Let me live | Hardzello♡

Chapter 6

The next morning, Joe wakes up because of a knock on the door. A bit confused, he looks at the clock on the wall to see how late it is. It's exactly eleven Am. Then he looks aside, letting out a questioning hum when he sees his mother is no longer next to him.
The door of his room opens, and Lucy enters. "Morning morning." She says cheerfully.
Joe lets out a sleepy giggle. "Morning." He mumbles as he rubs his eyes.
Lucy walks over to the window to open the curtains. "Your mother had to leave for work. She tried to see if she could stay a little longer with you, but her boss yelled at her. She didn't want to wake you." She explains when she sees Joe's confused look.
Joe smiles. "That was sweet of her." He mutters to himself.
Lucy gives the boy a look of sympathy. "So, are you ready to start your medication today?" She asks.
Joe shrugs. "I kinda have to be ready, right? It's not like I have a choice." He says.
Lucy frowns a little. "Yeah okay, I guess you're right." She shakes her head. "Anyways, the doctor will be here in a few minutes to attach your hand to an IV. The first day it usually makes you very tired, we learned. So just give in when you start to feel drowsy."
Joe nods to say he understands, but frowns nevertheless. "Can't you just attach the IV? That doctor is such a creep. He always looks so angry." He whines.
Lucy chuckles softly. "I know sweetie. But I can't attach the IV, I'm sorry. I'm not qualified to do so, unfortunately. I've only been working here for six months. All I'm allowed to do is attach monitors and keep an eye on you." She explains.
Joe sighs softly. "Okay then. Is that all I should know?" He asks. A curious look appears on his face when Lucy shakes her head.
"Not yet. I have some good news as well. Your new roommate will be brought to your room this afternoon." Lucy smiles.
Finally a genuine smile appears on Joe's face. At least he has got something to look forward to now. 

***

About half an hour after the doctor came in with the medication, Joe starts to feel what Lucy warned him for. Suddenly, tiredness hits him like a truck.
His eyes are about to fall close when his phone rings. He grabs his phone from the bedside table, seeing it's Gwil video calling him. "Hey Gwil." The ginger yawns after answering the call.
"H-hey Joe. How are you?" Gwil asks with a small smile.
Joe rubs his eyes. "I'm doing well, all things considered." He says with a smile.
Gwil takes a shaky breath in. "I was wondering if now's a good time to come visit you?" He asks in a trembling voice. "Visitors hour starts in fifteen minutes, right?"
Once again, Joe glances at the clock on the wall. "Yeah. But by the time you're here I'll probably be asleep. I just started with my meds and it's making me really tired." He says with a sleepy giggle. He immediately sees relief overflooding Gwil's eyes.
The tall boy bites his lip. "Oh. Well uhm, I'll just come by another time then." Gwil says.
Joe shakes his head. "Gwil, you don't have to feel obligated to come visit me. Really, I get it. We can just call like we're doing now." He knows how Gwil came up with excuses the past days so he didn't have to go to the hospital. Joe just acted like he was utterly oblivious to it, since he totally gets why Gwil doesn't want to come visit.
Gwil sighs. "It's just... this should be about you, not about me." He mumbles.
Joe smiles. "I'm already happy you're calling. As long I can talk to you every now and then. Calling is more than enough Gwil. I promise." He assures his friend.
Gwil stays silent for a moment. "Okay then if you say so." He then says with a small smile.
Joe nods. "I do." He assures his friend. He blinks a few times, having to make a real effort to keep his eyes open.
"I should go so you can get some sleep." Gwil chuckles when Joe yawns.
The ginger nods. "Yeah." He mumbles. "Talk to you soon?"
Gwil nods with a smile. "Of course, very soon. Sleep tight." He says with a wink.
Joe giggles softly. "Bye Gwil." He waves at his phone before ending the call. He puts his phone on the bedside table again. Joe lets himself sink into the mattress, pulling the duvet up to his chin. He yawns, and settles his head into his pillow. The moment he closes his eyes, he quickly dozes off into a deep sleep.

