Scarred ➵zauren

Chapter 8

"Knock knock!"

"Who's there?"

"Banana!"

"Okay Ry, I think you're just going crazy here," I laughed.

"No, just one more Z, promise!"

"Alright, alright. Banana who?"

"Knock knock!"

"Who's there?"

"Orange."

"Orange who?"

"Orange you glad I not say banana?" Ryan began to giggle immediately as he told the terrible joke.

"You're too silly," I laughed with him.

"My mommy told me that one."

"That explains it," I shook my head. Lauren often made terrible attempts at being funny.

"Z, you get your bracelets off today?" Ryan asked.

"My braces, yes," I chuckled at his mistake. "Your mommy is getting the doctor to come right now."

"Yay! Tell her I say hi, I gots to go take a baths."

"I will buddy, talk to ya later," the little guy waved and I shot him a smile.

Odd as it was, I'd grown a little friendship with Ryan from the many times Lauren called him in my room over the past few months. Unfortunately, for her at least, she hadn't been able to go back home after she returned from his birthday trip so she'd been calling him a couple times a day since she missed the entire holiday season. I say for her because for me, it was a blessing; I got to spend so much time with her and I was so happy about it, as selfish as it sounded. We became better friends with the time we'd been sharing, Lauren even invited me to her staff dinner for Christmas and with the major crush I had on her, I took it as an invitation to a date. I couldn't have ever begun to imagine what she looked like outside of her uniform but when I saw her that night I was astounded. Her beauty was beyond words. She wore a deep red velvety thigh length dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. Her hair had been growing out and she set her dark locks to one side, exposing her collar bone and beautifully accentuated neck that was adorned with a black choker. We had such a blast that night, she was really pulling me out of my shell. I'd always found myself to be a friendly kid but as I got older I really became a bit more shy; never danced at parties, always stuck to one group of people. But befriending her was like awakening my inner child. She taught me how to dance in a wheelchair, which was funny and something I'd never forget and she introduced me to so many other staff members and even patients who'd tagged along. It was actually quite funny how similar this place was to Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital and Lauren and I laughed about it all the time. Maybe since we were isolated we just found friends in the only people we had around us, patients and doctors. But my focus was Lauren. She was something else.

There was something so easy about talking to her. It made me realize that I'm quite the blabber mouth since she often sat and listened to me. Lauren wasn't nearly as talkative but when she got into it, her mind was a wonder. I think that really was what pulled me in more and more. Her views on everything and the way she portrayed the world from her point of view was astounding. I was never much of a reader when I was young, even less of one as an adult, but if Lauren wrote a book dictating her opinions, I'd read it. She was truly something to marvel at, physically and mentally.

It was a couple days after New Years now and last night I got the news that my bones were pretty much set in place so it was possible that the bulky braces on my legs could be removed. Normally, I'd have to keep them on till they fully healed but since I couldn't move my legs, the doctor figured I'd be alright for the remaining couple of weeks. I hadn't even told my parents yet, so I decided to text my mom, hoping she was still up.