New Light || Chris Taylor

Seven

Nora's POV- July 2019

I stepped out of the elevator and waved in the direction of the nurses' station as I walked past it. Even with the door closed, you could hear chatter coming from Chris' room. It died down as I pushed the door open.

"Oh, it's just you"

"Did you think it was one of the nurses coming to tell you to quiet down?" I wondered.

Ella who was seated on the edge of the bed smiled.

"They've dropped by a handful of time"

"Where's mom and dad?" I asked as I gave her a hug.

She kissed my cheek as Theo replied.

"Cafeteria"

Theo made his way over, and as I hugged him I glanced at Chris to see he was fast asleep.

"Who shaved him?" I asked as Theo took my duffle bag.

Neither Theo or Ella could be trusted with a razor.

"Dad did"

I looked away from Chris when the door opened.

"Your obsession with hospital vending machines is strange" I noted.

Dad closed the door as he smiled. In his hand were two bags of almonds and a bag of kettle chips.

"Hello to you too, Nora"

Mom was the closest, so she gave me a hug first.

"You look much better than you did a couple of days ago"

I laughed.

"Thanks, mom" I replied.

Before mom could fully let go of me, my dad already had me in an embrace.

"You are eating all the food that your mom has prepared, right?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Good"

He kissed my cheek and gave me another squeeze.

"You are looking a little thin"

I had actually weighed myself during my lunch break and confirmed that I had lost a couple of lbs.

"I know it's hard to not stress, but he's going to be okay"

I nodded against his shoulder as he kissed my forehead.

"I forgot how terrified he was of me"

"He's shy" I corrected.

Dad chuckled and gave me one final squeeze before letting me go.

"Did you eat some of the lasagna I dropped off?"

I looked at mom and nodded.

"Yes, it was delicious," I told her.

My brows furrowed when I saw Chris' dinner was intact.

"I brought him a tasty salad"

"That strawberry one he really likes?" I wondered.

"Yes, except I added some almonds and dry cranberries into the mix"

Tasty.

"To replace the dairy and citrus"

Makes sense.

"Now that you're here, and we know you're doing as good as one who's loved one is in the hospital, it is time we all head out"

I glanced at the time and saw it was almost 9 PM.

"Thank you for coming, all of you," I said.

My parents had a heavy workload, so it meant a lot that they had taken time off their day to feed us and drop by for a visit.