{}{}{}{}

A few hours later, Joe wakes up because of a loud thump. With a loud groan he opens his eyes.
"Oh my god. Sorry, sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to wake you." A blond boy sitting in a hospital bed on the opposite of Joe's bed gives him a look full of guilt.
Joe yawns and stretches. "Mhmm it's alright." He mumbles as he rubs his eyes. "What happened?" He asks.
The blond scratches the back of his head. "I was trying to get my laptop from the bedside table but these stupid wires won't let me." He says as he looks at the wires from the monitors. Then he looks at the ground, where his laptop has ended up after a failed attempt to grab it.
Joe giggles sleepily. "Damn. Is it broken?"
The blond boy shrugs with a soft giggle. "Probably. It wouldn't be the first time. I'm really clumsy." He says. A gentle smile appears on his face. "My name is Ben."
Joe smiles at him, sitting up a little bit more straight. "I'm Joe. How long have you been here?" He asks.
Ben smiles. "At the hospital, or here in your room?" He asks with a small grin.
Joe giggles softly. "Both, I guess?" He says as he rolls his eyes with a smile.
Ben thinks for a moment. "Well, I've been in the hospital for six days now. And I've been in your room since noon today." Ben says before quickly glancing at the clock on the wall. "So that's about five hours now." He grins when he sees the surprised look on his roommate's face. 
Joe's eyes widen. "I've been asleep for more than five hours?" He says surprised.
Ben giggles and nods. "Yep. Long live the drugs. I slept an entire day when I started with those meds." He says, pointing at the IV next to his bed.
Joe sighs as he looks at the heart monitor next to his bed, seeing how low his heart rate is. "How low is yours?" He mumbles.
Ben looks at his heart monitor. "41." He says with a frown.
Joe briefly closes his eyes. "Mine's 39. I guess I've won then." He mutters, not taking his eyes off the monitor.
"Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but there's no prize so you've won for the fame only." Ben says with a smile.
Joe chuckles softly. Is good to have someone who makes him laugh, who makes him forget about the fact that he's in the hospital. "Lucky me."

"So uhm, are you okay again after last night? I heard you screaming pretty scary things." Ben asks after a minute of silence. Last night the ward was filled with terrified screams. It sent shivers down his spine.
Joe frowns. "I guess. That nightmare just felt so real. It's still haunting me a bit, to be honest." He says, not looking at Ben.
"What was it about?" Ben asks carefully. "You, uhm, you don't have to tell me, if you don't want to." He quickly adds.
Joe shakes his head. "No, no, it's fine. I dreamt that I died in front of my family." He says bluntly, even though it doesn't feel as simple as that.
The blond swallows. "I've had the same kind of dream. It's scary. But not real. Just wake me up if it happens again, okay?" Ben says with a comforting look.
Joe looks up, smiling a little. "Thank you. You know, I'm glad they made us roommates." He admits. "Makes it more bearable already."
Ben nods with a smile. "Agreed." He says softly.
Joe looks at the heart monitor again. "So... How did you find out?" He asks, referring to their heart malfunction.
Ben immediately looks down, and he starts fiddling with his hands. "I just uhm- j-just fainted out of the blue." He mumbles. "And you?"
Joe sighs and quickly considers all of his options. He can just tell Ben he fainted, hoping the boy won't ask any further. Or he can immediately tell about his biological father, so he can get it over with.
"Listen, we don't have to tell each other right now. Obviously we're both not ready yet. We'll get there." Ben says with a small smile, relieved to see he isn't the only one with some baggage.
The ginger nods. "Yeah. Thank you."

__________________

And Hardzello has entered the room!
It will take a while until they become a couple, but the first seed is planted🙃

Kisses from me aka Queenborhap_gifs xxx