The Black Swan Behind

223 Emma Sick?

“I didn’t know Calvin Lee was a jerk?” Troy said before taking a bite of his grilled sausage.

“He isn’t. But to the men who are after Emma Hilland, Calvin Lee is a jerk,” Ian replied by giving Martin a mocking look.

“Why don’t you just be a female whisperer, Nicko? You damn brat!” Martin said.

Then, they all immediately stopped the joke when Emma and Calvin came to their long table. Ian and Nicko quickly shifted their seats to make room for the two of them before Martin did. They really would not let the mad man near Emma for fear that she would be disturbed.

“You’ve come this early in the morning?” Ian asked Emma and Calvin.

Emma nodded. “We just happened to meet up,”

“I should be the one asking why you guys suddenly gathered in the cafeteria so early in the morning?” Calvin asked.

“Just wanted to have a relaxing bro-time. Is that a problem?” Martin asked.

“I’m just asking,” Calvin said and rolling his eyes. Martin became too sensitive to him when Emma was around.

.....

Emma looked at the faces of the men at the table one by one. She chuckled because everyone had a cut or at least a bruise there, just like Calvin.

“Are you laughing at our faces?” Nicko smiled.

“Sorry. But that’s kind of funny. You’ve worked hard,” Emma covered her mouth with one hand. Luckily, she was able to keep her face smooth. Even if there was a little bruise, she could cover it with a make-up foundation.

“You speak as if you saw our struggle firsthand. But it was indeed an interesting fight. Thank you.” Troy nodded once.

Emma just smiled faintly. That was because she not only saw the fight firsthand, but also participated in it. But of course, Emma would play dumb. “Then, does that mean your mission was successful?” She asked.

Troy shrugged his shoulders. “The results are yet to be seen. But I’m sure it could be said so. It was a battle with a result we’ve never experienced before.”

“It was? What was that strange result like?” asked Emma again.

“It’s a draw,”

Emma smiled. “A draw?”

Troy nodded. “We didn’t lose, but we didn’t feel like we won. It was a strange game from the start. But we were surprisingly satisfied with the ending.”

“That’s good news, although it’s quite confusing to understand. But I can see your happy faces even though they are adorned with wounds.” Emma said.

“A man’s life would feel meaningless without a single scar on his body,” Frank said.

“That’s my bro!” Ian gave his fist bump to his best friend who immediately returned it.

“Anyways, where are your girl-friends, Emma? You girls usually are together even in the morning.” Calvin asked after he finished prepping his coffee and was now busy with his breakfast of scrambled eggs and four grilled sausages.

“Rachel has a fever, Poppy came a bit late because she has work to do, and Kathy has class off today. Everyone is busy with their own business.” Emma answered.

“Would the girls really be that close with each other to know their activities in such detail?” Martin asked with a pensive face.

Emma shrugged. “Aren’t you guys?”

“One would just say he didn’t come. It’s rare to tell us why in such detail.” Ian answered.

“Yeah, who cares anyway?” Troy shrugged his shoulders before taking a bite of his food.

“Well.. I guess that’s one of the differences between boys’ and girls’ friendships.” Emma shrugged as she took a notebook out of her bag and placed it next to her coffee cup and a plate of peanut butter toast for breakfast.

“Do you know there’s a quiz for economy class today?” Emma asked Calvin who had just torn off a packet of peppercorns.

“I do. I just happened to be studying last night.”

“You were?” Emma’s eyebrows shot up.

Calvin nodded with a smile. “I always study every night.”

“Every night? I didn’t think you were that nerdy,” Ian looked at him with wide-eyes.

“Calvin stands among the three students with the highest total scores this semester in our batch so far. It’s impossible to get it all by chance.” Nicko said.

“You have the point. Studying is important to me. And I don’t care about being called a nerd.” Calvin said as he slowly poured ground pepper over the eggs.

A faint gust of air flew the pepper flakes past Emma who was staring at her notebook. As soon as the pepper flakes were inhaled into her nose, Emma immediately covered her nose and mouth with both hands before sneezing a few times.

Even the way Emma sneezed made the men who were sitting together at the table laugh because they thought her sneeze was damn cute.

