Prescription Love

Chapter 8

Penny

I felt like crap and I had no idea why. My eyes were shut and I wasn’t even going to try to open them because I had a feeling that doing so would make me feel worse somehow. My entire body felt like a dead weight and not in a comfortable sleepy way either.

I’m not sure how much later it was but my eyes began to open, I couldn’t see a lot at first because my vision was blurred, I couldn’t use my hands to wipe the sleep away though because they were still asleep and I was hit by an overwhelming urge to cry or scream, or smash something.

Looking around my room I found Reese staring at me from behind her huge glasses, I was confused at first because to be honest, I’d forgotten about her in all of this. I’d been so wrapped up in how I’d dealt with my parents because in my head by pushing them away, I’d pushed everyone else away too.

I blinked her face into better focus. “Reese, what are you doing here”? I croaked, staring at her from my pillow, checking if she was even real and not just a drug induced dream.

Instantly her eyebrows raised. “What am I doing here? Where the hell is your family is what I want to know”! She yelled, suddenly rigid in the plastic chair by my bed. She’d obviously come on her way to work. She was dressed in a slim fitting black dress with thick straps and long sleeved purple t-shirt underneath it, and black boots up to her knees.

I took breath and blew it out noisily, knowing what she’d have to say about what I did. “I told them I didn’t want them here”.

“Why”?

“Because I don’t want them to worry... but why are you here”? I frowned. My friend crossed her arms over her chest, anger in her blue eyes.

“Because when your parents said they wouldn’t come in after your accident your Doctor didn’t want you to wake up alone, he said you were depressed and needed a familiar face, so here I am” she smiled, raising her hands in a ta dah kind of way .

I frowned again; what does he think he’s doing? I told him I was fine. “Oh, well he didn’t need to do that, I’m fine” I mumbled, shifting in my bed uncomfortably.

Reece rolled her eyes. “Don’t insult my intelligence, number one I have known you since college, number two I am a successful Journalist – there is no lie that you can tell me that I will not find out about”.

I had to laugh. “I guess I did miss you a little bit”.

“You guess? Nice”. I knew she wasn’t really upset, she like me is a fan of sarcasm, one of the only people I know who appreciates it.

“How’s Tank”? I asked suddenly, remembering my most favouritist wittle man in the whole wide world!

“Oh your cousin said to tell you that he’s fine but he keeps staring at the door, waiting for you to come back and get him, so he went to your apartment and brought a blanket back with him for Tank so that he had your scent”.

I felt my lower lips jut out and my eyes widen. “Aw, you just broke my heart... my beautiful boy is all alone”.

Reece shook her head in confusion. “He’s not alone, I just told you Nic has him”.

“I know but he misses me, I need to get out of here... they can’t keep me here much longer – the Doctor said I just need to get stabilised and I’ll be good to go” I assured, letting my eyes scan around the door to see if he was about to pop up to spring me from this infernal cell.

“Yeah and had you not passed out and died in the elevator you might have been ok to go” said Reece, shaking her head at her knees. ‘Died?’ Isn’t that a little bit of an overreaction?