Room with a View - [Jopper] ✓

World Against Me

"Checkmate!" Hopper cried happily as he snatched the white queen chess piece off the board. Joyce stuck her middle finger up with a giggle as she cracked open another can of Pepsi.

"Knock knock." the two looked up to see Doctor Owens as he walked in, chart clutched under his armpit.

"How's it hanging, Warden?" Hopper asked as she leaned back in his chair. Joyce pulled her knees to her chest after waving to the doctor.

"Joyce, how are you settling in?" he asked with his normal charismatic attitude.

"I'm doing alright. At least it's not isolation." She laughed as Sam pulled a chair over.

"Well, I came to let you know that a UNOS rep is coming down for a meeting with the board. They want to look further into your charts and see if they can bump you up further." Sam said with a small smile.

It was hard for Joyce to get excited about that anymore. The first time she heard the UNOS board was coming to look over her case, she nearly peed herself with joy. Now, since it's happened about 15 more times since then, it just didn't feel the same.

"Well, tell them I'm waiting patiently. Whatever happens, happens." Joyce replied with a small raise of her brows.

"I certainly will. You're scheduled for chest P.T. today at noon and again at five. Your CF team might drop by and discuss their plans in the meantime. If you need anything just let me know." with a handshake and a wave, he was off.

"You don't seem too thrilled about the UNOS meeting. Something on your mind?" Jim asked quietly, punctuating with a sip of his soda.

Joyce fidgeted with the clasp on her oxygen cannula, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

"It's just... that used to sound like good news. Now it just feels like every time they talk it doesn't move any further. I should've had my lungs a while ago." she mumbled the last part angrily before sighing.

"A long time ago— both my sister, Karen and I were on a transplant list for lungs" Joyce started. "She has Cystic Fibrosis too. When a motorcycle accident sent a donor in, they had to decide who to give the lungs to. She was more likely to survive the surgery than I was, plus the fact that she had a family which they seem to make a difference with. Obviously, they wanted her around so she could raise her family."

Jim sat and listened quietly as she continued.

"I was too sick at that point. They didn't know if my body would even be able to handle the transplant. So, Karen got the lungs and I'm still waiting. I know how terrible it sounds to be jealous but it's hard not to be." she felt the tears stinging in her eyes as she spoke.

"It's normal to be jealous. It's a touchy subject which makes you feel guilty but jealousy is rational. I'm sure you love your sister and want her to be healthy but the jealousy comes in when it's you who's left to suffer. Trust me, I understand." Hopper said as he patted her arm. Consoling people wasn't something that he was very strong at but living in a hospital, you learn how to make due with it.

"I think the most annoying part of it is that she doesn't take care of her lungs either. She lost control after her transplant, saying that she was just trying to get back the years she lost. She doesn't take her medication and she smokes too. She's an idiot though." Rolling her eyes as she spoke, Joyce felt her blood boil at the thought of the whole situation. It just wasn't fair.

Jim leaned across the table, his expression serious for the first time as he patted her hand. "You're going to get your new lungs. I promise you will get the transplant at some point."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Joyce whimpered with a pout.

"I absolutely promise. Hell, I can almost promise you that my transplant story is a lot wilder than yours." Jim said as he cracked a smile. She looked up at him, ready to listen.

"My UNOS pager rang, I came down to the hospital because they called and said they had a heart ready. I get prepped for surgery and they come out and tell me the hearts a flop. What do you fucking know? They find a quarter-sized tumor in the guy's ticker. It's like the universe just stuck a big middle finger up at me and said 'haha Jimmy, no heart for you!' "

Joyce felt bad that she almost choked a laugh until she saw Jim laughing too.

"It's okay to laugh. Remember, it keeps you alive." Hopper encouraged with a chuckle along with her.

"That is fucking terrible!" Joyce said with full blown laughter. Quickly her laughter was halted by a horrific cough emitting from her chest.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." she dismissed once she got her breath back. She could see Jim was nervously on the edge of his seat.

"It happens. I'll be alright." Trying to take deep breaths, Joyce regained herself.

---

"Hey assholes, watch where you're going!" Hopper shouted as Phil Callahan and Calvin Powell nearly knocked Joyce over. The two of them were on their way to the cafeteria when Hopper's idiot friends busted between them.

"Its tater tot day, Hop! First come first serve." Callahan shouted as he kept running.

"Jesus, what are they? Sixth graders?" Joyce giggled.

"Apparently they are. Are you alright? They didn't hit you too hard, did they?" Hop asked in a worried tone.

"I'm fine, anyway. What's so special about the tater tots here?" she questioned as they stepped into the elevator.

"Its the only thing on the menu that doesn't taste like dirt. The guys get extra pissed off when I order takeout pizza and don't share." both of them laughed as the elevator alerted them with a ding.

"So why are they in long term?" Joyce asked quietly. As they walked into the cafeteria, she could see the two almost reaching over the counter for their tater tots.

"Phil has a tumor in his shin, he's admitted for a clinical trial. Calvin has two bum kidneys. That or they're both just dumb as shit and labeled incompetent to live on their own." Jim laughed along with her as they grabbed trays.

"They are really going to town on those tater tots," Joyce noted with disgust at the two grown men eating like four-year-olds.

"At least none of them are choking this time." he rolled his eyes as he picked a tater tot up with his fork.

"This time? " she asked with her eyes as wide as golf balls.

"Oh yeah. Shoveling tater tots in their mouths and Phil starts choking like all holy hell. Rely on big Jim to go over there and givem' the ole Heimlich." Hopper smiled as he saw Joyce laugh at him for mimicking the maneuver.

"There really isn't a boring moment here, is there?" she laughed as she picked at her food.

"Not really. Especially when those idiots get their hands on the medical marijuana they have here. I swear to God it's like watching Jackass in real life." Joyce almost choked on her spoon with a laugh.

"I'd say that I'd pay a lot of money to see that but I have a feeling I'm gonna see that whether I like it or not." Hopper returned a similar laugh at Joyce's statement.

"You could lock them in a sauna when they're stoned, flash a flashlight in their faces and tell them they're on the sun and they'd believe you. Trust me, I've done it before." Hopper and Joyce both doubled over laughing, earning confused looks from everybody in the cafeteria.