My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 46: Back to the past (7)
"THAT’S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY?!" She screamed at the clueless man.
He just shrugged, completely unaware of how serious the situation was.
Anastasia immediately panicked. She jumped to her feet and started pacing in circles.
"What should I do....What should I do!" Her eyes was wide open, as she tries to think of a solution.
Joshua watched the orange girl panicking, with an uninterested expression.
"Okay... okay, let’s calm down." She took a deep breath, then looked at Joshua. "I saw an infirmary when we were walking to our classroom. I’ll take you there!"
"Sure, why not." The man just went with the flow.
She grabbed his arm and started guiding him down the hallway.
"You know I can walk perfectly fine, right?"
Anastasia glanced at the cutter still embedded in his flesh, then shot him a glare. "No. That’ll only make things worse."
As they approached the elevator, they spotted Jay sweeping the hallway.
"Hey guys—OH MY GOD!" Jay jumped back, eyes locking onto Joshua’s injured leg. "DUDE, YOUR LEG! What happened?!" He pointed at the cutter, still dripping blood with every step.
"Long story. Tell everyone that me and Joshua are going to the infirmary."
They walked past the stunned Jay, leaving him speechless as he stared at the trail of blood smeared across the floor.
His eye twitched. And He proceeded to face-palmed.
"I literally just finished cleaning this..."
---
At the infirmary, Joshua lay on the nurse’s bed while the nurse examined the cutter lodged in his knee. She was amazed thag he could still act so calm despite the severity of the injury.
"Fascinating..." She leaned in for a closer look.
Anastasia’s eyes wandered, and she coughed deliberately.
"Oh! Right, sorry." The nurse straightened up and adjusted her mask. "Okay, kid. We’re going to need to pull that cutter out of your knee."
The nurse’s calm, almost cheerful tone only made Anastasia more anxious.
"WHY ARE YOU SAYING IT LIKE THAT?!"
Anastasia accidentally screamed at the nurse.
Both Joshua and the nurse stared at her like she’d lost her mind.
She immediately realized what she’d done and started apologizing.
The nurse just smiled and patted her shoulder.
"I understand you’re worried, but don’t worry."
Her chest began to glow a faint blue, and particles floated toward the fishbowl on the table. They coalesced into a pink axolotl.
Anastasia’s eyes lit up at the sight of the adorable amphibian.
"OH MY GOD! You have an axolotl as your spirit animal? SO CUTE!!"
She leaned in close, watching the bubblegum-pink axolotl wave at her before doing a playful somersault.
Anastasia’s nose started bleeding.
The axolotl chubby face and Boba eyes made things more worse.
The nurse chuckled at the girl’s reaction. "I assure you, your friend is in good hands."
She walked towards the bowl, the axolotl lifted from the water. And she pat it pink head.
"Bubble and I have healed countless students. Heck i’ve handled worse than this, believe me."
Finally, Anastasia felt her heart calm down.
She took a deep breath and turned to the nurse. "Thank you—"
She paused, realizing she didn’t know the woman’s name. Her eyes scanned the uniform until she spotted a nametag.
Alevia Grotto... What a pretty name!
"Thank you, Alevia... ma’am." Anastasia bowed repeatedly. "Please take good care of my friend!"
"Oh, please drop the formality. This is my job, after all."
Before leaving, Anastasia glanced back at Joshua, her face twisted with guilt—eyes furrowed, eyebrows downturned.
Joshua noticed her expression.
"It’s okay, Anastasia. I’m fine, really."
They exchanged a nod, and Anastasia finally left, trusting Alevia to do her work.
---
Hours passed as she waited outside the infirmary, tapping her foot and biting her nails.
Please... please let Joshua be okay.
Her forehead was slick with sweat. A headache pulsed behind her eyes as she clutched her head.
Memories started surfacing. She could her parents’ voices, always screaming at her.
They hated her foxy personality. Her clumsiness. Her loudness. Her nosiness.
This is why, she thought, sometimes a person’s spirit animal is the only one who truly understands them. Because they mirror their owner.
Suddenly, the infirmary door opened. Alevia emerged, pulling down her mask.
"Kid, I’m done. Your friend wants to see you."
Anastasia’s eyes shot open. She scrambled to her feet and rushed inside.
She threw back the curtain to find Joshua reclining on the bed, his bandaged knee propped up. The cutter sat on the table nearby.
"Hi, Anastasia—"
She cut him off, launching herself at him in a tight hug.
"Whoa—what’s with the sudden hug?"
Joshua was caught off guard—then he heard her sobbing.
"Ana.... Are you crying?"
She nodded slowly against his shoulder.
"I—I’m so... sorry... I really am..." Her voice cracked as she clung to him.
Joshua’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected her to feel this terrible about what happened.
After a few more sobs, his expression softened. He slowly patted her back.
"Hey. I’m fine."
"I know... It’s just—I was so worried." She pulled back, rubbing her red, puffy eyes. "I’m so sorry, Joshua. Next time I’ll be more careful. And I won’t bother you anymore..."
Joshua’s eyes shot open. He grabbed her shoulders and stared at her intently.
"Don’t. In fact, I love this side of you."
Anastasia tilted her head, confused. "What do you mean?"
"I think it’s cute. How clumsy and unaware you are."
The guilt that had been weighing on Anastasia’s stomach instantly transformed into a swarm of butterflies.
Her face went blank as she stared at him. She couldn’t believe he’d just said that.
For the first time in her life, someone actually liked her clumsy, stupid personality. And that person is none other, than her crush.
She touched her racing heart as her face turned tomato red.
Joshua raised an eyebrow at her strange reaction.
"Ana, your face is really red. Do you need the nurse?" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
OH MY GOD, YOU’RE SO CLUELESS. She screamed internally, looking down to hide her burning cheeks.
Behind the closed curtain, the nurse had heard everything.
She smiled and cupped her mouth.
"Ahhh... young love..."
