Yeah, I decided to continue this. But whether it bombs or not is a completely different story.
Katherine Ann Bell was about to go hog-wild insane. She was about to rip her hair out, punch a wall and any other irrational action she could've taken at that second. Number one: she hated-HATED-the hospital wing with a passion. And sure, she was only a visitor, but she still hated it. Just standing in it mad her jumpy and irritable. Number two: she really couldn't understand the concept of her captain motionless in a hospital bed.
Well, he wasn't completely motionless now that she thought of it. He was breathing steadily and that was all jolly and good but that didn't take the bandage (wrapped around his chest underneath his pajamas) off. And he was still knocked out cold. So breathing was good, just not that good.
She sighed to herself as she made an attempt to stretch out. An attempt. Sitting in a way-too-rigid hospital chair for nearly five hours hadn't done her back any wonders and it was a tad hard to stretch properly seeing as she was too lazy and too tired to stand up and actually stretch the right way. Breathing still wasn't that good.
But it's better than before she added mentally. Three days ago steady breathing like this would've had her dancing. Three days ago Oliver Alban Wood's breathing was short and labored. She sighed again as she folded her arms on the bed in front of her and rested her chin there.
Bludgers were really damaging to their team this year. Well, they have always been damaging…she though, but they've been really laying it on thick lately. Katie mentally scolded herself-shaking he head-as she gave personalities to the dangerous things. But she knew she was right. First it was Harry at the beginning of the year, then herself right before Christmas, and now Oliver right before February break. She recalled what Fred said yesterday-how somebody must've cursed the things-and wondered if it really could be true. She shook her head vigorously a second time for thinking another insane thing.
She sighed again as she looked at her three-year captain and four-year friend. Oliver looked like he was sleeping peacefully even though a bludger had collided with his rib cage just three days back. Sure, he broke three ribs, but it was the twenty foot fall that had really done him in and knocked him out. Her brow furrowed at him. She had always picture Oliver as this great being of strength, never ill, always ready to schedule and extra practice and practically invincible. Maybe this was why she was disheveled to see him in a hospital bed. Or maybe it was because quite frankly she was sick and tired of just being teammates, just captain and chaser, just friends.
She shook he head for a third time before settling it back down on her arms. Angelina and Alicia have been saying for years that they were simply meant to be with each other. But Everytime they said that Katie would always reply 'we're just on the same team' or 'he's just my captain' or 'he's just a close friend'. She was sick of those 'just's. In fact, she knew for a fact that she was sick and tired of them. She knew for a fact that she was ten times happier fooling around with Oliver more than anybody else, she knew that everytime he smiled at her at practice when she did something just right it made her insides swell, she knew that when he laughed it was normally with her and that she had put it there.
Once again she let out a long sigh as she sat back up and rubbed her face hard. She also knew that all the knowing in the world got you absolutely no where if you did nothing with it. She looked out the dark window and wished that the stars would stop winking at her. She didn't see them shining beautifully, she saw them taunting her. Like they were trying to convince her that everything was alright when they weren't. Oliver would be leaving at the end of the year, never to come back, to venture out into the real world while she still had two more years in school.
Katie glanced at her watch that she wore on her right wrist: 9:57 pm. She smiled at the face of her watch. At first she wasn't sure why until she could mentally hear Oliver teasing her for wearing her watch on the wrong wrist. She almost rebutted aloud with 'it's not wrong the wrong wrist, it's the right'. She knew her childish comeback always got a good laugh out of Oliver-even if it was stupid.
Oliver was good like that. Well, he was good in a lot of ways, but specifically he laughed with her a lot. It seemed like he just found her funny. Sometimes his laugh would catch her off guard because she didn't think she said anything particularly funny. Maybe a snide comment here, a little sarcasm there, and even a bout of stubbornness from her could get him going and half the time she didn't understand why. She didn't think she had any supernatural powers that made people laugh…she stopped herself from even letting her brain travel down that track and thinking more insane things.
