#tsage

Tessa was shutting down the computers in her classroom, shaking her head at the ones students left on after she’d given her routine reminder to power them down when the school day ended. Her speed from one monitor to the next hadn’t been with her usual energy, which had been the case throughout the week. Professional as she knew she ought to be, she couldn’t muster it when her computer-like mind held perfect memories of Kevin’s battered state. She had spent every afternoon in the infirmary, sitting beside his bed. Sometimes she would converse and tell him stories of things that happened during the school days. Other times she sat in relative silence, circling her warm, soft fingertips around his cool, dry, bruised knuckles.

Today, she opted for the latter, sitting at his bedside with her iPad in her lap and a free hand’s fingertips gliding back and forth along each one of his digits. The swelling on his face had gone down but the bruises had changed from dark reds with yellowish surroundings to deep purples. Both Warren and Jean already told the rest of the staff that he probably wouldn’t be doing much walking for a while after he awoke, and that they didn’t know when he would awaken. She knew head injuries made it difficult to determine much of anything when the person was comatose. So tonight, she sat cross-legged in the usual chair and let her iPad play some of his favorite music, having added the Stevie Wonder station with her others, for him. The side of her wagged to the drum beat of The Temptations’ “Get Ready” quietly playing while she drafted a brand new configuration for the school’s security system upgrade. Contrary to her dismal mood throughout the week, she found her head making shallow bobs, mimicking the actions of her foot as the song moved from that to the Foundations’ “Build Me Up Buttercup”, to Ray Charles’ “Hit the Road Jack”.

Her iPad wielding fingers slid slowly across the screen to view a blueprint of the entire Xavier property as the song then transitioned to Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me”. She’d actually been familiar with this song, having heard it amongst her dad’s vinyl collection in her teens. She had a vivid recollection of her dad sitting at his work desk in their old London flat, glasses low on the bridge of his nose and a cigarette between his lips. Somehow he managed to keep it there while mouthing and occasionally humming along to the lyrics as he bent over schematics of a new project. Tessa would watch and sway with her entire body, saying nothing. It was the most at peace that she would ever see her father.

The other memory that had gone with the classic song was the afternoon following the first exclusive dinner date she’d had with Kevin. School had ended for the day and her back was to the door, erasing the whiteboard when he’d strolled into her classroom, phone sticking out of his jeans pocket with the speakers facing up and the song playing. She hadn’t heard it at first but as soon as Ben E. King’s voice filled the quiet space, she’d gasped, jumped and dropped her eraser to the floor. She ended up turning right into his arms as they closed around her middle, instantly triggering a smile on her face that refused to be tamed. The greeting soon turned into them slow dancing like middle schoolers--Kevin smiling down at her and Tessa frequently ducking her head down while her cheeks remained hot. He’d pulled bouts of giggles from her effortlessly, each time he pretended to fancify their dancing with impromptu spins and playful leans into her front. Well before the song ended, he’d moved his hand up from the middle of her back to the side of her face; his head bent close and he’d kissed her tenderly. She, in return, rose up on the balls of her boot-clad feet while hooking a hand around the back of his neck. They shared a string of of lip-smacking kisses until her Skittles-flavored chapstick was glossed over his lips as well.

She remembered everything about that day--his surprise appearance; the dancing despite her uncertainty of how he’d be leading her, and how she honestly didn’t care in that moment. How the dancing melted into sweet kisses that eased her mind for once. A moment where she didn’t have to insert logic or have a right answer or hold herself into much confidence. All she had to do and all she wanted to do was enjoy that moment and relish in the excitement that she would never forget it for as long as she lived.

Her memories were rapidly overridden by the sudden shift underneath her fingertips. Her chest rapidly flared up with the gasp, and she jerked her head toward the hospital bed. Her hazel-brown eyes had gone wide, darting from Kevin’s hand to his face. He hadn’t opened his eyes yet but his fingers stirred again, starting with his pinky and ring finger, and soon his forefingers were rising and falling onto the bed sheet, curling ever so slightly until they found what they were looking for--her own fingers.

