Adjustments

Adjustments 20

Noah

As I lie in my hospital bed with my eyes closed, I listen to the sounds of my surroundings. The beeping of the heart monitor is fast and the life support machine made a little clicking noise every five minutes. The peculiar sounds annoy me until I hear the echoing sound of heels hitting the floor, walking at a rapid pace.

The sound changes from walking to jogging then to running. Finally, I hear the heels stumble to a stop at the hospital room doorway. I open my eyes slightly to see the most angelic picture I've ever seen.

In my door frame stands Sarah DiCarlo. Her long brown hair cascades past her shoulders and down her back. Her eyes bloodshot from crying. She's wearing a white tank top, jeans and blue high heels. She sees my eyes open and smiles.

"Hi stranger." She says with happiness in her voice.

"H-hi beautiful." I whisper back. It sucks that I can barely see or speak, but at least she's with me now. She smiles then sniffles, still standing in the doorway. "I don't b-bite you know?"

"I know." She says with a slight chuckle. "I just don't want to hurt you."

"You can't."

"I don't trust myself. If I get close enough I might end up hugging you to death."

"Then I'd die happy." I try as hard as I can to smile. She looks at me, not taking it as a joke.

"Was it real, Noah?"

"Was what real?"

"The dream. Was that you?" I just smile at her. Sarah gasps and puts her hand over her mouth, turning around so I don't see her cry.

"Sarah." I whisper. She turns and I see the tears fill her eyes. I need to hold her. I have to feel her. What can I do to make her come to me?

I begin to move my body so it looks like I'm trying to stand. The pain is overwhelming, but it works. As I wince and cry out from my injuries, Sarah runs over to me, holding my shoulders down to the bed. I put my hand over hers, breathing deeply to help the pain escape my body.

Sarah tries to calm me down. "Shhh. Don't move." She says. Her voice is so soothing. I've missed her.

"Kiss me." I say through the pain. She bends down and kisses my forehead. I move my head up so that her lips are now in contact with mine. She starts to back away.

"No." I whisper, tightening my grip on her hands. "Don't leave me."

"Noah..."

"I need you." I say, interrupting her. "I need you... probably more than the air that I breathe." She bends back down to my lips and I feel her warmth, until the doctor walks in.

"Miss DiCarl... oh." The doctor says, realizing that we were in the middle of a kiss. Sarah regains her previous position acting like nothing happened.

"Yes?" She says.

"Umm... may I see you outside for a moment." He says. She walks outside and he closes the door.

Sarah

"What's going on?" I ask in the hallway with the doctor.

"I just wanted to remind you that Mr. Anderson's condition is precarious. These kinds of injuries are very unpredictable." He states.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that myself and a group of nurses will be monitoring his heart rate and his vitals carefully and checking in on him periodically. I just wanted to ask that if you see anything abnormal please inform us."

"Abnormal? You wouldn't call his current condition necessarily normal." I say.

"Miss DiCarlo." He says with a stern tone. "We ask that you make sure he isn't doing any physical activity or straining himself."

"Okay." He walks away from Noah's room and into an "Employee Only" door.

Noah

As night arrives, visiting hours are ending. I don't want her to leave me, not again.

"I have to go soon." She says.

"No, y-you don't" I whisper.

"If they catch me here past visiting hours, I may not be allowed to see you anymore."

"They can't do that. If I-I tell them that I want you to st-stay with me, then they won't object."

"Yes they will, Noah. You're in no position to fight the power." We both laugh. When Sarah sees me wince, she starts to stroke my hair from where she sits on her chair. She checks her phone then looks at me.

"It's almost nine. You should get some sleep." She says. I don't even realize that my eyes are closed.

"I don't want to say g-goodbye."

"Then don't. I'll see you tomorrow." My grip around her hand tightens as is slowly pull her towards the bed. "What are you doing?"

"Lay with me." I say, opening my eyes.

"No, it will hurt you."

"Stop saying that. You can n-never hurt me. Please... please." I say, closing my eyes again. She puts her hand on my cheek and I let my head fall into the pillow with her hand still holding me. I hear her move and then feel an extra weight on my bed. I start to move to give her room to sleep, but she stops me.

"Don't move. I'll adjust to you." I gesture her to put the blanket over her and she does. I slowly move my hand and take her arm, moving it over me so I can somewhat hold her.

"I love you." I say, moving my head to touch hers.

"I love you more." She whispers, wrapping her body around mine.

"That's not possible." I whisper back. Then, we both fall into a deep state of unconsciousness until the sun rises once again.

*

In the middle of the night, I wake up in a world of pain. My vision is blurry and I feel restrained. I manage to look to my left to see Sarah, asleep in my arms. The thought of her calms my panic.

I'm not panicking over the possibility of me dying, but the possibility of not being able to hold Sarah. Not being about to kiss her, talk to her or hug her makes the pain even worse. The sound of my wince wakes Sarah, causing her to look at me.

"Noah?" She asks with concern in her voice. I try to speak but feel as if I'm paralyzed. I feel my chest tighten and my vision begins to blur. I no longer feel Sarah's body next to mine. Instead, I hear the rapid beeping of the heart monitor and my world goes black.

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