Highly Inappropriate

56.

The rest of my shift went by without further events worth mentioning, apart from the fact I got suspended for a week.

Barf.

Ignoring Tasha's complaints about 'having to spend a week with probably the worst rookies ever' or the fact that I was actually ditching her for drinks after all, I hid a smirk as I dismissed myself and headed to my car. Waiting for Tyler, I absentmindedly checked my phone just to find out he had texted me, telling me Jess had already picked him up while I was having my ass handed to me by the Chief.

I was more than ready to go home, take a nice bath and enjoy a cold beer while watching tv.. but something in the back of my mind was bugging me, and I could no longer ignore it now that my shift was over.

That's why I found myself in the hospital's parking lot a while later. I knew Skylar had surgery and that she was now doing fine, but I wanted to check up on her and see for myself nonetheless.

"Or maybe I'm just hoping to bump into her..", I mumbled to myself as I killed the engine, sitting there a little longer than needed.

Did I want to bump into her? I honestly had no idea.

I think I wanted to see her but at the same time I wanted her to be gone from my life for good. But unfortunately those were mutually exclusive.

Glancing at the time on my phone, I released a sigh of relief when I realized that visiting hours were over and that there was no way that was going to happen. Not today at least.

Sighing, I climbed out of my car and slowly made my way inside, the nurse at the acceptance desk sending me up to Sky's room without further questioning. Ah, the perks of being a first responder.

Reaching her door, I took a deep breath as I nervously started to fidget with my hands. Why the fuck was I here? I mean.. I already knew she was okay, so why on earth did I feel the need to come here? Was I looking for answers I knew she wasn't going to give me? And even if she did, did I really want to hear them from her?

Brushing away those thoughts, I softly knocked on her door and poked my head inside, a pair of tired eyes and a weak smile greeting me and inviting me to come in.

"Hey..", Sky croaked out, attempting to sit up in her bed but refraining from doing so in a split second.

"Hey..", I awkwardly replied as I slowly walked further into the room, my eyes nervously and pointlessly scanning the place as if I was expecting her sister to be here.

"No need to be on edge, she went home a couple of hours ago.", she sighed, flashing me a knowing look as she read my mind.

"Right.", I mumbled, scratching the back of my head out of embarrassment before I took a seat on the chair next to her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Uhm, let's see..", she trailed off with a teasing smirk. "Like I went skydiving and my parachute didn't open. Besides, I think I'm high on painkillers."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup, and I'm enjoying it."

"Of course you are.", I chuckled, shaking my head at her as I settled further into my chair. "What did the doctor say, any idea as to when you'll be discharged?"

"Meh, not yet.", she huffed, suddenly averting her eyes from mine as she started to play with the hem of her blanket, a sheepish smile creeping up on her lips. "They're keeping me under observation for the next couple of days, just to make sure the surgery went well and that I don't have any more internal bleeding.. so I don't think I'll be out of here for another week or so. However, they did say you were crucial in getting me to the hospital alive.."