One Life

18.

Waking up back in the hospital was not what I had planned that night, but I guess I didn't have a choice.

When I did open my eyes, though, I had another damn IV in the opposite hand, and Sal, Joe, and Bessy were in the room with me. I looked around the room as I slowly sat myself up, hoping to catch someone's eye to have them explain. When Sal finally noticed that I was up, he got up from his chair and ran over to me.

"Hey, gorgeous," Sal said, sitting by my bedside and taking my hand. "Oh my god, you worried me so so much."

Joe and Bessy looked up from their phones and came over to me also.

"Holy shit, Mickey, what the hell happened?" Joe yelled, not meaning to yell, but he just yelled when he was nervous.

"Don't yell at her," Bessy said with a quiet sigh. "Mickey, what happened to you?"

My eyes watered slowly as I looked around at everyone. I was so used to being the strong one who never showed any sadness, but I guess that night was just my breaking point. When Sal noticed my eyes water, he shooed Joe and Bessy away.

"Can you just give us a moment?" Sal asked them politely. "I wanna spend a moment alone with my girl."

Bessy smiled warmly as she tugged Joe's hand. "Come on, Joey, let's go get some donuts from the cafeteria downstairs."

After Joe and Bessy had left, Sal stayed with me as I cried. I guess I was finally realizing that my medical condition was getting worse, and I needed help sooner than later. I never faced the medical side of my life because it didn't get to a too serious point ever, but I guess there was a first time for everything. The fact that I was passing out so much in the past few days really made me question how well, or bad, my health was. I was sort of glad I was back in the hospital so that way my doctors could keep a closer eye out on me to make sure my health was getting back to it's normal strength.

"Shh, it's okay," Sal soothed me as he brushed my hair back. "You're gonna get all worked up and then germs will be all over ya and I'll never kiss you again."

I smiled slightly at his joke, trying not to cry more. I couldn't help it, though, it was getting the best of me. Sal didn't mind, though, and I knew it. He would just keep brushing my hair back and talking to me quietly. He told stories to me about when he was back in high school and how him and Joe met. He talked about Murr and how he actually had hair, which I giggled at. He also talked about how Q was in theatre shows of the high school, and how he and the other guys would cheer Q on when they went to his shows.

I eventually quieted down and was able to control myself. Sal fed me water to calm me down even more, which really helped as the ice cold water rushed down my mouth.

"Better now?" Sal asked me after a minute. I nodded my head as I looked up at him. "Alright, well Joe and Bessy should be back any minute with their donut desserts. Until they come back, would you like the television on?"

I shook my head no as I lied back into the bed and prepared myself for the night back in the uncomfortable bed. Sal put the television on anyway and put Friends on for background noise. He stared up at the screen as Ross and Rachel kissed. I giggled when Sal tried to act smooth like Ross, knowing he would fail so badly.

"You get a thumbs down for your cruddy Ross impression," I said, giggling to myself.

"Get a load of this guy," Sal teased, pointing over to Joe as he walked into the room.

Joe stared at him strange and shook his head as he pushed Sal out of his way and sat back down at the little desk they had in the room. Bessy came in a short time after with a bag of Cheetos in her hand.

"Are you better now?" Bessy asked me, sitting at my bedside.

I sniffled slightly and nodded my head. "I will be," I reassured her, plus Joe and Sal. "I just.. had a moment."

"We all have our moments," Bessy reassured me. "And it's okay if you have a crappy day. I do, Joe does, and Sal does too. The thing that matters is that you're supported by your good friends when you do have your downfall. Nothing else matters but that."

I was about to tear up again until Joe handed me half of the chocolate covered donut he was eating. I giggled loudly as I took the half donut and ate it immediately.

"Thanks, Joe," I said, smiling over to him. "To everyone, really. Especially to Sal, he's just.. an amazing guy, and yeah, I knew that before all this shit was happening but.. it just really shows what type of a guy he is in difficult times."

Bessy smiled as she got up and pulled me into a gentle hug, making sure not to bother my IV hand. Joe came over after Bessy did and gave me a giant Joe Gatto hug, with a small kiss on the top of my head. Sal came over last, but I sort of felt better with him being last for some reason. I knew his embrace would be the best out of everyone else's, so it would definitely calm me down for the night.

As the night went on, nothing really special really happened. Joe and Bessy ate their desserts and got tired really quickly. Sal was on Skype with Murr for most of the night, while I was on Skype with Q for a majority of the night. Q felt so bad that he couldn't make it to the hospital that night, and told me he would've come immediately. He had to cat sit a neighbor's cat, which was why he couldn't come over. He promised me that he would come over the day after, which made me very happy and excited about the next day.

As the blue sky disappeared and turned to dark, Joe and Bessy headed off back to their house since there was only one pull out bed. As they left, they promised to come over tomorrow, if not, definitely keep in touch with how I was doing. Bessy gave me one last hug before she left, while Joe stayed an extra minute to grab me some snacks in case I got hungry during the middle of the night.

Sal told me he was going to bed early since he was exhausted, but he kissed me goodnight like he always did. The kiss, like always, was soft, but this kiss had reassurance and a lot more love than normal, which I found adorable.

After he went to bed, I stayed up on my phone to play some games since I wasn't that tired yet. I played some word game on my phone, which was basically a crossword puzzle app for the phone. After spending half an hour on the game, I decided to call it a night. I turned my phone off and placed it on the bedside table, making sure it wouldn't fall off at any point of the night.

As long as Sal was with me, I didn't care that I was stuck in the damn hospital again.