Heart's Done Time (Aerosmith Fanfiction)

Chapter twenty-two

A/N:

This chapter is dedicated to Tylerbabe17 for being such a tremendous support throughout this story so far. Thanks so much :3 

Chapter twenty-two

Steven's POV
"Okay, sweetie, let's get you back home," Sesame was saying, her voice suddenly taking on a shrill pitch that told me she was worried. "We'll get you all bundled up in the van and then we'll head out from there, sound good?"
I didn't answer. My thoughts were focused solely on sucking air into my aching lungs and ignoring the feeling of wet snow soaking through the knees and shins of my jeans and making me tremble with cold. I felt faint, and like my air supply was short, but also like there was nothing else I could do to help myself. I was desperate.
"Steven." Apparently Sesame was, too. "C'mon, baby, we need to get you to the hospital."
I nodded my consent, but did little to assist her in getting me up on two legs and walking the way we came, this time urgently and as quickly as we could manage with me struggling for air and Sesame fighting to keep me upright. It was quite the task indeed.
Eventually, though, my home was in sight and with it Sesame's van, but the journey had cost most of my energy reserves and lucidity and had left Sesame now with the job of getting me buckled into the passenger seat and wrapped like a burrito in multiple layers of blankets, still shivering from the cold and roasting from the rising fever.
She had never ceased to amaze me, though, and this time was no different. She not only managed to get this job done, but she also made astoundingly quick work of getting me to the emergency room, explaining our situation to the lady at the front desk, and even yelling at her when she insisted that we wait and fill out paperwork in the meantime. I watched her in awe throughout the entire ordeal.
She returned to me when she'd finally resigned to this fate and apologized to the clerk (who hadn't even flinched during the encounter), taking the uncomfortable plastic chair beside where I'd nested and getting my unhelpful input on questions regarding my health record.
"Damn," she said after filling out something to do with my parents. "I need to call your mom."
"I'll do it," I volunteered, going to stand and ask the front desk woman for a telephone before Sesame pulled me back down.
"Sweetie, your fever is sky high and you're hardly making sense." She looked seriously stressed. I didn't know why.
"But they're my parents," I countered despite not feeling very strongly about the situation. I just wanted to help Sesame in any way I could.
"And I'm the girlfriend. They're gonna have to get used to hearing my voice sooner or later," she said, and that was the end of that. She stood, leaving me with the paperwork and telling me she'd be back to finish it soon. I watched her go and thought once again about how lucky I was to have her.
Forty-five minutes, one brief phone call, and half a stack of papers later, a doctor was available and came to fetch me, chatting a bit too enthusiastically while I struggled to breathe and focus on his words at the same time.
He brought me to a room and did a series of tests after having me explain the situation, frowning at first, but then putting on a false mask of cheerfulness as he went about his job. It made me rather uncomfortable.
I dozed through most of the examination and x-ray, though, despite the air of doom everything had taken on as the struggle for air grew worse and the pain in my chest reached new heights, so I was very relieved when at long last Dr. Hanover told me I was all done and could rest while he went to fetch my family from the waiting room.
My family wasn't there yet, however; or so I assumed when he returned with only Sesame following close behind and then throwing herself into my arms when she saw me.
"Oh my god, Steven," she berthed into my ear, pulling away to search my eyes for some indicator that I was okay now. She looked disappointed. "So what's wrong with him?"
Dr. Hanover took a seat by the bed both Sesame and I were on, looking at us like adults and making me feel very inferior for it. "I would rather we went over the diagnosis once the parents have arrived, just for everyone's convenience," he said, making Sesame visibly deflate as she nodded her understanding. "I do, however, have another matter to bring up."
Sesame and I exchanged looks, both knowing what was coming and crossing our fingers.
"I found some rather..." he paused, looking for the proper word, "intense bruising on Mr. Tallarico's abdomen, along with some other more minor assault injuries that appear to be less than a week old. Could you explain these for me?" asked the doctor, obviously ready to call social services. I wondered for a moment if he already had.
"Oh, those," said Sesame, shaking her head a little. "Yeah, uh, I was there when that happened."
"Those are, uhh," I stammered a little, my whole life flashing before my eyes as a feeling of dread flooded my chest.
Sesame stepped in again. "You see, doctor, Steven has been bullied quite a lot," she said, quickly adopting the story we'd given my parents. "And last Monday night he was beaten up."
Dr. Hanover seemed to mull this over, nodding slowly. "By one of your peers?" he asked, and we both nodded. "Do you know who it was?" We shook our heads.
"He, uhh, had the," I started, twirling a lock of hair around my finger.
"Blonde hair," said Sesame and I in unison while she squeezed my hand encouragingly.
"I see," said the doctor, nodding. "Forgive me for prodding, but you can understand why I would be curious about the circumstances under which you came by such injuries."
"Are you gonna call social services?" I asked, not caring at all how that sounded. I just needed to know.
Dr. Hanover laughed. "No, I'm not," he said. "I have a hard time believing that your girlfriend would allow you to be abused by openly lying about it. Not to mention, your story is pretty solid. Kids can be mean."
I breathed a huge sigh of relief, actually smiling when Sesame turned to give me a look that said "I promised everything would be alright, didn't I?"
The doctor smiled too, and then stood to go. "You must excuse me, now, though. I have other patients to attend to, but I will have a nurse alert me just as soon as your parents get here," he said, nodding his farewell.
When he was gone, Sesame made herself at home by curling up beside me, head rested in the crook of my neck and hands grabbing onto the thin material of my hospital gown. She sighed rather sadly, as if just remembering that I wasn't in the clear just yet. After all, we hadn't gotten the diagnosis yet.
"God," she said quietly, breath warm on my neck. "I'm so damn worried about you."
I coughed just a bit, wincing at the pain in my lungs. "I'm gonna be okay, Pink. He didn't seem too worried to me." It wasn't entirely true, of course; he had seemed worried when he'd announced that he wanted to take an x-ray of my chest, but afterwards he'd gone back to his cheerful self.
"It's his job to not seem too worried, sweetie," she said. "He'd freak out his patients if he seemed just as worried as he felt sometimes."
She had me there. "Just quit upsetting yourself for a bit, love, okay?" I said, combing her hair out of her eyes. "My parents will probably take awhile to get here and you're exhausted. I'm not gonna die just because you fall asleep for a short while."
She kissed my neck, since it was all she could reach in her position. "You might," she said, but she was still out like a light in a matter of moments.
I smiled, kissing her closed eyelids, and then succumbed to the lullaby of her deep breaths and her heart beating close to mine, falling regrettably asleep with her dreaming in my arms.