Just hold me
Forget about time
Just hold me
I think I'm losing my mind
--from Kiss Me There by Jo Davidson
After trying to sleep, Micah gave up and just lay in bed. He was sure that Pruitt was purposely trying to keep him awake, banging things on the counter and slamming shut cabinet doors. He just squeezed his eyes shut and blocked her out. Micah could feel himself drifting off into a light sleep when the door opened, then closed sharply. His patience had already been spent, so he pulled the covers over his head and growled,
"Damn it, why won't you just leave me alone?!"
"Excuse me?"
(Gabe it's Gabe you moron)
He poked his head out from under the blankets. Well, of course, it was Gabe, eyes large and unblinking. Micah smiled a little.
"Sorry. I thought you were Pruitt."
(I've really got to start looking before I greet visitors.)
Gabe grinned and crossed over to the bed.
"I think I should be insulted," she said, tousling his hair playfully. Micah snickered and ducked away.
"Thank God you're here. Pruitt's been a royal pain in the ass all morning."
"Well, you're in luck." Gabe pulled up a chair and sat. "She left early. Said she was feeling ill."
(blasphemous girl)
"Gabe!" he cried suddenly, grabbing her arm. She blinked.
"What?"
"She knows!" Micah tightened his grip and shook her arm lightly. "She knows about us! I told her that I knew she was doing those things to me, and she said that she knows about us too!" Gabe's eyes widened.
"She... what?" He let out a frustrated sigh, but she stopped him with a shake of the head. "No, I heard you. But how does she--"
"I don't know," he said quickly. It was very distressing -- questions everywhere, and all the answers were hiding. Micah let go of her arm and covered his face with his hands. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know..." Gabe put a hand against his neck, her thumb stroking the skin there lightly.
"Quiet," she murmured. "Quiet, quiet. Don't worry about that right now-- she's gone for a while, so we can buy some time." Micah lowered his hands and cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Buy time to what?"
"Figure this out." Gabe's fingers moved to the back of his neck. "And I promise, we will figure this out. Did she say anything else?" He closed his eyes and sighed quietly.
"Mmn. She said that if I didn't tell Dr. Phillips about her 'spiritual enlightenments', she wouldn't tell him about us." Micah grunted a little, shifting into her touch. "Mmn. A little to the left, please." She snickered and obeyed.
"What am I, your personal masseuse?"
"Damn straight," he retorted, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. Gabe kept kneading the back of his neck.
"Okay, so Pruitt said she wouldn't tell if you didn't. That's good, but if I know Pruitt, she'll find a way to ruin us and keep herself safe." She inched her fingers into his hairline, which earned a little sigh of comfort from Micah.
"Mmn." The girl smiled and pressed a light kiss against his cheek.
"You sound so worried," she murmured with a grin. He cracked an eyelid at her.
"You're not helping any," Micah snickered. Gabe pulled her hand away and tweaked his nose.
"Hmph. Ingrate." He opened his mouth to say something and yawned instead.
(Sleepy. Hm.)
The girl sighed sympathetically and pushed his hair back from his forehead. "You're tired, Micah. Sleep." He peered at her through heavy eyelids.
"Since when have I ever listened to you?" But he yawned again, and Gabe's mind was made up.
"Start now," she said firmly. Then she paused. "Hey, scoot over."
"Why?" Micah arched an eyebrow at her.
"Because I said so." Gabe pushed his arm gently. "Scoot over." He obeyed quickly, leaving a rather large space in the bed.
(Wow, am I really that skinny?)
Wordlessly, Gabe slid into the opening and nestled beside him. Micah blinked.
"Oh." Then, after a moment's hesitation, he slipped an arm around her.
"Able to sleep now?" she murmured, pushing black hair away from his face. Micah nodded and gave her a tired smile.
"Thank you," he mumbled. Gabe kissed his cheek gently.
"Any time, Micah. Now go to sleep." He squinted at her, then sighed and leaned his head on her shoulder.
