Let me live | Hardzello♡

Chapter 31

The next morning, which is actually just a few hours later, Ben gets awakened by someone gently shaking him.
"Ben, sweetie, time to wake up." Lucy says with a soft smile.
The boy groans, rubbing his eyes before opening them. He immediately feels them burn from all the crying of last night.
"Sorry for waking you, but the doctor is here for your final checkup. You wanted to be discharged, right?" Lucy says, pointing at the doctor standing behind her.
Ben sits up, instantly nodding. "Yes. Yes, please."
The doctor looks at Ben with the same grumpy and frowny look as always. "I was a bit surprised when I heard you asked for a final checkup. But Lucy says you've suddenly made a lot of progress in the last few days, so let's see where you're at. If the tests are good she'll detach you from the monitors etc." He says before looking at Lucy.
Ben nods to say he understands.
"Okay. Can you walk around the room for me?" The doctor asks.
Ben immediately gets up out of his bed, and starts walking around the room. And although the first steps take some effort due to not being used to walking anymore, it goes perfectly fine. He keeps walking around in circles for as far as the wires allow him.
Lucy winks at the blond, letting him know he's doing well.
"Very well." The doctor mumbles, writing some stuff down.

About fifteen minutes later, the whole checkup is done.
"Well, for someone who was recovering too slow at first, I have to admit everything looks amazingly great." The doctor says.
Ben looks up, smiling in relief. "Does that mean I can be discharged?" He asks, his voice full of hope. While waiting for an answer, he walks back to his bed and sits down. Because even though he would never say it out loud, his knees are slowly getting weaker the longer he's standing up.
Lucy also looks questioningly at the doctor, really hoping Ben can be discharged so he can go see Joe.
The doctor nods. "I don't see any reason to keep you here any longer. The only thing left now is the paperwork. Lucy will take care of that." He says before leaving the room.
Ben looks at Lucy. "How long will the paperwork take?" He asks her.
The girl smirks. "About one second." The young nurse says.
Ben rolls his eyes. "No, seriously Lucy, how long?" He asks.
"I am serious. It will only take a second. All that has to be done is me pressing 'send' on the laptop." Lucy says with a smile.
Ben looks at her in surprise. "How?"
She walks over to the hospital bed and sits down onto the edge. "Well, I felt bad that I couldn't do anything to help you. But then I remembered I could do something. So I stayed at work a little longer and I fixed all your paperwork. I only have to press send and then everything's settled." Lucy explains.
Ben gives her a grateful look before hugging her. "Thank you for that." He mumbles during the hug.
Lucy smiles widely. "Of course sweetie. Now go gather all your stuff and change into some normal clothes, okay? You must be sick of that hospital outfit by now." She says.
Ben chuckles softly. "I am." He nods. 
"Call me in whenever you're ready, okay? Then I'll bring you to Joe." Lucy says before leaving the room.
With a soft sigh, Ben sits down on the edge of his bed. He looks around the room. Two months ago he was brought into this hospital. And now he is finally allowed to leave. Now he can go to Joe.
Ben's thoughts are interrupted by the sound of his phone. He grabs his phone, and lets out a groan.

From: Gwil
7 unread messages and 5 missed video calls.

Ben puts his phone away. He'll deal with that later. Right now he just wants to see Joe.
The boy gets up, and starts to put all his stuff into his backpack. He is happy it's still in quite good shape, seeing he had it with him when the car crash happened.
He quickly changes into some simple jeans and a black hoodie that Gwil and Rami got him at the mall. Since the ER doctors had to cut through his jeans and shirt to check for injuries, he was left without any decent clothes.
For a minute, Ben just sits in the room as he stares into thin air. He is briefly flooded with memories of the car crash, his gaze slowly moving towards the backpack.
Fortunately, a woman's voice is there to rescue him out of his trance before he has the chance to get too emotional.
"Hey, are you ready?" Lucy asks him.
Ben puts on a small smile. "I haven't even pressed the button yet." He chuckles.
Lucy shrugs. "I'm just excited to reunite you two lovebirds again." She says with a big smile.
Ben gets up, grabbing the backpack while doing so. "I think I'm ready." He says.
Lucy nods. "Follow me then." She says.

Ben can feel his heart beating in his throat as he follows Lucy towards the intensive care. Of course, he can't wait to see his boyfriend. Despite the fact that he and Joe were only separated for one night, it felt like an eternity for Ben.
But Ben also has all kinds of horrifying pictures in his head ever since Lucy told him Joe is on life support. And he is scared that those pictures might not just be his mind going crazy after a long night without proper sleep.
"Here we are." Lucy says. With Ben close behind her, she walks through the aisle of the intensive care.
Somehow a shiver runs down Ben's spine at the sight of white, drawn curtains, knowing there are probably patients behind them.
Suddenly, Lucy stops walking. She opens the white curtain, making Joe appear.
And even though the boy looks better than he did in the pictures in Ben's mind, Ben still has to swallow at the sight of his boyfriend.
Joe looks pale and exhausted. An oxygen mask is covering half his face, and his body looks drained of energy. He has the teddy bear that Ben gave him for Christmas clasped in his arm.
"Is he unconscious?" Ben whispers, looking at Joe's closed eyes.
Lucy shakes her head. "No, don't worry. He's just sleeping. One of the intensive care nurses will be here to wake him and check on him in about thirty minutes." She says.
Ben nods to say he understands.
"Then I'll leave you alone now." Lucy says with a smile. "I'm sure I will see you two soon again, hopefully safe and sound under my care again." She adds.
Which Ben knows is her way of saying she wants Joe to be off the intensive care as soon as possible. "Thanks." He mutters, not taking his eyes off Joe.

Once she's gone, Ben sits down on the edge of Joe's bed. "Hi sweetheart." He whispers with a small smile before pressing a sweet kiss on Joe's temple. "I missed you." Careful not to wake him, Ben gently runs his hand through Joe's hair.
But Joe, drained from the events of the past hours, is nowhere near waking up.
“You really scared me. But you promised to try to recover as fast as possible, so we both don't have to be alone during the nights anymore, remember? So I'm not worried. I know you always keep your promises.” Ben whispers in a shaky breath, fighting the tears.
His heavy head moves to rest on his arm, leaning onto the mattress of Joe's bed. With his other hand, he takes Joe's hand in his own to intertwine their fingers. "I love you." He whispers as he stares at his boyfriend with soft eyes.
Against his will, the blond's eyes start to fall close. After the night he had, he feels exhausted. Now finally reunited with Joe, Ben feels safe and reassured again. Which is why it doesn't take him long to fall asleep completely.

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Hi guys♡

Another chapter for you all. I'm in the hospital so at least that gave me some time to edit chapters and upload them :)

Kisses from me aka queenborhap_gifs✌🏻