Caleb

Chapter Five - In The Hospital

CIERA'S POV

    I’d been in the hospital for two nights. The first night, last night, Caleb had visited me. Today, they told me what was wrong with me. I’d been hit by a car. My leg was broken. Some nerves had been damaged, I had road rash, and my helmet—the helmet everybody complained about wearing—was the only thing that kept me alive. They wanted to keep me in the hospital for a while to make sure I would be safe out in the real world. I’d heard many ‘it’s a miracle’s and ‘you’re so lucky’s. I know I was extremely lucky, that much force should have killed me. But luck had nothing to do with me still living, apparently. Caleb saved me. Yet, I’d seen everybody from school for hours that day and I’d only seen him for fifteen minutes the night before. It was 7:06 P.M., and I was back to thinking I was crazy for hoping he’d show up. My door squeaked open and he stuck his head in.

“Ciera?” He asked. I was still a little groggy, but I smiled weakly.

“Who else would be here?” He laughed a little and walked in, closing the door.

“How are you feeling?” Lonely. Pathetic. Crazy. “I’m fine.” I smiled. His soft smile faltered for a second, as if remembering something he’d forgotten.

“Are you sure?” he whispered. I smiled as sweetly as I could.

“Yes, I’m sure.” He smiled softly again and sat beside me on my white sheets.

“So what’s the damage?” he asked, looking at my chart.

“I’ll be able to go back to school in about three weeks. My leg is the only thing really hurt. They said the impact threw me into shock, which is why I couldn’t stay awake for very long… thank you, by the way, for saving me…” I thanked him quietly. He looked shocked.

“You’re welcome… but I was just doing what I should have.” I was shocked then. So he was saying he would have done what he did for anybody? Okay, that leaves romance out of this. I smiled to hide my crushed hope.

“So… what happened?” I asked cautiously, wondering if it was too upsetting to talk about.

“Well…” He moved, resting his legs on my bed and leaning back on my pillow with me.

        Because I couldn’t move very well, my body fell toward his. He realized this, and as he began telling my story to me, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and propped me up. I felt way too tired to stay propped on my own arm, so I lay against his. He started blushing, and blushed even more when I reached over and took part of his shirt in my hand. My eyes teared up immediately when he was describing my crash. I wiped my eyes, and when he finished we sat in silence. His eyes were tearing up as well, and I looked up at him smiling as much as I could after hearing that story. He looked down at me, his face stone. He let me fall asleep with him, but when I woke up, Caleb was gone.