Affinity (RDJ)

Chapter 19 - Hope

Friday night is a cold one and you can't seem to get comfortable, your feet like blocks of ice under your too thin comforter. It's coming up to the second week in December and you think you should probably start unpacking some of your winter clothes from your boxes.

You can't sleep.

Your eyes sting and your head pounds; you've been lying in bed for the last few hours tossing and turning but to no avail. Sleep has definitely been better lately and your hand has been a lot less numb than it had been, but you still can't remember what it was like to just sleep, worry free. The dreams haven't been half as intense but whenever you're not thinking about school or Robert, the thoughts of the accident come creeping back in and you end up flicking on your lamp, scared of seeing her in the darkness again.

You sigh, sitting up. You can't sleep so you might as well do something productive. You go over to your boxes and root through them for a sweater and some thick socks. Winter tests are coming up, so you should really get some study time in now to make up for the time you've lost when you're with Robert after school.

You grab your laptop and head down to the living room. The lights are off and the glow from the street lights outside illuminate the room just enough for you to see your way around.

There's only a week of school left before Christmas break and you're trying not to think about those two weeks. Would he want to see you? How would it even work? He can't call; you haven't even thought to swap numbers. Would he even want to see you outside of the bubble of school?

You shake your head, trying to ignore the twisting of your stomach at the thoughts. Sitting down on the couch, you open up your laptop, beginning to read over your notes from class.

The next time you look at the clock, it's 8.30 and you've been studying for 3 hours. Your neck and back are stiff from sitting in the same position for so long and you stretch, groaning as you get to your feet. Wondering if Rex is joining you at the hospital today, you knock on his door softly, not wanting to wake him from any precious sleep he might be managing. You hear a shuffle and he opens the door, looking remarkably awake.

'Hey, you're up early.' He yawns, scratching at his head.

'Yeah, can't sleep. You?'

He shakes his head. 'Nah. Me neither.'

'I was just wondering if you're coming to see mom today? It's cool if not, I can just hop on the bus,' you say.

'Nah, I'll come. Gives me a chance to get out of this house for a bit anyway.'

'Okay, well I'm just gonna get dressed and we'll head off then!' you reply, pleased that he's making more effort nowadays. You quickly get dressed and the pair of you head out towards the hospital.

Dr Shepherd is in your mom's room when you arrive. He smiles when he sees you both. 'Ah, you're here! Come in, come in.' He waves you inside and you walk over to your mom's bed. She looks so small under the blankets. You're still not used to seeing her like this. Your dad is stood next to him looking like he's about to burst.

'Is everything... okay?' you ask.

'Yes, yes, everything is fine. I was just telling Jim here that we're seeing some really promising signs in your mom's most recent brain scans.' Your dad grins at this, gesturing for Dr Shepherd to continue. 'We've been monitoring the neurone pathways in her frontal lobe since she arrived here, and in yesterday's scan we saw that a few neurones that hadn't been active before treatment have started firing again. If this continues, and there's no reason why it wouldn't, well... it could be a really promising outcome.'