Let me live | Hardzello♡

Chapter 36

"Alright Joe, are you ready for surgery?" One of the intensive care nurses asks the boy.
Joe takes a deep breath, looking up at Ben. The past few hours the two of them have just been cuddling and catching up, now Joe is finally able to talk again. Somehow knowing that once this surgery is done, he will finally be able to recover and leave the hospital makes this one way easier than his first surgery. 
Ben gives the boy against him a reassuring smile, and a small kiss as a way of telling him it will all be okay. "I'll be waiting for you." He whispers with a wink.
Joe smiles. "I'm ready." He says to the nurse.
With a small smile, Ben watches Joe being taken to the OR. He keeps waving at Joe until the boy has been driven out of the room created by walls of white curtain, bed and all. Then he turns to the doctor. "How long before he'll be back again?" He asks.
The doctor checks the time. "Well, it mostly takes about two hours to place a pacemaker. Sometimes a bit longer, sometimes it's done quicker than that." He explains with a friendly smile.
Ben bids him a quick 'thanks' before walking towards the waiting room, putting on his blue mask on his way there.
Despite the covid rules, there is one other person in the waiting room. Ben gives the woman a friendly nod before walking to a seat across from her.
He sits down in the chair, grabbing his phone to quickly update Joe's parents on the boy's situation.

Even though he's not usually this impatient, Ben soon finds himself getting bored with all the waiting. He checks his phone, and sees that not even fifteen minutes have passed yet.
And so, he decides to go find Lucy to give her Rami's note.
He gets up from his seat in the waiting room, and shoves his phone into his back pocket. But before he has even taken one step in the right direction, a rush of nausea runs through his body.
Ben runs towards the nearest restrooms, not caring about the weird looks he's getting from the other people in the waiting room. He yanks open the door of one of the restroom stalls, and drops onto his knees in front of the toilet. He quickly takes off his mask, feeling more and more like he will throw up with each second.
His body has briefly fooled him into thinking that a few deep breaths will make the nauseous feeling go away. But the moment Ben wants to get off the restroom floor, his body starts throwing up into the toilet in front of him.
Behind him, Ben can hear the door of the restrooms open, but he's too busy gasping for air to see who just entered.
"Ben, is that you?" He suddenly hears behind him. And he knows who that voice belongs too. Lucy.
"Oh sweetie let me get you some water." The girl says as soon as Ben is done throwing up. 
Ben just nods at that, not having the energy to say anything. He keeps taking deep breaths, trying to keep the next round of throwing up away.
Caring as always, Lucy hands the boy a plastic cup filled with water.
"Thanks." With a grateful smile, Ben takes the cup of water, taking a small sip.
Lucy gives him a bit of a worried look. "You okay?"
Ben takes a deep breath and nods. "Yeah, I guess." He mumbles. "Stupid medicines." He adds in a grumbling voice.
Lucy takes the cup from him again, helping him to get up. "What time did you take them?" She asks.
Despite being confused about that question, Ben checks the time. "Around noon. So about four hours ago. " He says. "Why?"
Lucy shakes her head. "Nothing to worry about then. I was just scared that you might have thrown up the medication, meaning they wouldn't work. But if you took them that long ago then they're already dissolved." She explains.
Ben slowly starts nodding. "Right." He says, not even pretending to understand the medical details. "How did you even find me?" Ben mumbles a bit confused.
Lucy lets out a soft giggle. "You know this is the ladies room, right?"
Ben's eyes widen. "Er... no, I didn't." Embarrassed, he looks at Lucy.

She smiles. Then a small piece of paper on the ground catches her eye. "I think you dropped something." She says, picking up the small piece.
Ben shows her a slight grin. "That's for you, actually." He looks at the note that Rami wrote. "Rami asked if I could pass it on to you."
Lucy looks up in surprise. "Really?"
Ben grins even more when he hears the slight hint of hope in her voice. "Yeah. So what does it say?" He asks curiously.
Lucy's cheeks start to redden. "He- he wrote down his number. And asked if I would like to grab a bite together sometime." She says softly with a big smile.
"So he asked you on a date, hm?" Ben says smirking.
Then Lucy crosses her arms, looking at the boy with a raised eyebrow. "You're sure Rami wrote this? Or is this some attempt from you and Joe to couple us?" With a suspicious look, she waits for Ben to answer.
The blond nods. "I'm sure. Joe and I had nothing to do with this. So, are you gonna say yes?" He asks curiously. He chuckles softly when he sees her blush.
"Well uhm, I suppose grabbing a bite can't hurt." Lucy mumbles with a smile. 
The two get startled by a loud beep.
Lucy grabs her beeper. "I'm needed at the ER. I'll see you and Joe after his surgery." She says to Ben before leaving the restrooms.

