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Authors Note: The song David is singing in this chapter is called “Still on my brain” by J. Timberlake.***
“Don’t worry, Miss. Malone, it’ll be all over in just a second and then you can go home, I promise.”
That’s what you told me an hour ago, Valerie inwardly commented to herself, before quickly turning her head in the other direction as the nurse beside her began to take out the IV, that Valerie herself had been dying to remove from her arm for over twenty-four hours now. God, I hate this part…
As many times as Valerie had been hospitalized in the last year, she knew she would never get used to the feeling of needles being taken in and out of her arm. It was the only reason why, when growing up, in Buffalo she never chose heroin as one of her drugs of choice--like some of her other friends did. I would’ve passed out before the rubber band even touched my arm.
“There, we’re all done. You can look now.”
Without even bothering to hold back the small blush that was quickly appearing across her face, Valerie let out a small laugh while replying. “Sorry, I don’t really do needles that well.”
“That’s fine. I completely understand,” The older woman commented, just as a knock was heard at the door and a second later the door to Valerie's hospital room was opened; exposing both David and Dr. Phillips behind it.
“Well, I guess I don’t have to ask if you’re ready to go home now.”
Knowing that the man in front of her was referring to the fact that Valerie was at the moment seated on her hospital bed wearing a pair of sneakers--that Steve had dropped off for her that morning—and the same pair of sweats she had been brought in with the day before, caused Valerie to laugh slightly to herself before asking: “May I?”
A comment which caused Dr. Phillips to slightly laugh as well before continuing with: “I don’t see why not. Your lab results from earlier came back mostly normal and besides the new dizzy spells and a couple of other things your doctor has already told me he told you to look out for, I don’t have anything else to add. So, yes, you are now free to go.”
“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear that one.” Valerie absentmindedly joked, before hopping off the gurney she was seated on and thanking the doctor in front of her one last time.
“It was my pleasure…now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check on one of my other patients. But remember, Miss. Malone, you have the number here and the number to my office, if at any time you feel another dizziness spell or something else occurring. I mean it, call me, Miss. Malone.”
“I will. Thanks once again, Dr. Phillips.” Valerie outwardly replied, before absentmindedly watching on as both the doctor and the nurse from before quickly left the room.
Afterwards she reluctantly turned her attention towards the still silent David, who hadn’t bothered to say anything to her since he offered his place to her the night before. I guess I could end my part of the silent treatment and thank him for that.
Interestingly enough, before Valerie could do such a thing, David commented that they should hurry up and leave ‘cause he had left his car in one of the fifteen minute parking spaces.
Afterwards he proceeded to leave the room; causing Valerie to be left with one last thought in her head before she began to silently follow him out the door.
Something tells me these are going to be the longest two weeks of my life.
(Six PM)
After being waken every three hours by one of the nurses stopping by to check on her, Valerie wasn’t that surprised that once she arrived at David’s and he showed her where she’d be staying for the next couple of weeks, she quickly fell asleep.
She was more surprised that it took her phone, which was right next to her, almost three rings before she was finally able to pick it up. I guess what they say is true: the older you get, the slower you are.
With that thought in mind, Valerie quickly pressed talk on her cell-phone before the person on the other end had a chance to hang up. “Hello?”
“Hey Val…it’s me, Kelly.”
Without even bothering to hide it, Valerie couldn’t help but smile at the voice on the other end.
If anyone would’ve told me, a couple years ago, that Kelly would be calling to speak to me, I would’ve thought they were lying. That goes to show you…a lot of things can change through the years.
“Hey Kel…why didn’t you just call the house phone?”
“To be honest with you…as much as I love David, I really didn’t want to risk the chance of having to speak to him right now, especially after yesterday.”
Having heard this same conversation from Steve when he had visited the hospital earlier that morning caused Valerie to silently nod to herself before quickly changing the subject. I think I’ve heard enough David bashing for one day.
“So, what’s up?”
“Nothing, really,” Kelly commented after a seconds pause, “I was just calling ‘cause Erin was asking about you and I was wondering if I could bring her over this weekend so we could all catch up and have a little girl’s day at David’s place, what do you say?”
