Free Turning Grace by J.Q. Davis Page A

made my way to the door. The bell rang right before I made it there and as I reached to turn the knob, darkness overcame me.
     
    ~ ~ ~ ~
     
    My eyes fluttered open. The smell of alcohol was burning my nose.
    “There you go. Wake up for me Grace.” A soft female voice spoke into my left ear. I looked over to see Nurse Nancy sitting next to me waving something around my nose. I didn’t want to be rude, but the smell was about to make me gag. I gently pushed her arm away and she got the hint.
    “How are you feeling, dear?” Nurse Nancy was a stout woman. She was older and had a quality about her. Like she was once very beautiful, but it seemed the years had not been kind to her. She knew her work well and seemed to have been doing it for a long time. She knew when a student was faking an illness and would kick them out of her office in a heartbeat. But if they really were ill, she was kind and sweet and very nurturing.
    I stared up at the ceiling for a moment before attempting to sit up. I had to pull myself together. There was a slight pain in my stomach, but not quite as bad as before. My hands shot up to my head, feeling around to make sure my hair was all still there. To my relief, it was.
    “Wh…what happened?” I could barely speak. The sterile paper I was lying on crunched as I sat up.
    “You fainted,” Nurse Nancy said as she jotted something down on her documents in front of her. “Do you faint often? Did you recently fall injuring your head? Do you feel nauseous at all?”
    I shook my head no to all of her questions, trying hard not to move too much. It was still throbbing, but not too bad.
    “Did you eat breakfast this morning?”
    “Yes,” I mumbled.
    “Well, sometimes if we are really hungry and don’t eat, or if we don’t eat enough, we can began to feel bad or queasy or even faint. I don’t see any other signs that point to this being something serious. Maybe you just didn’t eat enough this morning. I had an IV hooked up to you for a little bit while you were out, just to get some fluids in you.”
    “Did you call my…mom?” I asked. I knew she would freak if she didn’t know something like this happened.
    “We did call your mother. She is actually in the front office getting you checked out for the day. You should go home and rest a little. Get a good meal or two in. But take it easy for the rest of the day. I don’t think you have a concussion, but just in case. I’m going to update your mom in a minute and recommend making a doctor’s appointment, just to make sure your fainting spell today isn’t anything more serious.”
    She closed what I was assuming to be my file and walked over to me. She took my vitals before heading towards the door.
    “I am going to let your mom know you are awake.”
    I nodded and she left the room.
    Well this was wonderful, I didn’t finish my test. This would be the first time in the history of my schooling that I was not able to finish a test or possibly flunk it. I had never made a mark lower than a B in my life! And in math! Out of all—
    Oh.My.God. I passed out…in class…in front of Tristen.
    I dropped my head into my hands and fought the urge to cry. I couldn’t decide what was worse…falling and showing my holey granny panties to the entire school a few years ago…or fainting in front of Tristen. I pictured myself passing out, probably hitting the ground hard, arms and legs completely sprawled out with my mouth wide open, tongue hanging out, and drool oozing onto the floor.
    Yeah…I guess both instances were just as mortifying as the other. 
    There was a knock on the door of the small, hospital-like room. Great,  I had to deal with my mother. For some reason, I knew she would blame me for what happened. I was sure she was thinking that I didn’t eat enough breakfast. The truth was, I ate it all…and then some. I actually didn’t feel full after my bacon, sausage, pancakes, hash browns, eggs, and pigs in a blanket, so I ate a dish of