He let out a deep sigh. “Fuck. Poor Felix. I need to go and see him.”
I rubbed my thumb along his stubble. “I know. Let’s get showered and go.”
“Don’t you have classes today?”
I shook my head on the pillow. “No, I switched them with Mikey. I wanted to be with you so we could go to the hospital together.”
Emotion flashed over his face, his eyes flooding with gratitude and tenderness. His lips pressed against mine. “Thank you.”
I caught a tear from his cheek before it fell.
“You’re welcome. I wouldn’t have been anywhere else.” I slid out from under the comforter, holding my hand out. “Come on, I got you today.”
He took it and followed me into the shower.
An hour and a half later we walked into the hospital, where we would have been sooner if Drew hadn’t insisted we go via several stores. Our arms were laden with bags full of Felix’s favorite junk food, an Xbox with every game he could find, and a giant stuffed bear like the one he’d bought Flossie becausehe might be laid up, but he still needs reminding I’m the best godfather, and the t-shirts I’ve had printed haven’t come yet.
Cooper and Freddie were already in his room when we arrived. Felix was sitting up in bed, grinning, his leg secured in a full brace, and he was eating what looked to be a massive bowl of green jello.
“Dude, you’re such a child. Jello for breakfast? Really?” Drew put the bear down and strode over, hugging him hard and holding him close for several beats before releasing him. “How are you doing?” His voice broke slightly.
Felix shook his arm around, the one which was attached to the IV. “I’m morphined up to the max and I’m eating jello. Life is good.”
I dropped the bags on the floor and hugged Cooper and Freddie, who were on the couch, before turning to Felix and hugging him too. Drew moved off the bed and sat on the only spare chair, pulling me into his lap.
“Awww, you guys.” Felix looked at us then Freddie and Cooper. “And you guys.”
Yeah, he was definitely high.
He sat up excitedly, waving his spoon. “Oh, hey! Guess who operated on me?”
Cooper glanced over at Drew with a low chuckle.
“It was Molly! I didn’t even know she’d finished med school, but she did a pretty good job.” He banged his leg. “Ouch.”
Freddie rolled her lips, also trying to hide her amusement at a stoned Felix. “You did know she’d finished med school. Exactly how long did you think med school lasted?”
Felix shrugged. “I dunno. It’s ages, right?”
He went back to the jello.
I looked at Drew. “Who’s Molly again?”
I vaguely remembered someone mentioning her before but couldn’t remember the connection.
“Cooper’s sister, she’s a surgeon. And in Clevs’ defense, Coop also didn’t know Molly was here.”
Cooper let out an exasperated breath. “I did fucking know, I just didn’t realize which hospital we were in.”
“Oh come on, we were all shocked.”
“What happened?” Freddie shifted forward, moving cushions around to get more comfortable, looking to Cooper who was rubbing her large belly. “You didn’t know she was a surgeon here? How? We’ve been here and visited her.”
“Fuck’s sake. I just wasn’t expecting to see her as the surgeon who operated on Felix. I didn’t realize this was her hospital. They all look the fucking same,” he grumbled.
Freddie frowned at him before tilting her head toward me. “Molly’s an orthopedic surgeon here, she studied at Columbia Med and finished her residency at the beginning of the summer, then stayed on as an Attending as part of the Sports Surgery Program. She’s a lot of fun. We’ll go out with her when she gets some time off.”
“Sounds good, can’t wait to meet her.”
