Going Solo

Part 29

Nicole exhaled, a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." As she sat back down on the hospital bed, she realized that she felt a slight breeze from behind.

She gasped, covering herself with the sheets. She was now in a skimpy hospital gown, the kind that didn't allow you to cover yourself completely in the back. "How did I get changed?" she interrogated.

"The nurse got you changed." Jin was quick to inform her. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

Nicole rolled her eyes, until they landed on the white board ahead of her. It covered the wall across from her hospital bed. Although residue of erased words covered the white board, the only words that were legible were the ones written simply in the middle: "Concussion caused by blow to the head. Attending Physician: Dr. Bradford Johns"

"Bradford Johns..." Nicole read aloud, as if trying to recall something. "Johns... Isn't... Isn't this Johns General Hospital?"

"Yes." Jin acknowledged.

"Well then wouldn't that make Bradford Johns the owner of this hospital?!" she exclaimed.

"No. That would be his uncle, Micheal Johns." he remarked impassively.

"Even so! Why would he attend to a minor concussion?" Nicole asked, dumbfounded.

Jin eyed her carefully before speaking. "Do you not know who sponsors The Public Health Center?" When Nicole's lost expression continued to rest on her face, Jin sighed. "I wanted to make sure you were alright, so I asked Brad to come take a look at you."

He sat at the foot of her bed, resting his leg beside hers.

"Oh..." was all she could manage, before the door opened and Tony stepped into the room.

Upon seeing Nicole's black eye, Tony immediately rushed to her bedside and dramatically got down on his knees, ignoring the chair that sat right next to the bed. He apologized profusely, taking Nicole's hand in his as he did.

Before he witnessed anymore of the scene in front of him, Jin stood up from the bed and straightened his suit. To Nicole he said, "Don't worry about coming in to work tomorrow. I'll let Hugh know what happened and be back to pick you up when the doctor clears you."

Nicole began to protest reasoning that there would be no need for him to come back. She was not his responsibility. Jin, however, paid no attention to her protests and began to walk towards the door. He stopped just before reaching the door and turned to Tony, slitting his eyes. "You would do well to watch your temper." he said before closing the door behind him.

"I... really am sorry Nicole. I can't even - I really can't even begin to ask your forgiveness. How could I do this to you?" Tony whispered, reaching out to caress her face and slightly grazing the bruise he'd left near her eye.

"It's fine. Really." Nicole smiled. "You didn't mean for it to happen. Its not the worst thing you've done." she'd only realized the depth of her words after she'd said them.

Tony was silent and they sat there avoiding each other's gaze.

"I guess your boyfriend wasn't too thrilled about me holding your hand, huh?" he finally spoke, getting up from his groveling position on the floor and sitting in the chair he'd initially passed by.

"How's your mom?" Nicole interjected, quickly changing the subject.

"She'll be okay. The doctor said it'll take about 6 weeks for her to recover."

Nicole smiled softly, "I'm glad it went well. I'll come back to visit her after I'm discharged."

The two sat and engaged in small talk, it had never been so awkward between them. Tony, though, was stubborn and refused to give up on his attempts to converse with Nicole.

"How's work?" he started.

Before Nicole could give a generic answer, the nurse emerged through the door. A lively young thing she seemed, as she entered the room. "Miss Pearson?"she questioned.

"Yes." Nicole smiled, thankful to escape her little chat with Tony.

"How're you feeling this morning?" she said, showing both bottom and top teeth as she grinned.

"I'm... good. Thank you."

"Great! The doctor will be in to see you in just a sec, but until then, I'm gonna have to ask you to fill out the rest of this paper work. Your boyfriend filled out most of it, but I guess there were a few things he wasn't sure of."

"My... boyfriend." Nicole's eyes slid over to Tony, realizing she needed to continue this front while he was around. "Right." she said as she held her hand out for the clipboard of paperwork.

Nicole examined it once the nurse handed it over.

Wow.

He really had filled out most of it. Name. Address. Phone. Email. Emergency Contact. Medical History. He'd even filled out her Insurance Provider information.

After filling in the blank spots, Nicole asked Tony to bring her paperwork to the front desk.

"And go check on your mom too, please. I'm fine, awake, and healthy. It's your mom who needs you right now."

Tony gazed at her. "And I need you. I can't ever imagine you being completely out of my life. Thank you for being such a wonderful human being." He leaned down, kissed her temple, and whispered "I love you." heavily. His lips were soft, moist, and she suddenly remembered the feel of them on hers.

She wanted to protest to his sudden expression, but the shock of his lips and the quick pace at which he rushed out the door prevented her.

About 30 seconds after Tony left, the doctor entered, checking her IV, asking her how she was doing, and finally sending her home.

"I'll let Jin know you're ready to be picked up." he smiled.

"Thank you. For doing this. I know you probably have a lot more important things do."

"Honestly, this is a welcome break from the chaos." Dr. Johns laughed. After he left, Nicole began to change back into her clothes.

Man, I really wanna get home and into the shower.

After shimmying her way into the skirt she had been wearing last night and pulling over her top, she turned to face the door, ready to grab her bag. That is, until she saw Jin standing in the doorway, face flushed red.