The second chance

Chapter 10

"My God, what are you doing here again?" I looked at Hunter, who was half floating out of bed with his head down. We discharged him home just two weeks ago. I couldn't believe he was here again. "Shouldn't you have been on a date?"

"I am."

"With me?" I smiled and batted my eyelashes several times behind me.

"Just don't think anything," you grinned. "I know you're dating someone else and I'm currently on a date with this vibrating vest," he added, wrapping his arms around his chest.

"At least it will warm you up," I added and moved closer to him. "Seriously, what happened?"

"Mucus."

"I'm sorry, what about Tiffany?"

Tiffany was Hunter's childhood friend. They grew up together in the hospital, where they met regularly. She also suffered from the same disease, only she was more lucky. Two years ago, suitable lungs were found for her and her body willingly accepted the donated transplant.

"I envy the free food," he replied bluntly.

"Well, that's certainly something to envy you."

"And it wasn't supposed to be a date," he returned to my original question. "Just an innocent encounter outside the hospital."

"Just now," I nodded my head. "Everything starts with an innocent encounter."

"You have that from your own experience?" he raised himself on his elbows and looked at me teasingly.

"Don't even tell me," I started and sat next to him on the bed, which was shaking all over. The vibrating vest was working at full speed. "I'm starting to feel that at this rate I won't have time to have a single date before the end of my short life."

"Give me his number," he exclaimed and held out his cell phone to me. "Maybe he just needs a little soul talking."

"A little bit?" I snorted badly.

"Then I'll tell him that if he doesn't move his elaborate skeleton, I'll gladly take you from him. That will hopefully wake him up."

"You're nice, but I doubt it will take. I'm making a mistake somewhere."

"You?" he looked at me in surprise. "It's not your fault. It's your shadows from the past that stand between you."

"Those too," I admitted, and an unpleasant feeling weighed on my stomach.

"You should...," he began, but then stopped. With a raised hand, he indicated to me that he was not done yet, he just needed to cough up the phlegm. The vibrating vest fulfilled its purpose, which was to ensure effective cleaning of the airways. I nodded in understanding and willingly handed him a bowl from the bedside table, into which he then spat thick mucus and wiped his mouth with a paper napkin, which I also handed him. "Well thank you."

"You're welcome," I smiled warmly.

"You should talk to him about it," he returned to the original topic of our conversation.

"If only it were that simple," I looked at him skeptically. The corners of his mouth lifted, he must have guessed my thoughts.

"So they got rid of him. You deserve better."

"And that?" I asked him.

"A guy who will respect you and not be ashamed of you," his voice was colored with bitterness.

I knew he was right, if only it weren't so horribly complicated. I needed to talk to Erick, but I already knew how it would turn out. Whenever I started a serious topic, Erick cut me off and started rambling on about trivial things, or gave me a nervous look or was running around the room like a caged African lion.