The Thief Who Stole My Heart (Boyxboy)

Hospitals and Hale

Hospitals sucked. Majorly. They smelled like harsh chemicals and were filled with people that liked to stick you with needles and ask invasive questions. And yet, there I was sitting on a stiff hospital bed with a splitting headache and itchy bandages wrapped around my wrists. My ankles and arms were crossed in boredom as a crotchety, gray-haired nurse continued to ask me questions. "Have you had any major surgeries in the last six months?"

"No." I shook my head. This Q&A had been going on for at least fifteen minutes. At least she had moved on from the really personal questions. My cheeks had turned bright red when I had to tell a woman old enough to be my grandmother about my sex life, or lack thereof.

"Are you allergic to any medication?" she scribbled on the chart she held in her hand.

"Not that I'm a aware of."

"Have you ever sustained a head injury prior to this one?" she continued to question in a monotone voice. I scoffed lightly.

"I grew up with a sister. My entire childhood was a constant head injury." I joked. The nurse glared up at me, obviously not finding the humor in my statement. My smile fell and I looked down at my hands.

"No,ma'am. This is a first." I told her, picking at the irritating gauze on my wrists. "I haven't even stepped foot inside a hospital in years."

"Do you have any family history of substance abuse?" she asked. I shrugged my shoulders slightly, clenching my fingers into fists to stop myself from messing with the bandages.

"I don't know. My parents died when I was a kid." I sighed. The nurse's expression softened just a little bit. "As far as I know, they never had any issues with addiction."

"Elliot!" three voices cried out simultaneously. I looked up just as a strawberry blonde mass latched itself onto me, squeezing me until I couldn't breathe. I patted my sister's back, trying to get her to loosen her hold on me.

"Gwen. I'm gonna need some oxygen eventually." I gasped painfully. She pulled back, her expression a mix between relief, apology, and anger. She pointed an accusing finger at me.

"You're lucky you're already in a hospital 'cause I could kill you for scaring me like this!" I looked up to Cole and Dad, who stood behind her with relieved looks on their faces.

"You guys heard that, right? She threatened me." I told them, teasingly. Cole laughed quietly and sat at the foot of my bed. He slapped my leg.

"Glad to see you're okay, kid. You really had us worried." he told me with a smile. I shrugged, trying to play it off. All of this attention was making me uncomfortable.

"There was nothing to worry about. I'm fine." I assured them.

Dad didn't seem convinced. He looked over to the nurse and asked, "How is he?"

"Well, he did loose consciousness so he was brought to the ER for an MRI. He has a minor concussion and some abrasions on his wrists. We're going to give him some medication for the pain but he can go home tonight."

There was a collective sigh of relief and Dad nodded to the nurse, "Thank you."

The nurse nodded back and left the room, hanging the chart on the rail of the foot of the bed. I sat up in the bed, preparing to get up, only to lay back again with a pained groan when I felt a sharp pain in my side. In all of the confusion at the bank, I had been accidentally kick in the ribs by an officer. Dad paced back and forth at the end of the bed, running his hands down his face with a heavy sigh. I gave him a pointed look. "Dad, relax. Its okay."