Gradually, over the next week, Liza was recovering and ready to be released. She would need to take some portable oxygen with her for night use, but was doing well enough that they felt safe sending her home.
Every night that week, she talked to Charles. She passed the time by listening to him reading news stories, sometimes a work submission, or a part of whatever book she was thinking about. They had a lot of the same books, so it wasn't hard for him to track down her favorites. Liza would pick a memorable chapter, describe it, and Charles would usually know where she wanted to start, picking up from there.
She told him excitedly that she might get to leave soon. She went through details of what the doctor had said. "Would you mind helping a little, if I need it?"
"Sure. I wouldn't want you to bring this to Maggie," Charles said.
"Have you been ok? Any symptoms?" Liza asked. In her own illness, she had forgotten he had it too.
"Just a cold. Slight headache. I'll be alright."
She hoped he wasn't minimizing how he felt to spare her, and started to voice her worries to him. Charles assured her that he was fine. "Thank you for asking."
She drifted off, a little bit high from her medication, wrapping up their talk. "Love you," she said, and closed her eyes. Liza didn't hear him say it back, but he did.
The next day, her nurse told her it was time for her to go home. "I'm sure your husband will be so happy!" Kellie exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I overheard a little of your conversation."
"It's ok. And Charles isn't my husband. It's complicated. "
"Well, when you told him you loved him, I just assumed your husband or partner, or something like that. Sorry. " Kellie rambled.
"If you didn't know us, I could see how you might think that," she grinned. Yes, they were definitely complicated.
"I get it. Let's just say you are each other's person. Right? I'll give him a call for you, if he's your ride. "
Kellie handed her the discharge papers, and she declined letting her nurse call. Liza could arrange her own transportation.
"If you can pick me up, I'm ready to go home in about an hour," Liza told Charles.
"I'll be right there. I'm so glad you're better." Charles replied. He hung up quickly, and texted her an hour later that he was there.
To her surprise, he picked her up in his SUV instead of calling for a cab or a car. 'This must be record time for New York. ' she thought.
"I wanted to be here with a better vehicle in case you needed help," Charles explained. He helped her up the elevated step, and collected everything she needed to go home. It would have been a lot to carry, she agreed.
"They give you a lot of extras here." Liza concluded. "I missed you," she said, leaning over to hug him, once they were seated in his SUV.
"I missed you too. But I'm sure you could tell from all my phone calls." He reached over and gently squeezed her hand.
She reclined her seat and rested the whole way back to her destination.