Calvin quickly pulled out two sheets of napkin paper that were in the middle of the table and handed them to Emma with an amused and guilty face. “Oh.. I’m sorry, Emma. Looks like my peppers flew towards you,”

Still feeling itchy on her nose, Emma just shook her head slowly. “It’s okay.” She replied as accepting the paper and wiping her nose and hands. After that, she took out the hand sanitiser from her bag and put it on before returning to the notebook she had been reading.

But Emma was surprised when a drop of blood suddenly dripped on the white paper in her notebook.

“Emma! Your nose is freaking bleeding!” Martin said as soon as he saw fresh blood flowing out of Emma’s nostrils.

“Wha..?” Emma immediately touched her nostril and felt something wet there. As soon as she looked at her finger, it was true that it was covered in blood.

Seeing this, Calvin swiftly took out a lot of tissue and put it under Emma’s nose. “Put your head up!” He said as he grabbed the back of her neck.

“Why do you have a nosebleed? Are you sick?” Nicko asked with a worried expression.

Emma shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“The blood poured out quite much. You should take her to the clinic,” Ian quickly said to Calvin.

Calvin nodded. “I know. Please watch our things here,”

“I’ll hold them for you,” Martin said, immediately standing up.

“Emma, ??we’re going to the clinic. Can you walk? Do you have a headache?” Calvin asked the girl quietly.

Emma shook her head. “No. I’m fine. Please calm down,” She said as she turned to hold the bunch of tissues Calvin was holding in front of her nose. “Let me handle it myself. I really am fine.”

Calvin’s face looked overwrought. He nodded then grabbed Emma’s shoulders to help her up. “Listen. We’re going to the clinic now. Tell me if you feel dizzy or anything. Got it?”

“Got it,” Emma answered without lowering her face which was facing the ceiling.

Then, Calvin pulled out a few more tissue paper before leading Emma off to the nearest clinic with Martin following them with their bags.

“Sounds a bit serious. It’s past the season for people to get nosebleeds, isn’t it?” Frank asked. Winter has indeed passed.

“Emma’s face was a little paler than usual. She looked like she was exhausted.” Nicko said.

“I will follow them.” Ian stood up.

Troy turned to his best friend. “You too?”

Ian shrugged once. “You guys are boring.”

“You moron!” Nicko said in annoyance.

***

Once in the clinic room,

Emma was seated on the bed. A senior female doctor immediately approached the four students who came with a commotion.

“What happened?” The doctor asked.

“Her nose is bleeding! Please check on her immediately. She has never been like this.” Calvin said quickly.

“I’m fine. It’s just somehow my nose bleeds after sneezing,” Emma explained calmly.

“Well.. A nosebleed, huh? Alright, let me check it first. You don’t need to panic.” The doctor said, more to Calvin and Martin who looked like they had seen someone brutally hit by a car. “You gentlemen can back off a bit now.” She smiled kindly at them.

“It’s just a nosebleed, Guys,” Ian said with his arms folded across his chest. He was the only one standing quite far from the bed.

“Then why did you come here?” Martin looked at him sarcastically.

“Making sure you don’t do anything stupid,” Ian answered flatly as he watched Emma who was being examined.

“Do you often have nosebleeds?” The doctor asked Emma.

“I think I haven’t, in all my life. This is the first time I’ve had a nosebleed.” She replied as she lowered her hand which had been covering her nose with a few tissue papers.

“You look pale today, Emma. Could it be that you’re tired? Do you usually have regular check-ups? I’ll take you if you want,” Said Calvin who was standing next to the doctor.

The doctor smiled faintly. Even though she was old, she knew exactly why this girl could make three men go mad at once just because she had a nosebleed. Even when her face was pale and her nose was bleeding, she still looked like God’s best masterpiece.

“Maybe you should take a few more steps back, Calvin. You’re obstructing the doctor’s work,” Ian eventually scolded him. He couldn’t stand the stupid behaviour of his two friends. People like them were the ones who tarnish a man’s self-esteem.

With a worried face and without taking his eyes off Emma at all, Calvin finally agreed to take three steps back so as not to exhaust the oxygen around the doctor.

Emma smiled faintly as she lifted her head. “I’m sorry. They sure are a bit rowdy.”

“I have a son who is in his final year of high school. They really are like that,” The doctor answered in a very calm and steady tone while examining Emma’s nose.

“Are you sure you don’t feel dizzy? How is your vision?” The doctor asked as she took out a small flashlight from the pocket of her white coat and aimed it at the eyes of the young girl in front of her.

.....