Fool's Gold • rewritten

5

The door creaked open and the sight took my breath away. Nick's right leg was in a cast and was elevated with a support that hung from the ceiling. My feet managed to take a few steps closer to his bed. I examined the once chiseled and perfect face of my boyfriend. It was now battered and bruised with a cut running diagonally across the left half of his forehead. It was stitched up but there were still traces of blood outlining the laceration. Nick looked like he was in a lot of pain, making me happy that he was in an induced coma because he wouldn't be feeling it as much. I run my hand along Nick's cheek, feeling warmth radiating from him. My hand then wandered down to his hand. Small cuts were scattered across his knuckles and there was a rather large cut on his wrist. It was bandaged and there was blood slowly seeping through the covering. I held Nick's hand in mine gently, hoping that I wasn't causing him any pain. My mind tried to find the words to say but unfortunately each time that I thought of something, it didn't seem like the right thing to say. I checked my phone and realised that it was ten o'clock at night. As I was about to put my phone away I saw my background. It was an image of Nick hugging me from behind and kissing my cheek. I was smiling contagiously and I looked truly happy. My gaze then lifted to see Nick's state now and a small sob escaped my lips. If only everything could be back to the way it was, to when Nick was healthy and I wasn't a hot mess. As I sat next to Nick, his hand still in mine, my eyelids became heavy. I tried my hardest to keep them open but it was a battle that I was destined to lose. I fell asleep with my head on Nick's bed hoping that when I woke up, everything would just be a dream.

"Good morning, Grace," I heard a voice whisper to me. My eyelids fluttered open to reveal Jane sitting next to me. I smiled slightly before lifting my head up from the bed,

"Good morning, Jane. I'm sorry if you didn't want me to come in here but I couldn't help it," I said trying to explain myself for last night's events. Jane laughed quietly before responding,

"It's fine, love. I thought you would come in here anyway. Are you going to school today?" I had completely forgotten about school but it wasn't a place where I wanted to be. I shook my head,

"I will get my teachers to email me the work for the next couple of days. I might get my mum to drop in my school stuff with a couple of pairs of clothes," Jane nodded her head before standing up to leave the room. Even though she was Nick's mother she realised that I wanted alone time with him and I couldn't thank her enough for letting me have it. I took my phone out of my pocket and messaged my mum, asking if she could drop off some stuff for me. She immediately responded that she would be there in a few minutes.

My mother dropped in later that day and had brought all of the things that I requested. She was shocked at Nick's state and had a conversation with me for a while, making sure that I was still healthy. I thanked my mother before she left again.

A couple of days had passed and I was consumed by school work. My mind was focused on doing some Pythagoras Theorem work that I didn't even notice my surroundings. I slammed my book on the floor out of frustration because I didn't understand how to figure out the problems,

"You've always been terrible at maths," My heart stopped beating. Was this real? My eyes shot towards Nick's body. His eyelids were open and revealed his beautiful hazel eyes. I stood up and made my way next to Nick's bed. I didn't know what to do, "Well, are you going to kiss me, beautiful?" I laughed at Nick's cheesiness before kissing him gently and passionately. I pulled away before taking a seat on the side of Nick's bed, taking his hand in mine,

"I just can't believe you're awake," I spoke unable to hold back my tears. Nick held his arms out, obviously asking for a hug. I leaned forward and let his arms embrace me. Nick flinched underneath my body, "Are you alright? I should get a doctor to come and check on you anyway. I'll be back," I said before exiting the embrace of Nick's arms to search for a doctor. I found one almost immediately after leaving Nick's room,

"Excuse me, Nick has woken up. I was just wondering if you could come and check on him," I asked the doctor politely. He smiled before following me into Nick's room. He walked to one side of Nick's bed and I went to the other, making sure to hold onto Nick's hand. The doctor closely examined each part of Nick's body before pausing to talk,

"Everything looks pretty good. You will have to stay for a couple of more days just for monitoring but other than that you will need either a wheelchair or crutches to get around with your leg and you will always need to reapply treatment for the cuts that have been stitched up. I didn't have a lot of hope for you Nick. I am glad you came through," The doctor's words made me smile. Hope was filling every inch of my body. The doctor left the room quickly, leaving Nick and I alone,

"I have missed you so much. You have no idea what it is like to look at someone that you love that is in so much pain and you can't even talk to them. I am so happy to have you back," I said as I sat on the side of Nick's bed again. He placed his warm hand on my cheek, stroking it softly with his thumb,

"I am so lucky to have you. I love you, Grace," Nick said softly but with so much meaning, making my heart melt. I leaned in closer to him so our foreheads met,

"I love you too," I responded to Nick. He lifted his head so that our lips were almost touching. I was waiting for the shot of electricity up my spine at the feeling of Nick's lips on mine,

"You will not believe how good the cafe is downstairs, Grace. We should go and get so-" Jane's voice interrupted our kiss. I pulled away slightly from Nick's face and laughed, trying to play off the situation as much as I could. Jane turned to look at Nick and I, noticing the position we were in. Her eyes widened when she saw that Nick was awake,

"Nick, you're alright! Did I just interrupt something though?," Nick and I's gaze met and we giggled at the awkward situation that we were in.