Any other time, Valerie probably would’ve jumped at the chance of seeing Erin—since she hadn’t seen the younger female in what felt like years. But given the fact that David wasn’t really acting like himself as of late, she wasn’t sure if having house-guests so soon would be the right thing to do.
I don’t know…maybe since it’s his younger sister coming over, he might not care that much as long as we all stay out of his hair for a while.
After taking another second to think about it, Valerie reluctantly agreed with the idea; a fact which Kelly was happy about.
“Great…but now, I hate to call and run, but Dylan just came home with pasta and I’m starving. Can I call you back later?”
After slightly laughing at that comment, Valerie outwardly commented that that was fine with her and that she should go ahead and find herself something to eat as well. “I don’t think I’ve eaten a thing since this morning.”
“Yeah, then you should defiantly go and eat something then.” Kelly replied, in all seriousness, before starting to say her goodbyes, and then as an after-thought interrupting them with: “Oh, before I forget, I just wanted to tell you, if I hadn’t told you already, I’m glad you and me decided to put our differences aside and become friends. That really means a lot to me.”
Even though Valerie knew that Kelly’s sudden admission was probably stemming from what the group found out about Valerie the day before, the fact that the words had come from the other woman alone caused Valerie to slightly smile at the fact.
“That really means a lot to me as well, Kel. I’m also glad we got to become friends too—I’ll talk to you later.”
With that being the last word, Kelly quickly said her goodbyes once again and then hung up the phone; allowing Valerie to finally stand up and reluctantly make her way out and into the quiet hallway.
I wonder where David is…
After passing the younger man’s room and hearing no sound or movements coming from inside the chamber, Valerie was just about to figure that he was asleep or had stepped out for a second when the sound of a piano being played drifted towards her from down the hallway.
I guess where some things change, other things do stay the same.
Even though she knew it was eaves-dropping, Valerie couldn’t help but make her way towards the sound of David’s voice; careful to do so quietly so he wouldn’t hear her.
As Valerie watched the man in front of her get into the words that he was singing, she couldn’t help but curse Steve and everyone else who had been trying to get David to tell them how he was feeling.
If they only knew…he has been this entire time, just through his music.
After listening to the words for a couple more seconds, Valerie figured she should go back to giving the younger man his space. And she was about to make a move to do so, when David abruptly stopped playing and softly said: “You can come in.”
Shit!
Not knowing what to do now caused Valerie to pause for a second before inwardly saying oh, what the hell and then reluctantly making her way further into the room; stopping only when she was two inches in front of David, next to the piano bench he was seated on.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt, but…that was really beautiful, David.”
After a second of getting no response in return, Valerie inwardly thought to herself: Okay, what now? And then afterwards, figuring anything was better than this, she reluctantly made a move to leave the room, but like once before, she was stopped once again.
“I’m sorry.”
What?
Confused by this sudden apology, Valerie quickly turned around—wanting to know if she had heard him right. “What did you say?”
After a minute of not saying anything--a further sign that told Valerie she must've heard wrong--David once again said: “I’m sorry...I’m sorry for yelling at you. I’m sorry for embarrassing you. I’m sorry for putting your health at risk and I’m also sorry for saying all those things to you when you were only trying to help.”
Wow…
Not knowing what to say to any of this caused Valerie to be stunned for a couple of seconds. But then after a second of processing David’s apology, she finally said: “It’s okay.”
A comment which David quickly became upset with.
“No, it’s not okay! I had no right to say or do any of those things to you. I was just...upset! Upset at Donna, upset at Tammy, and upset at myself.
Having a feeling that the walls were starting to crumble a little, Valerie inwardly braced herself for another shouting match before outwardly asking David if he wanted to talk about it.
“I…” David opened his mouth to begin, but at the last second, he stopped. “I think I should go and start dinner. It’s getting late and you haven’t eaten anything today.”
What the hell?
Surprised at his sudden retreat back into his shell, Valerie opened her mouth to push a little further.
But after quickly remembering what happend the last time she tried to push, she promptly shut her mouth and then watched on as David quickly stood up from the piano bench and quickly made his way out of the living room; leaving Valerie with one last thought in her head.
Shit…I was so close.
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