PARKER | Dark H.S. AU

xxxvi. take a chill pill

Copyright © zylgnagnaba 2014

Charlie looks at the marks on the calendar pinned on her bedroom wall with a barely readable expression on her face. It's a cross between nervous and excited. She is anxious. She chews on her lips, brows coming together as her gaze fixates on the sole date that has a smiley on it -- signifying Harry's return from Tennesse.

She had been counting backwards, crossing out the six days that had passed by -- that, in fact, when she was still stuck there felt like years of waiting to pass. She'd occupied herself with work in the agency, selling food and watching Hank in the hospital just so she can keep her wandering thoughts from Harry. And now that there's only one more day before she can see her dearest friend again, she can only hardly contain the emotions inside her. She can't wait to cross the last remaining date out.

Hey Char-coal! What are you up to?

Charlie groans upon reading the text, rolling her eyes at the lame nickname the dimwit has made up for her. She quickly presses a key to reply.

I'm still in awe at how you managed to steal my number, Terranausurus Rex.

She sends another quick text.

And it's none of your business.

She shoves her phone inside the pocket of her denim shorts as she grabs a red sharpie from her pen holder. Her tongue sticks out to the side as she draws three hearts around the said date. She's almost finished when her phone buzzes again.

T-rex: tyrannosaurus rex*

Charlie: You're the only one who cares.

T-rex: just saying

Charlie: just texting*

Charlie puts the phone on silent so that she could easily ignore Terrence's badgering. She steps out of the room and goes straight to the kitchen to check if the soup she left to simmer is ready. Tasting it with a spoon, she sets the utensil aside and turns the stove off to let the soup cool down. She's bringing the delicacy with her when she visits her grandfather at his apartment later, taking a mental note to heat it up again before serving it to him.

Charlie was a little out of breath when she returned to the hospital the afternoon Terrence took her to Starbucks. She was nearing the nurse station when, out of nowhere, Jess happily told her the news that Hank had finally woken up. She wasn't even aware that Terrence was still following behind as she took a run for it. She bursted in to the door and saw that there were the doctor and two nurses assesing the old man's vitals. Few more moments, she was informed that if her grandfather turned out good in all the tests they were going to run, he'd be free to go after two days. So naturally, Hank was even more glad to have been sent back to his apartment yesterday. Charlie couldn't actually take her watchful eyes off him for more than four hours, though. So she'd slept in his apartment last night and only came back to her own one to cook the soup that had the needed ingredients in her small pantry.

By the time Charlie's back to Hank's apartment, the canister of warm soup in hand, her grandfather is already by the couch and switching channels on his old TV. Charlie had left earlier after checking that he was still dozed off on his bed.

"I made soup." She calls as she passes by the sofa, making her way to the kitchen area. She sets the canister inside the microwave and times it before she goes back to the lounge to join her grandfather. "You doing okay?" She asks as she sits on the loveseat adjacent to where Hank is.