Chapter 10
The scenery is red, very red. Red happens to be my second favorite color next to purple, so I am not very fazed by the color. It is even my favorite shade of red, blood red. I seem to be rising up from the color into a more colorful world around me. The sky is blue and everything else (besides the sunflowers) is a nice light pink color, another one of my favorite colors. Of course, I would never admit to liking pink, but that doesn't matter.
I look down at myself. I seem to look normal, except for my clothing attire which happens to be more pink. I feel embarrassed in these clothes, so my cheeks are heating up to match the pink color of the fluffy and warm clothes I am wearing. Considering this is my dream, I feel as if I should be able to change my attire, but alas, this is not the case and I am still a fluffy and pink bunny.
To make my misery even more prominent, I have decided to dream of Alfred while I am wearing this ridiculous pink get-up. This has put me in a bad mood, but I am still smiling. The American is approaching. Oh dear. Blush. How dare my attire be this silly? He is wearing something white and angelic and I am in probably my big sister's flannel pajamas or something with its warmth, frilly accents and just all out adorableness.
"Um… h-hello, Alfred…" He better not give some sort of insult towards my way. I know what I am wearing and I know that it is very worthy of being insulted. Luckily, he smiles at me and does not seem to be giving the indication of an insult. He usually has some sort of smirk or sneer on his face if he is going to be smiling while insulting me. I usually go a different route and smile happily while insulting him instead of giving him an evil smile.
"Hey!" He elongates that "hey." It sounds very annoying instead of just a normal and short greeting of hey. It is like that thing Fonzie does, but with an h. Well, that is just the very annoying and dim-witted Alfred I know. This is a dream. I don't really know what is going to happen next. Everything seems to be pink and made of clouds, though, like a cotton candy city. Alfred pushes me on the chest and I stumble back.
I growl at him and push him back. He laughs like an idiot and pounces me to the ground. I am not sure whether to be mad and start choking him again or wait to see what he wants to do. After all, this is a dream, so it isn't really an offense if I want to choke Alfred just a little bit more. My murderous thoughts seem to subside as I feel a pair of lips being pressed to mine.
"Why do you hate me so much, Ivan?" he asks me after we are finished kissing, which only lasted about a few seconds. I wonder how many times I have to explain this to Alfred. Even in my dreams I have to explain it to him. I sigh out of annoyance at the stupid and constant question he seems to be asking me and roll my eyes. His face is only centimeters away from me. He could very well kiss me again.
"I have told you before Alfred… It is because hatred is filled with passion and I feel like it makes the love more passionate." This is the last time I want to explain it. A sudden laugh escapes my lips. That is mostly because Alfred is making my tickle by placing soft little kisses to my neck. My scarf is not apparent. He must see the scar I made on myself so many years back in high school. "Stop it." I do not like all these cute little forms of affection.
"Why do you hate me, Ivan?" he repeats. I just explained this to him. Is he even dense in my dreams? I do not get it. It is making me impatient, but at least he has stopped being ridiculously affectionate to me. "Love and hate are two totally different emotions. I can't understand you…" Well, he has a point, but he is an idiot, so I wouldn't expect him to understand. "Do you understand…? You aren't explaining it to me in a way I can understand."
This is excruciating. What is with all these meaningless questions? I find myself stuttering over my words even so. I must be becoming an idiot. Idiocy is contagious apparently. This question seemed so easy to me at one point. Hm… I actually do not know how to answer those last questions so I reply with a simple "I don't know…" More stupid questions come my way.
"Do you love me or hate me then? They can't coexist…" He states that last sentence as if it is a fact. Ha! I beg to differ. It can coexist, I think. That has been my reasoning so far, so why would it not be true? Considering this is a dream, I suppose that means that I am doubting myself. Maybe Alfred is visiting my dreams, though, and making me think this way… making me be confused. I doubt that is the case.
"I… find you very annoying… but really cute… and precious. Sometimes you make me incredibly angry at you, but… but I still care about you, so I suppose… that I…" get distracted by a buzzing sound and wake up without any realizations and no clue as to what I dreamed about anyway.
