Lost balance. Impact. Eyes closed. Down. Crack.
Opened eyes again. Legs, checked. Hands, checked. Mouth, tasted iron and strange. Blood. I allowed myself to swear once, under my breath. 'Fuck'.
How bad? A gap where one tooth should be. Another tooth, a tender mess. I lost a tooth at least. Irrationally I tried looking for it, knowing that it will do me no good. There were no pain. Maybe everything will be fine if I find it. The lies I tell myself.
Tooth found. It was a clean break. I heard myself identified 'Failure mechanism: fast fracture', while correcting myself when I noted there were smaller bits of it around the place. Shattered. Let myself swear another time. 'Fuck'.
I held on to the largest piece, which was clean and bloodless, and headed to the exit, quietly and alone. First I needed light.
Out. A staff was at the desk. 'I hurt myself', I told him, 'lend me the toilet', giving him a bloody grin. Clearly not coached for emergencies and useless, he said there were no such facilities. He just sat there. Useless staff, just what I needed. 'You're on your own' I told myself, I'd let myself swear one more time, but only after I looked at myself.
A slight check with the hand told me that it was still bleeding. I thought I would panic when I see my own blood. Useless staff was unable to procure me a mirror, or even tissue. By that time I was able to take a picture of myself. 'Fuck'.
