luna. luke hemmings.

chapter thirty eight.

Guilt | Luke

At eight in the morning I was woken up. Nurses were rushing around and the curtain had been drawn so that the morning light was gushing into the room. I was in the way, a hindrance. When I woke, Luna was slouched in the arm chair, caught up in discussion with one of the two nurses that were in the ward. Luna paused mid-sentence to shoot me a smile, and I rubbed the sleep residue from my eyes.

"Rise and shine buttmuncher," she giggled and I grinned. Only Luna could stay positive during such a time, only she could make me smile when all I could do was feel miserable on her behalf.

I swung my legs over the edge of the mattress and scratched the back of my neck. Sleep last night had not been comfortable, cooped up on a tiny mattress with a second person was not ideal by any means.

"Luke?"

I glanced over to the woman who spoke my name, she was the same one that had snuck me in last night. I was thankful, I don't think I could have lasted another hour on the plastic chair in the waiting room.

Noticing my attention she sent me a smile and continued speaking. "We've decided to keep Luna in for a few hours longer than we initially expected to. Your girlfriend–" she tilted her head towards Luna and my eyes followed her gesture to the red haired girl who was sticking her tongue out at me playfully. My gaze quickly snapped back to the nurse. "– hasn't appeared to have had any of her mandatory jabs. No tetanus shot, no flu jab, no nothing. So we are going to sort all that out and also sort out her blood issues. We all thought it would be better if you went home, had a proper meal, maybe a shower and had some decent rest instead of hanging around here for another six hours."

I was hesitant. I just didn't feel ready to leave Luna on her own, I wanted to be there for her every step of the way. But the small smile painted on Luna's lips told me she'd be fine and that I should go. Not for her, but for me.

Slowly I climbed off the bed and leaned over Luna. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead before she tilted her chin upwards to that she could reach my lips.

"I'll see you in a few hours, okay babe?" she whispered and I nodded.

"Okay."

Ten minutes later I was sitting in the back of bus that took me to the street that intersected with the one I lived on. At a little after eight in the morning, not many people were heading back into the residential part of Sydney, so I had my choice of any of the fifty odd weathered seats in the whole vehicle. I watched out the window as I recognised students from school making their way to campus in the drizzle. For them it was just any other Monday, but for Luna it was the first day of a brand new chapter in her life, and it was my responsibility to help her write it in the best way possible.

With my head pressed against the window, I stared out as the traffic filled streets turned to empty roads. The rain picked up, the light drizzle turning into a blast of water. I suddenly pitied the fools who decided to walk to school, they'd be having a wet period one.

The bus arrived at my stop and I hopped off, immediately lowering my head and pulling up my hoodie. In a short minute I was pushing open the front door to my home and being ushered towards the fireplace by a concerned mother. Mum had a worried frown etched on her face as she soothingly rubbed my shoulders.

"Why didn't you call me to pick you up?" she asked, letting go of me temporarily as she wandered over to the couch to grab the blanket draped over the arm. "You're drenched and freezing," she stated as she dumped the mink blanket over my body, "you'll catch pneumonia if you're not careful."