Almost exactly a week, three ultrasounds, two examinations, and a body x-ray-scan later, Ruby was finally officially discharged from the hospital.
Both couldn't have been more eager to fill out the paperwork and mosey their way to the long-awaited entrance they were now allowed to exit out of. Ruby could actually walk there without much help from Oscar, now that her wound had mostly healed.
They'd received word shortly before the discharge that the babies were in sound condition and that they were expected to arrive within the next 9 to 12 weeks. This could basically be summarized as around 3 months, or to worry everyone involved more, 63 to 84 days.
The hospital also informed them that they could come in any time for a check up or if they had any questions of concerns. Of course, that was a little surprising because both Oscar and Ruby were fairly certain you needed some kind of registered something-or-another in order to have a personal obstetrician.
But that was fine, so long as they were able to have the babies safely in this hospital.
"I'm so happy to finally move around again!" Ruby chirped excitedly, spinning around somewhat effortfully due to her large stomach, "I will never miss this place."
"You sure about that?" Oscar asked with a grin, "I mean, we've kinda established a nice amount of special memories here. Like, really nice ones. Really nice ones."
"What are you implying?" she inquired suspiciously.
"Nah, it's nothing," he chuckled, "Forget what I said."
"Well, if you want me to forget what you say, then stop saying thing so suggestively!" she shot back. Oscar was about to advance their little argument when they heard an eager call ring out behind them.
"Hey!" a familiar voice shouted, "Hey, wait up for a second!"
They both stopped and turned around to face the origin of the noise. Oscar smiled when he saw that it was Sunny, now dressed back in her pink nurse scrubs and holding a small cardboard box. She hurried over to them, panting slightly, and held it out to him.
"Here," she said, "Congratulations on the babies. Good luck back out into the world and good luck being a dad!" She smiled brightly at him before patting Ruby's stomach and shaking her hand.
"And good luck being a mom," she finished, "I'm not one yet, but hopefully someday I will be. I don't know the horrors that await you, so I can't give you any helpful advice." She pretended to cringe at herself and then laughed.
"Sorry, sorry," she said, "I have to go back to work, but I just wanted to say goodbye."
"Thanks, Sunny," Oscar said, shaking her hand, "You've been great! I'm going to miss you."
"Aww," she sighed with another big smile, "Hey, I'm gonna miss you, too." She leaned in and gave him a hug, patting his back during the embrace.
"Be sure to tell Jauney that I say hi!" she called after she began walking away, "Tell him, 'Sunny is out for ya! Watch out; she knows where you are! Hahahahahaha!" She began laughing quite loudly to herself as she grew smaller and smaller through the long hallway.
"I will!" Ruby shouted back, "Thanks! Bye!"
Oscar laughed at her energetic, almost childish farewell, shaking his head.
"You know," he said, "She's twenty-four years old and still has the audacity and energy of most younger people. I admire it."
"And I halfway admire and mostly freak out about how smart you're sounding right now," Ruby muttered, half humorously, "Since when have you used the word 'audacious'?"
"What?" Oscar replied, confused, "That's just a normal word...I'm not still fifteen, you know. I can still learn things!"
"Sorry, sorry," she apologized, "I just wish I didn't have to go all PTSD whenever you use the 'big words'. You know, like 'clandestine', and 'clamorous', and 'omnipresent'."
"Wait, what?" Oscar said, even more confused, "You have PTSD? What?!"
"No! It's just a joking term!" Ruby answered, "Ugh, you don't have to be so literal all the time."
"All the time..?" Oscar began, but was cut off when he saw Sammy walk in through the entrance. Well, the exit for them. Now instead of wearing a black polo shirt, he was wearing a casual gray athletic shirt and some nice, hard looking jeans.
The trimmed facial hair and the shirt being neatly tucked into his belt gave him a refined, almost gentleman-like appearance despite the causality of his outfit. He caught sight of them and approached them, putting his hands into his pockets as usual.
"Hi, Sammy!" Ruby and Oscar greeted him in almost perfect unison of timing and cheerful tone.
"Hi," he said, "Are you two ready to go?"
"Yes, we are," Oscar said with an confirmative nod. His head cocked to the side a bit and a mild look of curiosity and confusion crossed over his face. "How'd you know just when to come in?"
"I've been calling this place every day," Sammy said, "Checking on your discharge status. This morning they told me you'd be leaving around noon, so here I am. The truck's warm, so don't worry about the cold."
"Oh wow," Ruby marveled, "Thank you so much!"
"Yeah, thanks!" Oscar chimed in.
"Like I've said," he mumbled, "Got nothing better to do."
They left the hospital with nothing much to bring with them other than the box that Sunny had given them, a plastic drinking cup Ruby had gotten, and a small travel pillow. The pillow was one of those things that the hospital never reused.
