When two worlds collide at midnight in the empty halls of New Jersey Private Hospital, Jack and Parker learn that no matter what, the heart wants what it wants.
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I DON'T KNOW WHAT POSSESSED ME TO COME HERE, but here I was, waiting in room 203 for Jack to get out of surgery. I knew he'd be asleep for a while longer after he was done, but usually once to6 woke up, the anaesthetic makes you feel like you've both been hit by a truck and like you've taken some sort of drug that'll keep you awake for days. I knew from experience. I'm not sure what my plan was, but I knew I wanted to keep him company.
It was seven thirty, dinner had already been and gone and with nobody in Jack's room to take dinner, they'd moved on without leaving him anything to eat. I knew he'd be starving when he woke up from fasting before surgery, and just because I lived in a hospital, didn't mean I was blind to the world of Door Dash.
I decided to be a good hospital buddy and ordered him a burrito with steak, unsure what he liked but knowing that I would kill for one, so I got one for myself too. I ate my burrito in the silence of his room, the only light coming from the overhear lamp of his bed. It felt weird being in a room like this, to the point where I'd almost forgotten that other rooms in the hospital looked exactly like this one.
Just rooms.
Unlike mine, which was full of memories and love and personality and maybe even more good times than my real bedroom back at home. I did miss my baby blue walls, though.
By the time Jack is brought back to his bedroom, already awake and in a wheelchair, his arm back in a sling, his body in a hospital gown and the drip still on his arm, I'm so unprepared to see him that I become overly flustered, feeling a bit ridiculous for even coming here in the first place.
I watch three emotions flash through his eyes. Confusion, is the first, unsure of why I'm here or maybe not really recognising me in his drowsy state. Surprise, but the pleasant kind. And then, happiness, like he's genuinely excited to see me.
"Parker Grace," he hums, his eyes tired. "What are you doing here?"
I narrow my eyes at him. "How did you find out my last name?"
He offers me a lazy smirk that has my heart drumming in my chest regardless. "It was simple, really, you're quite the catch in this place, apparently. Everyone calls you trouble."
His nurse, a young male in his early thirties named Nathan, chuckles. "That's because she is trouble."
I poke my tongue at him, before he helps Jack into his bed and makes sure he's set, checking his obs one final time before letting him know he'll be back every four hours to check on him.
Now we're alone.
I don't know what to do with myself so I just stand like an idiot in the middle of the room, my fingers toying with the oxygen tube tucked behind both of my ears and my hands clasped behind my back as I scrunch my nose, avoiding eye contact with him.
He's dead tired, just out of surgery and yet he still has the energy to smirk in my direction in mild amusement. I can feel the panic rising in my throat, and before I can blurt out anything particularly stupid, I shuffle quickly towards his steak burrito. Jack perks up the tiniest bit at the sudden smell of Mexican food filling the room, his eyebrows raising and his body stiffening in hopes that for some reason on earth, I'd gotten it for him.
