Detention With Elgort (Ansel Elgort)

Chapter Twelve

"I'm not convinced," mom said with a scowl.

"Miss Christensen, you have another visitor here to see you," the nurse said, opening the door. Almost on cue, Ansel stumbled in, tripping over his own feet.

"Speak of the Devil," mom said, shooting a glare at me before she and my dad sauntered out the door.

"I was worried sick about you, Mallory. I called the cops as soon as I hung up with you last night. I've been waiting here all night for you to wake up so that I could see you," Ansel said quickly. He stared at me with a look of relief, his hair tousled and dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep.

I couldn't hide my cheeky grin. "How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm OK, under the circumstances I guess," I replied.

He nodded slowly and stared down at the floor. "I've missed talking to you, y'know," he said after a moment.

"Have you and Hadley talked at all?" I asked.

"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "Let's just forget about her."

"We should go do something sometime," Ansel said.

"Like what?" I asked. "And when?"

"Like, today. As soon as you can get outta here," he said, his eyes sparkling.

"I dunno, Ansel. I'm exhausted, and I don't even know if they're gonna let me go home today," I told him.

The door opened once more. "Okay Miss Christensen, we're going to let you go home this afternoon after we check you out and make sure that everything is okay," the nurse told me.

Ansel turned back to me. "Tomorrow?" he said.

"Tomorrow," I said with a tired smile. He patted my shoulder and headed out.

After coming to the conclusion that I did not have a concussion and that I was stable enough to function like a normal human, the hospital finally released me from their prison-like campus. I retired to my warm and cozy bed for the rest of the day.

The following afternoon, I dragged myself out of bed and threw on a plain red t-shirt and jeans shorts in preparation for whatever it was that Ansel wanted the two of us to do that afternoon. He arrived at my doorstep a little after 2, and I told my parents that I would be back in time for dinner.

"Wait just a minute. Where do you think you're going, young lady?" my mom snapped just before I reached for the doorknob.

"Out." was all I said.

"After just being released from the hospital? Nu-uh. No way," mom said.

"The doctors all said that I'm fine, mom. I promise that I'll stay safe," I told her.

"I don't trust you," mom said in a low, threatening voice. I opened the door and got out of there as fast as I could.

"So what are we doing, anyways?" I asked Ansel once we were in the car.

"I was thinking that we could go to this little park across town," he told me.

"And...?" I pressed further.

He shrugged. "Just chill, I guess. We could get some ice cream," he said.

"Sounds good to me," I told him.

It was a beautiful day. Slightly muggy, but still beautiful. Sunshine, a few puffy clouds in the sky, vibrant green grass, chirping birds, and the cool breeze really helped soothe my anxiety that had built up over the past few days.