Smile - CrankGameplays

11. Elixir

It was all a healing process, right? A game of waiting. Waiting for the wounds to scar, the cuts to close up, the body to heal. It all just took time. Patience.

And that's what Ethan was told to do. Lay in bed. Wait.

He longingly stared at the ceiling, desperately wanting a change of scenery. He wanted the curtains to be drawn back, wanted a pool of moonlight to spread out on his carpet. He wanted to go on his computer and play some games, that was his own remedy. 

He had been in this bed since the morning and it was now nearing ten o'clock on a Thursday night. The ice pack that rested on his tummy had now melted into its squishy refrigerant gel. The bag of peas he was instructed to press up against his fat lip slung over the side of his face, cooling his scratched cheek.

He was ready for another dose of those painkillers Tyler kept handing over. First, it was for his aching hand and now it was for the extreme pain in his abdominals.

Two knocks alerted the blue boy to shift his gaze away from the ceiling, "Ethan? You awake?"

A muffled groan escaped his puffy lip.

Tyler emerged into the room and slowly shuffled over, "How are you feeling?"

Ethan threw the frozen peas on the floor, "I want to get out of here."

He shook his head at him, "Nope. Olivia and I both think you have a concussion."

That name rolled off his tongue like it was nothing, like it was someone familiar.

Ethan shut his eyes again, "Olivia. Right."

Tyler shrugged, "I still don't know why you didn't go to the hospital."

Ethan ignored his friend, remembering exactly who Olivia was. Olivia was the mystery girl that randomly appeared in his dream, the girl he remembered so vividly. Everything from the length of her hair to the shape of her body. He had probably seen her once or twice around campus, maybe that's why he dreamt about her, but god forbid she ever found that out.

She was so incredibly sweet to the boys as she patched Ethan back up. She offered to take him to the on-campus clinic, offered to ride with them back to their place in case he became unresponsive.

"She was cool." He blurted out.

Tyler narrowed his eyes, "Yeah, she was. You also got her number."

Ethan's cheeks immediately warmed, "She wanted to make sure I was okay."

"And you also couldn't take your eyes off her."

He couldn't deny that one, "Well, yeah, she was helping me out. And she was pretty."

Tyler coyly smiled as he took a seat on the edge of the bed, "She was very pretty, Ethan. Maybe you should hit her up because she might actually reply."

The blue boy rolled his eyes, the burn of the words stinging him. "Just maybe." He batted his eyelashes towards Tyler, "Can you turn on the lights pretty please?"

"No can do," he chuckled, "Lights need to stay off and you need to rest."

"I'm tired of resting, Tyler."

"If you have a concussion then the most you can do is lay down and rest. We would know if you had one if you let Olivia take you to the damn hospital."

"I don't need to go to the hospital." He argued, balling his fists up.

Tyler pointed towards the dark contusions that covered his stomach. Then pointed to the abrasion on his cheek along with the fat lip. "You look wrecked."