Our Safeguard

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

~Jerome~

       Nolan was fast asleep when I walked into his hospital room. Well, I thought he was. The moment I walked in, he opened his eyes and looked at me, smiling at me. I couldn't actually see him smile since he had an oxygen mask on, but his eyes looked like there were smiling.

       I smiled back at him as I walked to the side of his hospital bed. "Hey." I kissed his forehead before sitting on the chair beside the bed. I dropped the bag I was carrying on the floor. "I got you a few things." 

       The first thing I pulled out was a grey teddy bear holding a red heart. It was also wearing a yellow checkered bandana, which was the main thing that made me buy it for Nolan. Yellow was his favourite colour after all.

       I handed it to Nolan. He smiled again, grabbing hold of the teddy bear with his hand that wasn't hooked up to IV fluids. He pulled it close to his chest, snuggling it.

       It was a bit hard seeing Nolan hooked up to all these machines, but he seemed to be taking it well. At least, I hoped he was. Because of the oxygen mask, he couldn't really talk, so I avoided bringing up the conversation I was certain he was dreading. Even when he did get off the oxygen mask, I was probably going to ask him when he was discharged. Give him a chance to recover first.

       Nolan was lucky enough to catch this early. A lot of people diagnosed with sepsis weren't so lucky if they were late to treatment. Even if Nolan didn't realize he had sepsis again, we would have probably taken him to the hospital anyway. Just to be safe.

       I pulled out another thing from the bag. "This is a card that your siblings made for you," I said, placing it on the table beside him. "Your younger siblings, that is. Tulip made it, and then she made Rose and William sign their names even though they don't yet know how to write their names."

       I continued to show Nolan everything I brought for him. Some of it were things his little siblings wanted to give Nolan. One of it was even William's favourite toy. He insisted on giving it to Nolan and looked very upset when Grayson first told William that Nolan didn't need it.

       The last thing I brought for Nolan was a book for him to read in case he got bored. I handed it to him and he looked at the synopsis before opening to the first chapter. However, instead of reading it himself, he handed it towards me.

       I furrowed my eyebrows, taking the book and staring at the pages before realizing what Nolan must have been getting at. "You want me to read it out loud to you?" I asked. Nolan nodded, so I couldn't help but smile at him. "Well, if that's what you want, then how could I say no?"

       Nolan smiled at me once again before I started reading the book for him. He was careful as he scooted as close to the edge as he could. He watched and listened as I read the book to him, only to slowly close his eyes. Soon enough, he was fast asleep.

       I closed the book, placing it on the table before standing up from the chair. The blanket on Nolan's hospital bed was spread sporadically, so I carefully put it on top of him, tucking him in properly.

       I sat back down on the chair, having no intention of leaving anytime soon. In fact, I didn't plan on leaving Nolan's side unless I had school or work. Even so, I was tempted to call in sick to work until Nolan was discharged. 

       There was a soft knock on the door before it slowly opened. Orchid's head peeped in and she said, "Are we okay to visit?"

       "Yeah," I said. "He just fell asleep, but I'm sure he would love to see you when he wakes up."

       Orchid smiled softly at me before opening the door wider to walk in. She wasn't the only one that wanted to visit Nolan. She was followed by Alan. 

       And then Joel. I had to try my hardest not to glare at Joel. I didn't even have a reason to hate him. The only thing he did was ask Nolan out, but he seemingly respected Nolan's boundaries after Nolan told him that he had a boyfriend. 

       I guess I was still worried that eventually, Nolan would dump me for someone else, even if both he and Brandon tried to tell me that he wouldn't.

       "Is he doing okay?" Joel asked. "He looked very unwell yesterday and now he's hooked up to a bunch of machines..."

       "He'll be okay," I said. "It wasn't severe because he caught it early, so the doctors said he should be out in a week or so."

       "Good," Joel said. "That's good. I was worried about him."

       There was an available chair beside me, so Orchid walked over and sat down on it. She placed her backpack on the ground before opening it and taking out a lunch kit. "Mom and Dad said you're probably going to end up staying the night here again, so Mom made you a dinner."

       "Oh." I took the lunch kit from Orchid. I wasn't feeling too hungry right now, but I knew that later on, I should definitely eat something. It was going to be a lot easier for me to eat now that Poppy made something for me. It was always easier for me to eat when food was made for me. That way, I didn't have to prepare the food nor did I have to decide what to eat, which normally ended up getting rid of my appetite. "Tell her I said thank you."

       "Will do," Orchid said.

       "You look exhausted," Joel said to me. "Maybe you should go home and get some rest. The three of us here can keep Nolan company in the meantime."

       I shook my head. "I'm fine here. Nolan made me promise that I wouldn't leave, anyway."

       I didn't know if I was just overreacting because of my insecurities, but by the way Joel suggested I go home, it was almost like he wanted to get rid of me. Like he didn't like the fact that I was here with Nolan.

       Considering Alan and Orchid didn't react, I settled with the fact that I was most likely overreacting. And I hated that I was. I shouldn't be villainizing Joel when he did come all this way to visit Nolan.

       I just had to teach myself to pay little to no attention to Joel if I was going to keep feeling this way. Right now, I shouldn't be giving Joel any focus. All my focus should be on Nolan and his recovery.

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how about YOU go home and get some rest, joel?

(honestly wait until nolan can take his oxygen mask off. he's 100% going to ask jerome for sex like the horny tornado he is)