"Okay. Okay." Carefully, she leaned over and turned off the light. The room was plunged into darkness and silence.
(tell her you love her)
"I'll only be here a little while," she said quietly. He nodded, the movement of his head muted against her shoulder.
"Mm hm."
(tell her you love her tell her you twit)
"Sleep well, Micah." Gabe went silent.
(tell her tell her tell her)
" 'Night," he whispered, and then silence reigned supreme.
The light hit his eyes harshly, making Micah wince and groan. It was one of those nights where you barely close your eyes before the morning is there, and he wasn't ready to wake up yet.
(Get up, you lazy little bugger.)
He opened his eyes slowly, blinking to adjust them to the light. Micah blinked once, twice, then noticed the girl that was nestled gently against him. He smiled and buried his nose in her hair.
"Mmn. Morning, Ga--" Then it hit him.
(Oh my God, she's still here!)
He yelped in surprise and shook Gabe by the shoulders.
"Gabe, Gabe, wake up!" She snorted, then opened her eyes groggily.
"Mmph. What time is it?" A hand was raised to rub at her forehead. Micah shook her again.
"It's morning, Gabe! You fell asleep and you were here all night!" Now her eyes snapped wide open.
"I what?" Gabe scrambled to her feet, nearly falling out of bed in the process. "Oh my God! I-- I didn't even go home-- and what if someone saw--"
"Hey, calm down!" Micah reached out and grabbed her wrist. She turned her glance to him, and for a moment she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. A bit unnerved by that, he stroked her hand gently with his thumb. "If someone saw, someone saw. I don't think so, because we would've been woken up. And as for going home-- just tell your parents you got caught in the graveyard shift."
(God. Where did this sudden burst of rational thought come from?)
Gabe took a deep breath, then frowned at him.
"Wait-- didn't you know?" Micah blinked a little.
"Know what?" he asked slowly. Her brow furrowed in thought.
"I didn't tell you?" It sounded like a question, but Gabe went on. "I live with Edith, Micah." He blinked again
(She lives with Edith?)
before giving a faint shrug of his shoulders.
"Oh." Then Micah picked up the original subject -- the fact that she had fallen asleep right there in his room. "Well, that's one less worry. Anyway, don't panic. Just... relax." Having remembered the predicament, Gabe paused and nodded in agreement.
"Right. Right." She gave him a weak smile. "Okay." The girl pulled away and popped her head out the door. "No one's coming. Good." Gabe turned and tried to smooth out her hair with a hand.
"Your hair should be the least of your worries," Micah murmured. It wasn't meant to be funny, but apparently it was, because Gabe broke down into a fit of nearly hysterical giggles. He half-smirked at this before feeling a little twinge of nervousness.
(She looks like she's crying and laughing at the same time. Isn't that a sign of insanity?)
(You would know, wouldn't you?)
Micah snatched her hand in his.
"Gabe, Gabe," he murmured in what he hoped was a soothing voice. "Calm down." She hiccupped through her hysterics and smiled shakily at him.
"I'm all right. Really." Another nervous giggle escaped Gabe before she clapped a hand over her mouth. Micah stared at her solemnly, unconsciously lacing their fingers.
"You sure?" She nodded, gripping his hand gently.
"Mm hm." Gabe slid her fingers away and lightly ruffled his hair. "Fine. Just fine." Micah covered a small smile with his hand.
"Good. Because I imagine you should attend your patients pretty soon?" The girl paused, then slapped her forehead.
"Ack, of course! I gotta go, Micah--" She whirled, beginning for the door, and stopped. Gabe turned and dashed back to the bed. Before he could even say anything, she had pressed a gentle kiss to his lips and rushed towards the door. "I promise, I'll be back later. Lunchtime, maybe?"
"Maybe," he said, smiling a little. She shot him a quick grin and was out the door.
"See you!"
"See you," Micah echoed. The door closed, and it was a mere two minutes and five seconds before Pruitt walked in. Tucked under her arm were Micah's medical charts, a small bag, and an incredibly thick copy of the Bible.
She smiled thinly as she entered.
