“Oh.” Professor Hunter touched his black eye and tried to laugh it off. “I had forgotten about that. Just a misunderstanding.” He turned toward my mom. “And Mrs. Taylor.” He put his hand out and she quickly shook it. She didn’t look angry at all. She actually looked ecstatic.
“Excuse my outfit.” Professor Hunter tugged the zipper on his hoodie all the way up to his neck. “I just rushed over as soon as I heard what happened.” He leaned down, picked up his shoes off the floor, and sat down in a chair. He laced his shoes and stood back up.
“It’s so nice to meet you, James,” my mom said. She was smiling from ear to ear. “So how do you know Penny?”
“Oh.” He smiled over at me. “We actually met at a coffee shop on Main Street at the beginning of the semester.”
“Is that so?”
“And we ended up having a class together. Comm.”
“Do you hate it as much she does?” my mom asked.
Professor Hunter laughed. “I actually love the class. It’s my favorite this semester. Mostly because Penny’s in it.” He smiled at me. “You know, I didn’t actually know she hated it, though. Her speeches are really good. She tends to be too hard on herself.”
“That’s what I always say,” my mom responded.
This could not be any more awkward.
“It’s so nice to get to meet Penny’s new friends. We got to meet Brendan yesterday. Such a sweetheart. He stayed and waited for hours to see if she was okay. Are you friends with him too?”
A cloudy expression crossed over Professor Hunter’s face. But only for a second. I was probably the only one who saw it.
“No. And actually, Penny and I aren’t just friends. She’s my girlfriend.”
“Oh?” My mom looked even happier, if that was possible.
“Yes.”
“I’m so sorry, James. Penny didn’t tell us she was dating anyone. I’m so embarrassed. Penny, this is kind of a big deal isn’t it? Your first boyfriend?”
Mom! “It’s still new. I was going to tell you.” I thought it couldn’t get any weirder, but it just had. Is she trying to mortify me?
Professor Hunter turned back to me. It looked like he was biting the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from laughing. He seemed to be enjoying himself now.
“You know what? James was the first thing she said when she woke up. We had no idea what she was talking about. But I guess she wanted to see you. Isn’t that sweet, honey?” She looked over at my dad.
“Mhm,” my dad said and crossed his arms. He never got mad, but he looked so angry right now.
James seemed to sense the hostility in the air too. “Well, I don’t want to interfere with your time, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. I just spent all night with her.”
What the hell?
“Sleeping,” Professor Hunter quickly said.
“Excuse me?” my dad said.
Professor Hunter cleared his throat. “Not sleeping with her. I was just in bed with her. Sleeping next to her I mean. Just beside her.” Professor Hunter shoved his hands into his pockets. He was usually so collected. But my father was intimidating him. It was actually pretty entertaining to watch.
My mom laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous, James. We’d like to get to know you.” She walked into the room and sat down in one of the chairs. My dad walked over to the only other chair and sat down. His arms were still crossed.
Professor Hunter half stood half sat on the edge of my bed. I reached over and grabbed his hand. He seemed to automatically relax. He squeezed my hand.
There was an awkward silence in the room. I was relieved when there was a knock on the door and the doctor walked in.
“You look a lot better this morning,” she said. I saw her eyes flit toward Professor Hunter for a second. I couldn’t help but be a little jealous.
“Do you think I can go home today?”
“Let’s see.” She pressed a button on the machine that had been monitoring my heartbeat. It started printing out a long chart. “Well that’s strange.”
“What is it?” my father asked.
“Well, it looks like there was a twenty minute period of escalated pulse.”
Professor Hunter laughed and then turned it into a forced cough. He squeezed my hand and looked down at his shoes.
Oh my God. I hadn’t even thought about someone monitoring the information on that stupid machine. Who has sex in a hospital bed anyway? Didn’t I have any control?
“How are you feeling?” she asked and looked at me. “Are you struggling for breath at all? Have you noticed that your heart is racing? Or any palpitations?”
“No. Not at all. I’m fine.”
She flipped a few switches on the monitor. “It could have been a computer malfunction. It seems to be working fine now, though. Strange.” She leaned down and unplugged the machine and then plugged it back in.
“Maybe it was just a nightmare or something,” I said quietly.
“Possibly,” the doctor replied. “So the man who brought you in said you had fallen a couple nights ago and hit your head pretty bad. And then you fainted yesterday afternoon. Are you feeling lightheaded at all today?”
“No. I feel a lot better.”
“Well you have a moderate concussion. You shouldn’t have been walking around by yourself. Plus you had an empty stomach and you were dehydrated. It’s no wonder that you fainted.”
“Will she be okay now?” Professor Hunter asked.
“She needs to rest and build her strength back up.”
“Can she leave today?” he asked.
“Let’s keep the IV in for a few more hours to help with your dehydration. I’ll be back to check on you soon. And if everything looks good and your heart rate stays down, you can head home.”
“How long should she stay at home?” my mom asked. “She has classes.” She looked at my dad. “I can take tomorrow off. I just need to call in.”
“I’d recommend taking it easy for a few days. Definitely no classes on Monday. And just see how you feel on Tuesday. Don’t push yourself. I’ll be back in a few hours to check in.” The doctor nodded at my parents and walked out of the room.
“Okay, let me call the office.” My mom stood up and grabbed her purse.
“She can come back to my place,” Professor Hunter said. “If that’s okay with both of you, of course.” He looked at my parents.
“A dorm room isn’t the best place to recoup from this,” my dad said coolly.
“He actually lives in a nice apartment, Dad. It would be okay with me. I don’t want to inconvenience you guys.”