Derrick was about to reply angrily, snap back in his own defense, but Mr. Pheres was back.
"Head forward," Mr. Pheres ordered Mike and Derrick in a Greek accent. He was holding some clean gauze that he gave both of them. Then he laid a cold pack around the back of each of their necks, especially the sides of them. "Pinch your nose shut just beneath the bridge, and hold it there for at least ten minutes. Breathe from your mouth. I'll be back to check on you."
The centaur walked off again, surprisingly graceful for a being his size. Derrick did as instructed and watched the nurse go. He'd lost the angry steam of his defense against Mike and now just felt like an ass. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Derrick turned his head enough to see Mike. "I really am. You were right and I was being an asshole. And you're right about me chickening out on asking Kendra out. I'd blame my behavior towards you on being jealous, but it's not that. I just--"
Derrick shook his head and that made him wince. "I can talk to a computer for days. They make sense. But girls are a whole other thing. Every time I think about getting with a girl, I just freeze up and it's pathetic. I know it is. And I guess I wanted you to be like me." Derrick shrugged. "But you're not. And that's okay."