Chapter 4
1706 Words
4
Stephanie didn’t awaken for what felt like quite some time. It was a slow pull from the deep sleep, and she struggled to adjust to the strange, loud beeping noises and whispered voices around where she lay. With a lot of effort she opened her eyes and blinked against the harsh, bright lights above her. She tried to move her arms to sit up, but she found there was a needle with an IV hooked up on her left. From the look of all the technical machines, the stiff, white-sheet covered bed, and the clean white walls, she figured she was in a small hospital room.
Something on the right side caught Stephanie’s eye, and she turned her head to one side to find Chuck in a chair beside the bed. He was in an uncomfortable position with his head in one hand which was kept up by his elbow positioned on his leg. His sleeping face was scrunched up and she couldn’t help but smile at the cute expression.
“So you’re awake already?” someone asked, and Stephanie whipped her head around to see a nurse enter the room.
The noise of her voice also aroused Chuck and his arm slid off his head before he fully awoke. He ended up nearly falling forward, but caught himself just in time. The sound of a soft, hoarse chuckle caught his attention and he eagerly glanced to the bed. A wide smile brightened his face as he glimpsed Stephanie’s amused, alert eyes.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as the nurse stepped up to the bed to check Stephanie’s vitals.
“Pretty bad,” she admitted with another dry chuckle. “What the hell happened to me?”
“You had a very bad infection from that wound on your arm,” the nurse answered as she nodded down at Stephanie’s right arm. The area around the wound was heavily bandaged. “Fortunately your friend here got you to the hospital and we gave you a big dose of penicillin.”
“How long have I been out?” Stephanie weakly asked. She glanced out the windows to her right, and it was dark outside.
“For about twelve hours,” Chuck told her. “You had a really high fever.”
“Well, it looks like that’s cleared itself up,” the nurse gladly announced as she smiled at the two. “Try not to wear her out too much,” she advised Chuck.
“I won’t,” he promised, and the nurse left the two of them alone. After she’d closed the door, he turned to her with worried eyes. “You want some water or food or something?”
“Some water would be nice,” Stephanie pleaded. She tried to sit up again, but she still felt pretty weak.
“Here, let me help,” her partner requested. He leaned over to catch his hands beneath her arms, and with his incredible strength he hoisted her up without any problem. “That high enough?”
“Yeah, but I think you work out at the gym a little too often,” she answered with a large grin. “I didn’t know you were that strong.”
“Yeah, well, you scared me into getting that strong,” Chuck replied as he grabbed a cup of water from a nearby tray. He handed it to her, and she gladly drank half the contents in a few giant gulps. “You really should have told me you were feeling that bad.”
“I didn’t know it myself,” Stephanie defended herself. She handed back the glass and he held it in case she wanted more from it. “I don’t know what happened. I just had this flash of pain and then everything went black.”
“Yeah, you were pretty limp when I got you into my car,” he agreed with a grim look on his face. “The doctors weren’t too sure if they’d get you out of that fever without damage.”
“I…I heard that,” she told him. He frowned. “I don’t know, I think I was awake sometimes, and having nightmares others.”
“What kind of nightmares?” Chuck questioned.
“About…about that night,” Stephanie admitted. She sighed. She should have told him about this sooner. “I kind of got attacked by something in that alley. Something big.”
“How big?” he asked.
“Like really big,” she answered. She tried to spread out her arms to show, but the bandages and IV got in the way. “It was like a wolf or something, but huge. Bigger than I was, and there was two of them.”
“So that’s how you really got the marks?” he guessed, and she nodded. It was his turn to sigh. “You really should have told me about this earlier.”
“I know, I know, I just…I just don’t know if maybe I wasn’t imagining the whole thing,” she explained to him. “I still don’t know if maybe I wasn’t imagining some large dogs, especially with all those shadows in that alley.”
“I told you that was a stupid idea to go in there,” Chuck scolded. She took his reprimand with a smile.
“I know, and you were right,” she readily agreed. He frowned at her agreeable attitude.
“You must really be feeling bad if you’re agreeing with me,” he teased.
“Yeah, I feel all weak and stuff,” Stephanie informed him. “But I’m feeling better just talking with you.” A sudden thought struck her and she glanced around the room. “Is Bob around here?”