"Good morning, Mr. Balding." Micah scowled and eyed the objects she was carrying.
"What goodies have you got for me today?" he muttered. Pruitt dropped her possessions on the bed, where they hit the sheets and bounced a little.
"You'll see," she said in a voice that was calm enough, but still mildly unnerving. The nurse deposited the charts where they belonged, set aside the bag, and picked up the Bible with another tight smile plastered on her face. "We're going to pray."
(The old bag's nuts!)
"We're going to... what?" Micah eyed the Bible warily. Pruitt made an odd clucking noise with her tongue and opened the book.
"Heavens, Mr. Balding. I'd think that even you would be familiar with praying to God." The acid in her voice made that anger in him bubble again, but he pushed it away.
"I'm familiar with praying to God," he muttered quietly, watching her flip through the gold-edged pages. "but I don't normally pray with religious lunatics who're holding me hostage--"
"Watch yourself, Mr. Balding," Pruitt said mildly, running a bony finger over the words. "Ah, here we are. Shall we start with the Ten Commandments?" The thin smile was on her face again, the one that made Micah angry and nervous at the same time. "Thou shalt not--"
"Use my name in vain. Have any other gods besides me. Covet thy neighbor's wife. Commit adultery." He smirked up at the surprised look that Pruitt had donned. "Hm. Two of them are about hitting the sack, and they couldn't fit in anything about 'thou shalt not blackmail'?" The nurse recovered quickly and sneered at him.
"You forgot a few. Thou shalt not kill, for example." Another hot rush of anger swept through him.
"You watch yourself," Micah said quietly. Pruitt raised a mousy eyebrow at him.
"Why should I, Mr. Balding? I know you wouldn't let anything happen to your sinful little girlfriend--"
"Because," he said slowly, clenching his fists to suppress the rage, "I might get to breaking a few of those commandments." Micah smiled his own too-small smile at her. "And I promise you, it won't be adultery." Pruitt hardly blinked, but there was a distinct flicker of nervousness in her manner.
"Oh? I don't think you--"
"Have the guts?" he finished pleasantly. "Ask yourself that question, Nurse Pruitt. Did I have the guts back in Gatlin?"
(Hah, that oughta get her, the meddling wench!)
She stared at him, showing no other signs of anxiety -- until Micah realized that she was clutching the Bible hard enough to turn her skinny fingers white.
"Let's begin with a prayer, Mr. Balding," Pruitt said in a quiet voice. He scowled, anger racing through his blood, and sat forward.
"Listen here, you self-righteous old--" Just then, Gabe poked her head into the room.
"Micah--" She blinked in surprise. "Oh. Oops. Sorry 'bout that, Nurse Pruitt." Micah turned to look at her and bells went off in his head.
(Think about Gabe. Think about Gabe, you selfish bastard.)
"No problem," Pruitt said calmly, eyes glittering. "Right, Mr. Balding?" She shot Micah a look, who returned it with the blackest glare he could manage.
"No. No problem at all, Gabe." He forced a reassuring smile to his lips. Gabe nodded a little.
"Okay, I'll... talk to you later?" she said in a small voice.
"We'll see." Pruitt answered for him, rekindling the hot embers of anger, but the sight of Gabe's worried face stopped it from bursting into flame.
"See ya," he said quietly. The girl nodded, shot Pruitt a look, and disappeared back into the hall.
Pruitt turned her beady eyes back on Micah.
"Well, Mr. Balding?" Her voice was quiet enough, but the venom behind it couldn't be disguised. "Shall we begin with a prayer?" He tore his gaze from the door to her.
(I hate you I hate you idiotic high-and-mighty bitch)
"Certainly," Micah murmured, biting back the words that needed to be said. Pruitt nodded, smiled again, and looked down at the gilded Bible.
"Our father--" she began, and glanced at him expectantly.
(stupid stupid stupid holier-than-thou BITCH)
He clenched his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and continued the prayer.
"Who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." Pruitt nodded, smirking.
"Good. Good."