My alarm is useless today, though, but considering the ringing awakened me, I sit up in my bed. Since I was sent to the hospital, Alfred and I get some paid sick days to a point. If I still need to recover past the paid area, they will become unpaid, but I doubt that will be the case for me, anyway. My jaw feels a little bit stiff right now. It hurts a lot, too. I need someone to get me some pain relievers or something. I try to move my jaw around a little, but the elastics are stopping it. What do I eat for breakfast? The doctors actually supplied me with a list. It consists of everything, but it has to be blended until I get the wiring and elastics removed by medical officials.
It is about seven o'clock right now. I work from nine to five usually, sometimes longer, but I get paid for overtime, so it is no big deal if I do work over a couple hours. I should just fall back asleep and so I do, but I don't manage to have any dreams worth mentioning in that time. The second time I am awakened by another ringing sound, but this time, it is me getting a phone call. I answer it tiredly because I just woke up.
"Hey, man. I'm allowed to go home… and I have no one else to call. My… my dad, he skipped out on me again… that bastard." Again? What does Alfred mean by again? Either way, I am surprised that he has called me. However, I am a little bit curious as to what Alfred's father has done to be called a bastard. Alfred seems to be a little depressed-sounding.
"Yeah… I will pick you up since I took you there," I laugh a little bit with my mouth closed. It is no trouble for me. I can drive perfectly fine. Also, maybe I can pick up stronger than drug store pain relievers at the hospital drug store. They tend to have stronger and better stuff… or at least, I would think. This pain is unbearable. Maybe I should just get some prescribed pain relievers.
Either way, I have to pick up Alfred, so I put on a robe over my pajamas and some comfortable shoes. I do not really care what people at the hospital think of me. Also, it hurts my nose to pull a shirt over it, so I just want to stay in what I am wearing, aka, a light yellow long-sleeved shirt that says something in Russian on it and some grey plaid, flannel pants. My robe is a light pinkish color like my scarf. Now, all that's left to do is drive to the hospital.
It takes around twenty minutes to get there and I go up to Alfred's hospital room. He seems to laugh as soon as I enter it. I give him a glare, but it fades away quickly. He is just laughing about how pink and "girly" my robe is. I got it in a men's section, believe it or not.
"I'm… uh… I hurt, but I can go home," he tells me. "They prescribed me some strong pain reliever pills." Oh, exactly what I need, but I suppose it would not be right to take Alfred's pills. After all, he probably has a much weaker pain tolerance than me. I roll a wheelchair over to where he is. The nurses have already removed his intravenous tube. I help him stand up and take a seat in the chair. It is really cute how helpless he is. However, he is also making me want to cry because of how pained and non-smiley he looks.
Well, I wheel him out of the room and down to the lobby of the hospital. They tell me I can't take the wheelchair in the parking lot because it is hospital property. What if people can't walk like how Alfred is right now? Then what? They are being difficult, but no matter. I lift Alfred up. This time, he is actually wrapping his arms around my neck and burying his face in my chest. It's a nice change.
I even have to strap Alfred in like a child. It is suiting, though, since he behaves like a child. He wants the seatbelt to be looser over his broken rib, but I don't want to loosen it because 1) if we get in a car accident, he will die. As much as I want to see him die, I don't want it by car accident. Actually, there is only one reason. Therefore, I keep the seatbelt on him.
"Where do you live?" He tells me an address and my face lights up with glee, he actually lives in the same apartment building as me, which is great! He is a few floors below me, but that is no matter. We live near each other. My heart is fluttering. I can feel it. "I live in that building!" I say to him ecstatically. His face seems somewhere in between fear and disgust. I don't know why, though. Either way, it takes me a rather short time to get back to the building. "Alfred, do you have someone to spend Christmas with?" I ask him. I hope he is a very lonely fool because then he has no choice but to hang out with his boyfriend.
"No… I moved away from Kiku and my bro… and my mom… to take this stupid job. Are you trying to make me depressed?" he asks me. No, that it not my intention, dear Alfred. I do not say that aloud, but I'm sure the wide smile on my face tells him what I am thinking.
