The Way Love Changes You; Book One: Love's Firsts

36/XXXVI: The Heartbroken, Homeless Romantic

~Avellana~

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Spending the night in the waiting room of the hospital was not something that I'd expect myself to do in my lifetime. One of the nurses was nice enough to let me use a blanket so I wouldn't get cold overnight. I spent the night so I could see Jonni today.

Last night, the doctor told me that Jonni's head injury wasn't deadly and thankfully nothing too serious. However, if they were left under the running water from the broken shower valve any longer while unconscious with the drain still covered, then they would've drowned. They only needed 11 stitches on the left side of their head and had a golf ball sized bruise on their right temple. He said whatever hit them in the temple knocked them out for a little bit. Jonni was free to go later the next day, which was today, and needed to take some medications to relieve the pain and infection. Although, because it was nighttime and visitation hours had ended, I couldn't see Jonni until the morning. The doctor welcomed me to stay overnight in the waiting room until I could see them, which left me very pleased.

I woke up though, but I kept drifting off.

"Avellana?" That woke me up completely. A nurse called my name and was looking for someone with the name. I rose up out of the chair and made my way to the nurse.

"Hello, Avellana. Jonovia is now awake and would love to see you now. They seemed adamant on seeing you today. We told them last night after they woke up from the surgery that visiting hours had already ended, and they were a bit upset, but we told them that you were staying in the waiting room for the night."

I giggled at the thought of Jonni doing this. "Yeah, they're literally like a sibling to me as I am to them, so that's to be expected. Thank you for taking care of them. I'm very happy that it wasn't anything too serious."

"It's no problem at all," the nurse replied through her smile. "They will have some pain in their wound and their bruises for a while, which may result in a headache. It shouldn't hurt too bad, as long as they take their medication as prescribed, and the pain and swelling will gradually fade away. Other than that, they are able to walk around. They will have a note for work and school from the doctor that they will be out for at least five days. We have informed them about everything they needed to know, and they should be able to pick up their prescriptions when they leave here later today."

"That's awesome. Thank you."

The nurse grinned. "Anytime, love. Jonovia is in Room E607. They are very ecstatic to see you! If you or Jonovia need anything, just let me know!"

I thanked her once more as I made my way to Jonni's room. Each room I passed, I looked at the room numbers. When I reached Room E607, I slowly peeked inside. Jonni was sitting up, watching the television embedded high on the wall and eating some hospital food that actually looked delectable. They had a big bandage on their head, so I assumed that the stitches were there. I smiled at how they emerged from their injury like nothing happened. They were very strong.

"Somebody's lookin' well today!" I said walking in.

Jonni swiftly turned when they noticed it was me. I ran up to them, and we both went for a big, tight hug. It felt so good seeing them back to their normal self. It felt even better knowing that they're okay. Like I said before, I wasn't leaving the hospital until I knew that Jonni was okay.

After our long, reconciling hug, I grabbed the chair near the bed and scooted it closer to Jonni and sat in it. I held their hand because why not?

"This is way too gay, Avellana," Jonni jested. "Two lesbian best friends shouldn't be holdin' hands. It goes against the gayness code."