Pretend It's Okay

24 - Confessions

Groaning as she opened her blue eyes, Perrie cautiously stretched her aching limbs. The hospital bed was not very comfortable but she didn't want to stretch too far and trigger her chronic pain which had finally seemed to ease off. The combination of corticosteroids and painkillers gave the woman a welcome relief from her disease, which she was very appreciative of.

To her left Jade was sat in the same chair she had taken to the previous night. She wasn't sure when the older woman got out of her bed but the sun was shining through the windows, informing Perrie that she had slept all through the night. Jade probably needed to stretch herself, having taken only a small piece of the bed from her, and use the bathroom. Until she was less of a fall risk Perrie knew she had a catheter, which allowed her to spent more energy on resting and recovering.

The older woman looked up when she noticed Perrie stretching, and put down her Sudoku puzzle book that Andre had packed for her. "Good morning, babe." Perrie smiled dopily.

With a laugh Jade took one of Perrie's hands in her own, still not feeling comfortable if she wasn't making physical contact with the woman she loved. "It's actually the afternoon, hun."

Perrie frowned and turned her head to look at the clock above her door. Apparently she slept through breakfast and lunch, but clearly her body had needed the extra sleep.

"Well, then good afternoon babe. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting so long. It's really boring in here."

In response Jade just shrugged. "It's not boring if you're here. I found other things to do to keep busy." she explained.

"Oh, like what?" the younger woman asked, only seeing the puzzle book and Jade's phone, which was on charge. Perrie's own phone was still back in the flat as Andre hadn't been able to find it. Jade suspected it had fallen between Perrie's bed and the wall, but the blonde didn't need it right then so she hadn't left her to go and find it.

"Well I've done quite a few puzzles." she held up the puzzle book and flicked through multiple pages to show the blonde her work. "I also had to answer a lot of phone calls. The whole world kinda knows that you're here."

Jade's cheeks turned red with a blush and Perrie noticed the guilty look in her comforting eyes. "What do you mean?" she asked hesitantly, desperately needing to know what the world knew but also not wanting to make Jade feel worse. It was pretty obvious that the leak came from her.

"I made a bit of a scene in the waiting room, before the nurse took us to a private room. Some of the people waiting took photos and videos of myself and Leigh and put them on social media. The media knows that you're sick and they've made some very accurate guesses." Jade gently explained.

Despite the prolonged sleep Perrie was still very tired, so she gave Jade a questioning look rather than speak. They could always read each other so the older woman started speaking again.

"Alex hasn't turned up and the two of you haven't posted on social media together or been seen together for a while. Also neither of you are wearing your rings, so they are confident that you two broke up. Then in the waiting room I was so panicked, far more than Leigh, and with the photos of me kissing another woman being public, there are a lot of speculations that we are together."

Saying the last words was so difficult for the older woman. She didn't want to scare Perrie off, as she had never identified as anything but straight before and was coming out of a second long engagement. But she deserved to know and Sam and Kevin were already asking for their statements so she had to man up and be honest about her feelings for once.

"Most of my phone calls were trying to buy us some time before we have to address the rumours. You're not well enough yet to deal with it all."

With a stoney look the blonde nodded. "Thank you for doing that. You always know what I need. How long do we have?"