It's a Hard life | Hardzello♡

41. In the hospital

The moment Joe wakes up, he immediately gets struck by a huge headache. Which is why he decides to keep his eyes closed.
But even though he hasn't opened his eyes yet, he does know that he isn't at home. He's lying in a bed, but not his own bed. This place smells different too. It smells way too clean.
He tries to open his eyes, but quickly closes them again with a loud groan when the light is too bright. 
Then the ginger notices that his fingers are intertwined with someone's.
Again, Joe tries to open his eyes. Luckily, he gets used to the bright light soon this time. He looks around, and sees that he's in a hospital bed.
He immediately starts to panic. Why is he in the hospital? And for how long has he been here already?
When he sees who's holding his hand, however, Joe immediately feels calm again.
Next to his bed is Ben sitting in a chair. The boy's head and arms are resting onto the mattress of the bed as he is fast asleep.
The blond is lying with his face towards Joe, allowing the ginger to see the tears that have stained his cheeks.
Joe can see how pale and exhausted the boy looks. The ginger gently frees his hand out of Ben's, trying not to wake him. He closes his eyes again while playing with Ben's hair. 

After a while, Joe can feel the blond boy stir under his touch. With a smile Joe opens his eyes, watching the boy wake up slowly.
Ben lets out a confused noise before slowly opening his eyes. "Joey?" He mumbles, still quite sleepy. As soon as Ben realizes that Joe's awake, his eyes widen. "Joe?! Joe you're awake!" The blond exclaims.
And although Joe couldn't be more happy to hear Ben's voice, the boy's loud voice is making his headache even worse.
The ginger puts his hand over Ben's mouth. "Too loud." He groans.
The blond chuckles softly. "Sorry." He whispers before carefully hugging Joe. "I just can't believe you're really awake. I should get the doctor." Ben says softly when they pull away from the hug.
Joe smiles and nods.
Ben shoots Joe a big smile before leaving the hospital room.

It doesn't take Ben long to find the doctor. He walks into Joe's room, followed by the doctor.
"Hello Joe. How are you feeling?" The man asks friendly.
"Not great. I have a huge headache." Joe says as he tries to sit up straight.
Ben quickly helps the boy when he sees the painful expression on the ginger's face.
"That's not surprising. You have a pretty big head injury. Do you have any idea why you're here?" The doctor asks.
Joe mumbles a soft 'no', and looks at Ben.
The blond can see that the boy is quite scared, and so he intertwines their fingers.
"Well, you're blood results show that you have poison in your blood. Which is why you collapsed. It's not dangerous anymore, but we are gonna keep you here until you're blood is clean again. I can give you some medicine to ease the pain for now, if you'd like?" The doctor says after he wrote some things down.
Joe has to try really hard not to panic. Someone poisoned him? After he realizes what the doctor said, he nods eagerly. He could really use some pain relief at the moment.
The doctor smiles, and turns to Ben. "Don't panic if he starts to act a bit odd. The drugs will make him a bit... high, if you may call it that. Although they will take a while to kick in." He says with a smile.
Ben chuckles and nods as a sign that he understands. "Okay, I'll go make an IV for the pain relief ready then. One of the nurses will be here soon." He says with a reassuring smile to Joe before leaving the room.

"Benny... I don't understand. W-what is going on? Poisoned? Not dangerous anymore? How long have I been passed out? I can't. I'm- I.' Joe rattles in total panic.
Ben immediately sits down next to the boy onto the bed. He puts his arm around Joe and pulls him close to his chest. "Shh, You're okay Joey. There's no need to panic anymore. You're safe now. I promise." He whispers.
The ginger closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. "You shouldn't even be here. You're mad at me." Joe mumbles as he focuses on the sound of Ben's heart pounding.
Ben smiles and gives the boy a kiss on the forehead. "No silly. Rami explained everything to me. I didn't even know he has a twin brother. I can't believe that the universe decided to make two of that guy." He can feel his heart warm when he sees that his words make Joe smile a little.
When Ben sees a nurse approaching, he lets go of Joe and gets up from the bed. 
"Hi there, I have the pain relief. So, we are going to take some blood from you every morning and evening, so we can see if your body has filtered out the poison yet. It will probably take just a few days." She says with a friendly and reassuring smile.
Joe nods, still a bit overwhelmed by all this. He has so many questions. But he knows that Ben can probably answer those, so he decides to wait asking them. "Thank you." The ginger says to the nurse when she's done attaching the IV to Joe's hand. 

