"Okay, you can put me down now," I ask as Nate carried me down a narrow hallway.
He smirks.
"How's your shoulder?"
"Still hurts, but you don't have to carry me," I say.
"Who says so?" Nate replies.
"I do! Now, let me down." I demand, tapping on Nate's chest.
"Nope, we need help and I'm not letting you straddle with your shoulder," Nate says.
"Ow! How hard was my fall? And how are you not hurt?" I ask, gripping my shoulder.
"Well, we fell ten feet from an air vent and your shoulder broke your fall, but in reality, your fall broke your shoulder. And I'm a football player, remember? I'm built to take blows," Nate says.
"Oh. So what's going on with my shoulder? I feel like the bone is scraping my skin." I was in utter pain.
"Yeah, you fractured your collarbone. Or at least I think. We might have to get that checked out." Nate suggests.
"Why do you care? You hate me, remember?" I say.
"You're not wrong, I'm not a big fan of you ever since you blatantly accused me of spiking the drinks at the party," Nate responds.
"That's because you did! Don't deny it like you didn't." I reply.
"Alright, you can use your legs, get off me!" Nate says, biting his lips in frustration.
He then releases me and drops me flat on my butt.
"Ow!" I say, still planted on the ground.
"Walk it off. Let's go, we need to find where we are." Nate says while leaving without me.
"Nate, wait! Are you just gonna leave me here? It's dark." I say, running after Nate, holding my shoulder.
"Well, you shouldn't have said what you said and now look at you." Nate continued to walk away from me, leaving me to straddle behind.
"Don't be like that! You know exactly what I'm talking about!" I nag to Nate.
"No, I don't, so just drop it! Look, we made it to the laundry room. Maybe we can ask for help." Nate says, pointing to a door that read, 'Laundry Room'.
"Okay, lead the way," I say, still holding my arm.
We walk into the busy laundry room, where several maids and janitors resided. Everywhere I looked, there were laundry bins and baskets with bloody sheets and towels. How many people died in this hospital?!? Nate had walked up to one of the staff members and asked for help.
"Um, excuse me, we're looking for the main floor. What floor are we on?" Nate asks a lady who was folding sheets.
"Well, you are on the thirteenth floor, the laundry room. You need to take the elevator back down to the first floor and once you are there, make a sharp right and the receptionist desk should be on your left." The woman's accent rang from Indian descent. She directed us to the elevator, but Nate and I looked at each other in dismay.
"Um, ma'am, I don't think we should take the elevator. It's kinda broken." I say awkwardly.
"Well, there's a stairwell through the back hallway, but I have to warn you, it's the long way back to the first floor. Be prepared to walk down for a while." The woman warned us.
"Okay, thanks for the help. What is your name?" I ask.
"Praya. Praya Kelly." The woman says.
"Well, thank you Miss Praya for all the help," I reply.
"No problem. What happened to your arm, honey?" Praya asks.
"I fell, that's all," I say quickly.
"That looks bad. Let me see what I can do." Praya then goes to the back of the laundry room and comes back with a set of keys.
"Here, take these. These are the keys for the main corridor for the hospital. Just follow the yellow line all the way down and it should lead you to the first set of stairs to the hospital. There, you walk and find the first hall and from there you will find the main receptionist desk." Praya directs us.
Nate and I take the keys and follow Praya's instructions. We finally make down the main hallway and to the receptionist desk, where I met the nice lady who greeted me the first time.
"Oh, hi. Are you two looking for someone?" The receptionist asks.
"No, we're looking for some help. She fell and we think her clavicle is broken." Nate explains.
"Oh, my God, let me see if I can get some help for you two." The nurse then picks up her phone and calls for a doctor. Soon, a doctor rushes through the hall and takes me to an empty hospital bed.
"Yes, it seems that your clavicle is fractured. How did you sustain this injury?" The doctor asks, checking my injury.
Nate and I look at each other in worry.
"Um, I tripped and uh...fell while serving customers at my job. No big deal. So, how bad is it?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Well, the break is bad. If we don't set it in place, it could tear skin, so we are gonna have to put your shoulder back in place." The doctor says, gripping my shoulder.
"Put it back? Like, for real?" Nate asks quite nervously.
"Yes, the break needs to be set in order to make a splint and have it heal properly." The doctor says.
"Is it gonna hurt?" I ask while the doctor prepared my arm.
"Yeah...you have fun with that. I'm gonna check out the babies." Nate quickly walks away from me and I immediately panic.
"Just, count back from ten." The doctor holds my arm, his fingers gripping my skin.
"O-Okay. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five-AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Pain immediately shot through me like a bullet. The doctor had set my shoulder back in place and was now preparing for a sling. Or at least I think that's what happened. I passed out after that and woke up in a bed a couple hours later with a sling on my arm.
