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Wile understood the need to hold the double classes in the gym. None of the actual classrooms would hold twice the number of students, it was easier for the kids to remember where they were meant to go, other teachers could easily swap out if needed. He understood the reasons. He did.
He hated using the god damn fucking portable whiteboard.
Now don’t misunderstand him, it wasn’t the portable whiteboard he had an issue with. It was all whiteboards. With a chalkboard you would occasionally get a bad noise, but if you held the chalk correctly and maintained the correct pressure ninety nine percent of the noise problems weren’t an issue. The normal noise of chalk on the board was a pleasant, smooth experience. Markers on a whiteboard? Squeeky, screeching, hell. No matter the angle, no matter the pressure, they always fucking made that shrill bullshit noise.
Wile was glaring at the offending piece of equipment as the first two classes started setting up, sighing a little as he reached over to grab a marker.
“Hey doc, you wanna try this?” Bennett asked, waving a small box in his hand. He set it down on the makeshift desk Wile was using, and he stepped forward to pick it up.
It was a small projector, and Bennett was now pulling out some cords from his pocket. He raised an eyebrow at the man.
“Why?” He signed in confusion.
“You know, I could not find a spare blackboard to save my life around here. Only this one whiteboard. Anyway, figured you could hook up a laptop or a tablet or something to this and use the whiteboard as a screen.” Bennett smiled at him. Wile blinked.
“Why?”
“Why? Whadda mean why? You hate whiteboards! Everytime you had chemistry class you’d come back to the dorm sulkin’ with a headache. I lived with ya for four years, doc, and you had that class twice a week. You think I wouldn’t remember?” Bennett put his hands on his hips, while behind him Wile could see the kids looking at each other, some of them badly trying to hide that they were texting. As a teacher he should reprimand them. As a man playing a game with his husband to cause mischief he pretended they were succeeding.
“I didn’t think it was that obvious.”
“Doctor C, not to be rude, but everyone knows you hate whiteboards.” Rod chimed up.
“Was he saying people didn’t notice? Dude, yours is the only classroom with a blackboard because people noticed so hard.” Hal said. Wile shot the kids a Look, putting a hand on his hip. Rod gave a bashful smile, looking suitably embarrassed, and Hal just shrugged as if to say it’s true.
“To be fair, you were literally just glaring at the whiteboard as we came in.” Jessica said.
Wile rolled his eyes at the kids, grabbing his laptop out of his bag. He could work with this, and he might be able to display work for both classes… He looked up at Bennett, signing thank you.
“Yeah, ya welcome, doc. Call if you need anything.” He held his hand up as a pretend phone. “See ya, kids!”
“Bye Mr Bunny.”
“Thanks Mr Bunny.”
Once the projector was set up, Wile started pulling up material for both classes.
‘Phones away now.’ He pressed into his board, and settled into teaching.
—
‘Sit down.’ Wile pressed into his board, hand on his hip as he frowned at Aaron.
“Come on, sir. We were meant to be playing sports today.” Aaron said, heading towards the basketball racks. He bounced it casually, like he wasn’t disrupting everyone’s time.
‘You can keep the ball but sit down.’ Wile instructed.
“Ugh, you’re so boring, dog. We all know you can keep up with Mr Runner.”
‘I am not debating you. You are being rude. Sit down.’ Wile pointed to the stands to emphasise his point.
“Rude?! I’m not even being rude, sir!” Aaron protested, the yell echoing through the gym.
“You’re being rude to me. I actually want to learn so I can get into a good college on merit rather than being able to hold a ball.” Velma snapped at him.
Aaron’s face went red, and he wound his arm back. Wile tried to get between Velma and the ball, but he was just a bit too slow, the sound of it hitting her face now echoing through the gym. He glared at the boy, ready to take him up to Bennett’s office himself when someone screamed.
Wile turned around, his heart dropping into his stomach as he saw blood running down Velma’s face, shattered glasses at her feet. He ran over while pulling out his phone.
“Fred, go get Mr Bunny now! Norville, first aid kit!” He instructed, knowing that if he just said ‘someone’ everyone would be frozen. He dialed the emergency line and put it on speaker while he studied Velma’s face. Blood was coming from a cut around her eye, but there was so much blood he couldn’t tell if any shards had gotten into her actual eye.
The first aid kit was dropped next to him just as the line picked up.
“Hi, I need an ambulance to Holesworth High School. I have a student who may or may not have glass in their eye and is currently bleeding from a cut.” He said as he rummaged through the kit. He tore open a package of absorbent gauze and held it to Velma’s face. He rattled off any details the worker asked for, carefully helping Velma up so they could move her away from the glass. Daphne picked up his phone and followed them.
Bennett ran in just as Wile was helping Velma sit again.
“Oh god, that is a lotta blood.”
“I’ve got an ambulance coming since I don’t know if there’s glass in her eye.”
“Alright, I’ll go call her parents.”
“Like, Mr Bunny, you can use my phone to like, call them.” Norville squeaked, his hands shaking a little as he unlocked his phone. “So you can still be here to answer like, questions and junk.”
“Thanks kid, you’ve got her parents…”
Wile tuned out the conversation and focussed on Velma, who hadn’t really moved or spoken at all.