Looking around the hated hospital wing, she was aching to busy herself. She had left her potions homework up in the tower so she couldn't even get that done. Not that she would've gotten any credit for it at all if she handed it in. she was dreadful at potions and the whole castle knew it. Angelina and Alicia used to tease her relentlessly when they found out earlier last year that Oliver had been spending countless hours tutoring her and trying to get her to understand it since she was a third year. But she had been paying him back this whole time, turns out Hogwarts' favorite keeper had a terribly large weak spot in Herbology-a subject that most everyone got an 'Outstanding' on.
Katie reached over and pushed back his always-messy hair off his face even though it bounced right back. Oliver could be much more brilliant in classes…if he wanted to be. Everyone swore that if he put as much time into academics as he did athletics he would be the top of his seventh year class-even higher than Diggory. But Oliver was relentless-most would say obsessed-when it came to Quidditch.
Oh he's a nazi alright, she thought to herself with a faint smile, just one of their dawn practice from three days ago still fresh in her memory. Quidditch fixation was just one-but his biggest-fault. He would push them and push them everyday at practice and dawn practices were becoming a daily occurrence. His drive to win the cup was like nothing Katie or the school had ever seen. Katie couldn't remember it ever being more forceful. But he made up for it. Occasionally he would bring out a thermos of hot chocolate for them-especially now with the harsh weather-and after a good practice he could never be happier. She could almost hearing him say 'great practice Kat,' using his only name for her. Well, almost only name-'BELL!' came up a lot too when he was in a bad mood after a horrendous practice.
She startled herself as she realized her hand had come to rest on his cheek and she quickly withdrew it. If 'just friends' was going to keep what they had going, she would do it damn it, she decided as she rested her head in her hand. And she almost slapped herself when she realized that she was smiling simply at the fact that the hand that had just touched his cheek was now cradling hers, and in essence-their cheeks were touching. She quickly rested her had in her other hand-she was going to keep her promise to herself
Katie often wondered if stubbornness like this is what kept them just friends. she knew she had faults, more than she should. She bite her quills and her nails, she could get irritable about silly things like the color orange (it just got her mad for an unexplained reason), she was forever stubborn, sarcasm was her second language and she was proud to say she could pull off being 'one of the guys' (she was accustomed to ignoring many 'good manners' (ex. Burping was a contest for her and Oliver)). She thought the last one is the one that lead her to this. Being a tomboy most of her life and being a chaser only helped her in that aspect. Now she wore a little makeup and took more than two seconds to do her hair and make sure her uniform was on the right way before rushing to classes. Once she got all dolled up for a Hogsmeade weekend-because Angelina and Alicia had more or less tied her to a post until she agreed- and Oliver had just gaped at her. Like she another wanna-be girl. That was another promise she held to herself-do not let Angelina and Alicia ever doll her up again.
She sighed for what must've been the thousandth time that night and even though it was against her better judgment, she reached over and grabbed his hand. Oh but she did have self restraint, their hands were specifically cupped and not laced. She convinced herself that this was perfectly expectable. She smiled to herself, already knowing that he had the same hard and calloused hands as she did-Oliver teased her about having man hands and she couldn't really deny it and there for that was the one thing she didn't have a snappy comeback to. She would just laugh with him. She folded her other arm across the edge of his bed and rested her head there and eventually drifted off.
She woke up a while later and checked her watch in the dim lighting of the hospital wing: 12 am. She cursed to herself and was about to drag herself out of the hospital wing and up to bed when she realized that her hand was now laced with Oliver's. She sat up startled but didn't move her hand away. She furrowed her brow and wondered if she had moved around in her sleep. She looked around and everything else was the way she left it, perplexed she furrowed her brow even more at Oliver's sleeping form. Or at least he's supposed to be asleep…she shook her head again. Of course he was still knocked out-he had been for several days. She must've just moved in her sleep, but then why did their hands fit so perfectly with each other?
She scrunched her nose at her own stupidity before smiling fainly, leaving her hand as is and deciding to enjoy it, for it surely would never happen again. She looked out the dark window. The stars were still taunting her.
I loved that last line. I dunno why, it was just so…good. I tried to write more and realized that I killed that ending line so I re-shortened it by half a page and kept that good ending. Kinda sad, I know, but still good. Or atleast I think so. I've got it! Why don't you leave me a review and tell me if I was right or wrong! Gasp! What a great idea!
I know…over dramatized enthusiasm and mock shock. I know. lol