Hospital Stay
You woke up startled from a dream, taking stock of what was around you.
Great….I’m still in the hospital, you thought. You longed for your own, comfortable bed. You squinted as sunlight came in through the slats in the window beside you, but as you squinted you noticed a figure sitting by your bed.
You sucked in air, gasping quickly, and shot up in your bed.
“Woah.” The figure said, jumping back and shooting out of the chair. “Fuck, sorry. I meant to sneak out before you woke up.” He said.
“Shane. What are you…?”
He ran a hand through his jet-black hair, avoiding your gaze. “I… You’re hurt.” He said. He shifted his weight from one foot to the next, and you sighed as you realized he was the picture of vulnerability. “I’ll go…” He said, taking a few steps away from you.
“How long were you here for?” You asked.
“Not long. A few hours, maybe…”
“Jesus. Watching me sleep?” You said. I can’t decide if that’s cute or creepy, you thought to yourself.
“When you say it like that it makes me sound like a pervert.” He said gruffly. You remembered your one spicy encounter with Shane, in which he threw himself off of you and then later alluded to the fact that he thought he forced himself on you too much.
“You think little of yourself.” You said, staring evenly into Shane’s wide eyes.
“Well… yeah. But, what made you say that?”
“That time…” You cleared your throat, “That time at my house…. You never wanted to talk about it again.”
“God, still don’t.” Shane said, taking another few steps away from you.
“Wait.” You said. He stopped moving. “I didn’t hate it.” You said.
“Of course you didn’t. You were drunk. And now I’m a guy who sneaks into your hospital room.” He said, shaking his head. He quickly picked up his steps and exited the room.
“Shane!” You tried calling after him, but he wasn’t turning back around.
~
Around 4 in the afternoon Harvey came to give you a check up. You were becoming accustomed to this routine of him taking your temperature and heart rate. Even though you were getting used to it, it didn’t stop your heart from picking up the pace when he was so close to you.
“Harvey, did you let Shane in this morning?” You asked.
Harvey nodded as he wrote something on the chart. “You two are friends, I figured it’s fine…. Right?” He asked, his voice wavering with concern.
“Kind of.” You said.
“Shane’s a decent guy. He could use someone like you in his corner.” Harvey said.
“Someone like me? What does that mean?”
“You know… smart, tough…” Harvey cleared his throat, “compassionate…”
“Flattering.” You smiled. “But honestly, I’m not too sure if he and I qualify as friends. Every time I actually try to talk to him he runs.”
“You’re intimidating.” Harvey shrugged.
“I am so not.”
Harvey smiled at you, his teeth shining brilliantly white under the hospital fluorescents. “You’re too beautiful. It’s distracting to people.”
Your stomach tied itself in knots and you felt a familiar heat stinging the sides of your face. You wondered how you should even respond to that. You flitted your eyes away from the hot doctor, and focused on the white hospital blanket covering you up.
“My apologies. That was unprofessional of me, wasn’t it?” Harvey smiled. He flipped over a white page on his clipboard, and scribbled his signature. His pen swished easily against the paper. “I feel like we’ve become friends, so my brain has been putting aside our doctor-patient relationship when we speak.” He said.
“I’m okay with that.” You smiled. Your throat felt tight, and you still couldn’t bring yourself to look at Harvey. You felt your cheeks going pink.
“Hmm…. good to know.” He chuckled softly. “That being said… your vitals look great. I think you’re ready to go home.”
“Oh, thank God.” You sighed.
“But no hard labor for a week. Everyone’s already agreed to keep helping while you recover.”
“Okay, okay…” You said. You were annoyed to have to rely on other people, but the support of the community felt like a helium balloon in your chest. “But I can go home?”
“You can go home.” Harvey grinned.