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After about one and a half more hours of waiting in the waiting room, Ben is approached by a nurse he hasn't seen before. "Hi, you're here for Joe Mazzello, right?" She asks him with a friendly smile.
Ben nods, getting up from his chair.
"He's out of surgery and doing very well. He's back in the ward for heart patients. If you'd like you can go see him." The nurse points behind her, at the hallway that leads to the right ward.
Ben smiles. "Thank you." He gives her a grateful smile.
"He's back in the same room as before he landed on the IC. Should I walk with you?" The nurse offers.
But Ben shakes his head. "I know where it is, believe me." He says with a soft chuckle. He thanks her before walking towards the room Joe is in.
Once arrived at the room, Ben softly knocks on the door before entering. He immediately smiles widely when he sees his boyfriend is still asleep, as the anaesthesia has yet to wear off.
He walks over to the bed, carefully sitting down on the edge. He runs his hand through Joe's hair, deciding to just take this opportunity to admire his boyfriend until he wakes up. "Hi love." He whispers, his voice thick with affection. "Promise me that this was the last surgery, okay?"

About half an hour later, Joe starts stirring a little.
Ben smiles, leaning in to press a kiss on the ginger's head. "Hey sleepyhead." He whispers, gently caressing the boy's cheek.
Joe lets out a soft groan, leaning in to Ben's touch. "Hey Benny boy." He mumbles.
"How are you feeling? Does it hurt?" The blond looks at Joe's chest, which is wrapped up in bandages just like it was after the previous surgery.
Joe rubs his eyes and nods. "Yes. But I feel better." He says. He opens his arms. "I need my teddy bear." He mumbles.
Ben giggles softly and lies down next to the boy. "I love it when you're groggy and clingy like this. Tell me if I'm hurting you, okay?" He says before gently placing his head on Joe's shoulder.
Both boys snuggle close to each other, closing their eyes.

After cuddling in silence for half an hour, Joe's anaesthesia has worn off enough for his mind to be less clouded. "What time is it?" Joe asks a bit confused.
Ben opens his eyes and grabs his phone. "It's 06:20 Pm." His cheeks start to heat up in embarrassment when his stomach growls loudly.
Joe can't help but smile a little. "When was the last time you ate?" He teasefully pokes Ben's stomach, earning another loud grumble in return.
Ben buries his face into his hands, his face a dark crimson colour now. "This morning, before I came to visit you. But I'm not hungry." He says, his words sounding muffled by his hands.
Joe giggles. "Your stomach tells me otherwise Benny." He says when another growl is heard. "You've been here since eleven thirty this morning, you should go home and eat something."
Ben shakes his head as he closes his eyes again. "I don't wanna leave." He groans.
Before Joe can say something, the door of the room opens.
"Look at that, it's my favourite couple!" Lucy says with a wink.
Both boys smile at that.
"Lucy, can you please tell Ben that he needs to eat something? He hasn't eaten anything since eleven this morning." Joe says to her, earning another loud groan of protest from Ben.
The blonde girl nods. "He's right Ben, you need to eat. Certainly after what happened this afternoon." She says.
Joe raises his eyebrow, giving Ben a questioning look. "What happened?"
Ben sighs. "I threw up. Side effect of the medicines." He mumbles.
That only makes Joe more worried. "Well then you definitely have to eat." He says. He gives Ben a kiss on the cheek. "So I'm kicking you out now."
Ben shows him a sleepy smile before getting up. "Okay then. I'll see you tomorrow." He gives Joe a quick peck on the lips, and whispers a soft 'I love you' to his boyfriend. After that he walks past Lucy and leaves the room.
Lucy looks at Joe with a grin. "Aren't you two the cutest!" She says with a big smile before starting to change the liquid in Joe's IV.

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Needed a distraction so I thought why not update?

How is the story so far? I think the chapter after this one is one of my favourites, I can't wait for you all to read it. I'll try not to take ages to upload it.

Kisses from me aka queenborhap_gifs xxx