Let me live | Hardzello♡

Chapter 35

That night, Ben is lying on the bed while scrolling through his phone. When his phone receives a text, he sits up.

(09:13 Pm) Rami: Hey, uhm, just curious but did you give Lucy my note yet?

Ben groans softly. Because of all the events of today, he totally forgot he was supposed to give Lucy Rami's note. With a slight frown on his face, he starts typing a message back.

(9:14 Pm) Ben: Hey, sorry but I'm afraid I forgot. Today was a bit of a rollercoaster, with starting my medication and stuff.

(9:15 Pm) Rami: That's okay, just let me know when you gave it to her please? Then I'll know whether or not she's ignoring me :)

Ben smiles at that. He honestly can't imagine that Lucy would ignore Rami. The looks he and Lucy are giving each other are looks Ben only gave Joe when he knew the boy wasn't looking.

(9:15 Pm) Ben: Sure mate, don't worry.

The boy tosses his phone aside, and rubs his eyes. He looks at Joe's alarm clock on the nightstand, frowning when he sees it's still rather early in the evening. He feels like it's way past midnight. That must be the extreme tiredness the leaflet of his medication warned him for.
Ben lets out a yawn, and decides to go to sleep anyway, despite the time. He crawls under the duvet of Joe's bed, and briefly closes his eyes. Before he has the chance to doze off, he sends Joe a quick text, to tell the boy that he's going to bed early today.
After plugging in his phone, Ben buries himself under the duvet. He can feel his eyes fall close, and within a few minutes he is out like a light.

Ben doesn't know how it has been, but he is woken from his slumber by the creaking of the bedroom door. He lets out a soft groan, and buries his face into the pillow.
"Benny?"
Ben looks up, seeing John standing in the doorway. "Hey, what are you still doing up?" He asks softly, knowing it's already past the boy's bedtime.
The little boy shrugs before walking over to the bed. "I can't sleep." He mumbles, looking down at his bare feet.
Ben sits up, and opens his arms as a sign for John to sit down with him. "Why can't you sleep?" Once John is seated on the bed, Ben pulls the boy in a gentle hug, seeing the sad look in John's eyes.
John sniffles softly. "I lost my teddy bear. I can't sleep if I can't cuddle Hugsy."
Ben bites his lip when he sees tears sparkle in John's eyes. "Don't cry John, he has to be around the house somewhere." He whispers. "Tomorrow I'll help you find Hugsy, okay?"
John smiles a little and nods. "Thanks Benny. Can I sleep here tonight? Cuddle you instead of Hugsy?" He asks pouting.
Ben chuckles softly and nods. "Okay then."
With a big smile, John crawls under the covers.
"You know, my teddy bear still doesn't have a name." Ben says to the boy against his chest. He can see how tired John is, and knows that if he can just distract him for a bit it won't take the boy long to fall asleep.
John looks up. "But he should have one!"
Ben giggles softly. "Any ideas?"
John thinks deeply for a moment. "Uhm... Bob?" He suggests.
The blond grins. "Bob the bear?" He laughs.
The little boy shakes his head. "No, there must be something better." He mumbles as he crawls a little closer to Ben's chest. "Bubbles? Pebbles?" Then he looks up with a soft gasp. "You should name him Deaky!"
Ben smiles widely. "Deaky as in Queen's bass player?" He asks with a small grin.
John yawns and nods.
"I think it's perfect." Ben whispers before closing his eyes.
John follows that example, and closes his eyes as well. "I'm tired Ben." He mumbles, pushing himself impossibly closer into Ben's embrace.
Ben smiles sleepily. "Then maybe we should go to sleep." He whispers.
John nods against Ben's chest. "Hm. Yeah." He mumbles before slowly drifting off.

About an hour later, the door of the room opens again.
Ginnie walks in, expecting the teenager to be still awake. "Ben the hospital just called and-" But the moment Ginnie sees her son and Ben cuddled up in Joe's bed she stops talking. With a big smile she looks at the two.
Then her eyes move to the phone she's holding. She'll tell Ben tomorrow that the hospital called to say that Joe needs surgery to place a pacemaker.
She walks over to the two boys with a smile. She pulls the duvet a little further over the two, and tucks them in. "Sleep well boys." She whispers, gently running her hand through Ben's hair.
She places a kiss on John's forehead, smiling when the boy simply crawls even closer to Ben's body after that.