Once the nurse has left the room, Ben immediately sits down next to Joe again.
The ginger nuzzles his face into Ben's neck and closes his eyes again. "We should talk." He whispers.
Ben runs his hand through Joe's hair and covers the two of them with the duvet. "We can talk later, okay? You look tired." He says softly.
Joe shakes his head. "No, I really want to talk now. I won't be able to sleep otherwise. Because even though you know the truth now, it's kinda serious that you'd believe I cheated on you." He whispers.
Ben swallows. "I know. But it's just that before we started dating, Rami always kept telling me how you would sleep with one boy after another. So when he, or Sami, texted me that you kissed one of your old flings, I just...-"
Joe bites his lip. "You figured it was bound to happen?" He whispers.
Ben nods embarrassed. "I'm so sorry Joey." He says softly. "I just got so insecure. I was so scared that I drove you away myself. I thought I wasn't good enough for you." He admits.
When Joe sees the tears in his boyfriend's eyes, he gently makes their lips touch for a tender kiss. "Baby...- How could you possibly think that you're not good enough for me? If anything, you're too good for me." He whispers. "And it is true, everything Rami told you. But those guys never meant anything to me. They were a distraction from the pain. I never even knew their names. But with you, it's different."
Ben raises his eyebrow. "Different how?" He asks.
Joe smiles. "I love you, silly. I've never loved someone like this before. I can stare at you all day and still not get bored. You're the only person who can make me blush with just a kiss on the cheek. You make my stomach flip everytime you smile. I love cuddling you, and I love talking to you." He says softly.

And even though these sweet words sound like music to Ben's ears, he still feels guilty. "I should've known that you wouldn't cheat on me in the first place. And yelling at you like I did isn't okay. You don't deserve that at all. I shouldn't have called you names like that, I'm a terrible boyfriend." He mutters.
Joe shakes his head. "Baby don't beat yourself up for that. Trust me, if I were in your position I probably would've called you worse names. It's not your fault Benny. You're the most amazing boyfriend I could wish for. I'm glad we talked it out. I love you so much." He says softly as he runs his fingers over Ben's pecs.
A small smile appears on Ben's face. "I love you more. And I'm glad we talked it out too."
Joe smiles before snuggling into Ben's chest. He lets out a content sigh.

"So... how long have I been here already?" Joe asks softly after a while of silence.
Ben opens his eyes. "Almost three days. Do you have any idea how this happened?" He says while playing with Joe's ginger hair.
The boy shakes his head. "No. I mean, it's not like I ate or drank something I normally wouldn't." Joe says. He thinks for a moment while enjoying the feeling of Ben's hand running through his hair.
Then he suddenly realizes something. "It must have happened when I went to that bar."
Ben looks at the boy slightly surprised.
"I didn't go there to get wasted. Just for distraction." Joe says when he sees the look on his boyfriend's face. "But there was this very nice guy, who offered me a drink. He must've slipped something in my drink while I was checking my phone."
Ben's eyes widen. "Jesus." He mumbles. He pulls Joe even closer. 
For a moment, it stays silent. Neither of the boys knows what to say.
"D-do you remember how this guy looked?" Ben says after a while of thinking.
Joe lets out a pleased noise as he snuggles closer to Ben's chest. "I don't know. Not at this moment. Maybe tomorrow." The boy mumbles as he closes his eyes again. "I'm starting to feel those drugs. This is some stroooong stuff."
Ben can't help but giggle. He gives the boy a kiss on the head. "Well I'm glad you're not in that much pain anymore. I love you." He whispers.
"I love, love, love you too Benny boy." Joe mumbles.
Ben smiles and crooks his nose into the boy's ginger hair. "You're cute when you're high." The blond says with a chuckle.
"So are you."
He gets back as an answer. 
With both their eyes closed, it doesn't take the boys long to fall asleep.

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Crisis averted😉

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