She scowled at him, then sighed in resignation when she noticed the immoveable expression on his face. “Yeah, I guess so. Not quite as bad as this morning but not great, either.”
“Thank you for being honest. Now, tell you what. We’ll walk to the end of the hall in this direction, then get you back to your room. Take a nap, have some lunch and another dose of Motrin, and then we’ll see how you feel. Maybe you can take another walk this afternoon, longer this time. As for getting discharged, we’ll see what the doctor says when he pays you a visit after lunch. But if I were you, I wouldn’t get my hopes up about that possibility.”
“Awesome,” she muttered sarcastically. “Can’t think of anything better than having to spend another night in this place.”
“Come on, it’s not that bad. You’ve got a private room - one of the better ones, too - all you have to do is kick back and take naps or watch cable TV. You get served three meals a day, plus you get to see my handsome face as much as you like. At least until I go off duty. The night nurse - well, she’s not as pretty as I am but if you’re nice she might bring you an extra dessert,” he joked.
She gave a little eye roll at his attempt to lighten the mood. “Hopefully the dessert is better than those eggs I had this morning. Blech.” She scrunched up her nose in distaste. “And I’m not the kick back and put my feet up sort. I’m used to keeping busy - going to classes, working, studying. This sitting still thing is going to drive me up the wall.”
“Judging from your low iron levels, I don’t doubt that you’re constantly on the go. You definitely don’t eat right, probably don’t get anywhere near enough sleep, and push yourself way too hard. And like it or not, Scarlett, kicking back and relaxing is exactly what you’re going to do today. Starting now.”
They were stopped just outside of her room. She hesitated, glancing at the bed, and admitting to herself reluctantly that just this short walk had tired her out and made her sore. At the same time, however, her resolve to get out of this place as quickly as possible deepened, and she knew her chances of getting discharged today would be largely dependent on her mobility.
“Can we take just one more walk up and down the hallway?” she pleaded, rather intentionally giving him what Margie had always jokingly referred to as her “sad puppy dog” face. “Please? Then I promise I’ll chill out, take a nap, do whatever else you say.”
Sergio gave her a look of disbelief. “Yeah, right. You probably don’t have a single obedient bone in your body. But, okay. You win. One more time up and down the hall and then it’s rest time for you.”
This time she was determined to walk without assistance, and defiantly removed her hand from his arm. She was pleased that her legs felt steadier, her gait a little less choppy, and she gave the nurse a triumphant grin as they reached her room a second time.
“Told you,” she taunted. “And I could have totally kept going. I’m a lot stronger than you think - ”
But before she could finish her sentence, a huge yawn overcame her, and she had to blink rapidly to keep her eyes open.
“Yep, that’s you, all right,” agreed Sergio cheerfully as he helped her into the bed. “Strong as an ox. Ready to tackle a twenty mile hike, right?”
She scowled. “Smartass,” she whispered, just before her head hit the pillow and sleep overtook her.
***
She made her way gingerly down the hallway, her gait a bit smoother and less jerky than it had been a few hours ago, but still far from normal, with each slow, careful step sending a shooting pain through her entire body. She was mindful not to call attention to herself, unwilling to have a nurse or aide question why she was walking through this particular area of the hospital. To be honest, Scarlett wasn’t quite sure of the answer to that question herself. It had been an impulse, she admitted, and probably not a real smart one, given how weak she still was. But the urge to possibly catch a glimpse of Jackson had been too tempting to resist, so here she was, sneaking around like a thief on the floor that housed the Intensive Care Unit.
The nap she had taken after walking up and down the halls with Sergio had been rather brief and fitful. It wasn’t as easy to sleep during the daytime, between the bright lights in her room, the sun streaming in through her window, and all of the noise and activity going on right outside her room. She’d napped for a scant hour, scowling when she noticed it was barely ten o’clock in the morning. She eliminated the possibility of watching TV, figuring that at this time of day the only shows on were soap operas, stupid game shows, and even stupider talk shows. She replied to Ananda’s text, and then to the email from her former foster mothers, before checking yet another time for any messages from Jackson, only to be disappointed - and infuriated - yet again at his lack of communication.
It was then the impulse had hit, and she’d rather defiantly eased herself out of the bed, found her robe, and began inching her way down the hall towards the elevator. A brief check of the hospital directory gave her the information she needed, and moments later she was riding the elevator up two floors to the ICU.
Scarlett knew, of course, that she wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near the room where Hannah was being kept and very closely monitored, but catching a glimpse of her half-sister wasn’t at all her intent. And she just assumed her father was here in the hospital, along with his wife and most likely her parents as well. But she wasn’t the least bit interested in seeing any of them. No, the only person she wanted to see was the man who’d brought her into all of this. Who had invaded her carefully ordered life, had forced her to confront too many demons from her past, who had brought her face to face with the father who’d failed her so badly. The man she had reluctantly begun to care for in her own dysfunctional way. And, more importantly, the man she had thought might also care for her, even if his feelings were only those of empathy or compassion, more brotherly than romantic. The man who hadn’t been able to spare a goddamned minute out of his day for more than a week to send her a one line text to see how she was coping with everything.
Still keeping herself as small and unobtrusive as possible, she shuffled down the hallway, following the signs for the family waiting room where she assumed Hannah’s people would be assembled. Even as she approached the area she could hear the sound of voices, both male and female. Careful not to be seen, she pressed her back against the wall diagonally across from the waiting room, where she could mostly see inside but no one would notice her. She recognized her father right away, and assumed the slight, blonde woman sitting next to him was his wife, Hannah’s mother. An older, well-dressed couple were undoubtedly Jackson’s parents. There were two other couples she could glimpse, the men older than Jackson but resembling him enough that she guessed these were his brothers, and the women next to them their wives.
There was, however, no sign of Jackson, which oddly made her feel a little bit better. After all, she rationalized, if he was busy at work then that would explain why he hadn’t had time to contact her. And if he wasn’t tied up with work related stuff, then why wasn’t he here with the rest of his family?