Falling for a goodbye

Assigned

Chloe's POV

"Come in!" I heard yelled from inside so I entered

"Ah Chloe, lovely to see you, how's your mom been?" She asked

Oh did I forget to mention, my mom and Ms. Tyler are are friends, I've been calling my new boss aunt Lucy since I was 5 years old even though she's not actually my aunt, okay that's a lie she's my mom's cousin and so she is my aunt and I've always called her that, why am I lying about that?! God I'm just so nervous

"Hi ms. Tyler, uh she's okay, she still struggles but she's coping better now" I told her, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to call her

"Chloe there's no need to be so formal" she smiled and I smiled awkwardly back

"Sorry aunt Lucy" I corrected myself

"Okay so we have a patient who's going to need his own personal cater in the near future unfortunately so I decided you might as well start now, he's a nice guy but he's got a bit of a short fuse and a fiery temper, try and get through to him if you can, give him some time" she told me and I nodded, now I was getting even more nervous

"Come on, he'll be up and waiting by now, he always is" she explains and I nod

She leads me down the hall to a room, I see the name on the door, Ryan McCartan

"Ryan, this is Chloe, she's going to be working with you for a while, please be gentle with her she's new" aunt Lucy explained to him

"What would I do otherwise, I'm not exactly in the position to do much else" he said snarkily, ugh I already don't like him

My aunt sighs and then walks away with one parting message

"Good luck"

Ryan's POV

Great some new nurse or whatever to try and coddle and baby me

"Hi" I quiet voice comes from the doorway

"You can come in you know, I don't bite, usually" I joked, but kinda harshly I guess

She stepped inside and closed the door behind herself

The only thing I like about this place is that I get my own room

"I'm Chloe" she said as I sat up properly

"Yeah her royal annoying highness said" I remark

"She's my aunt" the girl murmurs

"Oh" was my only reply

I finally turn to look at her and regret being such an asshole straight away

She's so cute, I mean she legit looks like she's not even 15 but yeah

"Aren't you like wayyyyy too young for this job?" I joke

"I'm 19" she replies, clearly unimpressed by me

"Look can we start again, I'm not always such an asshole" I confront the issue looming

"Sure" she smiles awkwardly

"So what are we supposed to do now?" I ask her

"I don't know" she replies

"Why don't you tell me the story" I suggest

"What story?" She asks confused

"The story that's left a 19 year old girl like you working on a veterans hospital with a guy like me" I explained

"It's not a very interesting story" she tells me but I don't believe that

"Tell me anyway?" I ask of her and she nods

Those blonde locks and those bright emerald green eyes, God she's adorable, to bad I'm me huh?

"Come sit down" I gesture towards the couch on the other end of the room

She she heads towards it as suggested

Chloe's POV

I tried not to stare as he got up, he got out of his bed, he got up, grabbed his crutches and slowly came over, he looked like he was really struggling. It I decided it was best to gain some sort of friendship or whatever with him first otherwise it might ruin my chances of him letting me help him

When he gets to me he sits down with what looks like great difficulty I believe pain judging by the look on his face

"It hurts you doesn't it?" I ask him gently, for a second he looks like he's gonna get all defensive and shout but hen the look in his eyes fade and the anger on his face turns to awkwardness in a way

"A bit, but I'm used to it, so it's fine" he says bravely, I think I must've misjudged him

"I'm sorry" I tell him

"Me too, but you know what? There's no point feeling bad about it, I did for quite a while, it just got me nowhere" okay he's actually amazing I guess you can't judge a book by its first page either

"It's sucks though" i hope I'm not blowing this

"Yeah, but it's something I've gotta deal with, it's not gonna get better unless they can actually figure out what the hell they're doing which they really can't so I just accepted it and moved on" he explains

"So they really can't help?" I ask

"Well they keep trying but it's just not helping me" he answers

"Oh" is all I can come out with as a response

"Yeah.....so you were gonna tell me your story" he quickly changes the subject

"Oh yeah...." I don't really like telling the story but I've gotta be open to him for him to be open to me

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" he spoke gently and soothingly

"My dad was diagnosed with cancer when I was 14, terminal, my mom wasn't much use so I had to take care of him" I explained

"Wow" was his only response

"Yeah, he fought it for 3 years but he died when I was 17" I tell him, a block forms in my throat just thinking about it and I can feel some tears form in my eyes

He surprises me by taking hold of my hand and as one tear falls down my check he carefully wipes it away with his thumb

It gives me butterflies, just his touch

Oh god please tell me I didn't just fall for my patient, I look down at my hand in his and there we go, it's confirmed, yes, yes I did, and he probably has no interest in a stupid kid like me, I mean he's fought for his country and got wounded doing it and what have I done in comparison?

"So do I get your story?" I ask suddenly, hoping to break the tension between us

"It's pretty long" he tries to evade

"I've got time"

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Over a thousand words, I'm back in business 😂😂 xoxo