Stephanie woke up in agony around 4 am. Her whole body was on fire, from her head to her toes. She grasped wildly for the call button to summon a nurse.
The new pain killers were not working. Stephanie waited for the doctor for an hour before they would switch her to anything else, and she finally drifted back to sleep around 7am.
Barely two hours later, she could smell her mother's perfume, which meant her mother was back in the room, stomping around like an angry elephant. She didn't even have to open her eyes to know that.
"Oh my God Mom, please stop."
"Stop what? I'm just taking my coat off."
Stephanie opened her eyes then and realized she was right. Her mom was wearing quiet shoes and doing nothing unexpected. "Sorry. My head is killing me, and I'm exhausted."
"It's okay honey, go back to sleep. I'll just watch television."
*
When Stephanie woke again at 11:30, she was surprised to see Kevin and Denise there too.
"What are you guys doing here?"
Denise looked at her like she was an idiot. "We thought we'd come and see if you wanted buy a lifetime subscription to Time magazine." She paused to see if Stephanie gets the joke. "Why do you think we're here?"
"But shouldn't you be at work?"
"There are these things called vacation days and we both used one today."
"Why?" The pain killers made her brain slow.
"Seriously woman? Do you want us to leave?"
"No. I mean, you're already here. Might as well stay."
Kevin nudged her good arm asking, "are you always this difficult?"
Stephanie tried to look appalled, but failed. "You'll just have to stick around and see I guess."
He reached down for her hand and they turned their attention to the television.
After 20 minutes, Stephanie was in agony again. She started squirming, but didn't want to disturb the others. Eventually Kevin took notice.
"You okay? Need something?"
"Uhm, the TV is bothering me."
He reached for the remote and turned it off immediately.
"It's probably bad for your concussion anyways."
At that moment, Denise's stomach grumbled, and she and Carrie set off in search of food.
"Well, what do we do now that TV is out?"
Kevin laughed. "Well, we could talk, or play silly word games," she shook her head at both of these suggestions, requiring too much energy and brain power. Kevin continued, "or I could read to you."
"Would you really?" She didn't know the last time anyone read to her.
"Of course. You just sit back and relax." He pulled out an old copy of Harry Potter, and smiled sheepishly. "I thought you might want something you know, so if you fall asleep you won't miss anything."
"You might be the most brilliant man I have ever met." His neck and ears flamed red, and he redirected all of his attention to the book.
*
Nearly an hour had passed in which Kevin was reading, when a nurse arrived with a lunch tray, followed by Carrie and Denise, each holding a take-out bag of their own.
Denise went over and plopped her bag on Stephanie's tray. Carrie walked over to Kevin and shyly offered a bag to him. He looked shocked, but genuinely pleased. He excused himself to go to the washroom. Stephanie was touched, and gave her Mom a big smile.
"You'll like him once you get to know him."
"Stephanie, I don't know if I can get past knowing he hurt you."
"Seriously, Mom? You were the one who told me to give him a second chance!"
"Well, I thought you meant Mark. I've always loved you and Mark together. I know you planned to marry him."
"Yes, I did. That feels like a long time ago now. He's changed. I've changed. And I like Kevin."
"I just don't think any of this would have happened without him."
"Are you seriously blaming Kevin for the car accident? If anything, it's even more Mark's fault!" She took as deep of a breath as possible without pain, "the only person to blame is the person who hit me. So please let it go, and give Kevin a chance. I am."
She grabbed her jello from the tray. "Besides, who else would read my favourite book to me for an hour? Mark sure as hell wouldn't."
The bathroom door opened and Kevin came back over as everyone else fell silent.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Denise said, "the Halders were just deciding whether to eat you or sacrifice you to a goat God."
"Oh," he looked only slightly discomfited, "and what was the verdict?"
Stephanie piped up, "Undecided."
"Okay." He opened the take-out bag and looked inside. He smiled as he pulled out the chicken wrap and hash brown. "Thank you, this is great!" he flashed a winning smile at Carrie, and bit into the wrap.
Stephanie finished her Jell-o and opened the bag Denise had brought. Inside was a chicken wrap of her own, and a rainbow sprinkle donut. She couldn't help but squeal with glee when she pulled out the donut. Kevin laughed at her, and she pouted at him.
"Don't judge. I know you're just jealous!"
He brought his hand up to his heart. "You wound me, milady! I would never judge. I think it's cute." He turned his attention back to the last few bites of his wrap, and she devoured the donut.
Stephanie looked down at her hospital tray again, and assessed the remaining food. The juice and cookie looked good, the apple slices looked fine, but the ham and cheese sandwich looked pretty sad. She could smell Kevin's hash brown, and it made her mouth water.
She stared at him expectantly while he finished his wrap. He looked back up at her and did a double take when he saw her expression. He immediately looked suspicious.
"Why are you staring at me like that? Do I have something on my face?" He swiped at his lips with the back of his hand.
She shook her head and answered in her best singsong voice, a huge smile plastered on her face "Can I have your hash brown?"
His eyes widened and he looked down at the last bit of his lunch. She sensed his hesitation, and tried to sweeten the deal. "I'll trade you."
"Trade me what?"
"Apple slices."
"That doesn't seem fair." He smirked.
"Sure it does. Pommes for pommes de terre. They are practically the same thing!"
She could see Denise doubled over in silent laughter from the corner of her eye. Stephanie kept her smile trained on Kevin, and watched him think it over.
"You make the most ridiculous arguments. But, I want the apple slices and half the cookie."
Stephanie opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "You already ate a donut, and I'm giving up the superior product here. Deal or no deal?"
"But, it's my cookie."
"Okay, enjoy the apple slices." He turned his attention to unwrapping the hash brown. "Mmmmm, this sure smells good!" He very slowly brought the hash brown up to his mouth. She knew he was messing with her, but she gave in anyways.
"Okay fine. Half the cookie."
He grinned at her. "And the apple slices."
"And the apple slices," she agreed, and held out her hand for the hash brown.
His eyes twinkled and he put the hash brown on her plate, and leaned over to scoop up the apple slices. He broke the cookie in two, and Stephanie was pleased to see he left the bigger half for her. They shared a smile.
He whispered "I don't want you getting hangry at me already," to her and winked.