The Next Step

Nurses rushed from room to room, patient to patient, visitor to visitor. Ambulances could be heard from the outside, and voices could be heard echoing through the hospital. Ava sat next to Noah as he laid on a hospital bed in agony, most of his body filled with dried blood and bruises. He laid on his side so he wouldn't hurt his back.

"How are you doing now?" Ava asked.

"It's better than before, but it still hurts a lot when there's pressure on it."

A nurse had come earlier with some painkillers and told them that there would be a doctor coming soon to check on him. Soon later, a young doctor comes in. He was standing upright, and he seemed like he had been working in the hospital for quite a while from how confidently he spoke. Ava got up from her seat to give it to the doctor so that he could inspect Noah. He sat on the chair as he helped Noah sit up.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Myers," he began.

"Hi, I'm Noah, and that's my friend Ava," he answered.

Ava's heart throbbed as the word 'friend' left his lips. She ignored the feeling and concentrated on the situation.

"Okay, Noah. Could you please take off your shirt?"

Noah nodded and slowly took it off wincing from the pain, although it didn't hurt as much as before thanks to the painkillers. Mr Myers put some gloves on and gently traced the bruises and wounds as he carefully examined his bruised body.

"Where do you feel the most pain?" he asked him.

"My back," Noah answered as he slowly twisted himself, attempting not to hurt himself.

Mr Myers looked at the huge wound and the pieces of glass. He slowly nodded to himself as if trying to work something out.

"Okay, Noah. You seem to have bruised ribs, and the wound on your back seems pretty deep, and it may get an infection if we don't clean it soon. How did this happen?"

"Uhh... I was out in the woods, and I fell over. There was a glass bottle near, and I landed on that with my back."

"Okay. I'll call a nurse to get you cleaned up and have your bruises and wounds sorted. But you won't be able to do any physical activity or strain yourself too much. Take it easy for at least 2 weeks. I'll book you an appointment in 2 weeks so we can see how you're doing. I'll also put you on some painkillers to help you with the pain. Okay?"

"Okay," he answered.

"Any other questions?"

"No. Thank you for seeing me today."

"My pleasure," Mr Myers said. He got up from the chair and shook his hand firmly. He grabbed his clipboard and walked out of the room as Ava returned to her seat.

"I can't believe I can't play or anything. This is like a punishment," he complained.

"Noah is for the best. You have to heal, you're in pain."

He groaned and laid on his side, slowly closing his eyes. Suddenly, a nurse came in with a bag.

"Hi, I'm Nurse Lauren," she said in a lively tone.

Noah opened his eyes and sat up. The nurse came over to him and put her bag on the table next to her. She zipped it open and took out some cotton buds and some disinfectant.

"This might hurt a bit," she warned him.

As she put the disinfectant on the cotton buds and wiped the cuts and wounds on Noah's face, arm, and chest, he hissed, winced, and gritted his teeth. He wondered how he got into this situation, but all those thoughts were blocked out by the intense pain he was feeling. A few minutes later, the nurse stopped. She took out some ice packs and placed it on the bruises and his eye to reduce the swelling.

"Could you please turn around?" she kindly asked.

Noah did what she said and turned around. He knew he was going to feel a lot of pain, but he put this upon himself. Ava couldn't do anything but stare at him, she wished she could help him, so she walked and sat beside him holding his hand. He looked at her and gave her a small smile, but Ava could see the pain in his eyes. The nurse grabbed some pincers and a tray. She quickly took out all the pieces of glasses stuck on his back so the pain shouldn't last long. Soon after she removed the glass from his back, she disinfected it. As she looked at the cut, it seemed larger than what the doctor had told her which meant it had to be stitched together.

"What's wrong?" Noah asked as he noticed that she hadn't been doing anything for a few minutes.

"The cut on your back seems deeper than I was told which means we'll have to stitch it back on. I'll have to put you on anaesthetics since you're already feeling so much pain."

He nodded as she grabbed an anaesthetic from her bag. She gave it to him and instructed him to breathe it in. As Noah did as he was told, he could feel all the pain draining from his body. The nurse took the advantage to stitch his back and wrapped most of his torso in a bandage.

"All done," she stated, zipping the bag.

The nurse waved them goodbye and walked out of the room, Noah laying back down, but this time on his back. He was relieved that this was now sorted, but he couldn't help but think where he was going to go next.

"Thanks for being here," he remarked, looking at her.

"Always," she smiled, "What's gonna happen now? You can't possibly go back to your parents."

"But my mom needs me."

"Noah, right now you need to focus on yourself. Look at what your dad has done to you. You don't know what he might do next," she explained.

"Well, I have nowhere else to go now."

"We can talk to my mom about it, she might think of something. Or...You could live with us."

They both looked at each other.

"Really? You would do that?" Noah questioned in shock.

"Yes. I care about you a lot," Ava shily said.

He signalled Ava to sit next to him on the bed. Ava moved towards the bed and sat next to him, careful of his stitches. She was taken by surprise when Noah brought her to a large embrace.

"Thank you so much, Ava," he said.

"It's alright."

"I love you," he blurted out.

Ava pulled slightly away from his hug and looked at him straight in the eye.

"You-you love me?" she asked.

Looking away from her, he nervously said, "I-i mean as a friend o-of course."

They looked at each other for a second before Ava went back to hugging him, laying her head on his chest.

"I love you too."

A comfortable silence remained between them as they enjoyed each other's presence. A few minutes later, Ava broke the silence.

"I'm staying here with you."

"No, don't do that. I'll be fine by myself."

"No. I want to be here for you. I'll call my mom and tell her that I'll stay the night here, she'll understand."

Noah was already exhausted, meaning he had no energy to argue with her, so he let her stay. Ava got up and walked outside the room to call her mom. She told her mom that she would stay the night with Noah as he's hurt and she should pick them up tomorrow morning. Her mom allowed her to stay the night as she was promised she would be told about the situation the next day. Ava hung up the phone and walked back to the bed next to Noah.

"What did she say?"

"She said it was alright and she's picking us up tomorrow morning."

He nodded, putting an arm around her.

"So, tomorrow we can start working on those powers of yours," he said.

Ava quickly sat up and looked at him sternly.

"No. You are not working on anything. The doctor said you need to get rest and not do anything that will strain you. So, you are going to rest until the doctor says you are good to go."

"Ava, I'm fine it's just a bit of pain," he argues.

"No means no. I want you to be okay, and right now you need rest," she finally announced.

Noah didn't bother arguing as he knew she was right. He just pulled her towards him, and they laid there on the hospital bed comfortable with each other. Ava has never stayed overnight in a hospital, so she didn't know how that was going to feel like, but she was glad Noah was with her.