I wake up from the makeshift bed the nurses so kindly set up for me when we arrived this morning. they were wheeling his stretcher into the room. Nate's inside a glass case. I quickly stand up from the bed and approach Dr Fischbach.
"So, what now?"
"He'll be confused when he wakes up," the doctor says
I see the nurses placing him near the bed. He's not wearing anything and a blanket covers him. He's sleeping on his side and he has an IV drip. he looks peaceful despite the large ammount of pain he just went through by himself, and tiredness of the past few months.
"He'll be able to leave in the morning. You can stay here if you want," I yawned
"Oh, yes I will. Thank you Dr. Fischbach," He nods
"It'll be fine Mr Patrick his chances of recovery are big, he's very brave,"
"I know."
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Lights are turned off, it's late and I can't sleep, not after the entire ordeal. I haven't been sleeping well but he's almost done with his treatment, two more sesions and we can return to our lives. I couldn't be more hopeful. He's been in pain for so long.
I've been watching him the entire night from my bed, I can hear the beeping of the machine measuring his heartbeat rate. He stirs occasionaly but not too much. I also wonder if he's in pain since I see him grimace when he moves.
He slowly opens his eyes, it takes him a while to open them fully. He seems to adjust to the light and place he's in, then his half lidded eyes are on me. He slowly and painfully crawls near the side of the glass case in my direction, trying to pull his body in a comfortable position to lie on at the same time since he can't sit up. Then he holds his right palm (with a lot of effort) and part of his forehead to rest against the glass. He's breathing heavily and I'm certain he's confused and scared.
I've never wanted to hug someone so badly in my entire life.
To let him know everything is all right.
I sit up and aproach him, placing my hand on top of his.
"Shh" I try to soothe him, "I'm here buddy, you are not alone in this,"
I feel a lump in my throat when I see him curl up against my hand and close his eyes.
"We'll get through this. Just hold on a little bit more."