“He left a few hours ago,” Chuck grudgingly explained as he nodded at the door to the room. Apparently just talking about her husband made him angry. “Said he had to do some things, and that he’d be back.”
“Oh…” she replied. She turned her head away to hide the tears she was struggling to tamp down. She had her comfort, though, and he was sitting beside her, so she wiped them from her eyes and turned back to Chuck. “So did you get any rest since you brought me? You look as tired as I feel.”
“Well, you caught me napping when you woke up,” he sheepishly admitted. “And I got some food from the cafeteria here, but if I were you I wouldn’t try that stuff.” He rubbed his stomach and Stephanie laughed. “I think they’re trying to kill their patients.”
“Not on purpose,” the same nurse scolded as she opened the door and stepped inside. “But didn’t I tell you not to tire her out.” She noticed that Stephanie was sitting up, and playfully the nurse clucked her tongue. “And trying to move her around, too?”
“I just wanted a drink of water,” Stephanie came to the defense of her friend.
“Well, I suppose if you’re up I may as well tell your husband that you can see him,” the nurse announced with a wide smile. “He’s been asking to see you since he came back a few minutes ago.”
“Oh, please let him in,” the patient kindly requested. “I’m sure he’s been worried about me…” Her voice trailed off as she glanced over to Chuck. It was apparent he disagreed with her on her last comment. The nurse left to fetch the spouse, and Chuck suddenly got up as though to leave. “You’re not leaving, are you?”
“I’ll just be downstairs, I’m sure Bob would want the chair,” he replied.
“Please don’t go,” Stephanie requested as she held out her hand to stop him. She felt panicked at him leaving her side. She wasn’t sure why, but their bond was growing closer with each passing day. “You’ve been with me for this long, there’s no sense in you going now.”
“I won’t be far,” he reassured her with a smile as he took her outstretched hand. He chuckled a little when a thought struck him. “Besides, you know how I just love hanging around with Bob.”
As that old wife’s tale goes that speaking the devil’s name causes him to come to you, the door to the room opened and the wayward spouse stepped inside. Bob was not happy to see their hands interlocked in what appeared to be an intimate gesture of affection.
“So you’re still here?” Bob quipped as he directed the question at Chuck.
“Not for long,” he promised. He squeezed Stephanie’s hand, gave her an encouraging smile and quickly left the room. Stephanie turned to her husband with an angry frown.
“Why’d you say that?” she asked. “He was a lot of help bringing me here.”
“Sorry, Steph,” Bob quickly apologized as he stepped over to her bedside. He clutched her hand in his like Chuck had done, but she felt it was an empty gesture, or maybe it was that strange cleaning supply smell on him again. “I suppose it was just a bout of jealousy. I’ve been so worried about you I could snap at anyone in a ten mile radius.”
“So worried that you left me here without waiting for me to wake up?” Stephanie pointed out. Bob flinched and she could see the gears in his head working for an excuse.
“I…I was just talking with the doctors and getting the house ready for you,” he defended himself. “The doctors think you’ll have to rest for a while so I got some stuff ready for you.”
“Do you know I’ll be able to leave?” she wondered.
“You’ll be able to be released tomorrow, but only if you’re a good girl,” Bob teased. She was confused when he released her hand. “And that means a lot more sleep, so I’d better leave you so you can do some more of that resting.”
“Couldn’t you just stay for a little while longer?” Stephanie pleaded as she nodded to the chair at the bedside. “Maybe just to tell me what you’ve been up to today?”
“Nope, nurses orders,” her husband protested with a solemn shake of his head. “She wanted me out ASAP, so I’d better do as she says.”
“All right,” Stephanie regretfully replied.
She turned her face away from him in dejection, so she didn’t see the frown on his face. He brightened up with a smile as he went around the bed. The chair didn’t tempt him enough to sit down, but he leaned over the bed and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.
“Now you try to get some rest,” he softly ordered. “And I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“I’ll try,” she replied, and she mustered up a smile.
“Good, now get some sleep and listen to the nurses,” Bob teased as he moved away from the bed and toward the door.
“Can do,” Stephanie promised, and with one more smile and a wink he was gone from the room.
- Writer
