Rose Red

Heartbeat

Bella's POV

7 hours later and im ready to go home. I've never wanted to leave work so much. Clare has been doing everything in her power to make this day hard for me. I can't take it anymore. I just wanna go home, take a shower and sleep but I know I have things to do when I get home. I grab my things from my locker and then remember I told auggie I would see him before I left.

I take the elevator up to the second floor and then make my way up the stairs to floor 3. Before I get to his door I'm being stopped by a nurse. "What are you doing here miss Quinn? Aren't you off by now?" I nod at her and smile. "Yes I am but I told mr. Evans that I would come by to see him before I left." She gives me a look of sympathy. I'm not sure why though. "Is he the one in room 21 3b?" I nod at her again. "Oh honey, he's in a bit of a mood," I give her a skeptical look. He's always in a mood. "Well, a different mood than usual. I would save it for tomorrow" I thank her for the warning but say I promised I would see him tonight. I know I didn't but I would very much like if this conversation would end so I can see him and go home.

She tells me to be careful and leaves. I smile at her and say goodbye before walking up to his door. I put my hand on the knob but take it off. I don't know if I should knock or just walk in. I battle myself for a couple minutes before deciding to knock. A second later the door is thrown open and I jump back in shock. He looks pissed but his face softens when he sees me. He lets out a breathy "Miss Quinn" before stepping to the side.

I walk in and ask if he's okay. "Yes. Why would I not be?" Ive noticed that when he is in a "mood" his responses are very short but he still tries to give me answers. "Um," I pause. Should I tell him? I suppose it isn't going to hurt anyone if I do tell him. He looks at me expectedly. "Well I was on my way in here. I promise I didn't forget, it just took a little time to give the charge nurses everything and to chart but I didn't forget. But I was stopped by a nurse and she told me that I should wait to see you until tomorrow because you might- um not be completely okay...." When I stopped talking I looked up at him and he looked angry.

August's POV

I looked at her amused. When she rants she's adorable. Then I hear her say another nurse told her to be cautious around me. I couldn't help but get angry. I started pacing. Is she scared of me? Do I make her afraid? Is she only here to prove to the nurse that she's not afraid? Am I scary? Do I scare the nurses? I could feel my body catch fire and my fists clench. Then I felt a soft hand on my arm. I looked down at it and then up at the owner. She looked concerned. Worried.

But not scared. Not afraid. "Are you sure you're okay?" Her hand slid down my arm and stopped at my wrist. Her finger wrapped around and stayed there for a couple seconds before she retracted her hand.

Bella's POV

I have this habit of feeling people's pulses and I can't ever stop it. I don't even think about it until I take my hand away. Even before I knew I wanted to be a nurse I would wrap my fingers around people wrists to feel their beating heart. It brings me comfort and I just did it to auggie. "I'm sorry" He sighed and closed his eyes. Then he opened them up again, "yes I'm fine now. And don't be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong." I smiled at him. "I'm so sorry auggie but it's been a long day and I'm a little tired. Do you mind if I leave now?"

And then he did the most beautiful thing in the world.

He laughed.