You had been in quite a lot of trouble through your life, but never as bad as this.
You used to be one of the cool kids, always poker-faced, no affection in public or even so much as a second glance at crushes. That was when you were about 15, though. That was 4 years ago, and that time had past.
A lot of things had changed with you over this time, such as how nervous around actual people you were, and what kind of expressions you let slip. But the thing that had been broken most, was not your facade, but your bones.
Each day, new strifes with your brother, but each time was more difficult than the last and you eventually gave it up. That was when it all started. You already got bullied previously for those weird shades, and that spiked up hair, but the people never really seemed to want to be friends, it was more making fun of you. No matter how many times you stood up proudly and went over to people, striking up conversation and talking about cool things at the time like power rangers and beyblade battles, sometimes even swords, you just couldn't fit in.
You were bullied endlessly, and that's why your brother tried to train you, keep you sturdy and safe by yourself. It never worked greatly, as you like robotics more and didn't build muscle, you built robots. Bullies had broken several of your bones before, but it was mostly arms and legs.
That was when the whole thing about being cool shattered, and you were left with the internet and those you met on it. Your relationship with your brother had shattered, and you didn't want much to do with him anymore. He was never around much, and when he was he just made you feel weak. He made jokes about you nowadays, so you tried to keep out of his life. You had only really met Roxy on pesterchum as it seemed pretty outdated, but nowadays you had all your pals and your boyfriend on the website that seemed pretty old.
Speaking of which, your boyfriend was still by you at the hospital. It had been a couple days since they had told you that you had two fractured ribs, one more serious than the other, but they had told you you should be fine and out of here in no longer than 6 weeks. Obviously around one and a half months is a pretty long time, but Jake had visited you ever single day since you got in here and told Dave that you had to stay round his because he needed company while his grandma was gone. Even she agreed that if he called it would be fine to lie, he might get very worried about you after all.
If he thought you were with Jake, he would just assume you were fucking like rabbits.
Jake brought you small treats when he came in. Things like cakes and pastries from Jane and her dad, video games with a 3ds from Roxy and Jake would just be there and bring you your phone, ipod and small objects that made you feel at home. He had given you a massive dog toy, and it had probably smelt bad when they first got it or something, because it looked brand new and smelt exactly like Jake did.
It was the perfect thing to sleep with every night after they had made Jake leave, as it felt like part of him was still kind of there.
You may have been 19 years old, but you had a big thing for cuddly toys, especially from people with a special place in your heart.
Most of the diagnosis was rest and painkillers, though you weren't allowed to move much in case you made it worse and punctured a lung. Jake always seemed tired when he came, always sad as well, and it made you feel bad for having to drag him out here when he could be at home doing more important things. You felt so needy in hospital.
Jake was currently asleep on his chair, leaning his arms and his head on the hospital bed. His glasses were slightly askew from sleeping with them on, and you reached out to carefully remove them and fold them up, placing them next to Jake's sleeping form. He didn't seem to move much when he slept, so they probably wouldn't be broken or something. You started to run your fingers through Jake's soft, chocolate brown hair, being gentle enough not to wake him up.
He did talk in his sleep sometimes, but the thing he said this time was a little confusing. "You're not a burden." He'd said in that sleepy, mumbled voice that he spoke in when he slept. You were unsure if he was directing it at you, or someone in his dream, but either way, you should probably ignore it.
Turns out, he was actually just half asleep. He always knew what you were thinking somehow, and it made you confused, and a little uneasy, but he always meant well with it. So it would always make you feel a little better.
The boy that you thought was asleep stood up and started to climb on your bed, and you had to shift out of the way so there was room, but the second he was up there and laying down beside you on the small mattress. He started to cuddle you, pressing kisses to your cheek and forehead as your lips and nose were covered by that stupid mask to keep your lungs working without the pain of breathing. It was removed every so often throughout the day, but usually Jake was in college at the time.
You missed being able to kiss him. You missed being able to hug him properly without all these tubes.
You missed the normalities in which you had temporarily lost.
You nearly started to cry at this thought, but Jake was there to be comforting you and holding you gently, telling you it was going to be alright. He seemed to know what he was doing, but this just overwhelmed you with joy to who you had and how lucky you were to have him by your side. He was such a dweeb, but he was also very sweet and it made you feel emotional.
But the two of you were tired, and so instead, you fell asleep in his arms, teary and feeling very strongly about the boy that was holding you.
It was the day that Dirk was due to be coming out of the hospital, and your grandma had been phoning you to ask how Dirk was to pass on to his brother, leaving out the parts about the hospital.
You had just come out of college and were rushing to the hospital, except this time you were a lot faster as you were running, and therefore arrived quicker. Dirk was supposed to be coming out at 2pm, so you left early and no one had really questioned it.
You had a straw basket with you, covered by a patchwork blanket and you had decided that the two of you were going to have a picnic, as it was a calm activity for someone newly out of hospital. There was a park near the two of you's houses and would be perfect for a picnic before travelling back home for another relaxed thing like video games.
To your dismay, Dirk was waiting for you by the doors of the hospital, dressed in the clothing he wore there but less... bloody with the giant dog toy you'd gotten him. You ran up to him and picked him up in a hug, nuzzling your face into his shoulder. He had dropped the toy when you ran over, but you didn't mind. You could wash it for him again, or he could do it himself. Either or. The basket was still in your hands, and Dirk hadn't seemed to have noticed it because he was so snuggled up to you and you don't think he wanted to move. And you were totally okay with that.
Shifting to keep him up, (which wasn't very hard as he had his legs tightly around your waist) you left a soft kiss against the exposed skin of where his shirt had slipped down his arm. Most of his clothing, as you'd come to know, was actually too big for him, as he didn't like to shop in both the womens section, nor the childrens section. His brother had quite an effect on him in that sense. You picked up the toy and he took hold of it and held it behind the both of you.
The park wasn't actually that far from both your houses, and neither was the hospital. Arriving quickly, you soon picked out the largest tree and sat down underneath it, leaving Dirk to sit on your lap, all snuggled up to you as you leant against the tree.
It was a comfortable silence before Dirk shifted to sit sideways on your lap instead of straddling you and he reached out to look in the basket. He pulled the cover off of it and tucked it back down again, getting up and off of you. It was slightly confusing at first, but as you got to look properly, he was sitting in front of a small patch of flowers. There was a ton of variety, but as you looked closer, Dirk was picking the flowers.You can't do that in a public park! You ran over and tried to stop him, but he just pointed out that it said nowhere that they couldn't. If they were breaking the rules right now he was so dead, but he could just point out the fact that Dirk had just stated.
Dirk was quite skilled at what he was doing and made you a beautiful flower crown in many colours. He had carefully placed it on your head with a bright smile, and being able to look into those beautiful amber eyes without those dangblasted shades in the way was a breath of fresh air. He wasn't really too good with the light, but his shades had gotten broken in the bullying, so he had to live without them for the moment.
Your hands weren't really small and delicate enough to make those sorts of things, so instead, you just watched. You didn't have particularly large hands, they were normal sized. But Dirk's hands were that of a small child, and honestly it was really sweet. Though he could do fiddly things like this with ease, so when he made himself one he just smiled brightly as you did.
Both of you sat smiling for a while until the park keeper started to shout, and you figured it was because the two of you had been picking the flowers, so you swooped down and picked Dirk up in the most careful fashion while running because he probably had a sensitive ribcage right now. You leaned down to grab the basket, and as you did, Dirk picked up the stuffed toy and you ran out laughing and being chased by the park keeper to go home and do interesting things like video games.