Familia ✧ MILES MORALES ❨o.h.❩

8 - You're Stuck With Me

LUNA ABSOLUTELY HATED HOSPITALS.

She always had. They were too clean, too uptight, too stiff. There was barely any homeliness in hospitals, and (depending on who it was), the people who worked there rarely ever treated her normally. Usually, if the nurse or doctor assigned to her was white and/or a man, they treated her like a juvenile gangbanger from Mexico who barely spoke English and whose first reflex was to hit someone. But if the nurse or doctor was a person of color and/or a woman, they were very kind and understanding, and treated her somewhat normally.

Unfortunately, the doctor assigned to Luna at the hospital was a blonde man with square glasses and bright blue eyes. Luna could tell right away that he didn't think she spoke much English, and she figured it out just by his slightly startled reaction when he saw her. So, in order to make things more fun, she decided to go along with it (plus she had just woken up from surgery an hour earlier and needed something to do besides sit and pick the lint off her blanket).

"Hello there," the doctor said to her, speaking slowly as if she couldn't understand him. "My name is Doctor Ippolito. Glad to see you're awake and alert."

Luna tilted her head, frowning as if she really didn't understand him. "Lo siento, no hablo inglés," she said.

The doctor huffed quietly, shaking his head. "I'm very happy to see you awake and alert," he said, drawing out his words and syllables as if speaking that way was going to do anything.

Luna's face was dead serious as she shook her head as well, frowning even further. "No te entiendo, lo siento señor."

Dr. Ippolito sighed, then walked over to the open door and called out, "Can someone get Rosa in here, please? We have a N.E.S.." He then looked at Luna said, "I'll be right back."

Luna just continued to look at him with a confused expression, and he sighed again before leaving the room.

Once he was gone, Luna lost the confused expression and giggled to herself, then immediately regretted it as a wave of sharp pain shot through her abdomen. She leaned back, putting one hand on her side and willing her pain to go away, and just as it started to leave, a petite, heavyset Latina woman in a blue nurse suit with tiny Cuban flags all over it walked into the room, a clipboard in one hand and a red plastic cup in the other.

"You can drop the act, young lady," she said to Luna as she approached the bed. "I heard you speaking English when you got in, so I know you understand me."

Luna huffed, looking down at her hands. "Sorry."

The woman laughed softly. "Don't be. You're the first bilingual patient we've had that pretended to only speak Spanish. And it honestly makes taking care of you more fun, cause now I can go along with the prank." She then went over to Luna and switched out the IV bag that was attached to her arm. "I'm Rosa, by the way."

"Luna," Luna replied with a smile.

"I know," Rosa said, holding up the clipboard. "It's on your chart."

There was a few moments of silence as Luna watched Rosa move around the room. Then, Rosa handed Luna the cup.

"Relax," Rosa assured the teenager when Luna looked at the liquid inside and sniffed it. "It's unfiltered apple juice."

Luna looked up at her. "Oh. Well, thank you."

"Of course." Rosa walked over to the door. "Your family is on their way, so they should be here soon. I suggest you spend what little quiet time you have resting."