Two Eyes Down

One Man Standing

"This is disgusting" I complain to Demi as she holds up a forkful of mushy hospital steak to my lips. She can't smell it, but the aroma is similar to wet dog food.

"I know babe, but you have to eat something." She sighs.

"Can't someone grab me something from elsewhere?"

"I'm the only one here right now babe, I'm not leaving you alone and I can't just take you out of the hospital."

Demi hasn't left my room at all since I left the ICU a few hours ago, twenty four hours after the surgery. Although it was successful, the surgery requires seventy two hours of my eyes being wrapped in bandage and Demi insists on being my eyes until I can have my own. She canceled all concerts, meetings, and interviews so she can sleep on a couch beside my bed with pillows she took from my room and my fuzzy childhood Spider-Man blanket along with it at night and she sits around with me all day.

In addition to Demi, everyone has stopped by at one point or another to see how I'm doing besides Dylan and Aiden. I miss them, especially Dylan. Aiden has evolved a lot from when I met him the time I tried to go to school. His voice remains in the higher side, but he's more dramatic and takes everything personal.

Dylan hardly changed at all besides the physical stuff. I met him when we were five at a summer camp. Like now, he was an ass, always arrogant, always trying to impress everyone. I hated him for seven years until he was in the same group as me and we were forced to get along because of the small number of options in terms of possible friends. Turned out, he was funny and a pretty relaxed guy when he had no reason to not be tame. He's always been a very masculine and dominant guy, since his dad walked out on him and his mom after his little brother was born and was thrown into the fatherly roll. He was like that with me too, making sure I was alright all the time. Yet things got to hard for him because of his feelings for me that would never be returned, so just like his father, he walked out.

I quietly open my mouth for the food to enter, it has the puke-like effect, where my digestive system decides to regurgitate the food before it was gotten past the first phase of digestion. In these moments I can relate to cats. When they eat too much or consumes something the system doesn't approve, they vomit to their owners disappointment. In this case, Demi is my caretaker and underneath this bandage, my eyes are bugging out and this wet, choking noise comes from my throat until I can feel the barely chewed block they call steak pressing against my now closed and clenched mouth and jaw. The sounds coming from my mouth continue, contract with the muscles in my throat and stomach as I struggle to chew the food without it coming out slobbery on my plate before me. It takes five minutes for me too swallow, then another two to catch my breath and wash down stray pieces in my mouth, which are everywhere may I add, with the sprite they gave me.

"You're so dramatic." Demi scolds.

"Really? You try it." I retort

I hear the fork stab a piece of meat and the sound of it clashing with Demi's teeth. I can feel the rare moment of arrogance Demi is almost never caught in as she carries out the simple action. Seconds later, a low growl comes from Demi's throat and her chair falls to the floor as she runs somewhere close and coughs violently. Demi can choose to be arrogant at any time, she's very accomplished, not even factoring her age, but she always chooses the wrong moments.

I ate the meat, I know what it tastes like, the meat will not magically turn into a five star fillet for your mouth, Demetria.

"Delicious right?" I ask with a smirk

"Fuck you and that food. I'm going to get us something edible in the cafeteria downstairs." Demi says pissed off. I bet it's the fact that she just joined me in breathing the aftertaste, which is twice as bad as when the meat was there.

Demi kisses my hair and I hear the soft sound of her footsteps bouncing on the floor and into the hallway of people outside.

A few minutes later, another, slightly heavier set of footsteps come into my room. "green tea and Java chip frappachino's for the lovely hospital bound ladies." Nate says joyfully, announcing his presence.

I smile truthfully for the first time since the surgery. Demi's been trying to lighten the mood by making up these ideas about what we'll do when I'm out and functional and how everything will be better. I smile a lot around her, but none of them are real. I have to lie with every curl of the lips and gentle laughter so she'll think I believe her and to calm her down. The poor girl refuses to go to sleep so she says all these things while laughing quietly and kissing various parts of my face and hands. I know she's not happy, she knows she's not happy. I don't know if she knows I know this, either way she'd carry out her actions. I guess we're both telling stories.

"Thanks Swing, but I think only one of us is actually hospital bound. You just missed thing two by the way, she left to get edible food."

"With you here, Demi might as well be. I thought I saw her but she didn't see me, she was hiding her face in a hoodie so I didn't get a good look. I know she wouldn't leave the hospital, especially with most of her stuff still here, not like you'll defend it or anything."

"Hey!" I say, failing to be serious and end up laughing instead. " I can hear intruders."

"I know Bat, and when you do you can get right out of that bed and hit them once you get you and the machine attracted to you over there." Nate laughs. I know he's shaking his head. "Just drink your drink."

He hands me my frappachino, which is obviously the java chip because Demi's all about staying healthy and shit, and I am immediately greeted with the cold and wet surface of the plastic cup. Just realizing how thirsty I am for something that isn't hospital bound, I take a sip so large it almost goes down my airway because I'm trying to breathe at the same time. When people say muti-tasking is efficient,they're wrong. Some scientists believe it actually damages your IQ because the brain is wired to focus on one and only one task at a time. Normally that doesn't include breathing, but try swallowing while oxygen goes down your throat at the exact same time. Not working? Exactly.

"Hey Demi." Nate says, a smile in his voice. "Your frappachino..."

"Thank you, Nathan. Any news?" Demi says, walking to me and taking my free hand before sitting down next to me. Ever since Dylan and Aiden left, Nate has been the only male friend, and the only one even trying to talk to either of the boys. He doesn't like change, but he won't wig out, Nate just complains silently, tries to change it back, or talk passive aggressively, sometimes all three.

"Not from Dylan, Aiden is making sure he's ok though, he's staying with him for now."Nate sighs. He gets points for trying, but I think that right now it would be best to leave things where they lie, at least until they settle.

"How does an idiot protect an idiot from being an idiot?" I ask, almost in total seriousness.

"Natalie" Demi scolds, although I can here her smile.

"They'll be fine." Nate laughs.

"Let me ask you this," I say, sitting up from the discomfort in the slouched position I was in. "If someone that isn't a good swimmer is drowning, and the only one there to save them can't swim at all, what happens when the second person jumps in to help?"

"They'll both probably drown." Demi says quietly

Then it was silent. Almost entirely besides the beeping of lives and footsteps of their saviors outside, until Nate had to leave and Demi and I were to exhausted to continue our day.
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Alright guys I really need to know if I'm ending this book to continue to a second or making this one long book. So tell me.

It's called what it is because Nate is the only guy friend Nat has right now, just so you know.

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No update next week and maybe the week after that too sorry