I'm sitting in my First Aid class that I'm only taking to fill an elective slot
The professor is talking but I'm having a hard time listening
She's running quickly through slides but they still move too slow
I feel a strangely acute sense of exhaustion
One uncharacteristic of my 8 hours of sleep and 11 am class time, yet I'm unsurprised at first
After all, I'd worked a busy day yesterday, perhaps I'd just been pushing myself too hard
And this class is rather boring
I yawn again, god, is that the tenth time now?
My eyes are watery and my nose is running
Presumably from the nonstop yawning
The teacher is done talking now, it's time to work on an assignment individually
I don't think I've ever been this tired
I haven't slept in class since third grade, but it sounds like a great idea now
I yawn again when I realize something
My hearing is getting strangely... fuzzy
It feels like all the sounds around me are coming in through cheap headphones that are slowly but steadily getting ripped out of my ears
Suddenly my stomach is in knots and it feels like at any moment it may fall out of me
Straight through the floor
I think to myself as my vision blurs
I can feel the sweat gathering on my skin
I consider, for a moment, what to do
I could simply lay my head against the desk
That would probably be okay, but if I laid down perhaps I could prevent fainting altogether
And the feeling of my body failing is becoming increasingly unpleasant
Though laying on the ground unprompted is probably frowned upon
I consider talking to the teacher
This is a first aid class, she'd know how to help
But I don't remember her name
I could say "professor", but then she'd know I forgot it
I decide to use my evermore shaky hands to get to the syllabus page on my open computer
"Mindy" is the only word I pick out of the increasingly blurry lines
I take a moment to try to gather my words but none come when I look up at her
Maybe I should just faint on the desk
My vision blurs deeper and speckles as my stomach knots further
"I don't feel well. I'm going to lay on the ground now."
I get on the floor with all the gracefulness expected of the situation and she rushes over
A student I don't know buys me a water bottle and another one looks over at me, but says nothing
I'd normally be concerned about staring but I can't quite make myself care now
Though I'd certainly care later
For now I just let myself lay on the ground, legs propped up on a chair and my hearing still muffled