Office Affair

Dominic, I'm not a baby!

Anya

Alice dragged the chair closer to Anya's bedside with a very worried look in her eyes. Not only worry, though, but also a thousand questions, undoubtedly at the scene she'd just witnessed when she walked in.

„No, Alice, we're not together. I was crying and he held me because he wanted to comfort me. This whole thing was very stressful for the both of us, you know."

„Ah."

„Why do I have a feeling that you're disappointed, sweetie?" Anya chuckled.

„You know I want to see you happy, that's all. But never mind that now, are you all right? Physically, I mean?"

„You've heard what the doctors have told him, I'm too overworked and I need to take it easy. That's exactly what I'm going to do, and I'll be fine in no time."

„I am counting on that, sis. I can't live without you, you know." Alice choked up.

„Oh, darling...of course I'm not going anywhere. This was my wake up call to be less of an overachiever, for sure. From now on, I promise I will take better care of myself." Anya hugged her and kissed her hair. If only she had more money for food, she'd feel better. She knew that already. Perhaps she could ask Dominic for a loan, and then pay it back to him, one way or the other.

„Thank you."

„You're most welcome, love. Now, what about you? How are you planning to spend your days off?"

„There's this new guy in our class, David. He transferred from another college, and he's interesting, so we'll go and have something to eat."

„And by interesting you mean?"

„Good looking. It's too early to tell, though."

„Let me know how it went, yeah?"

„Oh, absolutely! I'm going to leave you now. Please take care of yourself."

„I'm in very good, capable hands, and I'm already feeling better. Besides, this room is more comfortable than my own bedroom."

Alice hugged her once more before leaving, and then Anya was once again alone in her thoughts. Namely, her reaction when she woke up. If she weren't in that situation, if someone had asked her who she'd want to see next to her – she'd say Alice, of course. So then why, when she opened her eyes and saw Dominic's worried face and his hand locked with her own, did she feel that he was the first person that she wanted to see next to her? He was also the right person to sit on her bed and caress her hair in soothing motion. His closeness brought peace and security, and she took a deep breath, trying to remember every single detail about that moment which would have lasted even longer, if it weren't for Alice's arrival.

It was quite the difference from the first time it had happened, when she was a child. Her mother wasn't there because she couldn't take off from work so easily, and she woke up with screaming, afraid children in beds next to her. That was traumatizing, to say the least, so having Dominic there as her support was incredible. Speaking of support, she noticed that the nurses kept coming in to check on her. While she accepted that as their job, it looked almost like they were hovering. The next time one of the nurses came in, she stopped them.

„Excuse me, why are you here so often?"

She was a young nurse, barely out of school, so she wanted to keep her tone kind but still stern.

„I beg your pardon?"

„My heart is fine, and I'm connected to a monitor so there's no need for you to walk in every hour of the day to check up on me. So what's the deal?"