6:32pm
"Blegh! So gross!" Mark pouts at the glass cup containing a dark green smoothie.
"It's food. You just have to suck it up."
Mark stares at the horrid smoothie in his hand. He hates smoothies with a passion. The worst creations on Earth in his opinion.
I consider them amazing since they give him nutrients.
"Mr. Tuan." The nurse pleads. "You have to drink it. Or else your headache will persist."
"Drink it." I smile at him. "Pretty please."
He glares at me. He knows he can't refuse me.
Mark drinks the entire smoothie in under two minutes. He contemplates if he should make himself throw up or drink a ton of water to get rid of the gross taste. He decides to do neither.
"Ugh. Gross." Mark holds his stomach.
As he revels in disgust, I gather bathing supplies. Mark's shy so, once he was conscious enough to bathe, he refused to let nurses wash him.
So, I was selected to become Mark's bathroom helper.
"Come on." I easily lift Mark into my arms.
"Ah man. Either I'm losing weight or you're becoming stronger...definitely you're becoming stronger." Mark smiles.
I laugh at his subtle way of joking.
Mark kicks the door open and I walk into the bathroom. I drop his feet onto the floor and he stands on his two feet.
I help him take off his sweater, leaving him in a white t-shirt and sweats.
I start to set up his bath water.
"Hey Jackson. Look."
I turn around to see Mark's pants pulled all the way up to his chest.
"I'm Steve Urkel." Mark giggles. "Did I do that?" He imitates the iconic show from our childhood. I burst into laughter.
"That was good." I wipe my eyes from laughing so hard.
Mark laughs at my laughter.
After our good laugh, I help Mark take off the rest of his clothes and he goes into the bathtub.
"Do I look like a girl?" Mark plays with his long black hair as it curls from getting wet.
"A cute girl."
He glares at me playfully.
"I don't want to look like a girl." He pouts.
"Well, I know for sure you're a boy." My eyes drop to the area between his legs, clearly visible underneath the soapy bath water.
"Jackson, you perv!" Mark covers himself and sinks deeper into the water.
I chuckle.
"I see your butt now. Thanks for the great view."
"Jackson Wang!"
"Go to sleep, pervert." Mark strokes my hair softly.
My eyes struggle to stay open. I haven't slept in a week and I've been working non-stop. I'm exhausted.
I burrow my face in Mark's chest. I wrap my arm around his waist.
"You'll be here when I wake up?" I snuggle against his cozy cream sweater.
"Of course. I'm not going anywhere."
Slowly, I drift to sleep. I hold Mark tightly as I hear his last two words for the night:
"Not yet."
