Quietly Noticed || Lams

Something always goes wrong

Laurens|First Person

As soon as I get to the hospital I'm sprinting straight up to the front desk. As soon as my hands land on the cheap surface and I start to call for someone to assist me at the vacant desk. My words are cut off when someone else speaks up. A doctor with salt and pepper grey hair and a clipboard with a commanding voice.

"Jasmine Cephas-Jones?" I look around quickly to see the same guy that was at the cafe when I last saw Jasmine stand up and head towards him. I roll my eyes. Guess my attempts at helping her went to waste.

"Can I help you?" Someone says over my shoulder. I turn back to the desk, seeing a secretary that looks too perfect to be working in a hospital.

"Yes, I'm looking for Alexander Hamilton." She looks down at her computer screen and clicks around for a moment before speaking again.

"Ok, John Laurens?" I nod. "Mr. Hamilton should just be getting out of surgery. Fill this out, then you can go see him." She hands me a couple of papers with a pen with a sickeningly sweet smile. I have to bite my tongue to keep from yelling out of anger. They want me to fill out fucking papers before I can see him? I hold my breath and retreat to a seat in the waiting room though. Now is not the time. The word surgery bounces around my head as I scribble Alex's information down in messy writing, praying to God that he'll be ok.

As soon as I'm done I hand back the papers and am directed down a hall to a room that I'm told Alex is in. My anxiety continues to grow in my stomach as I reach for the doorhandle, feeling as though I'll vomit.

When I first look in I almost don't see him. He looks so thin. His whole body sinks into the mattress, disappearing beneath the sheets. A couple of wires are hooked up to one of his arms that sits on top of the sheets on the bed. An IV drips some sort of liquid into his veins, and a machine next to him beeps steadily.

"Alex..." I breathe, blown away at how utterly fragile he looks. Like you could break him just by looking at him too aggressively.

I walk over and kneel beside the bed, my hand hovering over his. Debating.

I carefully pick up his fingers with mine, lacing them together gently. I duck my head and touch my lips to the skin on the back of his hand and sigh.

"How did we get here?" I ask to the empty room, wishing that someone would answer me. Wishing that someone with all the answers would just reveal themselves at this very moment and make everything all right.

Alex stirs a little on the bed and my breathing catches. I could be talking to him in a minute. I could be explaining myself and begging for his forgiveness. He could be kicking me out of his room in a minute.

"John...?" He murmurs, turning his head toward me and tightening his fingers that are twined with mine.

"I'm here." I say, wanting to lean over and kiss his forehead just to assure him all is well. His eyes squint further shut for a moment before he pries them open, cringing at the harsh lights above.

"John." He repeats, bringing up his other hand to rest on my arm. I brush a strand of hair from his face and smile at him.

"How do you feel?"

He frowns a little, opening his eyes a little more. "I missed you." He says, attempting to prop himself up against the pillows behind him. "What happened?"

I forget how to breathe for a second. What happened? The question I've been mulling over for the past week.

"I owed Jasmine a favor. Nothing happened. I swear." His face is blank, and my insides are all twisted up. "Do you believe me?" I want to hold him and curl up on this hospital bed with him and tell him how much I love him until he believes me. That's not how it works though.

"I want to." He tells me, bringing my hand up to his lips. "Can we talk about this later?" I nod.

"We can do whatever you want."

I end up toying with his hair until he falls asleep, then pressing a kiss to his forehead before I go out to the hall talk with his doctor.

He tells me Alexander's taxi got into a car crash with another driver they've identified as Jasmine Cephas-Jones. He tells me that he launched from the backseat and into the front of the car where he shot through the windshield, shoulder first. The driver was nowhere to be found, and thought to have simply fled the scene.

There was no real damage done to Alex. There was the fear of a concussion, but that was put to rest quickly. He dislocated his shoulder and went into open surgery to fix the tendons and tissue that was torn up. He'll be able to come home in a day with minor soreness and a sling he can wear if his shoulder aches too much.

I tell them I'll take him home, that there is no worry of him getting into an Uber or taxi or something again. While he sleeps I go into the waiting room to call Lafayette who is in a panic right away, rambling in French so fast he barely remembers to breathe. I manage to calm him down and tell him to visit tomorrow with Hercules before Alex leaves the hospital.

Then, I go off to find Jasmine. She's not doing too well from what I can tell. Her right arm is in a cast, along with her leg. She's unconscious, hooked up to a beeping machine like Alex was earlier. She looks so innocent when she's asleep, but her boyfriend who clutches her hand has a sinister glint in his eyes. I stand in the doorway to her room, he doesn't even know I'm here. A million ideas of revenge fly through my head, but I'm halfway down the hallway before I can act on any of them.

I sit back in Alexander's room until I'm told I have to leave. He's been sleeping all afternoon, and doesn't wake up for me to tell him goodbye. I want to stay here all night, but I know I'd only be hurting my case by disobeying the authorities.

I lean over and kiss his forehead, then I pick up his personal belongings and head out to my car.

I can't seem to find the motivation to turn the key in the ignition for a moment. I slouch in my seat, wondering how I could ever let things get to this point. The image of Alexander in that bed, all thin and pale and helpless flashes through my head. I take a deep breath and remind myself I'll be back to see him tomorrow.

With that thought in mind I force my hand to turn the key and my foot to touch down on the gas pedal.

Updating at midnight because I am an anxious bean who can't sleep right now.
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