Chapter 42

164 3 2
                                    

"Shit, I needed that!" I say after taking the first drag of my cigarette. Marie laughs.

"Do you smoke?" I ask her. She nods.

"Yeah but I'm not allowed to on hospital grounds, I'd get in trouble," she explains. I nod.

"Is there any grass near here that I can take Summer to?" I ask and she leads me around a corner where there's a small strip of grass. I unclip Summer's leash and let her run. She goes to the toilet and I pick it up in a dog bag I got from her vest, throwing it into the bin. The gallops across the grass before rolling around on it. I laugh at her, flicking ash off of my smoke.

"Awh, she's so lovely!" Marie coos at Summer as she frolicks about.

"You can play with her if you want!" I say, sitting on the bench next to us. As I finish one cigarette, I stub it out, throw it into the ashtray on the bin and light another. The nurse is too happy playing with Summer to notice. I look up at the sun which is making me sweat. I'd take my hoodie off but I can't get caught out from my shower incident. I don't want anymore stitches. The ones on my neck itch as I think of them. I sigh, running a hand through my still slightly damp hair. Not long until I can go home. I hang onto that thought as I inhale the nicotine.

"Arghhh she's such a good girl!" Marie says, sitting next to me on the bench. I force a smile.

"Ready to start walking back?" She asks me and I nod. We both stand and I call Summer over, not bothering to put the leash back on. By the time we're back at the hospital entrance, I've finished my cigarette and once I throw it away, we head back inside. As soon as we get back onto the ward, I retreat to my room and put Summer down some water. I go to brush my teeth in the bathroom quickly because I realise it's been a while since I last did that. It only takes a couple minutes before I can finally relax into the bed again and scroll through my phone however less than 10 minutes later, I'm interrupted by a knock on the doorway. I look up and there's Sam, standing with his head half bowed leaning against the open door. I look down again.

"Hey..." He says quietly. I repeat it back to him and he sighs.

"Look, Ev, I'm sorry. I really am sorry. I shouldn't have shouted and I know that. I'm just tired and worried and we've all been stressed the last couple days. I care about you so much, it worries me to see you like this. I'm honestly sorry," he explains to me, coming over and standing by my bed.

"It's okay, Sam. I understand. I'm really sorry for worrying everyone and hurting everyone. I'm honestly so sorry," my voice breaks at the end and Sam hugs me tightly. I wrap my arms around him and we sit like that for a moment.

"I missed you," I say quietly. He says it back as we pull away and he sits down on the bed beside me. 

"Where did you go?" I ask him, looking up into his eyes.

"At first, I left the hospital and went for a walk around the local area. Then, I came back to get Costa from downstairs. I sat there for a while thinking about stuff and then I came back up here," I nod.

"Is Jimmy okay? He won't reply to me..." Those words hurt to say.

"He's okay. He's just shocked with what happened. It'll be okay though. He has his first day at work tomorrow, he got the apprenticeship the tattoo shop," I smile slightly as Sam talks to me, his hand on mine.

"That's great! I miss him. I miss home and Maya as Jack too," Sam slowly moves so he's sat in the chair by my bed.

"I know you do, only a little while now until you get to come home though!" He says happily. I smile in agreement just as Marie stops at the door.

Problem KidWhere stories live. Discover now