Dear Diary

n i n e t e e n

I slowly peeled my eyes open. It was still dark outside, making me wonder what time it was.

Ari was slightly curled into a ball, her back pressing up against my chest, her legs tucked in slightly. I removed one of my arms from around her waist to pull my phone from my pocket and check the time. 3:13 AM.

From outside the room, I heard footsteps. Panicking, I rolled off the bed, using my arms to stop myself from making a loud thump! as I hit the ground. I did make a slight noise, but the person outside must've not heard it, since they continued walking, stopping directly in front of the door. I slid under the bed, my face having a full view of the door, my feet bent and touching the wall.

The door opened just as Ari shifted in the bed, rolling over.

It was Nora at the door. I guess they check up on the patients at the hospital, make sure they're okay.

"Niall?" Ari murmured in her sleep.

Nora slightly shook her head. Obviously she didn't approve of me. She slowly left the room, closing the door quietly. I waited until her footsteps faded completely before crawling out from under the bed and standing up.

Ari was awake. She rubbed her eyes, squinting at me. "I thought you'd left," she said groggily.

"I didn't," I said softly, sitting on the bed again. "Do they do another checkup?"

"Only in the morning if you don't show up for breakfast," she answered, still sounding sleepy. "You'll stay, won't you?"

"Of course," I responded quietly, laying down next to her.

She instantly curled into me, her head resting against my chest, her legs touching mine. I wrapped my arms around her and we fell asleep again.

•~•

"Niall. Niall. Niall."

I groaned, opening one eye and found myself still in the hospital room. Ari was sitting up, staring down at me. She had a bedhead and she hadn't brushed her hair or put on makeup, yet she was still as beautiful as ever.

Wait... what?

"Yeah?" I asked, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"It's almost eight."

"Yeah?"

"That's when breakfast is."

"Oh." I stood up and stretched. "Um. How am I supposed to get out?"

"I don't know," she said, tilting her head to side and smiling. "You got in; you'll think of something."

"Are there ever nurses in the hall, making sure you guys get to breakfast safely?" I asked, thinking of possibilities in my head.

"Yeah, there's tons," Ari replied.

"I could pretend to be one of those," I said. "Although I'd have to explain why I was in your room... Um." My face must've been a light shade of pink.

"Easy. Just say I pressed my button and called you," she said.

"Okay. And if they ask why?"

"Then I'll think of something. They won't ask, trust me," she assured me. "I've seen plenty of nurses come out of other patients rooms before because they needed something."

"Have the nurses ever been the opposite gender?"

"Oh yeah." She nodded. "We don't really care about genders here. All they care is if 'we get better.'" She air quoted and used a high pitched, mocking voice for the last part, then rolled her eyes.

"Are visitors allowed on Sundays?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.

"No," Ari replied solemnly. "No visitors allowed on weekends. But you'll come Monday, yeah?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "I don't think Nora likes me much. Says I'm a bad influence on you."

She laughed. "You're a bad influence on me? Usually she says I'll be a bad influence on the other patients, so she doesn't let me socialize. Not that I want to, anyway. People are lame."

"Definitely," I agreed.

When it was eight o'clock, a bell sounded like it had last night when I was in the lounge.

"Time to go," Ari said cheerfully, standing up and walking to the door.

I followed her to the cafeteria, where we said goodbyes while no one was looking, and I snuck out through the back entrance, not bothering to change out of the scrubs.