Zalfie - Never Stop

17. The Brown-Haired Boy (Marcus's POV)

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Marcus's POV

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I watched as Zoe joyfully watched the next collab.

Her hair was still buzzed in some places, her arms actually looked like those of a skeleton, her face was pale, the circles under her eyes large. Her blue eyes seemed to take up all of her face as she stared, wide-eyed, at the screen.

She was like a child: innocent and hyper. And I wasn't sure how I felt about this new Zoella.

"Can we watch another vlog?" Zoe requested, after the collab ended. The last word on her tongue sounded foreign and odd, as though she wasn't used to saying it.

Joe nodded and maneuvered his way through YouTube, until he found Zoe's vlogs.

"Can we watch one with Marcus in it?"

"Of course," Joe said, making his selection and clicking on the video.

The vlog began and Zoe watched contentedly for a couple of minutes, before her brow furrowed once more.

"Who's that?" she asked, pointing at a tall, thin, brown-haired boy on the screen.

My heart panged as I realized it was Alfie.

"That," Louise said, "is Alfie. Alfie Deyes. He's a YouTuber, too."

"Oh yes." Zoe frowned. "I think I remember him." Her voice sounded more adult than it had my whole visit. "He filmed a Valentine's video with me, didn't he? The day of the accident?"

Louise's eyes widened. "Yeah, Zoe, he did!"

Zoe paused the video and examined Alfie further. "Isn't he--isn't he Marcus's best friend?"

My eyes widened and I was forever in gratitude to Zoe for her remembering that fact. "Yeah, we are."

Zoe was still was concentrating heavily on the computer, not really taking in my reply. "He's rather cute, isn't he?" she said after awhile.

"He certainly is," Louise agreed, then gestured to me and Joe. "I think Joe, Marcus, and I are going to go out in the hall for a little chat. That alright, Zoe?"

Zoe nodded absently and waved us away.

Joe pushed the wheel chair Louise sat on out the door and I met them in the hall.

Me and Joe awkwardly stood around Louise, who was flushed in excitement.

"Alfie is really helping her, isn't he?" Louise said.

"It's the most she's remembered since she woke up," Joe agreed.

"And so, it's safe to assume, that Alfie is going to be a really big help in getting her memory back again, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, I suppose so," Joe said.

"That's what I thought," Louise said, clapping. "Don't you think they should meet in person soon? It would really benefit the both of them."

"I would love for that to happen, but Alfie might not live and can't have visitors for another," Joe checked his watch, "for another 39 hours."

"I know that," Louise said impatiently. "But tomorrow is Valentine's Day. And, dead or alive, they deserve to spend it together."

"But, I mean, if we were to do it--and I'm not saying that we should or shouldn't--we're going to have to sneak you and Zoe out and then somehow manage to get into Alfie's room." Joe was very rarely the voice of reason. He was obviously very nervous about this plan.

"It'll be tricky, I know. But I know I can get it out. I'll use Matt as an excuse and I'm sure Clara will let me go. Joe can also use his influence if she's hesitant."

"You shagging that?" I asked Joe.

He grinned. "Almost."

We high fived and Louise rolled her eyes.

"So it's a deal then?"

I looked at Joe, unsure of what to say. I mean, it sounded amazing and sweet and romantic and I would love to be part of it, but it was also completely and utterly insane.

But even though I knew we could actually get arrested, I found myself nodding my head. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea."

Joe bobbed his head up and down too. "We should do it."

Louise gave us a conspiratorial grin and told us to lean in.

"It's quite a simple plan," she told us.

"Oh, God," Joe muttered. "Shouldn't it be complicated since we're breaking the law? And we're going to have two people in wheel chairs sneaking out a hospital, into a car, and into a different hospital? Not to mention that we're going to have someone with memory loss talking to someone who just tried to kill himself? If Zoe doesn't remember Alfie, he might try to kill himself once more."

Louise ignored this. "As I was saying," she said, "it includes all three of us, Zoe, Alfie, and Niomi. There are kinks in the plan--"

Here Joe snorted, "Imagine that."

Louise glared at him and continued, "--and I'll need some time to get these little wrinkles out, but I assure you, I will. Be by your phones all day today, in case I text you with all the details."

She then rolled away.

Unfortunately, killing the mood when her wheel accidentally bumped into the drywall by the door rather loudly as she tried to open the door and roll herself through it at the same time.

"Can I have some help?" she sniffed, trying to act as though nothing had happened.

Joe offered his assistance and held open the door as Louise rolled through.

As soon as she was safely in the room, Joe turned to me and said, "This is all rather mad, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Absolutely insane."

And as we both walked back into the room, I think we were both thinking the same thing: What have we gotten ourselves into?