Until Then

Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

Quinn

Dr. Vance is the physician that comes to my bed. He stands beside me and looks down stoically, his expression already giving away that he has bad news. My heart races and I feel myself trembling.

"Quinn, I want to send you to radiology for a few more tests. Right now the diagnosis is Pancreatitis, but I believe there's a possibility it could be something more serious." He rests his elbows on the bed railing and folds his hands together.

"Okay. Thank you for being diligent."

"Is there someone I could call for you? Maybe your parents or a significant other? It could be nothing, but I don't think you should be alone right now."

"There's no one." Letty had dropped me off, but then she needed to get home again to take her kids to school. I wouldn't ask her to stay with me anyway, but she really isn't an option.

"Okay," he says, squeezing my ankle over the covers before nodding and standing up straight again so he can leave the small area. "Someone should be here to get you soon. I just want to get a better look. The ultra sound was inconclusive. Hopefully we'll have you feeling better soon and you can finish recovering at home instead of work." He smiles and I appreciate his attempt at humor even when he's delivering the news that it might be something serious.

"Thanks Doc."

He isn't gone for longer than five minutes when the marine appears outside my door. He cautiously approaches and I wave him inside. "How did you know where to find me?" I ask.

"I just have to think about you."

I feel delighted and grin at him. He was thinking of me. "That's sweet."

He sits in the chair next to my bed and sets his hat on his knee. I read his last name off his uniform. "Pines." With my voice he looks down to his chest and smiles when he sees the nametag.

"My name is Kenneth Pines, but my friends call me Pines." He leans back a little in his chair. "Do you always go by Quinn, or is there something else I should call you?"

"Quinn." I tell him and then grip the railing tight when another pain shoots through my body. He leans forward immediately and reaches for my hand, but pulls back just before he touches it.

"What's happening?" He asks with a very concerned expression.

"Pain," is all I can manage until it finally passes. "I think I'm going to throw up." I reach for the small tray and to my horror, I begin to vomit. I'm embarrassed, but the pain is so terrible that I can't really think of a way out of having him watch. He's on his feet quickly, gathering my hair and holding it behind my head. It's a light touch and I try to figure out if I had really felt his fingers on me or if it had only been the brush of my gathered hair.

"Do they know what's wrong?" He asks when I finally stop retching.

"No, but it can't be good." I set aside the tray and wipe my mouth with a tissue. "They're taking me for testing soon."

"I don't really have anywhere I have to be if you'd like some company while they figure out what's going on." His shy smile makes me giggle even at my worst. I must look like a train wreck with my hair sweaty and sticking to my forehead and my old yoga pants and paint stained t-shirt.

"That would be nice." I don't usually allow people to sacrifice their time or energy on my behalf, but the truth is, I'm afraid. Having him here is distracting me from overthinking what might be wrong. His company is comforting in this sterile white hospital room.

"Consider it done. There's only one condition."

I feel my brows pull together in question. "What is it?"

"You have to tell me about yourself."

I smile and nod my head. "What do you want to know?"

"What do you do when you're not here?" He looks around again.

"Read. I love to read." I answer as I scoot down in the bed and rest my head against the pillows. "My grandma used to read old romances. She had an amazing collection and I would sneak them when I was little. I'd read them after school and at night before I went to sleep." I look down at my hands so I can see her delicate rose ring on my finger.

"Is that hers?" He leans forward, examining the band.

"Yes." I spread my fingers and hold them up so he can see it better. "She wore it everyday. Besides her impressive romance novel collection, it's one of the only things of hers I kept."

"How old were you when she became your caregiver?"

"Two and a half."

"Wow, that's really young." He says sadly. I shrug my shoulders. Everyone always thinks it's sad that I was just a toddler when I lost my parents, but I think it would have been so much harder if I could have remembered them. I only know what my grandma told me.

A man in scrubs slides open the curtain and steps inside. "Ready to go?"

"Sure." I feel like I might get sick again just from the nerves of what they might find. He messes with the bed, and then pulls it away from the wall. Next he takes down the bag of fluids hanging attached to my IV and sets it on the bed. I try not to look in Pines' direction since that might make me look crazy. I wonder if he'll be here when I get back and my heart squeezes with the hope that maybe he'll come with me.

The man pushes the bed out into the hallway and towards radiology. I watch the lights in the ceiling as I take in big slow breaths so I won't have a panic attack. He pushes me into the dark room and slides down the railing at the side of my bed. When I finish watching him and look back up in the direction of the exit doors, I see Pines. He smiles at me and puts a finger up to his lips as a reminder not to talk to him and risk looking like I'm completely losing my mind. 

Maybe I am.

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