she woke up to the smell of antiseptic. moving her hand, she found that her actions were uncontrolled as she slowly sat up.
white walls, pale blue curtains. she was in somewhere far too familiar- the hospital. she'd been here almost thirty times since she was nine. she looked around the room and noticed another curtain separating her from another patient.
"you're awake." a female voice said. zenith looked to her right to see a nurse approaching her. "are you feeling alright? you blacked out for about six hours, but chances are you're perfectly fine and it was from too much blood to the head. another check-up and you're good to go."
zenith nodded, her head pounding slightly and her tongue feeling heavy in her mouth. the nurse pressed a button on the side of the bed and within a couple minutes the doctor came in.
"you can leave now." he said, removing the stethoscope from her chest. "just remember to take deep breaths more often and don't get too worked up." zenith stood up when the doctor said,
"by the way, a boy is outside waiting for you. his name is dylan. "
-
zenith has been fine for the past few days. she doesn't know exactly what her relationship with dylan is, but she knows that she likes him a lot and he likes her a lot as well, so she wouldn't mind calling him her boyfriend.
now she is in the playground by her house, on the swing set that had actual black rubber seats that cradled you as you swung, not cheap, slippery plastic seats that were a safety hazard to any child - or everyone, for that matter. she is wearing a navy blue sweatshirt of dylan's and a snug pair of sweatpants. she has on a pair of simple black flip flops that hang loosely from their grip on her toes as she swings.
she has asked dylan to meet her here. she'd brought a few small containers of snacks, and he'd replied that he would bring grapes and cherries- her two favorite fruit. they weren't about to do anything so special- just lie down here until it got dark and maybe just fall asleep in the car, which was parked right by the playground.
she heard footsteps as dylan made himself comfortable beside her. "hello, zenith." he says, leaning to his right and giving zenith a little peck on the lips. she smiled through the kiss and nodded. "you too, dylan." they broke apart and grinned at each other. dylan noticed how the warm sunset shone on zenith's brown hair, as if washing it with a golden dye.
zenith hopped off the swing and onto the ground. dylan followed suit and they both found a nice spot on top of the slide, where dylan sat with his arm around zenith, and they watched the orange egg yolk of a sun sink below the treetops. it might not have been extravagant, but they were with each other, as cheesy as that sounds, and it was good enough.
