I Burn Everything

Chapter 12: Hospital Days

The dull sounds of the monitors connected to me wake me up from a small nap.  I wipe the eye boggers away and grab the pitcher of water on the nightstand and pour me a cup.  The blinds in my room are closed making the room feel dark, and I wish I could go over and open them.  But sadly, the break in my leg was much worse than I thought.  It was broken in three places, and I had to get a metal plate for my ankle.  I was lucky because I could've been off much worse.

Fallen's been on oxygen since we got here two days ago.  She inhaled so much smoke and ash that she's having trouble breathing and had really low oxygen levels.  I don't know much else since I haven't been able to see her, but the doctor said it will probably last a few days or a few weeks.  I want to check up on her, but nobody will bring me to see her.  They said she's been too tired and falls asleep easily.

I just hope she's doing okay because if anything bad happens to her, I'll never forgive myself.  She's all I have left right now, and I need her to stay by my side.

A knock on my door startles me, and I spill my water cup all over me.  I groan and grab some napkins from the beside table and try to clean it up.  I act like it's actually doing someting, but I know it's not.

"Come in," I grumble out, throwing the wet sheets off of me.

"Glad to see you seem to be in better spirits," Dr. Bruce says walking in.  He walks over to the chair next to the window and sits down in it.

"I suppose you've come here to reprimand me, right?" I ask laying back down in the bed.

"Unfortunately it's part of my job, so I have to .  I also bring news."

"Is it about Fallen?"

"No.  I decided to let her rest more before going visit her."  I look away no longer interested.

"Well lay it on me then.  It's best to get this over with."

"I still don't know how both you and Fallen managed to get to the forest without being seen by anyone.  We've had a staff meeting to address this issue, but not a single person mentioned seeing either one of you.  But you both know that area of lands is out of bounds for patients and that you can't go out when it's not free time.  I know that sounds a bit cruel, but these rules are put in place to keep y'all safe.  You're just lucky Harold noticed the fire and called it in before going to see if anyone was out there.  He dragged you two to safety."

"Guess I owe him a thank you next time I see him," I mumble out rubbing my face.

"Probably much more than that.  You and Fallen could've died!"  Dr. Bruce says throwing his hands up in the air.  "What were you even doing in the forest anyway?"

"I wanted to be alone, but Fallen came out to tell me that she was going to leave early."

"You're sure nothing else happened?" he asked.  I tuned to look at him and studied his face.  I couldn't tell if he was baiting me to see if I would tell him about how the fire started.  For all I know, he could be thinking something else entirely happened.  Worse case scenario would be he get mad at me for lying to him.

"Nothing else happened.  Like we got into an argument because she gets to leave before me, but nothing else happened."

"Ok I just wanted to make sure because the last thing we need right now is a baby."  I gasp and open and close my mouth like a fish out of water.  "It's happened before, so I had to ask."

"I wouldn't do that with Fallen.  She only just told me she loved me the day of the fire; she's still trying to get more comfortable around me."

"I know that, but the higher ups don't."  I just shake my head and look away from him.  Why does everyone seem to think I think of Fallen in that way?  "I have some good news though."