Incurable

Eight

Jake stuck around to be sure Alex ate something.

Scott wanted to stay, but Mitch begged him to go with him instead, to go to the garden like they'd discussed earlier.

Scott was now walking along the dirt path, following Mitch around.

Mitch pointed at one of the yellow flowers, and smiled at Scott. "That one's beautiful! Look at it!"

Scott smiled at him, and then glanced around to be sure no one was listening. "You're beautiful."

Mitch giggled and grabbed his hand. "You always make me feel better, even with as few words as you use."

Scott stared at him, almost entranced in his beauty.

Scott then leaned forward and gave Mitch's forehead a soft kiss.

Avi walked by them, just exploring the institution's campus, but when he saw the two of them having a cute moment, he froze.

Scott, who could see over Mitch's head, stared at him for a second.

He tilted his head a little.

Avi held up his hands in apology. "I'm sorry. You were having a moment. I didn't want to... But I did. And I still am. I'm sorry. I'll just..."

He turned on his heel, but Mitch grabbed his hand. "Avi! Look at this yellow flower! Isn't it pretty?"

Avi turned slowly to look at it. "Yeah, it's pretty."

Scott waved Avi over to stand by him, and Avi immediately did.

Avi looked over them both. "How are you guys doing?"

Mitch looked to Scott for an answer, but was met with silence, so he began his own answer. "I'm great! Scottie agreed to walk around with me today, which is nice. Also.. We have this cute spot, which I won't spoil where it is, but we sit and watch the sunset and it's so pretty!"

Avi nodded slowly. "That's awesome. You guys are so cute together."

Mitch took a small step away from Scott. "We're not together."

Scott nodded once, and he accidently made eye contact with Mitch before looking away.

Avi shook his head slowly, looking back to the flower. "Whatever you say."

Scott squinted at him, as if he had any room to talk. "Where's Kirstie?"

Avi almost flinched when he spoke, shocked that Scott would speak. But he tried not to make a big deal. "Inside, probably. Why would you--? Ohh. That was cold."

Scott shrugged, but Mitch was quickly bored of the conversation and was pulling Scott's hand to drag him towards another group of flowers.

Avi thought he should give them a moment, but Scott grabbed his hand as well.

Kevin was now in Kirstie's room, the door ajar for any of the nurses that came by.

Jake was writing in his journal to complete one of his daily logs, Alex asleep on his arm.

Alex jumped all of a sudden, bumping Jake's arm and messing up what he was writing.

Alex noticed immediately and gasped. "Oh God, I'm sorry about that."

"It's fine. Are you okay?"

Alex shrugged. "I guess. I don't feel very much better, though. How long was I asleep?"

Jake looked at the clock on the wall. "About twenty minutes."

Alex groaned and leaned into his arm again. "Damn it."