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You only live once.
3
FELICITY
Black. That’s all I see as I stare at the back of my heavy eyelids, trying to open them. The sound of monitors beeping freak me out.Where am I?Someone is breathing heavily and someone is speaking over an intercom. I must be in the hospital. My eyes crack open slowly, and Theo sits down next to my bed. The car crash. Being stuck inside. Them having to pull me out. What is he doing here? I try to move, but my body is stiff and my mind fuzzy. Everything hurts like it’s all one big bruise. My throat is like sandpaper.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, my voice raspy.
His head turns and mouth gapes.
“No need to act like you’ve seen a ghost. It’s me. I’m alive.” My eyes flutter a bit, and then he comes closer to my bedside.
He smiles. “There’s the feistiness I remember.”
Sure, we shared a scary afternoon together, but that doesn’t mean he needs to be here. That’s weird, right? Someone I don’t even know? Better him than the damn officer that responded. Every time he told me to calm down I wanted to punch him in the face or ask him to trade places with me. I forgot to get his name. There’s a story to tell Jennifer later.
Theo gets up and walks out of the room, but he’s not gone for long. He brings a nurse back with him. “How is the pain? Do you need another dose of pain meds?”
I nod. Usually, I’m all about not taking anything, but this hurts like a bitch. Pain medication is addictive, and I don’t need any addiction added to my plate. There’s enough going on already. I still can’t believe that douche bag ran a red light and hit me. If not, I would be on my way to work right now.
Theo doesn’t say much, just sits there. I close my eyes again. Sleep sounds so amazing right now. Has anyone called Jennifer? I listed her as my emergency contact. It’s obvious no one has alerted her, or else she would have been here already.
A cough erupts from my throat and he grabs the pitcher of water and fills a cup up, handing it to me. “You should drink something.”
Theo uses the remote to sit my bed up, and my eyes haven’t left his. Sure, he’s cute, but that doesn’t explain why he is here? Does he usually check on people he responds to? I highly doubt it.
“Can I do anything for you? Anyone I can call?”
Moans and hisses of pain are audible with the door open, and the intercom calls out codes. I don’t want to be here. An orderly speeds down the hall with a crash cart, and nurses running after him. This is a death trap.Get me out of here!
The walls are white, and remind me of what a prison would look like. I need to get out of here. Hospitals and I don’t have an excellent track record.
“Where’s my phone? I need to call Jennifer,” I say, attempting to get off the bed, but he stops me.
“I’ll ask the nurse for your things. Is she under that in your phone?”
I nod, and ease back down on the bed. Why is he doing all this for me? I’m just a nobody to him. Maybe it’s better if I don’t ask.
He stands outside the door, on the phone, and for a moment I’m happy to have him here. Besides Jennifer, I have no one. My heart drops. She is all I have left. Jennifer can be overdramatic. I love her, but sometimes she can get on my nerves.
“She’s on her way,” he says, placing the phone next to the bed.
“Why are you here?”
He runs his fingers through his hair. “After I got off, I swung by to check on you, and you were all alone. No one should be alone in a place like this. I figured the least I could do is keep you company until you woke up.”
Theo is cute, and obviously kind, but it’s no time for a crush. School is starting back and between that and my job, there is no time for trying to start something new. I don’t even know him yet, but he deserves more than I can give him right now.
“Jennifer will be here soon. You don’t have to stay. I’m sure you have better things to do.”
He sits down in the chair. “I’ll stay until she gets here, if that’s okay with you.”
What am I supposed to say? No, get out of my room. When a sweet guy sits by your bedside, you let him. I can only imagine the things Jennifer is going to have to say about this. A random stranger sitting at my bedside instead of her? She will never let me live it down.
After a couple minutes of silence, he breaks it by asking me what I was doing before the crash. Here comes my sob story. He doesn’t give a rat's ass about my grandfather passing, but he sits and listens to me. It turns into me sobbing and him grabbing my hand telling me everything is going to be okay. His story about how close his grandpa and him were, put me at ease a bit. I know Jerry is in a better place now with the love of his life, but I still wish he was here.
“Do you always check on crash victims, or is it just me?” I ask, wiping away the tears spreading down my cheeks.
