Not Scared Anymore

Chapter 37 - Stephanie

Stephanie woke up in agony around 4 am. Her whole body was on fire, from her head to her toes. She grasped wildly for the call button to summon a nurse.

The new pain killers were not working. Stephanie waited for the doctor for an hour before they would switch her to anything else, and she finally drifted back to sleep around 7am.

Barely two hours later, she could smell her mother's perfume, which meant her mother was back in the room, stomping around like an angry elephant. She didn't even have to open her eyes to know that.

"Oh my God Mom, please stop."

"Stop what? I'm just taking my coat off."

Stephanie opened her eyes then and realized she was right. Her mom was wearing quiet shoes and doing nothing unexpected. "Sorry. My head is killing me, and I'm exhausted."

"It's okay honey, go back to sleep. I'll just watch television."

*

When Stephanie woke again at 11:30, she was surprised to see Kevin and Denise there too.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Denise looked at her like she was an idiot. "We thought we'd come and see if you wanted buy a lifetime subscription to Time magazine." She paused to see if Stephanie gets the joke. "Why do you think we're here?"

"But shouldn't you be at work?"

"There are these things called vacation days and we both used one today."

"Why?" The pain killers made her brain slow. 

"Seriously woman? Do you want us to leave?"

"No. I mean, you're already here. Might as well stay."

Kevin nudged her good arm asking, "are you always this difficult?"

Stephanie tried to look appalled, but failed. "You'll just have to stick around and see I guess."

He reached down for her hand and they turned their attention to the television.

After 20 minutes, Stephanie was in agony again. She started squirming, but didn't want to disturb the others. Eventually Kevin took notice.

"You okay? Need something?"

"Uhm, the TV is bothering me."

He reached for the remote and turned it off immediately.

"It's probably bad for your concussion anyways."

At that moment, Denise's stomach grumbled, and she and Carrie set off in search of food.

"Well, what do we do now that TV is out?"

Kevin laughed. "Well, we could talk, or play silly word games," she shook her head at both of these suggestions, requiring too much energy and brain power. Kevin continued, "or I could read to you."

"Would you really?" She didn't know the last time anyone read to her.

"Of course. You just sit back and relax." He pulled out an old copy of Harry Potter, and smiled sheepishly. "I thought you might want something you know, so if you fall asleep you won't miss anything."

"You might be the most brilliant man I have ever met." His neck and ears flamed red, and he redirected all of his attention to the book.

*

Nearly an hour had passed in which Kevin was reading, when a nurse arrived with a lunch tray, followed by Carrie and Denise, each holding a take-out bag of their own.