Pain & Gain

Chapter 2

"Can I see him?" I ask her, standing up from the chair.

"Yes."

The nurse leads us down a never ending maze of hallways to get to Marshall's room. I practically run to keep up with her, biting her heels the entire way. Rule is not a second behind me. The window to the room is blocked by a curtain and I can't see inside. I'm reaching for the door handle when the nurse blocks me.

"Before you go in", she says to the two of us. "He's a little hazy, we had to remove his appendix. It might take him a minute to get used to you. He's aware of his surroundings."

I nod quickly. I just want her to move out of my way. She takes a deep breath and then opens the door. Before going in I look back at Rule, he's urging me to go forward.

"I'll be right out here." He says.

With that, I walk through the door. Marshall looks awful. This is worse than anything I've seen. He's got a black eye on his left side. The top of his brow is protruding; a line of six stitches above his opposite brow. His nose is bruised a dark purple color, the bridge has a small bandage over it covering a cut. His cheeks are one of the few things that are untouched, and they look out of place amongst his bruised features. That's only his face. Marshall's neck is mostly clear aside from a few small cuts. His arms are canvas to many more bruises and his knuckles are bandaged to protect the open cuts. A cannula beside the bed helps him breathe. An IV in his left arm is hooked up to what looks like medicine. I hope that's medicine.
I find myself unable to walk. I'm stopped dead in my tracks just staring at him. I can't see his face from over here. I take a deep breath before I make the trip to his bed. I slowly walk to his bedside. His eyes are closed and his head is turned away from me. I sit down beside him, unsure what to do. The nurse did say he could hear me.

"Marshall?" I say softly.

No response.

"Marshall can you hear me?" I try again, louder.

This time, he turns his head and there they are. My favorite eyes in the world. Glowing blue in a sea of purple and red. Distress has hardly touched them. They seem to be the only thing unaffected by all of this. He looks, sad. I know I do too. I'm about to start crying.

"Are you okay?" I try.

I get nothing in return. I know he knows I'm talking, he's looking right at me.

"Can you talk?" I ask him.

He moves his head from side to side. Finally. Something. I guess that's a no for right now. I curl my hands around the bars of the bed. I wish I could hug him. I wish I could make this all go away. I can't keep my tears back. They start to fall one by one in a race down my cheeks. Marshall's eyebrows furrow slightly. He has that "no don't cry" face.

"I've been here for the past three days." I tell him. "Rule is here. He's outside the door. I know you'd tell me to go home if you could." I say through my crying. "I know they took your appendix out. Did it hurt?"

Marshall moves his head for no again. Of course it didn't he was under anesthetic.

"Good." I nod.

There's a moment of silence before my crying takes over and I drop my head. Seeing him, like this, is the worst pain I've ever felt. It shouldn't be this way. He doesn't deserve this. He never has.