A few days after Will was admitted to the hospital, Doctor Smith said that he could go home as long as someone was with him to make sure he didn’t pull the stitches out, the wound didn’t get infected and that he remembered to change the dressing every day. Hannibal, of course, volunteered. So Doctor Smith brought the release form, both Hannibal and Will signed it and then they were off.
It was a twenty minute drive from the hospital to Hannibal’s house and it was spent in silence. When they arrived, Hannibal and Will walked into the house; Hannibal went to the kitchen and Will went upstairs.
A few minutes later, Will came back downstairs and walked into the kitchen, coat and shoes in the guest room. He sat down on one of the stools in front of the counter.
Hannibal looked up from where he was cutting up vegetables. “Do you want to help me make dinner, Will?”
Will was surprised. “Really? Uh, okay, but I warn you, I’m not very good at this,” he said.
Hannibal smiled. “Wonderful. I’ll start you off with something easy, okay?”
Will nodded and Hannibal brought over a lump of bread dough and a small bowl of flour. “Here. Do you know how to knead dough?”
Will nodded and sprinkled flour on top of the while Hannibal went back to cutting vegetables across form him on the other side of the counter. Unfortunately, Will had put a bit too much flour on the dough so when he folded it over and smashed his fist into it, flour exploded all over the place. Will’s eyes grew wide when he realized what he had done.
“Oh my god, Hannibal! I am so sorry, I-“ he stopped abruptly when he looked at Hannibal.
The front of Hannibal’s hair and his face was covered with white powder. After a moment, Will began to laugh at the bewildered look on Hannibal’s face and the thought of his sophisticated friend covered in flour.
Hannibal stood there, watching Will laugh. It was a good, hearty laugh and Will looked genuinely happy. It was the first time Hannibal had ever seen Will laugh like that. After a moment, Hannibal began to laugh, too. So they stood there in Hannibal’s kitchen, laughing like a pair of fools and neither one of them could have been happier.
