Bags of Bones

Chapter 2/3

Your name is Dirk Strider, and you've been run over by a pick-up truck. All you remember before the collision was bright headlights illuminating the side of you as you skateboarded home. The rest was blank. From what you could tell, you were out for about a day. You could see a calendar from across the hall. You felt some serious pain in your ribs to the point where the thought of sitting up was painful. You touched your head and found a piece of gauze taped to your forehead. You were just a mess all over. You hear what sounds like a cane tapping the floor nearby. You turn your head to see Jake.

"My word! What happened to you, chum?" Jake said as he slowly made his way over. He paused to see your eyes, which were full of expression and orange, staring back at him. "You have some pretty eyes, there." He said absentmindedly. Your eyes widened at him and he couldn't help the smile. "It's nice to actually see your face, old chap. I wondered what you were hiding behind those glasses." He said. You look away and decide to answer his question.

"Got hit by a truck on my way home. The guy probably called the ambulance that brought me here." You answered as his eyes widened in shock.

"That's no good! Dirk, I will visit you every day like you did me! I refuse to take no for an answer!" Jake told you triumphantly. You couldn't help the chuckle that passed through your lips. Ever the gentleman, it seemed. "Would you like me to grab you anything? Some water, perhaps?" he asks.

"Water sounds good." You tell him. He nodded and went off to grab you some water. While he was out, the doctor came in and said "Well, look who is finally awake! How are you feeling?"
"Like a million bucks. How long before I can sit up?"

"You'll be here for at least a week. Your brother will be here shortly."
"Too busy with the new production to be the first in line to see me? Bastard."

"Actually, he didn't answer the phone the first three times. When we finally got through to him, he was worried sick about you not being home yet." The doctor told you, which surprised you. Normally your brother never gave a shit, but it seemed he did. Then he was escorted in by a nurse. You could tell his eyes were wide behind those shades as he looked at you. Well, why wouldn't they be? You were on a hospital bed all bandaged up with who knows what kind of injuries.

"Ah, Mr. Strider! Good for you to come in." the doctor said. Dave just bypassed the doctor and went straight to you.

"Dirk? Are you okay? I made sure our insurance would cover all of this, so don't worry. You'll be out of here in no time." He told you, which shocked you to see him so worried like this.

"You don't need to be like this, bro. I'll be fine, alright?" you tell him as you place a hand over his. He silently nods and sits down where Jake was seated earlier. While the doctor spoke to Dave about your injuries, Jake came in with ice water and a bendy straw so you didn't have to worry about making a mess when drinking it. He noticed the doctor and walked over. "This is fine for him, right?" he asked as he held up the drink. The doctor looked at him and nodded before returning to their conversation. Jake handed you the water and you carefully took it before using the straw to take a sip.

The drink is good for your dry mouth and throat. You let out a quiet sigh before the bed near your feet depresses. You look to see Jake sitting there, watching you. "Better?" he asks you. You nod and take another sip. He smiles and just keeps watch of you. You raise an eyebrow to him. "You should take a picture, it will last longer." You say sarcastically. He takes it as a joke and lets out a boyish laugh. You have slowly found yourself falling for the boy, but for what reason? You have only known each other for two weeks. But the image of those bright green eyes looking into your own orange ones as you held each other close never left. Those eyes that you felt constantly sought yours in an effort to seek your approval in everything you two did together. It was something you didn't want changing.

And it didn't while you were injured. Even though you had many visitors to make sure you were okay, Jake was always there for you. The only thing you didn't like was seeing those sad eyes when he saw the visitors you had and no one came to visit him. It made you sad too since you knew he had no one to visit him while he was here. But when the visitors you had would leave, you two would be like chatterboxes and your love would grow stronger. When you two were left alone and you had started to be able to sit up, you sat up and saw Jake having tears in his eyes. "I don't understand it, Dirk…" he said with a sniffle. "Where are my visitors? I want to see my gran again…" he finished as he buried his face in his hands. That sight broke your heart. You held him in your arms tightly, even though the strength made your chest hurt as much as your heart was.

"Jake, you have me. We have each other and just having your visits are enough for me, alright?"

"B-but… You get other visi—"

"No buts! You are my favorite visitor and I would be sad if I lost you as a visitor." You said as he started crying again. That's when you decided to sing to him.

"We bonded, over broken bones…

Whose broke skin. Whose fractured in two places.

And whose hurt the most." You started singing. It was the song "Bags of Bones" by Owen. As you sang, you hesitated before singing the lines:
"You and me

A hospital love scene…

If only these broken bodies

Were ours… forever."

He gasped at the sound of the love scene line. He looked at you with a curious look. You sigh and decide to tell him. "Jake, I have some serious feelings for you. I wouldn't want to be with anyone else. Maybe I'm stupid for feeling this way, bu—" you are immediately interrupted with him kissing your lips. You immediately melt into it and kiss him back. After a couple seconds of holding it there, you pull away. He smiles at you and says "No buts." You look at him in shock. "If you keep up with that look, I won't be able to kiss you more!" Your orange eyes light up as he said that, and that's when he realized how expressive your eyes were. You pull him close and kiss him again. You two continued swapping spit until Jake had to return to his room. You gave each other a quick kiss goodbye before he left to go back to his room down the hall.

Your name is Dirk Strider and you are now completely sure you are in love with Jake English. And no one could take that fact away.