enemy to doctor - the hating game

16 - drawing blood

A low thumping pain awakens me. It's my stomach. Panic jolts through me and I straighten which doesn't make the pain any better.
Immediately I'm being pulled back down so that my muscles tense but then quickly relax again.

"Lucy?"

It's Josh.
He is the one who has pulled me back down. His voice is a little raspy, probably because I just awakened him out of his well-needed sleep.

"If it's the pain, it's normal. I'm going to inject you something stronger soon."

I've had so many needles inside of me throughout these past two days that I don't even stiffen anymore at the sound of that.
Carefully Josh peals himself out from behind me and places me down into the cushions.
Then he gets out of bed and I see him walking around the bed. At least the dark rings from underneath his eyes have disappeared.

"Did you wake up during the night?"

I shake my head no.
Josh looks onto the display of my EKG and pushes a button. A painful pressure develops underneath the stickers. The sudden feeling scares me and I jump.

"Sorry, Luce. Hold on a second please."

The device does a beeping sound and then the pressure is being released again.
Josh is reading something off the screen again.

"Looks good. Let me check your fever."

He does and quickly realizes that it rose again to 39.5°C.

"I have to take your blood again and send it in. Seems like there's still some inflammation."

My eyes drift to his and he shoots me a little smile in an attempt to calm my nerves. Our eyes speak a thousand words while my thoughts drift of to what happened last night and for some reason I am more than sure that we are sharing the same thoughts.

"Can I maybe go to the bathroom before?"

He notably stiffens and diverts his eyes back to the EKG. A few seconds pass before he detaches my IV and the EKG.

"Yeah, of course. I'm sorry."

Our eyes meet.
He seems so tired.
Then he slides his hands underneath my back and lifts me up, gently cradling me against his chest.
I'm still too tired to protest and let him carry me into the bathroom connected to the room we are in.
It's white and sterile but with a bigger shower and more space. I immediately spot the handles on the walls next to the toilet and thankfully grab them when Josh slowly sets me back down.

"Can you manage?"

I just nod and without further questions he turns around.
It takes me less than a minute until I flush the toilet, embarrassed by the fact that he just heard me fucking peeing.
That has to be an ick.
I start walking over to the sink in tiny steps but stop after just two as I can feel a pain in my stomach that has me bending over and huffing for air.
The next second Josh has already lifted me back up and the pain eases.

"What the hell was that Lucy."

I'm almost scared of looking up and meeting his light eyes.

"I-I don't know. It felt like a period cramp."

Immediately I can see Josh's eyebrows shooting up. 

"Do you know when you're due?"

His eyebrows are furrowed now as he positions me in a way that allows me to wash my hands.

"Thank you."

We fall into silence, the question still lingering between us.

"I don't know precisely but-"
He turns off the faucet and then makes his way back into the bathroom.

"Not yet. That's for sure. Maybe in like 10 days but I could check on my phone."

Without a further word Josh places me back on the bed and then turns and walks over to a wooden table next to the door. He returns with my phone and hands it to me.
Then he walks over to one of the cabinets and begins to search through them.
I unlock my phone and open my period tracker searching for my last entry.
11 days. My period is 11 days away.

"11."

Josh' hands halt and drop, then he turns around.

"Do you usually have cramps this early before?"

I shake my head.
His eyes stay on me for another moment, then he turns and grabs a little metal tray.
I watch him walking over and placing the tray on the little table next to my bed. Then I hand him my phone and he lays it next to the tray.

"I'm going to take your blood now. Can I see your arm?"

I lift my right arm as the left one is already occupied with the IV and twist my body to the left where Josh has sat down on the bed.
A firm but soft grip tightens around my elbow and I decide not to watch while he takes my blood.
I feel his fingers, the cold spray and a cotton before his dark voice reaches my ear again.

"Take a big breath in and let it out nice and slowly."

I do as he tells me and clench my eyes at the painful sensation caused by the needle in my vein.
When the pain eases I open my eyes again and look into Josh's face who is currently filling four ampullae with the crimson fluid.
His eyebrows are furrowed and his hair is still messy from last night.
As he withdraws the needle from my arm and presses a cotton onto it to still the bleeding I feel my vision blurring.

"Josh-"

His eyes shoot to mine and he immediately recognizes the lightheadedness and grabs the water bottle on the night stand.
He uncaps it and leads it to my mouth where I begin to chug the water down.

"Easy, Lucy. Slow down."

I resist the urge to down the water all at once and calm my sudden thirst. Josh presses his fingers to my neck, checking my pulse while i down a few further sips.
Then I close my eyes and try to shut out the nausea rolling over me.
Meanwhile Josh fixates a cotton with tape and presses onto the wound for a little longer to avoid hematomas.
I feel a tingling sensation as he takes my hand and plants a soft kiss into my palm. My eyes open and a soft smile spreads across my face.
I lift my arm and lay my hand onto his cheek, feeling the light stubble brushing against my fingertips. His eyes shoot to mine and I can feel the air buzzing with energy and all different kinds of emotions.
We remain like this for a few seconds though it seems like an eternity.

"Thank you."

The two words leave my mouth being barely more than a whisper but the impact they leave is clearly visible.
Slowly I drop my hand from his cheek and the next thing I know is that his lips meet mine.

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Ahhhh I'm having the best time writing this story!

It's so much fun!

If you have any ideas or feedback let me hear it!

Love you guys! <3