He was pretty much already asleep, the drug taking ahold.
"That's better." He said, tucking the blankets up a little further. "He's going in for surgery tomorrow? That's what the notes said." I nodded
"Yeah, hopefully it goes well."
"It should, it's a common surgery here considering the number of skiing injuries we get so he should be out in a few hours." I nodded, watching Vikk carefully. "Stand strong, it'll be okay."
He placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. He then left me alone with Vikk, who was now peacefully asleep in a much more comfortable position.
"Night Vikk." I whispered to myself. "I hope everything'll be better in the morning."
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The next morning not much had changed. His surgery had been pushed back after a spate of emergency surgeries, so it wouldn't be occurring until at least 11am rather than 8 am. He was still in quite a fair amount of pain but he was still on the medication, so he was better than the night before.
He wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything and so was a little bit grumpy, his stomach rumbling on occasion. To distract him from the pain and his thirst and hunger I started reading to him, news articles, short stories I found online, anything really that could pull his thoughts away from what had happened.
A nurse, a different one from the night before, came in at half past 10 to prepare him for surgery. She told us what was going to happen, some of the risks and how long it was expected to take. It was estimated to take 2 to 3 hours and he would be released once he could stay awake for 5 minutes.
Vikk was a little scared, I could tell, so I squeezed his hand gently and carded my hand through his hair to comfort him.
"It's gonna be okay Vikk, it's gonna be okay." I whispered. "I'll be here when you come out of surgery, I promise." He smiled up at me.
"Thanks Lachy, for being here." He hummed.
"Of course." I whispered back. "I'd never leave you alone."
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5 hours after Vikk left I was started to get really worried. Some of the other boys had come down the mountain to see him but he was still in surgery with no news from anyone about how he was and what was going on.
Billy and Elliot stayed most of the time, leaving only once to go and get some food. They knew about my crush on Vikk and so understood why I was so worried, and constantly reassuring me that he was okay and it was just taking longer than expected.
As the 6 hour mark passed I started to get really freaked out, but then a nurse stepped in through the door.
"Hey, friend of Vikram Barn?" I nodded. "He's just coming back now, sorry it took so long. The surgery took longer than expected and afterwards he just couldn't stay awake, so we couldn't realise him."
I sighed in relief and nodded, thankful that he was okay and nothing had gone wrong.
"The surgery went okay though?" He nodded.
"Everything went fine, he should be able to go home tomorrow morning. He'll have to stay in tonight so he can be kept under supervision but it's all fine." I nodded and rubbed my forehead, my first thought to text the other boys that everything was okay. Billy and Elliot weren't there, they had once again gone out to get some food and fresh air.
A few minutes later Vikk was wheeled into the room on his bed, half awake with a massive white bandage covering his shoulder. He looked extremely groggy and was barely able to keep his eyes open but he smiled at me and lifted his hand in an exhausted wave.
I pulled my chair up close to the side of his bed, squeezing his hand.
"Hey Vikk, you feeling okay?" He nodded, mumbling a little.
"Mmmm tired." He whispered, his fingers gently wrapping around mine. I pushed his hair out of his eyes.
"I'm not surprised Vikky, you were in there for hours." He didn't reply, he was still very groggy and probably didn't even hear me speak.
He didn't seem to be in any pain, he was still attached to an IV which had pain medication running into his veins, and so he was also sleepy and was acting a little off. He was groggy and acting a little loopy and crazy, and I knew it was because of the anaesthetic.
I carded my hand through his hair gently and he leaned into me, a content and happy look on his face.
"Love you Lachy." He mumbled and I jumped, startled. I didn't know whether he said it because of the drugs or because he didn't know that I could hear him, and I didn't know whether he meant it or not.
Could he really mean it?
Two days later I found out that he did mean it. After the awful flight home and a few hours of resting I confronted about what he said when he was under the pain medication. It took a little while, a few minutes of going back and forwards, but eventually he confessed, this time not while he didn't know what was going on.
Our first kiss was slow and gentle, hesitant and very much a first kiss because we didn't really know what we were doing. Vikk was the one who incited it, I was much too shy to do anything that involved my crush, and everything changed from there.
We went out on our first date only a few days before I went back to Australia, to see a movie. I loved it and Vikk did too, which also meant that we came out to those we had been staying with, my friends, Vikk's friends and roommates. None of them had a problem with it.
I loved it. Vikk did too. And we loved each other.
Vikklan- Groggy
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