New Light || Chris Taylor

Twenty One

Nora's POV- August 2019

I was not one to eat after 9 PM, yet I found myself in the kitchen enjoying a PB&J sandwich with a glass of milk at 3 AM. Once I finished said sandwich, I was going to wake Cody up (who was passed out on the couch) and make him go sleep in his room.

"You okay?"

Looks like I did not need to wake Cody up after all.

"Yeah, just got hungry" I answered.

He rubbed his eyes before taking a seat across from me.

"What time is it?"

"A bit past 3 AM" I replied.

He hummed and nodded.

"You've got an incredibly comfy bed" I reminded him.

He chuckled.

"I know, I guess I passed out watching TV"

"There's a TV in your room" I noted.

He nodded slowly.

"Do you know how Chris convinced his sister and mom to stay for a couple of days?"

"No" I answered.

"The house is going to be quiet once they're gone"

Not as quiet as it got when they were both on the road.

"Do you get lonely when Chris is gone on road trips?"

I nodded.

"I keep busy," I told him.

I usually took longer shifts, so I could literally just get home, shower, eat a quick dinner and then go to bed. Canoli and Honey had feeders that automatically fed them so they were always well taken care of.

"What are you making?"

I smiled.

"Did the peanut butter, jelly in front of us and the bread in the toaster not give it away?" I wondered.

He chuckled.

"Do you want one?" I asked.

"Yes, please"

I nodded and put two other slices in the toaster.

"How are you feeling?" I questioned.

Ella and Theo somehow convinced a handful of Chris and his teammates to be a part of a spicy food challenge on their Youtube channel. Alex and Cody fell victims to the spicy chip challenge. 

"The heartburn is gone"

A little after I got home both he and Alex were complaining about heartburn and stomach aches, so I gave them some antacid medication. 

"I didn't think it would be that spicy"

I laughed.

"Cody, you had to eat the chip with gloves on" I pointed out.

What more did he expect from a chip that is said to have the highest score on the Scoville scale?

"Well that was when I realized Dugie and I were screwed"

He shrugged.

"The lasagna Ella made was really tasty though so that made up for it"

There were no leftovers.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

I got the toast slices and placed them on a plate.

"You have a doctors appointment"

In two days.

"I do" I confirmed.

"Why is Chris going?"

I began smoothening peanut butter onto a piece of toast.

"Because his doctor's appointment is 45 minutes after mine in another hospital" I answered.

He slowly nodded and watched me put peanut butter on another piece of toast.

"Noel is more familiar with the hospital I work at, and I'd rather not have her and Chris get lost at the other hospital" I explained.

I would tell him I was pregnant if he wasn't such a big mouth.

"You'd tell me if something were wrong though, right?"

"Of course" I replied as I put jam on the other two slices of toast.

I smiled at him before turning my attention to making us our PB&J sandwiches. 

"How long do you think it will be until Chris is back playing?"

"Like a month" I guessed.

A week or two before the Postseason started. 

"As pathetic as it sounds, I miss seeing him around"

Oh, it was not pathetic.

"He's one of your best friends, of course, you miss having him around" I stated.

I handed Cody his sandwich.

"He can never know that"

I laughed and took a bite my sandwich.

"If he gets cleared, do you think he'd want to go to practice with me and be in the dugout during games?"

"I'm sure he would" I noted.

Chris still had some sensitivity to sound though, so there might be a problem there.

"He'd have to slowly integrate it into his schedule," I told him before handing him his sandwich.

Once we finished up our sandwiches, we bid goodnight and went to our separate rooms. I climbed up on the bed and cuddled up against Chris who stirred a bit.

"You smell like peanut butter"

He wrapped his arm around my waist as I pressed up against him.

"I really wanted a sandwich," I told him.

I smiled as he slurred out, 

"I could have gotten up to make you"

"Next time" I assured him.

I'm pretty sure he was more asleep than awake when he said that because all I heard next from him was his steadied breaths. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed having him home, but it was obvious he got bummed out about watching the games at home instead of being able to participate. He had already been cleared to do light physical activity, and I'm sure he'd get the green light to start working out. There were bad days, that was something that was expected but the good days outnumbered the bad.