"Bye PM shifts," I teased them as my shift ended, and I was about to go home.
"Whatever, Bianca," they rolled their eyes at me, and I laughed in response.
As I was heading to the elevator, my brother called me asking for a small favor that could somehow interrupt my rest for the day.
"Hi dear sis, how's your day? Can you do me a little and time-consuming favor?" he chuckled.
"Yes, bro, what is it?" I replied, always the good sister.
"I have a friend currently confined in your hospital, and he doesn't have a guardian at the moment. I'm driving right now and about to fetch his mother."
"And?? How am I involved in this?" I asked.
"Can you please watch over him for an hour or two? It's hella traffic here."
"And what do I get from this?"
"My love, sis, my love."
"Yuck, bro. What's the room number?"
I ended the call and went straight back to the hall to find the room. Once I found it, I went inside.
"Uh, hi," I awkwardly greeted the man sitting on the bed.
"I'm Carl's sister. I will accompany you while we wait for your guardian," I continued and smiled to assure him that he could trust me.
He just stared at me, a confused reaction evident in his eyes.
"How are you?" I asked, trying to build rapport.
"Fine." Silence.
"Have you eaten already?" I checked my watch. It was already 5:30 PM. I had ended my shift late as I was not only a typical nurse but also an advocate with deadlines to meet.
"Not yet. I will be on NPO starting at 7 PM. What's NPO anyway?"
"No Pood (food), okay?" I joked and laughed.
He stared at me with a serious face.
"Uh, it means you don't eat or drink anything," I explained. What's with him? Can't he take a joke?
He didn't reply and just grabbed the remote on his bedside table to turn the TV on.
That was a sign not to disturb him. Fine, I guess I'll just do my tasks. I grabbed my iPad and started reading the PDFs and eBooks, taking notes, and preparing a PowerPoint.
**HIS POV**
Fuck, why is she here? I don't have my underwear on, this is so embarrassing .
She'll be here for a while? How long? I might smell bad, haven't showered since yesterday.
I know what NPO is, obviously. My cousin's a doctor. It was just to ease the mood. But she made a joke about it; that was really fucking cute. I didn't want to laugh; she might think I'm an easy person.
I turned the TV on, thinking she's pissed because of my reaction. I saw in my peripheral vision how she just went silent and grabbed her iPad. I smoothly turned the volume down to avoid interrupting her reading. She was seriously reading on her iPad, and her eyebrows met in concentration.
She's so cute, I'm gonna collapse.
"Is something wrong with my face?" Fuck, I didn't know I was staring.
"Ah, no--" someone knocked on the door.
"Good afternoon, sir. Here's your dinner," the cafeteria staff said.
"Thank you, Ma'am," she responded, then came to my bedside. My heart skipped a beat.
"Here's your food. Can you eat on your own? Do you want me to feed you?" she asked as she prepared my food.
I couldn't answer. I could feel my ears turning red. Good thing I have long hair.
When she was about to grab my spoon from the plate, I immediately grabbed her hand to stop her.
"I can eat on my own, thank you."
"Okay," she replied, then went back to her chair.
While I was having a hard time swallowing the food in my mouth due to her presence, I heard her stomach growling. I was about to offer her some food.
"Hi guys, how are you? What part are you at?" Carl shouted as soon as the door opened.
"Huh? What part?" his sister asked in confusion.
I eyed Carl to shut the fuck up. Bro, it's just the two of us. Fuck.
