Only Once

Chapter Thirty-Three: Meetings and Greetings

Chapter Thirty-Three: Meetings and Greetings

When Erika and Spencer stepped out of the hospital in the early hours of morning, they were met by the dimness of dawn and the brutalities of a Northern winter. Neither of them even uttered a complaint, though. Rather, they enjoyed the fresh air and couldn’t help but feel relieved.

Spencer, for one, felt as if he were free; he had become awfully claustrophobic and all the poking and prodding, x-rays and scans, as well as the unremitting waiting, had left him on the verge of explosion. Moreover, he felt as if he was about to pass out from exhaustion; although, the coldness he was met with upon stepping outside did somewhat jolt his drowsiness.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to Erika, who’s appearance mirrored how he felt, and provided her with a lopsided smile.  

“We’re done," he said.

“Yeah.”

Spencer held up his hands and motioned to his surroundings; he brought to their attention the brick hospital building, the gentle layers of snow on the ground and the busy road filled with the passing cars.

“We’re finally done!” he exclaimed, the feeling of freedom having hit him with full force. “You know, I’ve never been to jail before, but that’s how I’d imagine it to feel like.”

“I know! It was so…imprisoning!” Erika exclaimed and did a little hop. “I mean, seriously Spencer, there was more than one time when I actually considered leaving. The thought of all those diseases that I had the potential of contracting had left me feeling so squeamish!”

Spencer smiled lovingly and took a step closer to the girl who now bored the name of his girlfriend. It had always seemed like such a taboo word to him before but he had no problem with calling Erika that.

“But you didn’t.” He told her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “You stayed!”

“I did!” Erika replied and nodded. “I stayed…I stayed. That, that really means something.”

“Does it?” Spencer murmured and moved even closer to her. “What does it mean?”

Erika gulped and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“It means that I care about you,” she responded with a small shrug and smile.

Spencer nodded in agreement, and was about to reply back to her, until a realization dawned on him. Abruptly pulling away from her, a frown appeared on his face and his mind raced to a conclusion.

“You don’t,” Spencer’s frowned deepened and he tried again, “You don’t feel as if we just wasted six hours of our life, though, right?”

Erika’s eyebrows rose in confusion. “Well, we sort of did waste six hours of our lives seeing as there’s nothing really wrong with you.”

“Yeah,” Spencer nodded and began to reiterate, in much simpler terms, what the doctor told him. “I mean, sure my cheekbone’s fractured. But apparently it’ll heal itself and won’t deform my face.”

“Right.”  

“I…I could’ve just stuck with my original plan of going to a walk-in clinic and saved us both from this trouble. We wasted so much time and energy in there. But that’s not nearly bad as the fact that they’re going to bill me. Shit Erika, my parents can’t afford to pay a hospital bill. Ugh, I’m such a moron!”

Spencer began to clutch his head in despair and he let out a strange, squawking sound.   

“You know what?” he said hurriedly and turned back to Erika. “I’ll just send it to Russell. He has to pay for it. He’s the one who attacked me.”