Broken Cause [Book 1]

Chapter 2 (Part 6)

Lisa was woken up by the sound of a chair being dragged on the floor. She frowned - trying to open her eyes.

Chaeyoung saw Lisa stirring. She let go of the chair she was dragging and approached the bed. "Sorry. It's just me. Go back to sleep," she whispered while gently patting Lisa's hand.

Lisa huffed. "What time is it?" Her voice cracked. She blinked a few times and saw Chaeyoung smiling at her.

Chaeyoung checked her watch. "Almost eleven."

Lisa tried to sit up. "And you've just gotten back?"

"Yeah. Had a lot to do," Chaeyoung said. "Don't move. Go back to sleep." She was about to move to the chair when she felt Lisa grabbing her wrist. She looked at her with raised eyebrows. "What is it?"

"Your back will hurt if you sleep on the chair." Lisa held onto Chaeyoung's wrist.

"I'll be fine."

Lisa started to shift, moving to one side of the bed to make space for Chaeyoung.

Chaeyoung's eyes widened. Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?

Lisa was blushing. She looked away while tugging slightly at Chaeyoung's wrist. She didn't want Chaeyoung to have back pains in the morning from sleeping on the uncomfortable chair so the only prevention she could think of was to share her bed.

"If I wanted to sleep on a bed, I could just use the other bed, you know," Chaeyoung said with an amused smile on her face. "It's still empty."

Lisa froze. She hadn't thought of that. She instantly let go of Chaeyoung's wrist.

Chaeyoung laughed at the sight of the red face. "But I guess I can't since I'm not a patient here." She sat down on the bed, next to Lisa. "Scoot." She nudged her.

Lisa did as she was told - slowly moving further to the other side of the small bed. She then lifted her blanket to cover Chaeyoung with it.

Chaeyoung lay down. Her arm touched Lisa's and she felt goosebumps but didn't react further.

"Warm?" Lisa asked after she had let go of the blanket.
Chaeyoung nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem."

They lay side-by-side awkwardly, staring at the ceiling and not moving a muscle.

Chaeyoung was tired so she was planning to go to sleep as soon as she could. But lying next to Lisa had chased away her sleepiness. She grew tense after the long silence.

"Too awkward?" Lisa finally broke the silence.

Chaeyoung exhaled. She was glad that Lisa had decided to speak. "Just a little."

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

Another pause.

"Well, goodnight then." Lisa closed her eyes.

"Goodnight." Chaeyoung also closed her eyes. She would try to not think about this for now.

--

Something hard hit her chin.

Lisa huffed. She tried to open her eyes - squinting at the dim light coming from behind the curtains. She then heard rustling of fabrics and felt something warm snuggling against her body. She tried to look down but found that she couldn't. Something was lodged under her chin. She frowned. Hair? She was still waiting for her brain to wake up. She was also starting to realize that she couldn't move her arm.

The mattress shifted when Chaeyoung moved. She pulled whatever it was she was hugging closer - snuggling against it. She felt comfortable and warm as she continued to sleep.