Wasted On You (BWWM)

Little Moments

"He takes his blood thinners as prescribed every morning. But these past few days he's been complaining of chest pain and headaches. I think it's because of the football games. His heart rate always skyrockets during this season." Marlie watched as her mother gripped and twisted at the end of the scarf around her neck. It's been two hours since they managed to put her father in a stable condition which is the only reason she wasn't pacing anymore. "His doctor upped his blood pressure dosage too."

The double doors of the hospital waiting room opened and in came Morgan whose eyes were wide and out of his head. The moment they landed on Mrs. Bennett, he limped over in a rush to give her the tightest hug he could. "Thank you for callin'! I'm so sorry this is happenin'." Mrs. Bennett wiped a tear from her eye as the doctor left back to the patient rooms. "How is he?"

"They got his heart rate back to his normal range. He's on oxygen and resting as we speak. They said it was minor compared to the strength of his heart." Marlie stood up from her seat and slowly made her way over to the two. "I, uh, know he wants me back there. I'll be back with updates."

They waited for Monica to leave before their attention turned to each other. Morgan's flannel was unevenly buttoned, hair astray on his head, and pajama pants barely clung on to him. He was still out of breath after the run and neither of them thought about sitting down. Marlie looked up at him as if she was dying to say something. Her lips parted and chest heaved up and down.

He slightly shook his head and examined her wreckage behavior before quickly taking her into his arms. Her face buried deep into his chest as she let out a shaky breath. "I was so scared."

"I know," he whispered into her hair. He slowly rubbed her back as she lifted her arms to wrap around his waist. "Just let me know, Marls."

She sniffled and tried to control her breathing but nothing was working. Smelling a tinge of whiskey on his clothing while being cradled in his arms drove her blood into overdrive. "I tried. I didn't want to bother you. I wasn't even sure if your number was the same."

"Worst fear is changing it and you can't get ahold of me." They held on to each other as if this was their natural way of life and at one point, it was. "You can call me anytime. I would never ignore you."

She sniffled once again before inhaling deeply through her nose. "You've been drinking." She heard his heart skip a beat before pulling away just enough that her chin could rest against his chest. "It's eight in the morning."

He sighed then released her from his arm. Morgan went to take a seat and removed his right boot from his foot to reveal a red-soaked sock. Marlie rolled her eyes as she walked over and bent down to slowly remove the sock from his foot. Morgan winced at each tug until it was completely removed. "I needed to get here fast. Wasn't pay no attention."

"Glass? How did you step in glass." She forced the corner of her mouth to turn upward with a disappointed look. "Oh, Morgan." Before she could get a nurse, one was already walking through the doors. "We need some help, sir. He stepped in glass."

He walked over to examine the foot and then nodded once. "Gonna be right back with first aid."

"Today is the engagement party. God, ya should have seen the look on her face when I ran out the door. Ya would have thought I was leavin' 'er." His face fell into his palms as he dropped his elbows to his knees. "What the hell am I doin'? Runnin' to you and shit."

"You ain't run to me. You came for my dad, right?"

Morgan quickly disagreed. He lifted his head to make proper eye contact. She saw the truth all in his eyes and joy bubbled up in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to hug him but she figured it was an inappropriate time to celebrate.

"I knew ya were a mess." His smile slowly grew until the nurse returned and interrupted the moment. His foot was then propped up on the chair next to them and glass was being removed at one piece at a time. Marlie held his hand at each pull which was felt in his grip. "Ya damn sure know what ya doin' huh?"

The nurse laughed as he poured alcohol onto the wound and let the liquids fall into a catch bin. Next was the wrap that was put on firmly to stop any bleeding. "If any glass is left, it usually makes its way out on its own. You be careful walking these roads. Beer bottles get tossed out daily."

"Thank you, man." Just as the nurse left, the double doors opened once again to reveal Abigail, Nadine, and Adam. "Hey, everyone!"

Nadine rushed to give Marlie a hug the moment she lifted herself from her crouch position in front of Morgan. "Oh, baby sweetheart! I am so sorry! I just know that scared your heart right out of your body." She cupped her hands on Marlie's cheeks and searched her face for any slightness of sadness. "God, that is just damn terrible." Her eyes then landed on Morgan who was elevating his foot. "And what the shit happen to you?"

"Stepped on some glass on the way here. Nurse patched me up." Nadine then went and inspected his foot like the nurturing mother she was. "It's fine mom."

She gripped her purse tighter to her stomach while plopping in an empty waiting chair. Adam looked too tired to even care that her elbow hit him right in the side as she got comfortable. "Always into something, Morgs. Luckily we stopped by your house to spread the news. Abigail was left all alone with that boy." Her face turned up in disgust at the mention of Coby.

Abigail stepped past Marlie and avoided all eye contact at the same time. She sat next to her fiance and rubbed his back to announce her presence. Marlie sat at the other end next to Adam and let out a yawn to appear as if seeing Morgan and Abigail together didn't make her uncomfortable. Then she leaned back in her seat to see how he was holding up and to her surprise, he was doing the same thing. They looked at each other and shared a smile that lingered for longer than it should. Like teenagers, their eye contact broke multiple times but the flushed cheeks remained the same.

Abigail broke the moment when she tapped him to show a video on her phone. The two of them laughed and Marlie was back to her isolation state. This is what it was when her best friend found his romantic other half while she remained blind to hers.