After All, I'm Your Secret Admirer~!!

Ch20 - Well? We're Waiting!

"I—I heard what the doctor said," Paige trembles, holding himself as best as he can. "I lost too much blood. I don't have enough anymore..."

"Wh—you..." Brandon blinks hard. Tears are coming out in earnest now. "You... don't have enough..." he mumbles. Then, with a deep breath, he goes, "Yeah, man. Y—of course." He wipes his eyes. "I—I love you, man. You're my best friend in the world. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Thank you..." Paige sighs. "I'm... I'm so relieved..."

"I'll go get the doctor," Brandon says, turning and walking two strides per step towards the door. He flings it open once he gets there. Paige can just barely see James from where he's laying down.

"Oh! Hello Brandon," Quinn greets. She must be right out of view. "What did you say?"

"Yes, of course," Brandon says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "We have to hurry up, don't we? How much time does he have left, even?"

"Huh?" James asks. "Time?"

"He's gonna die isn't he?" Brandon huffs. "C'mon, let's get a move on!"

"What?" James asks, completely taken aback. "Brandon, he's not going to die, goodness!"

Paige blinks. "I-I'm not...?" he asks the air.

"He's not?" Brandon asks the doctor.

"No!" he assures, putting a hand on the teen's shoulder. "Paige just lost a lot of blood. If he gets a transfusion, it'll help him heal a lot faster. Nobody's going to die. I promise, okay?"

"Oh..." Brandon sighs. "Okay. Okay, good." He walks back into the room. "Paige!" he smiles. "You're not gonna die!"

"Oh, thank goodness," Paige breaths. "I... I thought for sure..."

"Yeah! Don't—don't worry!" Brandon's smile is wobbly. "I'll... you can still have..." He shakes his head. "I'm—I'll let them get me ready, okay?"

"Okay," Paige nods weakly. "I love you too, Brandon."

"I know, man," Brandon says. He sounds really close to crying again. "I know."

+++

Paige blinks. He's sitting up, mouth open. He doesn't remember anything since after they put him to sleep for the transfusion, but he can tell he was clearly in the middle of saying something.

Sorry, the voice in the back of his head says. Thought it'd be better if you heard this.

"Heard...?" Paige mumbles.

"Sweetie?" Quinn asks. "You cut yourself off there. What were you saying?"

"Um..." he says, worried. He had no idea!

Calm down, the voice urges. We were talking about your discharge.

"U-um... my discharge?" Paige tries. "Um..."

Ask when it is.

"When is it?"

"Tomorrow, buddy," James smiles. "We were just going over aftercare."

"Aftercare...?" Paige repeats. "It's over? You did it?"

"Of course they did, honey," Quinn chuckles. "How would they send you home if not?"

"Oh..." That did make sense. Then, he gasps suddenly. "Brandon! Brandon—is he okay!?"

"He's just fine, Paige," James assures. "He should be able to leave tonight, even."

"Oh..." Paige breathes. "That's... that's good."

"You're gonna be just fine, champ," James smiles. "Brandon too, alright?"

"Alright."

"We're gonna step out a moment to let you rest, alright?" James says. "It's important you get all the sleep you can."

"Okay." Paige waves weakly as the two adults exit the room. He lays back down after, sighing. "I wonder what that was about..."

What what was about?

"Waking up mid sente—ah!" Paige yelps. "W-who's there?"

Calm down, calm down, the voice soothes. It's becoming louder. Hold on...

"Hold on?"

The sound of someone clearing their throat reverberates in Paige's head. It kind of hurts.

"Here we go," the voice says, a lot clearer and closer than before. Paige has to stop himself from shouting. "Hey."

"U-um..." Paige starts wearily. "Hi...?"

"I think I've got some explaining to do."