Signed & Sealed

{F i v e}

Four days since I made the notorious deal with the devil, and still there was no sign of him lingering. I suppose if all he wanted was my word and a few dabs of blood on a parchment paper, then I could live with that choice. However, I still can't seem to figure out how he pulled the trick with Noah's heart monitor or how he could make me pass out on command. Nonetheless, I wouldn't dwell on nonsense, especially today.

"Alright, Ms. Theodore, I am going to prepare your discharge papers. I've prescribed some pain medications also an antibiotic so that you don't catch an infection in your wounds. You will need to follow up an appointment with your therapy doctor, and try not to exercise that appendage too much," a different nurse from the first one stood at my side while signing off on a medical chart. When she smiled warmly in my direction, she looked over to Benjamin. "Are you the driver? We can prepare a wheelchair to escort her to the vehicle if you want to pull to the front," she added, making sure to cover all basis tracks of her job. Something I am familiar with being in the same professional field.

Nurse Decatur finished speaking with Benjamin while I pulled myself out of the hospital bed. The stretch of my stiff muscles felt good, like waking up after a week of sleep and letting my blood tingle through my system once again. "I will step out while you get dressed," after the nurse left the room, Benjamin followed behind her claiming it was to give space for me to dress. That probably did merit a reason to escape the confines of this white-walled prison, for him. I was almost afraid of leaving the hospital, and partly because of the pain medicine they have kept in my IV drip.

I wasted no time getting dressed in the new set of clothes my brother bought for me, and I was grateful that he bought a size larger than what I usually wear. He brought a pair of leggings that clung to my skin with comfort, and a tee-shirt that fit snuggly with the bandages wrapped around my ribs — being comfortable after this pain was far better than being cute in pain. "You ready?" Benjamin popped his head into the room, and while I am incredibly ready to get out of this place, he and I needed to talk first.

"You got a sec?" I asked to his surprise, so he came in and closed the door behind himself. Standing before me with his hands in his pockets, Benjamin let his shoulders drooped with an exhaust. It was written clearly over his expression that he needed a hefty dose of sleep, and being here for two siblings probably made it worse. "Yeah, what's up?"

"I think that it might be best if you take Noah back home with you for a while," Benjamin scrunched his nose and wrinkled his brows with confusion.

"Uh, I don't understand Elaine. You are both going to stay with me for a while, right?" When I shook my head, Benjamin didn't seem to agree.

"I need some time alone. After that wreck, I lost Noah, and I lost myself. I can't do this right now. I have a friend back home who can help me until I recover enough to move on my own fully." I tried to explain, but the painful weight hanging in my chest didn't feel any better. Pain is written all over Benjamin's facial expression, and I knew that he would feel targeted by my need for being alone.

"That is a bullshit reason to be alone. If you feel like you lost Noah, then why abandon him here with me?"

"I am not abandoning him, Benji, I need some time to clear my head, okay?"

"Whatever, you explain that to him then. Let's go so I can help you get your medicine first," Benjamin didn't waste another second letting me defend my reasoning, and I wasn't sure that I could explain it very well anyways. After this whole angel ordeal, with Lucifer and the contract, I just needed to clear my head of nonsense and get back to a routine. Even if I couldn't work until the therapy sessions clear my work release, I need to be able to do everything on my own if I hope to recover sooner.

The doctors always say to rest as needed, but the truth is, the sooner you push yourself to work through that pain and heal, the closer you will be to healing. It helps to keep the muscles active, rather than letting them sit and grow stiff. Knowing that I upset Benjamin hurt my feelings no doubt, but there was so much I needed to get done. Not only am I wondering all about the angelic order of mess that happened, but I also needed to find a new car and get a new phone. There are things to do, and so little time to get them done.

As long as Trina would come to fetch me from Benjamin's house, I could get back to handling my life so that Noah can go home sooner. He lives with me usually, and why is that? I hold custody over my baby brother because when our parents died, I was the only person willing to take him in so that Noah did not go into the foster care system. Benjamin loves him no doubt, but he is overly busy most often with work and has very little time to deal with the full list of needs given by Noah. Since my parents died, the hospital where I work has given me quite the benefit. My supervisor Anette works my shifts out so that I can handle outside life with Noah, which meant regular hours or night shifts.

After declining the wheelchair, I wobbled myself to the front entrance where Benjamin stood waiting on the passenger side of his SUV. His head hung low, and his hands hid in the front pockets of his jeans. As if sensing me near him, his head beamed up, and a grin flashed across his lips. "Come on missus cripple," he teased, knowing I hated him picking at me. that is something he always does, probably because I am the one who still gets hurt between the two of us. "Funny, just help me get in the car, Benji," I huffed and let him open the door. As I went climbing into the seat, the excited squeal of Noah from the backseat chimed clear as day warming my heart.

"Sissy! We can go home now!" He chirped in such excitement, and I knew that Benjamin would make me tell Noah that he wasn't going with me. Of course, it isn't that I don't want him around because I do, but I need time to recoupe without stressing over giving Noah everything he needs too. "Let's take things slowly, alright monkey?" His head came to rest on my shoulder after popping up from his back seat, his arms tried to extend around the place where I sit, but he was still too little to reach for a hug.

"Okay," he sighed and sat back into his seat while buckling the seatbelt across his chest and lap. Benjamin closed my door and circled to his side, thanking the nurse before driving out of the front circled entrance of the hospital.

By the time we picked up medicines and some fast food, Benjamin had gotten us back to his apartment in one piece. Thankfully he only lived one flight above the base level, and it meant only one set of stairs to climb. Everything about Benjamin is simple and basic. Where he could have anything he wanted with the amount of inheritance money Benjamin received from our parents, he chose simple things. A silver SUV, a one-bedroom apartment, and no one to share that with, yet he seems content. I couldn't complain much because with Noah at my side; I was never alone. Not really.

"Are you going to explain it to him now, or after you have left him here?" Benjamin sent Noah to watch television while he and I made a conversation. Noah sat quietly on the sofa with his Mcdonalds happy meal in his lap, eating away at the slim nuggets and apple slices with joy.

"I will tell him once he finishes eating. Trina is on the way already. I gave her your address since my phone broke and she can't call me to let me know when she gets here, at least she can knock." I sighed and fell into a kitchen chair at the table, my casted leg propped in the chair opposite me.

"So how long will you need? If I could have kept Noah all this time I would have, but with work-" Benjamin tried to explain himself to me, but I held up and palm hoping he would shush while I cut him off to speak, "no- you don't get to say things like that Benji. He is our little brother, and we do what we have to for him. I have worked just like you, so what makes this any different? All I am asking for is some time to get my shit together again, alright?"

When Benjamin nodded and kept his mouth closed, he sighed shortly after and trudged over to where I sit, pulling me up from the chair to wrap his arms around me with a hug. "I feel lost without you here to guide me because you are right, I haven't had to take care of him as you have, and I know you need some time," now he comforted me, and I accepted it willingly.

"Thank you. I'm sorry this happened," I tried to apologize, but there is a knock at the door, and I knew that meant Trina had arrived. That means it is time to face Noah.