"Do you want to hang out with me on Christmas? I'm just going to be hanging out in my apartment probably…" I don't really celebrate Christmas, though. It was never a big deal in my family, I suppose. Sure, we would do presents and such and sometimes even decorate a tree, but it was never really a big ordeal. Now, the New Year's celebration. That was something. I can picture it now.
"Maybe just so I'm not depressed…" Alfred snarls. Ah, this is great. I will be hanging out with Alfred during Christmas, if we are well enough. I'm glad that I have work off anyway from Christmas Eve to New Year's. This is fantastic and I might have enough time to recover.
After a few minutes, I finally get back to the apartment building and I take off Alfred's seatbelt for him. Then, I proceed to pick him up very carefully again in order to not damage his pitifully fragile bones. I suppose I will take him to his apartment and place him in his bed. He seems to be in comfortable clothes, so that is a relief.
I feel a heat forming on my cheeks as Alfred wraps his arms around my neck again. I am going to assume that he is just doing that so he will not fall down if I accidentally lose my hold on him, but it is really cute, so I will believe that he is doing it because he finally realized that I am his boyfriend. He has his face buried in my chest which makes him even cuter. I wish that this moment could never end.
When I come up to his apartment, he hands me a key from his pocket. I stand him up for the moment. He leans on me to keep his balance. Then, I open his door with the key before lifting him up once again. He seems to be blushing similar to a beet which I would put in borscht. I find it rather cute and chuckle a little bit. His apartment seems to be decked out in Christmas lights, but he doesn't have a tree. Would they even allow trees in apartments?
Either way, I find his bedroom and place him on the bed. He looks so lonely on a giant king bed. I decide to climb on the bed next to him. Boyfriends lie next to each other, so I see this as no big deal. Besides, I can see how cute Alfred's face is (even with that ugly bandage on his nose) up close. I am glad that Alfred is not shouting at me. In fact, he turns over to lie on me, whispering a small thank you in my ear.
"You're like a chubby marshmallow… All squishy and soft like that…" I'm not sure if I am supposed to be offended or complimented at that comment. Alfred seems to be fond of my softness, but on the other hand, he basically called me fat. No, he did call me fat. I don't know how to respond really. Before I am able to respond he demands, "Get me my pills from the pharmacy… I'm hurting… Please."
Sigh, I suppose I will have to move from this perfect position with Alfred in my arms. Oh, poo. I get up anyway and leave Alfred lying on the bed. I have the prescription in my pocket. While I'm at the CVS, I suppose that I could find some lower dose over-the-counter pain relievers for the constant pain in my nose and jaw... I forgot to go to the hospital drug store.
Well, my short and sweet moment with Alfred where I actually did not hate him and found him infuriating is now ended. I walk out the door probably never to see this place again for another fifteen minutes, which to me, feels like an hour away from my Alfred. One small step for Ivan, one giant step for Ivankind. I am very jealous that the Americans went to the moon before we did, but at least, we beat them in the space race. Yuri Gagarin, first man in space. Laika, first animal and dog in space. We also sent the first woman to space. My country is frankly the best and the biggest, except for our horrible laws.
Well, enough ramblings, I must fetch Alfred's medication. And so, I have embarked on my journey to find the morphine pills for my dearest, which I accidentally injured. Alfred started the fight. He provoked me, so obviously, this is not my fault. Besides, I could not just stand there and let him punch me without punching back, could I? For all I know, Alfred could have caused me a brain hemorrhage if I let him punch me as much as he wanted.
Now, I have arrived at the truck that I took Alfred here in and start driving off. I wonder how long I will be gone. Hopefully, there won't be a wait for the medicine. Then, I'll have to wait much longer for the medication. Alfred will be stuck there in the pain he caused himself basically. I, of course, laugh at this thought, but I am supposed to care about him as his significant other. Therefore, I shall get him his medicinal needs!
I'm going to go back to Alfred's point of view or else the next chapter will be very boring about whether to go with generic or brand name medicine and just shopping at a general store (which CVS is DISCLAIMER) for idk, general store stuff like OTC medicine, gum, and toilet paper. That doesn't sound too exciting to write about, nor would I think it would be a thrilling read either.