I was told to stay in the hospital for a week,I really could not answer the questions the doctors asked me about my health. It is true that I have not been to the hospital much, at least not as much as a person my age should’ve. It was only because I never got sick enough for the hospital. The handful of times I visited the hospital was for some kind of broken arm or leg or a vaccination shot. Whenever I got sick, I would be healed before it got serious. A cold would only last a day in my body, and a stomach ache from eating something off-putting would last only a few hours. It was a blessing, in a way, because my mother and I were not that well off as my mother refused any kind of financial help from my father. I considered myself extremely lucky to have such a good immunity system.Which was why it was such a surprise when I was told I had an allergy to silver of all things. Because this isn’t the first time I have ingested silver, and never before have I gone to anaphylactic shock

“I think your father’s idea has many merits. A person must know how to defend themselves. Given how you have a penchant to end up in fights, it would be prudent to learn how to fight back.” Gerald says after we exit the restaurant, he took me out to for celebrating winning the hearing.It still feels so bizarre to me, because I honestly didn’t expect for the Dean and the school board to take my side in the hearing. I’ve never had that happen to me before. Usually, I would be the one getting the short end of the stick, but this time, I won. I won over Stone and his goons, and I won’t have to be paranoid and watch over my shoulder every time I enter campus grounds again.However, my victory came with consequences. I did not miss the pure venomous glare I was shot by Stone’s father the last time I caught sight of him. His gaze promised retribution for what I’d done to his son, and I have a feeling that I’d made a powerful enemy.Which is yet another reason to consider my father’s advice.

That night as I do my homework, I cannot help but mull over the words of both Brannan as well as the hospital staff.I’ve never thought of my health much. I got as sick as regular children did and got into the same scrapes as they did. I never gave much thought about how my bruises would fade away so quickly, or about how I never spent a day in the hospital except for a broken limb. Even then, I’ve only had my limbs broken twice, both by accidents. I remember now how the doctors remarked about how quickly I healed and called me a good boy for taking care of myself enough to accelerate the healing process. Back then I absorbed the praise as if it was precious but did not think about it further. My mother, when she was alive, never seemed fazed about this. Like me, she was quick to heal.I ponder more about what Brennan said than the doctors did. I thought I was a lousy fighter and a terrible klutz because according to all my past experiences I was. I always came home with bruised knees

Coraline instantly gets up from her seat and embraces me.“I’m sorry, Jace,” she says, squeezing me.I let her friendly warmth comfort me and wrap my arms around her. I do not like the fact that my mother’s death makes me feel so out of depth. I feel like I’m weak for still getting this emotional over it after so many years. The rational part of my brain understands that losing a parent, especially a parent who entirely raised you is going to be hard, and that kind of wound cannot be healed easily. But the smaller, illogically macho part of me that still reels over the fact Stone managed to send me to the hospital urges me to man up and bottle all my feelings inside. It’s a constant battle to not give into that voice because I’m well-read enough to know bottling up feeling ultimately leads to a nasty climax. So, I force away those feelings and focus on the present, on the tickle of Coraline’s hair on my cheeks, and the pleasant smell of her body wash that still drifts.“It’s alright,”

Coraline got released a day later from the hospital. She was extremely disturbed to learn about the situation with her life insurance, as she had not even been aware of something like that happening.“He must’ve forged my signature,” she utters in horror, sitting on her hospital bed as doctors fussed around, making sure she was ready to be released, “I do not have any sort of memory about altering my life insurance policy.”“You know, that is a crime, right?” I ask her, “you need to take this to the police, Coraline.”She nods mutely, “I’m afraid I must. But first, I need to talk to him.”And she looked so damned terrified at the idea that I wanted to find Aiden and strangle him for what he did to her. I could understand her hesitance, but as long as she was afraid of him, he would get the power to control her life even without being her boyfriend. I can’t even imagine how he managed to forge the documents and alter her life insurance without anyone noticing. I have a suspicion that h