Milkshake Hearts

Chapter 109: Visiting Hours

Shayne ends up asking Damien to crash in their spare room after they stay up late into the night gaming and hanging out, and he does, happily. It's certainly not the same as having his fiancé in bed with him, but it helps, to have the house not be entirely empty, and to have someone to eat breakfast with the next morning.

"How you feeling?" Damien asks, sitting at their dining table.

"I mean... rough. I think I need to tell her how scared I am. I've already texted her to make sure she's doing okay and all... But I get to see her soon, at least. And thanks for staying over," he nods.

"No problem, Shayne, and yeah, I think that's a good idea."

Shayne arrives at the hospital at 8:50am, ten minutes before visiting hours start. It's mostly empty in the reception, and he can't stop himself from pacing nervously in the waiting room as the time ticks down.

"Anxious to see someone?" one of the receptionists grabs his attention, although her voice is gentle. He pauses his pacing, turning to face her as he takes a deep breath.

"Um- yeah. Fiancé," he admits, awkwardly.

"Come over here, it's only a few minutes, I can check you in early," she gestures him over to the desk and he follows her request, pacing over to stand across from her as she starts to write on the visitor form in front of her.

"Do you need a name?" Shayne asks, after a moment.

"Oh, shoot, I- uh-" the receptionist stutters, "my daughter is quite the fan of your employer. But, yes, name please, and who you're visiting?"

"Oh. Shayne Topp visiting Courtney Miller," he replies, hesitance creeping into his tone. The last thing they need is it getting out that Courtney was in hospital-

"Okay, yes, thank you. I'm very sorry I started writing on recognising you, that was very unprofessional of me and I assure you your presence here is completely confidential," she reassures, seemingly sensing his concern. Shayne simply nods in silence, before following her direction into the lift to go up to Courtney's room on the 7th floor.

The hospital environment freaks him out. The sterile smell, overwhelmingly pastel green walls and floor and incessant beeping of medical machines and monitors pushes him right back into the pit of anxiety he'd fallen into on their sofa at home the previous night. He wrings his fingers together as he walks through the hallway to her room, tightness creeping across his chest until he approaches her door.

He knocks lightly, opening the door when he hears her strained "yeah?" in response.

"Hey, Court," he greets her, closing the door behind himself again as he steps in. She immediately pushes herself off the bed to stand, and he strides quickly into the centre of the room to meet her in a tight hug.

Her face presses into the crook of his neck as he presses a series of soft kisses into her hair, breathing deeply to take in every aspect of her he can. She clings to him, hands gripping at his back as his own wrap around her. It's relieving to be beside her, again, but Shayne is still scared, and he can feel her own fear in the way she grips him. It's what drives his façade to break, and he feels tears start running down his face as he tries to press himself even closer to her.

"Shayne, baby," she mumbles against him, lips brushing his neck as she does, "why you crying too?"

"I'm sorry," he mumbles. She shifts back just enough to be able to meet his eyes, dropping one hand from around him only to lift it up to cup his cheek, thumb brushing away stray tears.

"No apologies, love," she tells him, and he sighs.

"I was trying to be strong and whatever because I didn't want to add to your stress but- I'm worried and scared about all this too and I love you so much and I hate that I had to leave you here alone last night," he explains, voice low and a little ashamed.