They walked out onto the large blacktop parking lot, weaving their way through the many parked vehicles that bombarded the way to Sammy's truck. The entirety of the lot was covered in a good inch of gray slush, some areas lightly peppered with snow.
Their boots and shoes were decently wet by the time they reached the dull green pickup truck waiting for them. Clouds of exhaust rolled out of the muffler, drifting away as quickly as they were produced.
Oscar opened the door for Ruby, mentally cringing at the faded blood stains that marked where she'd first been in that seat. He lifted her up into the back, set her down, then helped her to buckle in.
"Thanks," she said. He nodded and took his place in the passenger seat. He closed the door, stopping the draft of cold air that was lowering the internal temperature of the already warm truck.
Then they pulled out of the parking lot, which was a lot vaster than Oscar first remembered, and began driving through the city.
Little conversation ensued, largely due to the amount of time Oscar and Ruby spent marveling the city's diverse and colorful appearance and structure.
Banners, posters, signs, and even some flags colored the landscaping and every building in sight. Where some buildings were brick or stone, most of them had flashy siding or bright paint decorating their exteriors.
Cars crowded the roads and created long lines of heavy, honking traffic. People lined the sidewalks, filled stores, and rode on bikes and skateboards if they weren't simply walking.
The three of them drove across the big bridge that stretched majestically across the river-like pond in the center of the city and beheld another sight.
Boats were sprinkled around on the water, each harboring as many as fifty people or as little as one. The view of the city, even though they weren't very high, was grand, and they felt like they were in some kind of futuristic utopia.
Not long after that, they pulled into a much smaller lot nestled in a swarm of tall glassy buildings. Neither Oscar or Ruby could believe the gorgeous building that stood before them that Sammy gestured to when they got out.
"Here's the hotel," he said.
It was a huge white building, lined with rows of clear glass windows. If anything, it resembled one of those generic office buildings used in a lot of superhero movies, the kind that main characters usually smashed through them.
"It looks so fancy!" Ruby gasped.
"Eh, it's second-rate here," Sammy grunted, "You wouldn't believe the luxury of the better ones. Or the price of staying there for a single night."
"Wow..," Oscar marveled.
"Well, let's go," Sammy said, "It's getting cold out."
He lead them inside of the lobby, which felt fresh, clean, and warm. The lingering smells of the complimentary breakfast, most likely packed up a little while ago, were very appealing. Ruby's stomach growled.
One of the women at the counter looked over at them and exchanged a nod with Sammy. They didn't even stop walking when they entered, and no one stopped them.
They passed the counter, following Sammy, went through a long hallway lined with doors, and stepped into a very beautiful, nicely furbished elevator.
The walls of it looked like glass, and when they ascended, they knew that it actually was made out of glass. Through the glass windows that served as the walls of the hotel itself, they could see the entire city around them as they went up.
They felt like they were flying!
"This is so cool!" Ruby squealed excitedly. Oscar nodded his head in agreement, watching as the ground dropped further and further below them.
Sammy had one hand in his pocket, lightly tapping his foot on the solid glass floor. He could've looked more amused, but instead he looked as if he were traveling in any other elevator.
"Have you been in one of these before?" Oscar asked, noticing the lack of awe in Sammy's face.
"Yep," Sammy replied flatly, "Numerous times before. I used to live here, after all."
"Ah, so that's how you know this place so well!" Ruby said, "Wait, then why did you leave? This place is amazing!"
"I was falsely accused of doing something I didn't," he answered shortly, "Everyone I knew believed it, left me, and eventually started making my job harder. I left a little while after that."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Oscar said sadly.
"Eh, sometimes life does things like that," Sammy said, practically shrugging off any potential negativity from his voice, "It isn't all sunshine and rainbows. You kids know that. When life hits hard, you have to take it instead of letting it take you."
Ruby and Oscar let that finish off the conversation, giving way to a pondering silence.
Finally, the elevator came to a stop decently high in the building. When they looked up at the floor number, they were greatly astonished to see and hear which floor they were on.
"Eighth floor," an automated British-female voice announced calmly from a speaker.
"Eighth floor?!" Oscar repeated, shocked, "How many floors does this place have?!"
"Ten," Sammy answered. Ruby and Oscar both had wide mouths and eyes, almost frozen in that expression, as they walked onto the carpeted hallway and approached their door.
He pulled out a card of some sort, held it to a pattern etched into the silver handle, and then put it away. A green light beeped in the center of the pattern and they heard a clicking sound in the door.
Sammy pushed it open, allowed them through, and closed it behind the three of them. Ruby and Oscar's eyes went full-on moon shaped when they laid eyes on the room.
In the center of it was a big, glorious bed with white sheets, a thick white blanket, and numerous white pillows neatly heaped together. A nightstand stood beside the bed, containing an alarm clock and a box of tissues.
