twenty seven +

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"they got food here?" he asks, looking around and scratching his jaw.
"i assume so..?" i say, grabbing my phone.
"well you know your way around these places."
"hospitals?" i laugh, "they aren't all the same."
"you gotta have some tips and tricks though." he pokes my shoulder like an annoying little kid.

"what do you want me to do?"
"come find food with me. i think theres gonna be a store here." he pinches my shirt and tugs at it.
"alright but i can't go too far .. and hold me up." my arms lift up tiredly and open for him.
he chuckles, "uppies!" and pulls me out of bed.
i laugh breathlessly and stand shakily by him, holding onto his shoulders and wrapping mizzy's blanket around me.

"ready grandma?"
"fuck you!"

we hobble through the hospital all masked up and close together.
"excuse me-" i say before letting out a badly timed cough, "sorry, not covid- could- do you know if there's a store around here?"
a nurse turns around and smiles under his mask, "just down that ward. if you just follow those signs?" he points to a little blue sign on the wall.
"thanks man." schlatt nods and pulls me along.

"hey-" i cough, "slow down, i'm not as healthy as you!"
"he was checking you out." he shrugs, "i'm just keeping you safe from creeps."
"he literally just told us where to go."
schlatt just huffs and pulls me along further.

"so what did you do? when you went back to new york, i mean." i ask, scanning the lunch options at the store and holding his shoulder loosely. it's colder in here from the refrigerators and the shelves' lights are bright.
"well, y'know, made videos like usual. didn't really start any projects or anything. i was ... pretty sad back then. you really fucked me back in la."

i give him a look.

"not LITERALLY- you know what i mean. i really thought you were gonna hear my little speech and run into my arms like dirty fuckin dancing." he grabs a pack of flamin hot cheetos and shoves them under his arm quite dramatically.

"i'm sorry.." i frown, "i-"
"you don't have to explain yourself. i understand why you said what you said. i am an asshole new yorker." he shrugs.
"am?" i furrow my eyebrows and tilt my head, "i think you mean was."
"no, no i'm a dick."
"you are a very nice little fella." i pat his head but realise his height very quickly, "well, big fella."

he smiles down at me and points to the food in my hands. "that all you're getting?"
i nod, "yeah."
"alright but remember to eat more tomorrow. your body needs energy to heal."
"i know. thank you." i lean into him a little as we walk to the counter.

to my surprise, he pays for my little meal. i refuse his money profusely and offer him a repayment but he's stubborn in his kindness. when we return, his phone rings.

"you gonna get that?" i ask, coughing as he sits me gently down back on my bed.
"hm?" he asks, a breathing a little heavy from basically carrying me back.
"your phone." i nod my head towards his shorts pocket.
"oh .. yeah." he picks it up and answers.

"yo. oh hey ted."
i shuffle into bed and look up at him as he talks.
"yeah she's doing good. got some food ... no, no just in the hospital."
there's something funny about the way he talks. it's like he cares too much and too little all at the same time. i noticed that before.
"yeah still weak and coughing. just to get some rest and they'll have more information tomorrow or something. potentially fungal from working with soil. i guess at alveus yeah. maybe some medication mm."
wow, he really listened to the doctor.
"yeah i'll get her some water in a minute. warm? she's got a blanket. ted ... shut up. fuck off!"
"what's he saying?"
"yeah. okay. goodbye. bye" he hangs up tiredly and starts opening the food.

"good call?" i grab my sushi and start putting the soy sauce on.
"yeah hes less worried now we know what it is. i'm gonna go see the doctor again soon. ask for an update."
"i can do that too, yknow. i have a call button." i point to the little button on the table the other side of my bed.
"how would that be babysitting?"
"would you PLEASE stop calling it that?" i laugh before biting into a salmon roll.
"but i am!" he waves his chips around. "i'm here to look after you."

i think for a moment, "you're a look after-er."
"a carer?" he raises an eyebrow before cracking up with laughter and almost dropping his food.

i shake my head and roll my eyes. "get the radio will you?" my arm outstretches to point at the little old radio in the corner.
he almost surprisingly just gets right up and crouches by it, "uhh ... it's dial only. i don't know any radio frequencies."
"try 100 MHz?"
he turns the dial and classical music plays through. "oh brother ..."
" no no keep it on! i like it." i sway my head happily to the waltz that fills the room.

he gets up and comes to sit by me again, munching on the last few chips in the bag with a comically grumpy look on his face.

"hey." i hold out my hands, "a dance, sir?"
"you are so cringe."
"and you need to be nice to me." i sway along.
"fine." he says, hiding a smile as he takes my hands and lets me swing him from side to side.

"do you know what song this is?" i ask.
"no, no. i actually get bitches."
"it's Dvorák. 2 waltzes op ... 54 or something ..." i smile, eyes closed and feeling the music.
he chuckles, "where do you learn this stuff?"
"my mom taught me the frequency as a kid and i'd always just put in on in my hospital rooms. i just gotta listen whenever i'm in."

"do you think you can stand?"

i nod. suddenly he pulls me right up and lifts our hands so they're level with our heads and we spin and dance in the little space the room provides.

"ah .. i'm getting wobbly .."
"i got you." he brings me to his chest and holds me against him in a hug.
"thank you." i rest my head on him and he leans his on mine, continuing to sway.

"i have a song." he brings me over to turn the radio off and then gets a song up on his phone.
"remember this?"

"time shakes, found you by the water,
at first you were my father, now i love you like a brother."

"come a little closer!" i smile up at him.
"reminds me of back then .." he chuckles and sets me down on the bed. i shuffle back under the covers and watch as he stands on his phone, humming the lyrics quietly. we mouth the lyrics dramatically and laugh at each other.

"you tired?" he asks eventually.
"mm ..." i sigh and close my eyes, "stay here .."
"alright." he chuckles as i feel myself slipping into sleep.

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