Can We Walk Together? (Peterick au)

Chapter 8

*Patrick's POV*

Patrick's holding on tight to his new teddy bear. He secretly misses Mr. Cuddles far more than he wants to admit, so he was more than happy when Pete gave him a new plushy. It's perhaps a bit childish to still like stuffed animals, but sometimes they're there when you need a hug or assurance and no one else is around to give you just that. He pushes the door open and leaves the building. He looks around for the black car of his parents. He quickly notices it and crawls in the backseat, placing the big envelope with the necessary papers next to him. "Hey, honey, are you ready?" His mom turns to him from the passenger seat. "What's that?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, looking at the dog laying on his lap while he tries to bugle up. "Pete gave it to me just now, so I'm not alone in the hospital tonight." He replies. A warm smile appears on her features. "They're good guys, aren't they?" She smiles wide and tries to say it as nonchalant as possible, but Patrick can hear she just really needs the confirmation. "Yeah, they're the best. We went to this awesome pool party last night, since I won't be able to go in a pool or whatever after surgery. I met some of Joe and Pete's friends. They're really cool and friendly as well." He assures her. "You didn't drink, I may hope?" Patrick rolls his eyes, he should've known that that would be the part she'd have a problem with. "No, mom, I didn't drink nor ate too late." She nods approvingly. "Was Brendon there too?" She then asks, a question to mask the actual question she wants an answer to: "Did you look after him, because you know how he is." Patrick laughs. "Yeah he was actually," He replies His mom nods again. "with his new boyfriend." He adds with a smirk. She turns back around and even his dad looks at him through the rear-view  mirror for a quick second before concentrating on the road again. "His what? Our Brendon has a boyfriend?" She asks, looking ecstatic over the news. Patrick always likes it when his mom refers to his friend as if he's her son as well. "Yeah! They're perfect for each other. He's a bit taller than him, brown hair, skinny." Patrick starts describing Ryan. "Oh and he can make Brendon shut up with a single smile. It's like a magic trick." Patrick chuckles. His parents burst out in laughter. "What's mystery boy's name?" His dad asks. "Ryan. Ryan Ross I think his last name is." He replies. "He just moved here a couple of weeks ago and comes to the store every now and then." He explains, knowing his parents will ask about it anyway. "And our Brendon already wanted to show him off to his friends?" His mother beams, happy for his best friend. "Well, Andy and I already knew the guy from the store and from the way hewho wouldn't shut up about him." Patrick tells them. A chuckle escaped his mother's lips at the last part. "That's our Brendon." His dad laughs, not looking away from the road. "Yeah, but he apparently works together with Marie, who happens to be Joe's girlfriend. So when Joe asked her to come, she said she'd bring a new colleague with her. You should've seen Bren's face when he saw it was Ryan. They practically ran into each other's arms. It was the cutest." Patrick smiles fondly at the memory of his love struck friend. "That's lovely honey." His mother smiles back at him, softly chuckling as she could picture it herself. They talk a little longer about last night and his roommates. His mother asks if they eat healthy enough and Patrick assures her they're all doing just fine. The last couple of minutes they drive in silence. Patrick looks outside the window, his hand on the brown stuffed dog. A train of thoughts crosses through his mind, all too fast for him to actually grab a specific one and think about it thoroughly. His father takes a turn and he sees the parking lot of the hospital doom up. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "We're here." His mom speaks up as if the others in the car hadn't noticed. Patrick forces a smile around his lips. "Yep, this is it." He says. They get out and Patrick takes both the papers and the stuffed animal with him. They go inside and he walks up to the front desk. "Hi, I uh, I have surgery from professor Smith?" He says, making it sound more like a question. "These are the papers they gave me home for today." He hands the smiling woman behind the desk the papers. She takes them and starts typing on her computer. "Can I have your ID, please?" She asks, looking back up at him. Patrick grabs his wallet and takes it out. He hands it to her and she puts it in an ID-reader. "Patrick Stump?" She looks up for confirmation. Patrick smiles shakily. "That's me." He replies. She smiles at him then and hands him his ID-card back. She stands up and walks towards some kind of printer. When she walks back over she places a sticker with his information on one of the files. "Can you stick out your right hand please?" Patrick does as he's told and she wraps one of those hospital bracelets around his wrist with his information on. "Go to the third floor on the left. Your room should be C305, but ask one of the nurses just in case." She tells him. Patrick nods and thanks her before returning to his parents. They head upstairs, via the stairs of course, and go to the room where the nurses keep their files and hold their breaks. "Hi, my son has surgery today from professor Smith. The lady at the front desk said his room would be C305. Is that correct?" Patrick's mom asks the first nurse she sees. Patrick wants to hide his face. He hates it when his mother speaks for him like he's still a kid who can't do that for himself. The nurse, a young girl around his age with long black curls, looks at him with a face saying: "Moms, am I right?" Patrick smiles shyly back at her and puts his black cap better on his head. "Let me check. What's the name?" She then turns back to his mom. "Patrick Stump." He answers before his mother could. The girl smiles at him and goes to the computer. "Yes, C305. It's a two person room, but it's empty at the moment. I'll walk you to it." She smiles up at them. Her and Patrick walk next to each other, his parents behind them. "First time?" She asks. Patrick nods looking up at her. He was staring at the ground. "That obvious?" He asks. She shrugs. "You just start to notice. I've been here a couple of years already." She smiles again and he smiles back. "I have no idea what to expect if I'm being totally honest." He admits. They stop at the room and she lets them in, following in herself. "So, the professor is still busy with other patients, Friday is always a busy day for him. As soon as we get a call saying it's your turn we'll bring you one of those nice hospital gowns and a little pill for in your eyes. The pill is to widen your pupil." She explains. The three of them nod and she leaves again.