Hold Me Close

Chapter Eight: Stay

-=Alex=-

By now it had been about a week since I got a concussion, and now they would finally let me out of this damned infirmary. I was up and walking now, able to look at a TV from a distance, and could now stand brighter light. The wooden door to my room clicked open and I looked over. One of the nurses, a female black bear, stepped in with a clipboard in her hands.

"Hey Alex, still feeling well?" She asked, looking up at me.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Good. Well take this ticket to retrieve your things at the front desk." She handed me a little red ticket stamped with the number 12867. I took it from her outstretched hand gently, placing it in my pocket. "Also, is there anyone here at the university that you'd like to come and pick you up? We can get a letter to their dorm."

"Yeah," I paused, thinking. I was originally going to say one of my friends from football, but I changed my mind at the last second. "Evan Black."

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-=Evan=-

It had now been a week since Jason and Alyssa had hooked up with each other. Honestly, they made a cute couple, already starting to move Alyssa's stuff into Jason's dorm, which was exactly right below mine. I personally thought that they were going a bit fast, but I guess they have also known each other a lot longer than I've been here, so I don't really know.

Today was Monday, all my classes for today done, and I was headed back to my dorm to spend the night in. After making it upstairs, I noticed a sheet of paper had been pinned to the corkboard next to my door. I unpinned it, looking down at it as I swiped my door unlocked with my student ID card.

_______________________________________

----University of Connecticut----
----Infirmary Office----

Dear, Evan Black, patient Alex Stone is being released today 09/24/16 at 19:30 and has requested that you come and bring him/her back to their place of residence. Please contact the UConn Infirmary Office by 16:00 to confirm.

Phone: 1-860-283-6473________________

Alex wanted me to come pick him up? I instantly became sick to my stomach. I had completely forgotten about Alex for the past few days, keeping distracted by my studies and friends. The whole memory replaying in my head again. Evan, you'll be fine. I told myself, then shaking my head because I was talking to myself. Which I guess is fine, as long as you don't get a response.

I dropped my backpack on the floor by the couch, taking out my wildlife textbook and my five-subject notebook that was all dedicated to my wildlife studies class out. I sat down on the couch, clicking my bluetooth speaker on and starting Pandora on my phone. And there I sat, two hours of Sublime and writing a report on trees. I promise I'm not a hippie.

I looked down at my phone, checking the time. Three thirty-seven. Suppose I should probably call the infirmary...

As the time neared seven thirty, I went down to my car and plugged the infirmary into Google Maps, taking about three minutes to get there. The sun had just gone below the horizon as I walked through the sliding glass doors and into the infirmary. It smelled exactly like a doctor's office, which definitely wasn't unsettling at all. I walked up to the black granite desk, where a female squirrel was typing into a computer.

"Can I help you?" She asked as I neared the desk, looking up at me.

"Yeah, I'm here to pick up Alex Stone." I said, handing her the paper I got.