Lunch Dates

10

Natalie found herself to be sick the next day but she knew she had to go to work and see Ben to make sure their friendship hadn't been severed. She drove in slowly and walked towards the office with her head pounding. She made her way to her desk and sat on the chair, putting her head onto the surface.
"Good morning Natalie, wow you look terrible" Tom says as she raises her head to the sound of his voice.
"Thank you Tom for that observation"
"What is up with you today?" He asks putting his hand onto her forehead.
"You're hot and not your usual hot like damn I would do her, but you're burning up" he says and she nods.
"Yeah I think I'm sick but I had to come in to see Ben" she says.
"Natalie, you really should take the day off" Donna says from behind us but the girl only shakes her head.
They didn't understand how much was at stake if she didn't work out things with Ben, if there even was anything to work out. She spent the rest of the morning taking medication and letting herself be sick in the bathroom. Every so often, Tom and Donna would come and check on her and make sure she was taking regular medication.
"Nat, you're clearly not getting better, maybe you should go to the hospital, this could be one of those flu cases" Donna tells her and she shakes her head looking up at the clock.
"No it's okay, I have to go to lunch" She says standing up and slowly making her way up the stairs to the bench.
She saw Ben sat there with his lunch waiting for her. He turned to see the girl as sent her a wave before she dropped onto the ground. Bens eyes widened at this and he rushed up to help her.
"Hey Addie, are you okay?" He asks as he helps her back up.
"No I'm really sick but I needed to come here and make sure that we were okay" she tells him as he makes sure she gets on her feet.
"Okay we're completely fine, but you need to go to the hospital" he says picking her up into his arms so that he could get her down to his car.
"Benji, I'm fine, I don't need to go to the hospital" she says from the passenger seat but he ignores her pleads.
He drives her to her hospital as she slowly drifts off to sleep and he glances at his best friend every so often. He was worried for his friend, she was practically falling apart from this illness and she was risking herself to make sure nothing was wrong with him. Though he didn't understand why she was so worried, as far as he was aware, nothing was wrong. He pulled up to the hospital and got out of the car before rushing around to the other side to get her out. He pulled the girl into his arms as her head flopped against his chest.
"It's okay Addie, I've got you" he whispers as he makes his way into the reception area.
"Hey Ben, oh god what happened here?" Ann asks as she notices Ben walking in.
"I think Addie has come down with the flu and she needs to be put into care" he tells her and she nods as she leads the pair towards a hospital room where Natalie wakes up.
Ben helps her on to the bed and she settles in feeling like she had died and then been brought back into a life where she was sick. She hated that she was feeling this way and that it had gotten in the way of spending her day with Ben.
"Okay, I'll keep her here for a while and get her on some proper medication and she should be back to normal in the next day or so" Ann tells Ben and he nods.
She leaves to go and get Natalies medication and Ben looks down at the girl before telling her that he'll be back later. However, she reaches out and grabs his hand and he turns to face her.
"Please don't go" she whispers and he looks at her sadly as he makes the girl move up.
She slowly makes her way to the other side of the bed and he makes his way to sit next to her, putting his arm around her shoulders as she leans onto his chest.
"Why did you think there was a problem with us?" Ben asks quietly, not wanting to make her headache any worse.
"Because you left yesterday without saying goodbye after I ran off at lunch and I felt bad and I just don't want to lose you" she says sadly and he looks at her with a guilty look on his face.
"I'm so sorry Addie, I completely forgot last night because I was so busy with work and I truly never meant it, we're all good, I promise" he tells her and she nods as she cozied into his side.
The pair spent the rest of the day in the bed just enjoying the others company whilst he made sure that she took her medication on time and he even had Tom come in and deliver food that came with a letter from Jean Ralphio telling her to get better soon and that he missed her pretty face which made Ben scoff at his attempt to flirt with her. Natalie didn't care too much though about Jean Ralphio's 'sweet words', she was used to it by now. All that mattered to her was that Ben was here, he had given up his day to be with her and that was the only thing she needed.
"Benny"
"Mhm"
"Thank you, for everything, for taking care of me and for giving up today to be with me"
"Addie"
"Yeah"
"You're my best friend and the person I would do anything for, this, today, is just another day in our life, I've got your back always" he tells her and she gives him a bigger hug.
"You're the best, did you know that?"
"I didn't, because you're the best" he laughs and she giggles as Ann comes back in.
"Alright lovebirds, that's enough, Ben visiting hours are finished so you'll have to go but I'll take care of her don't worry"
Both Ben and Natalie blush red at her choice of words but Ben eventually gets up and says his goodbyes before he leaves and Natalie wondered if maybe she should just go for it and tell him.