“Velma, honey, can you hear me? You can squeeze my hand if you can’t talk. Two for yes, one for no.” He said gently. It took a few moments, but she squeezed twice. “Good job, that’s great. Everything is gonna be okay. I know this is scary, but faces just tend to bleed a lot even for small things. You’re doing so well, kiddo, such a good job.”
The EMT’s came and took Velma, Bennett following them with Norville’s phone so he could relay information to her parents. All the energy drained out of Wile, and he slumped onto the floor. He could feel Velma’s blood soaking his sleeve and his arm, and the squelchy feeling made him want to throw up. Someone knelt in front of him, and he had to blink a few times until he could process it was Bennett.
“Hey doc, there you are. Go clean up as best you can and then go home for the day. You can take Yakko with you. Try and get some rest, and I’ll be able to have a real sub come in tomorrow so no more double ups.” Bennett spoke softly. Wile glanced toward the door. “The EMT’s think she’ll be okay, and her parents are gonna meet her at the hospital. I’ll put some movies on for the kids.”
Wile nodded once, too tired to do more. Bennett helped him up and pointed his body in the direction of the teachers bathroom for the gym. He went about cleaning up mechanically, barely processing what he was doing. His shirt and sweater weren’t wearable right now, so he grabbed one of Roadie’s spare shirts and pulled it on. It smelt like home, and it gave him enough presence to actually be aware of his surroundings. Hopefully it would last the whole drive home.
He went and pulled Yakko’s out of Daffy’s class, feeling bad since he knew it was the boys favourite. Daffy offered to drop him back home after school, and Yakko looked up at him so hopefully he couldn’t crush that. Besides, he didn’t really want to disrupt his education. The corner of his mouth ticked up at Yakko’s beam, too exhausted for a full smile, and he signed thank you to Daffy before leaving.
—
The next thing Wile was really aware of was someone’s hand in his hair, and his face pressed into someone’s neck. He sucked in a breath, blinking a few times.
“You back with me, baby?”
Rhodes. Home.
Wile nodded, his body relaxing some. He shifted a little so he could look out, seeing a sleeping Dot on Rhodes’ other side.
“Sorry.” He signed, his hands not quite steady.
“You don’t have to be sorry, but you do have to tell me what’s going on, because I’ve had my hands occupied with some stage five clingers and haven’t been able to message anyone to ask.” Rhodes said, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
“Aaron smashed a ball into Velma’s face. Shattered her glasses and some glass got into her face. Possibly her eye but I couldn’t tell. Lots of blood. Wet. Up my sleeve. Lots of talking with kids and calling ambulance.”
He couldn’t see Rhodes face from his position tucked into his shoulder, but the man hummed and kept stroking his hair.
“Yeah, that would be a lot. Do I need to organise a pick up for the kids?”
“Daffy offered to bring Yakko home and I was trying not to disassociate before getting in the car and didn’t think of Wakko. Unless I did because the last thing I remember is talking to them.”
“Oh dear. I’m not gonna leave, but I need to let go for a little bit to message the others. You gonna be okay?”
Wile hesitated, but nodded. He moved back a bit, but when Rhodes had his phone he lay down again against the outside of his arm. He tried for a moment to focus on the messages, but the screen was giving him a headache so he closed his eyes. Rhodes pressed a kiss to his head again.
“Daffy said he asked Yakko where Wakko was and was already planning on stopping by the after school care. Lola said that Velma is doing great. The glass wasn’t in her actual eye and they were able to get it out easily.”
He nodded, a bit more tension leaving his shoulders.
“Try and get some actual sleep, honey. Everyone’s okay, and I’ve got you.” Rhodes murmured. He nodded again, tucking his legs up under him and resting against his husband's shoulder.
—
Yakko was keeping Wakko occupied in the backyard, and Rhodes was contemplating the risk of ordering pizza for the boys vs Dot’s temper at not being able to have any, or if it was going to be a PB&J night when his phone buzzed.
Sam: hey I’m in the driveway with some food for you guys, can you get the door or should I use the spare key?
Rhodes: oh my god, you’re a lifesaver!! Pls use the key I am being used as a bed
Rhodes heard Sam make his way inside and drop something off in the kitchen before making his way to them.
“You alright there?” He chuckled.
“Yeah, I got two cuties cuddled up with me. Where else would I wanna be?” He grinned back. “Thank you so much for the food, Sam. I really appreciate it.”
“Of course. Ralph let me know you guys were having a bit of a week so I figured we could lend a hand.”
Blinking back a sudden wave of tears, he smiled shakily up at the man.
“Thank you, really.” He sniffled.
“That’s what family’s for.” Sam smiled. “There’s a few days worth of soup for the little one, decent sandwiches for tonight, and a few easy meals you can throw in the oven for the rest of the week.”
“Oh, Sam, you’re incredible. Tha-“
“Don’t thank me again, Road.” Sam chuckled. “You want me to wear the boys out for ya?”
“Not too much, I don’t want bedtime to be any more difficult.”
“You got it.” Sam nodded, and headed out to the backyard.
Rhodes let a few of those tears spill, pressing a kiss to Wile’s sleeping head.
“How’d we get so lucky, baby?” He whispered, smiling into the man’s hair, heart full to bursting.