SLEEPSONG (BoyxBoy)✔️

Chapter 180

I fought to hide yet another smirk when the leather-wearing bald man flinched.

"Yeah, Dicky," I quietly teased, sticking my tongue out at him. "Be nice."

If looks could kill, I'd have been little more than a burnt wisp of a person.

"You're damn lucky I love you," he seethed, eye twitching with leashed fury. "Shut up."

I rolled my eyes just as the doorknob turned and suddenly clicked. I heard growls from both the guys as the door swung open until a familiar female voice nervously cleared her throat.

"Well, t-this is certainly an interesting welcome," Nurse Clifford said a little awkwardly, and I finally looked away from the ceiling as she approached. "Good morning, Aerin."

"Hi," I greeted, giving her a faint smile. "Sorry about the chaos a few hours ago. Is the nurse who got yelled at doing okay?"

"Mary Beth?" she asked, blinking. "Honestly, I think she handled the situation very poorly. She should have gone to go get the doctor so something could be arranged or, better yet, discussed it with you and asked for your input. She's only an intern nurse here, after all."

"Oh..." I said, frowning. "Sorry. I'll talk to Bash about what happened, okay?"

She simply gave a smile and went about unwrapping my legs.

Jak and Richard both glanced away when she pushed the hospital gown high enough to reveal my groin and the tops of the bandages, but I was quick to cover my privates with both hands.

She said nothing and was very professional, focusing only on undoing the bandages and carefully unraveling my legs one careful movement at a time. Once that was done, I pushed the hem of the gown back down and covered myself, flushing with discomfort at the unwanted exposure. Her eyes remained trained on the burns and I noticed she was chewing on her cheek.

"Hm," she said, frowning. "I'll be right back."

"Huh?" I asked when she turned to go, eyes bugging. "Why?"

"Wait here," she said, not giving me a response. "I'll be back in a second."

"Hey!" Jak barked, rising to his feet. "He asked you a--"

"I'm sorry, sir," she said, casting a look over her shoulder, "but I'm not a doctor so I can't honestly give you an answer, hence why I'm telling you to wait right here."

And without another word she left the room, leaving the door open. Doctors and nurses moved back and forth along the brilliantly pristine fluorescent-lit halls, some of them casting curious looks into my room while others ignored the open door entirely.

"What the hell was that about?" Jak asked, looking rather tense. "Are you in pain?"

"No," I told him, "but like I said earlier, my legs are numb in most places below the knees."

Before he could give me a response, a dark silhouette came into the room and flicked on the lights. I winced, covering my face as my eyes smarted horribly, cringing inward. A very light sting crept along my skin and I sighed, recognizing it as a problem with fluorescent lights.

They emitted a very small amount of ultraviolet.

It wasn't enough to do damage during a short period of time, but it was enough to sting a little and do damage in long periods of exposure. Hence why most of the time, the lights in my room were almost always kept off at all times.

Normal light bulbs and yellow artificial light as a whole didn't hurt like fluorescent bulbs did.

"Good morning, Aerin," my visitor chimed. It was the doctor again, Mr. Markson. "How are you feeling today? Are you... tired? I've heard you haven't slept yet."