See What I Hear

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

When Alex had fallen asleep, I'd silently let myself out. He wasn't what I expected...then again I didn't really know what to expect. He was nice enough, definitely not rude. Maybe he wasn't the clichéd, I-torture-geeks-for-fun, Mr. Confident I had first thought him to be. Well, the confidence part was a bit true. I didn't know him enough to know that for sure, but I didn't mind finding out.

"So, how was it?" Mom asked. I shrugged and sat on the futon. She pushed away from her desk and let out a long, heavy sigh.

"It actually went fine. He was nice; he told me he didn't really do books so we just talked. I didn't really want to exhaust him or anything. And he was feeling pain, so I gave him the painkillers, but he knocked out soon after..." I explained. Mom nodded.

"He is a nice young man, despite the accident," she said. I shrugged.

"Well, I finished my paperwork, why don't we go home and have a real night's sleep? My boss says that I won't be needed till tomorrow afternoon so I'm free," she said. I found myself smiling. Finally, a real night off.

"Why the afternoon?" I asked.

"Since I operated on Alex, it makes me his doctor. I need to do a check up on his stitches," she clarified, pointing to the back of her head. I nodded and got up to start heading out.

Turning into our house, I started to feel the threshold of sleep beginning to make itself known. I looked up at our house and smiled. It'd always been our home. We'd never moved or transferred, and I was happy about that. I always had a place to call home.

It wasn't much, compared to the rest of the town, but it sufficed and was cozy. It was painted a cheery yellow with white trimming. There was a deck-like porch at the front that held two chairs that Mom and I used to sit at and read while Dad mowed the grass or something. They've began to rust with the nonuse. It made me sad to think that Mom and I have never really had a real bonding moment since Dad died.

I followed Mom up the three steps to the porch and into the house. It was a simple two story house. Two bathrooms and three bedrooms. Everything we'd needed and ever wanted.

"I'm gonna shower and go to sleep," I told Mom. She nodded and walked to her bedroom and I to mine.

Despite the fact that I was seventeen years old, I still owned a numerous amount of stuffed animals that were scattered all around my room. Dad always travelled with his job and liked to bring me something from wherever he went. I had an elephant, giraffe, and leopard from Africa; I had a Border Collie dog stuffed animal from the UK, and a snake from South America, along with the many more animals and postcards. I'd never gotten rid of any. They keep the part of my dad that I actually remember alive and whole inside.

Rubbing my eyes, I tried walking to my open closet while trying not to trip over any of the stuffed animals that were dispersed across the floor. I grabbed a random pair of pants and a shirt from the pile on the floor and walked into the bathroom. I never found the point in folding pajamas if there were just going to get wrinkled in sleep so I just left them on the ground.

When I'd stepped into the shower, I found my thoughts circling Alex again. He was just another patient to me. Tomorrow afternoon, I would see him again and soon, he would be out of the hospital altogether and I'd never see him again. I was determined to stick to my hospital rules. Rule number one: Never get to know the patients on anything farther than a mere acquaintance. Cecilia, so far, was my only exception.

I changed into my wrinkly pajamas and jumped into bed. Sleep always came so much easier when it was at home, in a place you knew was safe and sound.