Coffee at 5 AM √

Chapter 16 ∞ Connor: Distant

∞♡∞

I dig my hands into my pockets and sigh.

"Three-fifty," the florist says, eyes dull.

I shoot him a strained smile, grab the bouquet and rush up the gray stairs of San Francisco hospital. I'm going to make it just in time, visiting hours end in about twenty minutes.

"I'm here to see Ella Cliff," I tell the lady at the desk.

"Just a second... are you the boyfriend?"

I nod. "Something like that."

"She's a real pain that one! Always refuses our help, too stubborn for her own good," she laughs, glowing with delight.

"Sounds like her."

"Never met a white girl quite like her... she's in room 64B, see if you can get her to take her medicine, will you?"

I nod again. "Will do, ma'am."

Ella looks so helpless lying in the hospital bed. She's watching tv, looking mildly bored, and her hair's one big mess. She spots me through the large window and grins, exhaustion showing in her every feature. The second I open the door, she starts yelling.

"Can you believe what a klutz I am?"

I cock my head to the side. "You fainted. From exhaustion. How is that being clumsy?"

"Shit. I didn't think my parents had told you what happened," she says, looking away.

"Oh, they did. You have a light concussion, you're sleep deprived and now on pills because of that, and they found alcohol in your system," I sit down on the bed beside her.

Ella stares at my hand, refusing to meet my gaze. "About that-"

"How long have you been drinking? Why didn't you tell me?"

"It helps me sleep, I started just last week, stole it from a friend... My parents are really angry."

I grab her chin, forcing her to look at me. "It's alright, okay? But there are pills for that sort of thing."

"They don't help," she says, shaking her head.

We stare at each other for a while, and then we smile. I give her quick peck on the lips.

"Scooch."

She lays her head on my chest and continues watching the show playing on the tv.

I lift my head slightly, looking down at her. "Grey's Anatomy?"

"Yeah, they're playing the entire series. I've probably watched two seasons already," she answers, not looking away once.

I chuckle. "You've been here for two days."

"Precisely."

I'm worried about her. I've been at this not-sleeping-thing for, what, a month? Ella's been like this for a long time, she should be seriously sick. Then again, maybe she has been for some time.

♡

I sit on the bench out front as the school bell rings. It's fourth period, which means I have physics now. Physics is a bunch of jibberish to me, and quite frankly, boring. Instead of heading to class, I've decided to ditch today. It's only one time, plus I won't learn anything anyway, I'll be too distracted thinking about Ella. No, I'd rather sit out here and draw eyes, like I usually do. I find them to be the most interesting feature as they can reveal a lot about someone. For instance, the first time I looked Ella in the eye, I saw her sadness and her joy all at once.