Chapter Twenty Two
Thinking that sympathy for my injuries might offset the contempt, I went back to work the following morning despite suggestions from the department that I take some time to recuperate. When the 200 hundred-seater lecture hall doors closed on my first class, and the students took their seats and looked up at me, I realised I was completely unfit to teach.
The hall was fuller than I had ever seen it. Rumours had circulated about me; the disastrous tv performance, a possible breakdown. They came en masse with their camera phones ready, waiting to capture my demise. My throat went dry. Trickles of sweat collected at the side of my temples. In the deafening silence of their expectant faces all I could hear was the blood rushing in waves in my ears. I thought about the thing
