Oh Boy! (BL)

15 - Should've Known Better (2/3)

Guess what I got for us!

For a moment, I looked up from my phone and let my gaze wander aimlessly through the hospital room. I'd been here for about twenty minutes, talking to Mom and chatting with Clara. Hmm... Shrugging, I typed back: Tell me!

Clay's reply came in immediately. It was a picture of himself and - squeak! - the tickets for the upcoming Starling double-feature! I trembled in excitement. You're crazy! OMG! This is so cool!

A chuckle from the other side of the room made me look up right after I hit 'send'.

Clara held one hand to her chest and stared at me with dancing eyes. Her bruises had turned pale and all in all, she looked much better than when I'd seen her for the first time. The only things keeping her here - stuck inside the hospital - were her broken legs. Of course, I was happy that she was getting better...but, then again, her getting better also meant that she'd leave eventually. And that thought made me incredibly sad.

"What?", I asked.

"What's their name?"

"Huh?"

Clara took down her hand. "Oh, come on! Who's the one you're texting with?"

I drew in my brows. "Why?"

She rolled her green eyes. "Why? Because you like them!"

"Of course, I do." I lifted one brow. "I mean why would I text with someone I don't like?"

My thoughts were about to wander to my text conversations with Holland, but I pushed them aside. That chapter was over. The end.

Clara snorted. "You're kidding, right? You smile like a goof when you text with them, Ken!"

I did? "I do?"

Clara shook her head and her red curls danced around her slim face. "Our precious Ken has a crush. Argh! And today of all days, Lisa's not on the night shift! She's..."

"Visiting hours end in five minutes!" Gudrun, the nominee for the grumpiest nurse of the ward, barged into the room. Her cool eyes were threatening to murder me, as always. And I didn't even know what I had ever done to her.

But I didn't pay much attention to her, my mind was too busy trying to make sense of what Clara had just told me. She had got to be wrong, right? That was... No, I couldn't... My heart was pounding rapidly in my chest. I could?

"Oh, come on! The boy's working himself to the bones to come here and you're so...so mean to him!" Clara was fighting frequently with Gudrun because of "my case"; her choice of words, not mine. And she wasn't even a lawyer.

The nurse ignored her as always.

"Two minutes, then you're out of here," Gudrun told me before leaving the room.

Clara stuck out her tongue. "Goodbye sunshine!"

I lifted my brow at her.

"What?!"

"Really? Don't be so mean to him is the best you could do?"

She snorted. "Don't get cocky with me! I'm trying to defend your honor."

I squeezed my mom's hand and put on my jacket. "She's just doing her job."

Clara rolled her green eyes. "The nurses have been such a pain since Ben's little adventure."

"What did Ben do?" I frowned; this was news to me.

Clara waved it aside. "But seriously, they could be a little bit nicer to you, given how tired you look, Ken."