Tessa nearly dropped the tablet but quickly moved it into her messenger bag before turning a panicked gaze back to Kevin. “Oh my--K...Kevin? Can you hear me?” she asked in a hushed, hurried tone. She could see his eyes moving from behind closed lids--could see the fog within his oxygen mask appear with a little more strength as he hooked his pinky around her ring-adorned middle finger.

“I can...hear you...Tessa,” she heard in her head. Even mentally, he sounded utterly exhausted

Something in her mind told her to speak back to him, telepathically as well, but she thought twice and shook her head, smiling foolishly at herself while the rims of her eyes were pricked with new tears. “Good...good.” As she said this, his head slowly lolled in her direction and he sputtered a few mild coughs.

Tessa leaned forward while taking his hand in hers. She felt him give it a feeble squeeze and while she reached up to brush some chestnut strands from his forehead, she gave a wet sniff.

“You’re crying...Please...don’t. I hate...you being...upset..”

“I-I’ve...just been scared,” she told him with insistent breaths. “I’m glad. I promise, I’m just glad. Relieved. All I’ve wanted this week is for you to wake up.” She bit her lip as though it might keep her tears from spilling over

Kevin wheezed in a deep breath while attempting to lift his free hand to his face, but he’d been tethered to an I.V. “Stupid...mother...fuckin’...”

Tessa lowered her gaze while huffing a tiny giggle. When she raised her eyes again, she told him, “I can hear you, you know.”

“Oh...right…” his own lips tugged up weakly; finally, his eyes slowly fluttered open. It took a moment but his vision came into focus enough for him to clearly make out Tessa’s close face. He moved his hand from her palm to her cheek, each digit pressed to her skin like dead weight.

She raised her hand to hold his there without taking her eyes off of his, even after they fell shut again. “I should go get Warren or Jean but...How...how are you feeling?” she quietly asked.

He cracked a weak smile again as he plainly thought, “Like...I got used as...a hacky sack for some Amazons.”

At first Tessa looked stunned by his answer, but she soon found herself laughing. She tucked her lips in to quell it and pushed the pair back out. “Even in a hospital bed, I don’t know where you think of things like this. You’re looking a better than that. Or what that sounds like.”

His lips rose a fraction more and then the two sat saying nothing for almost a full minute. As he opened his eyes again, he asked, “I’m pretty...banged up though…...How bad is...everything?”

She knew already how bad things had been--the school, their friends, their students, himself. The last thing she wanted to do was bog him down with it all. As she carefully set his hand down on his bedside again, Tessa rose from her seat. “I, um...I’ll go get Warren, okay?”

“Tessa…”

“He’ll wanna know you’re awake--”

“Teresa,” he rasped but winced from pain pressed across his chest from straining his voice. He opted against doing it again for the time being, “Come on...please don’t...treat me like a kid.”

Her lips pursed as she stared at him with saddened eyes. “I’m not...it’s not that. Things are improving greatly. I just...I don’t want to go through it and stress you out. You just woke up and you’re barely awake as it is. Stressing out your mind’s the last thing you need right now. So just--”

Her words were cut off when she felt his hand come over hers again.

“Alright... But..just stay here...Stay here.”

Tessa stared at him for a moment and as she quietly agreed to, she lowered herself back into the chair. At the moment she wasn’t exactly sure where Warren was, but she tried her telepathy, certain that the range would allow her to reach him within the mansion’s walls. Her eyes stayed locked on Kevin as she let her friend know that he was awake. She stayed present in Warren's mind long enough to know that he would be down in a few minutes.

They sat in wordlessness once again, listening to only the music emanating from her iPad as it sat in her bag. She watched the little movements Kevin’s now made: mouth move slightly, his Adam’s apple bob up and down the column of his throat when he swallowed and the occasional flutter of his eyes. Finally, her eyes settled on her hands--their hands--moving together, slow and gentle but intrusive of the others digits.