Belong - an adopted by Hamilton fanfic [Hamilton]

93. To hold

This was it.
My first, true, goodbye.
Out of many.

As I walked to the door and put my hand on the handle, I turned my head back to look at her and the room one last time.
Maybe I'll be back here, at some point.
But this was goodbye, for now.
"Thanks again", I said, and she smiled bigger than I had ever seen her smile. "Bye, dr Noma"
She nodded towards me.
"Bye, Rue"
And I walked out the door, closed it behind me and saw the next kid waiting in Dr Noma's little waiting room of this giant hospital.
There were many more goodbyes to come.
But I think I handled that well enough.

Dom stood outside the entrance to the hospital, waiting for me as I exited through the big doors. He was holding Ariel in his arms, as the puppy really didn't know how to contain herself when there were a lot of people around her.
He looked sad, at first, staring out into the flow of people. When he found me, he smiled and brightened up.
I did the same.
"Hi", I greeted him, grinning. I quickly kissed him before he could greet me back. He laughed.
"Hi to you too", he said, as we let go.
"So, what's the plan?", I asked, petting Ariel on the head. She wagged her tail.
"The plan?", he asked, jokingly. "Well, I have none. I thought that maybe we could put Ariel in my backpack and quickly head up to Flo's room?", he stated, but it almost sounded like a question.
"It sounds like a plan", I said, looking up at him.
He nodded, looking at me thankfully.
"Okay. Let Operation smuggle Ariel into Flo's hospital room begin"

"Quick, quick!", I said as I opened the door to Flo's room, and Dom swiftly walked in. I shut the door behind us and Dom was pulling the curtains over the windows, so that no one would see that we had brought a dog into a patient's room. Dom turned around, looking at Flo with an excited face. Flo looked back at him, clearly excited, sensing that something was about to happen.
"What's going on?", she asked, almost bouncing off the bed.
"What do you think?", Dom asked her, looking mischievous.
She smiled a little nervously.
"I don't know?", she squaled, pulling her legs up. She looked at me, and whispered her next line as if we were talking about a secret. "Do you know?"
I smiled to the side, nodding at her.
"What?", she exclaimed, furrowing her eyebrows. She looked at Dom again. "Why am I the only one who doesn't know?"
Dom laughed, and then he softened.
"Well...", he started to say. He carefully took off the backpack, and as he started to unzip it he continued. "Because it's a surprise"
And with that, Ariel's head popped up from the bag, her ears flopping over and the she barked loudly at the sight of Flo, jumping out almost immediately.
Flo jumped off the bed, as well, shrieking.
"Ariel!", she shouted in excitement.
Both me and Dom started laughing.
"Oh Dom! Thank you, thank you, thank you!", she exclaimed, all over Ariel. And Ariel was all over her, from licking her face to barking at her.
Dom didn't say anything, he just smiled and watched from afar. And I watched him watching her, once again realizing why I kept coming back to him.
Because he never gave up.
Even though he, deep down, knew that it wasn't healthy at times.
And I knew I needed to make sure that it didn't go too far.
Just like he made sure that I didn't give up.

About half an hour later, we were unfortunately busted by Dom's parents who had come back with takeaway for lunch. Flo wasn't sad as one would think she would be when Dom's dad had to bring Ariel out of the hospital. Instead, she looked happier than ever as she watched them go.
"Can't you bring Ariel here tomorrow as well?", she asked Dom, her eyes big.
Dom shrugged his shoulders, looking at me.
"Don't get any ideas! What if the nurses or doctors had caught you?", Dom's mom, Agnés exclaimed, shutting down the topic with her French accent.
"Okay", Flo said, defeated in a sense. "Can we eat now?"
Agnés laughed.
"Mh-hm", she replied, and she started to unpack the takeaway cardboard boxes of Chinese food from the paper bag. "Here you go, Flo, your favourite. Chow mein", she said and handed it to Flo, who excitedly accepted it. Agnés looked at me.
"We weren't sure what to get you, Dom told us to avoid chicken and peanuts-", she said, handing me a box. "So we got you some veggie spring rolls and noodles, is that all right?"
I nodded, smiling at her, though my heart had started pounding as I took the box and chopsticks.
"Oh, thank you, but you didn't have to-", I told her, feeling slightly stressed.
"No, no, you're welcome. Eat as much as you like- those spring rolls are magnificent. It's from the place where I did my first article in New York. They've got some of the best Chinese food in the city. Or maybe it's just nostalgia-", she explained, but Dom and Flo cut her off.
"Because that's where you and Dad had your first date", they said in unison. Agnés laughed, and I smiled. I carefully and hesitantly tried to open the box, but my hands were shaking slightly and it took longer than expected.
Maybe because I was nervous and that I had a thousand thoughts swirling around in my head.
Don't eat that- what if you'll get sick? What if you'll make Flo sick? What if it'll be your fault? What if you'll make Lin and Vanessa and Sebastian sick and then you can't move? And you'll have everything ruined-
I swallowed anxiously, finally getting the box open. I looked down at the noodles and spring rolls, feeling overwhelmed by the expectations.
I started blinking, just in case.
Flo and Agnés were chatting away, their conversation rather lively as they were eating their food without a second thought.
I couldn't say the same.
Carefully, I broke the chopsticks apart and started moving the noodles around in the box, as I felt Dom lean onto me, so that he could whisper to me.
"You don't have to eat if it gets too much", he kindly assured me, looking at me not worriedly, but caringly. "But, however... The spring rolls are my something new for you today. And if you don't like it, I've also got fortune cookies for you to try. I mean, I did miss to get you something when you came over", he quietly said, smiling at me.
"You had your reasons", I told him. "You were sad", I said, as I slowly took a bite of the spring rolls, looking at him.
And it was amazing.
Of course it was.
Still, I put it down, forever wondering if I would be able to take a second bite.
"Yay!", he mouthed.
I couldn't help but giggle.