the cafeteria without another word.
"I'm…Not the only one who noticed how fast his moods shifted, right?" Heather inquired.
"No…We all saw that." Ashley replied.
"W-Well, it's only been a week since surgery. He's probably in a lot of pain even with the meds to help, but without them…" Mindy shrugged.
"He feels everything, and the stuff the nurse has probably won't even make a difference." Fisher stated.
"No…What Hunter just did was dodge a confrontation by leaving under a good, but still untrue excuse…" Raelyn said.
"She's right…My dad wrote a note for Hunter to be able to administer his own meds if needed at school and I know he has them with him because I caught him reading the label earlier to see when he could take another one…" Nicole nodded. "The school is fine with him taking his prescribed stuff because they know their basic aspirin and tylenol would never even touch the surface of the pain he feels while recovering from open heart surgery…" She added.
"So…Why'd he lie to us and bail?" Travis asked.
"I don't know…" Nicole frowned a little. "Maybe he's upset about something?" She offered.
"Well, whatever it is…We should probably just not hound him, right?" Shane inquired.
"Yeah, still here for him, but not pushing it." Heather nodded.
"And if it gets worse?" Ashley looked at them.
"We intervene…" The group agreed together.
. . .
(12:15 pm)
(Nurse's Office)
Hunter just wanted to get away from the conversation about anything basketball-related, so he took to leaving as he was done eating anyway. Hunter went and used the bathroom and shot Keith a text, asking if he was allowed to take his medications at school. Keith had told him that he could originally, but he wanted to make sure there weren't any stipulations attached to it.
Keith's Cell, 12:18 pm
You can carry your meds and take them yourself, but you have to in front of the nurse. School rules, not mine.
Okay, cool. Thanks.
Hunter left the bathroom and went down A-Hall to get to the nurse's office; he walked in at Allison smiled at him. "Hello, Hunter. What can I do for you today?"
"Rules say I can take my pain killers, but have to be in front of you when I do…" Hunter said.
"Yes, sorry about that; I know it's silly, but we had students in the past who said they were just pain killers and were really illegal drugs. It was put in place about five years ago, so I just have to check the prescription bottle and watch you take them as prescribed," Allison confirmed. Hunter pulled the pill bottle out of his pocket and handed it to her as she checked over the medication name, and description of what the pill looked like. She smiled, and handed it back. "All set." She added, handing it back. Hunter opened it and poured one into his palm, taking it with a drink from his water bottle. "How are you feeling?"
Hunter shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Chest hurt, mostly on the left side."
"That's to be expected, sweetheart. But okay otherwise?" Allison asked.
Hunter nodded, checking the time on his phone. The bell would be ringing in ten minutes, and he didn't even want to be at school anymore. There was no real reason for him to be either; he took his two exams for today. That's how it worked to make sure everything was in for Friday's final grade submits. Five classes, two exams per day in the morning. The rest of the time was to study or do make up work. Since Hunter didn't have any to do, and could study at home, did he need to be here? "Hey, exam rules say that if we don't have other exams and no make up work, students who are eighteen or older can leave, right?" Hunter asked.
"That's right." Allison nodded to him.
"Cool, I'm just gonna go home and rest then." Hunter adjusted his backpack and headed out of Allison's office; he moved to the sign out sheet and set his name, the time, and reason. Looking at the paper; Hunter could see where a lot of seniors left the reason; exams over. So he set down the same reason and then left the building to get to the student lot.
"Um…I think Hunter just signed out and left…" Fisher pointed out as the friends saw Hunter walking away from the main office where the sign out sheet was.
"Where's he going?..." Nicole wondered, getting her phone out to text him.
12:25 pm
Baby, where are you going? We just saw you at the office.
My Hunty, 12:25 pm
Home. Exams done for the day, and you guys did all my make up work, so no reason to stay. Sorry…Sore, tired, want to lay down for a bit. Love you.
"What did he say?" Shane questioned.
"Said he's going home, no reason to stay with today's exams over and because we did his make up work. Stated being sore, tired, and wanting to lay down…I guess I can't argue that. It's true." Nicole shrugged.
"His mood is probably gonna be a bit off while he recovers. Feeling tired and sore, likely that he's limited on what he can do right now. No more games or practices, and he said earlier that Glenn won't let him work in the shop until he's healed fully. We all know Hunter is pretty active all the time and this doesn't let him do that." Fisher explained.
"That's true…I guess we just give him his space, and be around for if he needs us." Heather replied gently as the others nodded and agreed.
. . .
(12:45 pm)
(Haddock House)
Hunter got home and parking in the garage and then getting into the house; he dropped his bag by his desk, got a cold water bottle, kicked off his shoes and then laid on his bed. Hunter adjusted the pillows to be somewhat reclined because it hurt too much to be laying flat on his back. Flipping the TV on for background noise, Hunter watched a couple things before dozing off around 1 pm. It was peaceful in the house; Spencer and Glenn were both working, and his friends still at school. Hunter hated the tired feeling, but at least he had some comfort in knowing that it was due to the surgery, not the tumor like before. Hunter figured a nap might help, and then when he woke up; he'd figure out what to do with the rest of his day and night.
