8: The Label
“Hey, you.”
Alice looked up from her book and gave Eric a smile. “Hey yourself.” She carefully adjusted her position. “School out?”
“Sure,” he said as he came to stand beside her bed.
Alice smirked. “Eric, you should be in class.”
He sat down beside her and pulled a bunch of wildflowers from behind his back. “I'm on an errand for the class.”
“They're nice.” Alice took them with a disinterested look. “Thanks.”
Eric raised an eyebrow as he watched her set them beside her on the bed. “No problem.” Then he gestured to her bandaged shoulder, arm and wrist. “How's it feel?”
“It throbs sometimes, but I'll live.” Alice cleared her throat and stared at the flowers. “How’s Gau?”
Eric shrugged. “Don't know. Haven't seen him since he brought you here.”
Alice blinked at him. “What? He wasn't in class?”
“Nope.”
She shifted her focus to the flowers once more. “I hope he's all right.” She shuddered at the sudden flash of the Adamant in her memory.
“No kidding. What happened?”
Tears and embarrassment rushed to the surface. “We went for a walk. I guess we had so much on our minds we didn't notice the Adamant following us.”
“Are you serious? Gau didn't notice an Adamant?” Eric shook his head. “Man. He's got it worse than I thought.”
“What?”
“Don't worry about it. You just get better. The Figaros are coming tomorrow.”
Alice forced a half-smile. “Thanks, Eric. I'll sneak out and be in class before it starts. All right?”
He grinned and stood, giving her knee a pat. “Yeah. Right. I won't hold my breath.”
Then he left the room and Alice’s smile faded. She bit her lower lip-- she smacked the bed with the flowers and tossed them away, covering her face with trembling hands to hide the tears.