VALERIE

Fifty Two

"Gone?" Nick choked out, he held in his breath waiting for the nurses reply.

"She was moved to the building next door, she's been in our recovery unit for a few days now." The nurse finished saying, she removed her hand from his shoulder and carried on.

//

Valerie chucked her tray across the room and let out a piercing scream, "I don't want food I want my family!"

Her doctor who was taking cover behind an upholstered arm chair wrote down, "Healthy" in her clipboard.

He poked his head out and wryly smiled, "Valerie, why don't you um actually try to eat something while we contact your parents."

"No, no no! I want them here, why the fuck aren't they here." She seemed to almost want to cry, but wanting to be tough she held it in and screamed into a pillow instead.

"Valerie, calm down or we will have you sedated again." He hissed from a distance.

"Sedate me then!" She threw the pillow in his direction.

"Valerie stop."

Valerie turned her heard and frowned at Nick who looked like he just ran a marathon.

He was all warm and flustered from running around.

"Family only kid, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The doctor said sprouting up from behind the chair.

Valerie threw another pillow at her doctor, it him directly on the head, "You leave, he stays." She shouted.

Nick shrugged at the doctor who mumbled something about her on his way out.

Nick scratched his neck and moved around awkwardly, Valerie smiled at him and extended her arms out for a hug.

"I don't wanna hurt you." He coughed, "Are you feeling any better?"

Valerie put her arms back down slowly, "Yeah, I've been I don't know, on the brink of...Nick I'm sorry."

"Dude you just got a kidney transplant, don't think about anything else but recovery."

Valerie chuckled, "Dude?" She repeated after him, "Either way, I'm fine. I'm strong..." She paused a bit, "Dude."

Nick smiled slightly, "Why the fuck did you do it?"

"Do what?" She snapped back,

"Why?" Nick began to pace around the room, he ran a hand smoothly through his hair and muttered to himself while Valerie watched him inquisitively, "Why'd you do it just fucking answer me that."

"Don't cuss." She replied slowly, she glared at him in frustration,

"Why'd you take those pills are you a fucking..." He stopped himself before he said anything stupid again, "I mean why Valerie? I thought shit was different with you."

Valerie rolled her eyes, "You don't get it."

"I tried. And you didn't let me." He cringed as he took a seat at the foot of her bed.

Valerie wanted nothing more than to throw her arms over him and just hug him for hours until one of them cracked and apologized. It would most likely be him.

"Nick, I'm a difficult person, I told you in the beginning I'm not stable, and you still wanted to take a chance on me."

Nick stayed still, she was right.

"And you, you got into trouble. Why'd you get arrested?"

Nick rolled his eyes and laid himself back on her bed, his head rested beside her thighs, she ran her fingers through it and couldn't help but smile, he had his eyes shut with a frown painted on his lips. Even in his sleep he always seemed like he was in a bad mood and the stubble growing on his jaw didn't help it neither.