"Hey, Nerdy Girl." It was Alex.
"Oh, hey, Alex. I guess you can see the kind of pain I'm in, huh?" I tell him.
"Yeah, what happened there? You look worse than when Will took a hit last season and broke his foot. That thing twisted 180 and it was pretty bad." Alex explains to me.
"Yeah, I tripped." I lie, knowing fully well that's not what happened.
"So, Will seems to be doing a lot better. He had quite the smile on his face this morning." Alex says.
"Yeah, no. I was getting him breakfast this morning." I say, rubbing the back of my neck.
"Oh, I could come with you. Whatcha making?" Alex asks.
"Just some eggs and a muffin. Nothing fancy." I say shrugging.
"Ooh, sounds delicious, I wanna piece of that," Alex says.
I giggle a little and we exit the hospital, making our way back to the diner in Alex's car.
"Next stop, FlavorTown!" I say stupidly.
"Ok, Guy Fieri, let's make some breakfast," Alex says as he pulls out of the parking lot.
We begin our trip in Alex's car and as we drive, Alex starts a conversation with me.
"So, that was pretty brave. Ya know, what you did last night for Will." Alex says.
"Oh, what? The whole saving his life thing? Pssh, no biggie." I say braggingly.
"No, I'm serious. You stuck your neck out for him and I appreciate that. You really came through for him." Alex replies, lightly touching my knee as he turns the steering wheel.
I began to get nervous as his hands lightly patted my upper knee. I fidget as he smiled ever so gracefully at me. I return the gesture but in a nervous and guilty way. Alex glances past my expression and takes his hand off my knee, focusing back on the road.
"Oh, look, we're here! Home sweet home!" I chuckle anxiously.
Alex and I get out of the car and head to the front door of the diner. I struggle to find my keys in my jacket pocket and turn to Alex, who couldn't help but laugh at me.
"Here, let me help you," He offers.
Alex slowly reaches into my left jacket pocket and pulls out the keys and unlocks the door for me. He opens it and lets me inside, following after me.
"Alright, let's get cooking. Where are the eggs?" Alex asks clapping his hands.
"In the fridge in the back. Check the bottom shelf." I say as I grab a few muffins from the display case and begin packing a few in a brown paper bag with my good arm.
"I found them!" Alex shouts from the background.
"Bring them here!" I respond. Alex then enters the kitchen again with the carton of eggs.
"Okay, Ms. Chef, what do you want me to do?" Alex asks.
"You know how to whisk?" I ask, sealing the brown bag.
"Sure, I cook with my mom all the time," Alex says grabbing a big bowl from the cabinet.
"Okay, whisk some eggs for me and I'll do the rest," I say.
"Are you sure you can cook?" Alex asks pointing at the stove.
"Yes, Alex, I can cook. Why?" I say.
"No, I mean with your arm. Are you sure you can do anything?" Alex questions.
"Yes, I'm perfectly capable of cooking some eggs, now if you'll excuse me, I have to make some breakfast for Will." I push past Alex to get to the stove, but as I did that, I tripped over my own feet and as quick as a heartbeat, Alex catches me in his arms.
"Careful," Alex whispers in the deafening silence of the diner.
I didn't say a word as Alex stood there, holding me. Cradling me in his arms like the fragile child I was. I couldn't hear anything but the sound of our synchronized breathing as we held onto each other. I look dead on into his warm, inviting dark brown eyes as he looked into mine. I could feel my heartbeat quicken as Alex moved me closer to him. Our faces centimeters apart made my body tense up. The small space in-between us was closed by Alex planting his soft lips onto mine. He wouldn't let go as his embrace sucked me in. I kiss back, only to have my conscience screaming bloody murder telling me this was wrong. I didn't care.
I haven't admitted it yet, but I have been waiting so long for this moment. I have longed for a kiss. A kiss so passionate and so righteous that it would take my breath away. And Alex did just that. We pulled away from one another, gasping slightly while diving deep into each other's irises.
"Woah." Was all I could mutter.
Alex lifts me off my feet and we continue to cook, looking back at each other every few seconds. We finished our duty and packed the food, awkwardly maneuvering ourselves out of the kitchen, being careful not to bump into each other again. As Alex opened the door for me, I felt a slight tingle up my back. It was the haunting feeling of guilt. I just kissed two people. And they are both friends. Wait, is this what I think it is?
Is this what a love triangle feels like? Am I actually caught in a LOVE TRIANGLE? Oh, man. I feel so dirty, but at the same time, I've never felt more alive. Me, a nerd! A weird, quirky, DC-loving nerd, is actually caught in a love triangle. Should I just tell them or should I keep this hidden? If I tell them, it'll ruin everything. But if I keep it hidden, it'll ruin everything. What should I do?
What should I do?