Let me live | Hardzello♡

Chapter 15

A knock is heard on the door of Joe's hospital room before it opens.
"Hey Joey." Rami says cheerfully as he enters the room.
Joe looks up, trying to force a smile. "Hey." He mumbles.
Rami's eyes move from Joe's bed to Ben's, which is still empty. A small frown appears on his face. "Where's Ben?" He asks confused.
The ginger sighs softly. "In surgery. He has been for the past hour." Joe explains.
Rami sits down in a chair next to his friend's bed. "How much longer will it take?"
Joe looks at the clock on the wall. "At least another three hours." He mumbles before swallowing harshly.
"Jeez, that long? Is that normal?" Rami blurts out. He immediately regrets his words when he sees an anxious look appear in Joe's eyes. "Sorry, I'm not helping, am I?" He says with an apologetic look on his face.
Joe shakes his head. "Not really." He says. "I don't know why I'm so tense. I know he'll be okay. But still I'm nervous." He confesses.
Rami shrugs. "Well, it's understandable. You care about him." He says, a slight grin making its way onto his face.
Joe nods. "Yeah. I do." He mumbles as he stares down at his hands.
"So... when are you gonna ask him?" Rami asks, wiggling his eyebrows with a playful smile on his face.
Joe looks up, raising his eyebrow. "Ask him? Ask him what?" He asks, not understanding what his friend means.
Rami crosses his arms. "Ask Ben out. Come on, it's really obvious that you're into him." The smirk on his face grows even more.
Joe immediately looks away again. "I- I am not. Why would you think that?" He stutters.
The black-haired boy rolls his eyes. "Seriously? You two are practically boyfriends already!" Rami exclaims dramatically. "You sleep in the same bed, you cuddle all the time, and you worry about him. I rest my case."
Joe shakes his head, knowing his cheeks are getting red. He tries to come up with an answer, but his mind remainds blank. He buries his face into his hands. He doesn't even want to think about these things. All he wants to focus on right now is Ben, and whether or not he will be okay.
Rami raises his eyebrow when he sees the conflicted look on his friend's face. "Joe?"
Then, Joe feels a sudden anger rise in the core of his body. "Is this all a joke to you?" He asks with a piercing look. "Yes, we sleep in the same bed and all that other stuff. You wanna know why we're doing all that? Because we're in the fucking hospital! We cuddle because it's hard, okay? And you know why I'm worried about him? Because they're cutting into his heart right now! It might actually go wrong, do you even realise that?! I know this might be hard to grasp for you, but not everyone's life is as careless as yours!" The ginger says angrily, his voice raising more with every sentence.
Rami looks at his friend with wide eyes, kind of overwhelmed by the sudden outburst. "Joe, I- I didn't mean to...-" He stammers. "I was just trying to chee-" 
"Just go Rami. I don't need the 'love talk' right now." Joe says, cutting him off.
Rami sighs, instantly feeling guilty. "Okay." He says softly before getting up. "You know, I'm not the only one who noticed it. Gwil sees it too." He says. "Let me know how Ben is doing after surgery." Is the last thing he says before leaving the room. 

Joe lets out a shaky breath. He didn't mean to yell at Rami like that. It just came out.
The ginger pulls the duvet up to his chin, letting his head sink into his pillow. He suddenly feels exhausted. But he wants to stay awake.
For Ben.

***

After an hour of fighting against the tiredness and the demand of his body to close his eyes, Joe gives in. He closes his eyes, and can feel himself drifting off quickly. Just before he's completely asleep, a knock on the door is what makes him open his eyes again.
"Hey." Gwil says.
The ginger yawns before sitting up a bit. "Hey." He mumbles. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to have maths right now?" He says, knowing Gwil's school schedule by heart.
Gwil smiles and shakes his head as he sits down. "No, Mr May called in sick so school ended an hour earlier for me today. I thought I'd hop by." He explains.
Joe smiles sleepily. "That's sweet."
Then the door of the room opens again. This time it's Lucy entering the room. "Hi Joe. Just wanted to see how things are going here? I heard you sent Rami home?" She says to Joe with the same caring smile as always.
Joe looks up in surprise. "He told you I kicked him out?" He asks.
Gwil snaps his head towards Joe with slightly wide eyes. "You kicked him out?"
Joe sighs. "I mean, yeah, kinda. I didn't mean to get angry with him. He was just trying to cheer me up, but it was just too cheerful, I guess." He says, quite embarrassed by the way he treated Rami.
Lucy shows him a reassuring smile. "I'm sure he gets it sweetie. It all isn't easy." She says.
Gwil nods in agreement.
Then a brief silence falls.
"Do you know how Ben's doing?" Joe asks softly, his whole body tensed up once again.
Lucy smiles and nods. "I do, actually. He's doing great. Everything is as it should be. He might even be a bit sooner out of surgery than we thought, since everything is going so well." She explains. "So no worries." She adds, knowing how much the boy cares about Ben. 
Joe lets out a sigh of relief.

"So uhm, after this you might wanna kick me out as well, but I brought something. I think it's ridiculous, but the principal told me to give it to you." Gwil says as he opens his backpack.
Joe frowns when he sees all kinds of school books and papers coming out of the bag.
Gwil places them on Joe's bedside table. "They said that if you want to graduate this year, you have to get it all done." He sighs.
Lucy's eyes widen a little. "They're seriously giving you homework right now? In what kind of sick school are you?" She says indignantly.
Joe sighs loudly. "One that doesn't have any compassion, apparently. How am I gonna get this all done by time?" His anxiety immediately rises again. Somehow it only just hit him. He was supposed to graduate this year.
A small smirk appears on Gwil's face. "Well Lucy is smart. Can't you do it for him?" He asks her.
She giggles softly. "What makes you think I'm smart?" She crosses her arms.
Gwil shrugs. "I mean, you work in a hospital." He grins. 
Lucy rolls her eyes with a smile. "I can help you with biology, and chemistry but I'm afraid that's all." She says to Joe.
Joe giggles softly. "Thanks."
Lucy shoots him a wink before leaving the room.

"Would you like me to stay and distract you or to leave you alone?" Gwil asks when he sees Joe nervously looking at the clock.
The ginger forces a small smile. "Alone please, if you don't mind. Thanks for asking." He mumbles, grateful that Gwil noticed he'd like to be alone.
Gwil smiles and nods. "Of course. Let me know how Ben's doing, okay?" He says as he gets up.
Joe nods. "I will. Thanks for stopping by." He smiles at his friend.

Once Gwil has left, Joe decides to jump into all the homework right away. It's a way to kill some time, and one time or another it has to be done anyway. With a sigh, he grabs his social studies book. He smiles when he sees Gwil left a small note in every textbook, saying what work has to be done for every subject.
Social studies: See page 53, assignment four.
Joe browses through his book, until he's arrived at page 53. "Assignment four. Go outside and ask the people in your neighbourhood about whether they feel safe being outside or not. Process these answers into a diagram." Joe mumbles, reading the assignment out loud. He lets out a groan. "How the fuck am I supposed to do this when I can't go outside, you idiots?" He closes the book, letting it rest on his stomach. Once again he looks at the clock.
Two and a half more hours before Ben will be back.
Joe can feel his eyelids getting heavier. And no matter how hard he fights it, his eyes slowly close.
With his social studies book still clasped in his hand, the boy falls asleep.

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This chapter felt a bit rushed, but I can't seem to improve it🤔

Oh well...

I hope you're all doing alright, xxx