The carpet was white and soft, reminding them of either sheep or alpaca wool, and covered the entire floor. Well, except for the bathroom door, which was directly on their left.
Inside the floor was gray and marbley, cool to the touch. An elaborate mirror was mounted on the wall in front of the white porcelain sink, graced with various toiletries such as soap, lotion, and shower wash.
The walls were basically huge windows, giving them a glorious view of the huge city below and around them. Directly behind the bed was a perfect view of the bridge crossing the river-like lake.
A huge mahogany closet was in the corner of the room and contained a few silky white robes. Last and definitely not least, a dresser was against the wall beside the closet, a black device with a remote resting beside it sitting on top.
It was one of those things that created a hologramic television to appear. Most people had them, but this one had a much larger display. A gray couch with a coffee table stood facing it.
Ruby and Oscar stood in the middle of the room, breathless and completely dumbfounded. Sammy actually made some kind of satisfied smirk at their reaction. It was a proper reaction for the two of them to make at such luxurious settings.
"I-I..," Ruby breathed, struggling to find the right words to express her thanks.
"Thank you!" Oscar managed to choke. The two of them broke their awe-filled gazes away from the magnificent room and fixed their eyes onto Sammy.
"J-just one question, though," he continued tentatively, "Uh, how come there's only one bed? That'd mean I'd have to sleep with...um...Ruby..."
"If you two were close enough to get her pregnant," Sammy said, raising a brow, "Then sleeping in the same bed shouldn't be a problem."
Both teenager's faces turned a lovely shade of red. But neither could really come up with an appropriate or valid answer to this, so they remained silent about it.
"A-are you sure there isn't anything we can do..?" Ruby peeped, dismissing the awkwardness from just before, "You know, t-to pay you back for all of this..?!"
Sammy's smirk disappeared and he gave them a close to annoyed look.
"I did this out of my own free will," he grunted, "You owe me nothing."
Oscar opened his mouth to protest, despite Sammy's statement, but Sammy quickly cut him off the moment Oscar was about to begin speaking.
"I said that you owe me nothing," he said firmly, "I did this with no intention of being repaid. I've never been able to help anyone so much before, so this is really my own pleasure. If anything, it helps to ease the guilt I feel from being so useless and selfish in the past. Interjecting with me will only negate things."
Oscar closed his mouth. Ruby folded her arms behind her back and looked down.
"I'll leave it at that," Sammy muttered, "Do you two need anything or are you all set?"
"I-I think we're good," Oscar replied, "Again, thank you so much."
"Yep," Sammy said with a brief nod, "Transportation is fairly simple to get ahold of here. Taxis and trains aren't too expensive. Taxis will get you mostly anywhere around here. We're surrounded by most of the essential shops, breakfast is served here every morning. Room service can be called, too."
After he delivered that basic information, he set down a small envelope on the dresser holding the TV. Oscar eyed it curiously but didn't say anything about it. He didn't need to.
"That should cover your food and rides for the first month, if you don't spend like crazy," Sammy said, answering both of Oscar and Ruby's mental questions, "Good luck."
And with that, he gave them one last nod, turned around, and left the room.
At first, it was silence that filled the room after he left. Then there was awkward shuffling as the two of them turned to each other and exchanged glances.
Then it was all-out celebration.
The two of them began excitedly crying out for joy, first hugging and then jumping around. Ruby hardly jumped, since she lacked the motivation to do so, but there was still plenty of joyful movement involved.
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe this!" she screamed.
"Me either!" Oscar shouted back, "He did this just for us, and we hardly know him!"
They continued dancing their celebratory jigs, letting out all kinds of exclamations and squeals, before they began zipping around the room and speculating what they had.
"Look at all this stuff!" Ruby cried, pointing to the toiletries surrounding the sink, "I sure wonder why their called toiletries if they have nothing to do with the toilet." She paused and thought for a moment before looking mildly ill and uttering, "Or do they..? Do they use these things differently here?!"
"I don't know!" Oscar called, "But look at this view of the city! We can see so much from up here!"
"Look how many pillows we have!"
"And the fridge and microwave!"
"These robes are so soft!"
"There's a running bath with a shower!"
"The couch folds out!"
"Wait, what would we do with a fold-out couch if we have such a big bed?" Oscar asked, scratching his head and interrupting their clamorous excitement daze.
"Um, I dunno," Ruby said, "We could use it as a second bed, in case you don't wanna sleep with me." She shot him a suspicious, somewhat offended looking stare. "Because that was sort of implied before."
"Hey, I never said I didn't want to sleep with you!" Oscar answered quickly, "It's just...I, um...we-you..." He got completely tangled in his words while he tried to defend himself, further worsening the situation.
"Well, I'm sorry I'm so annoying to sleep with," Ruby growled, folding her arms, "Thanks for letting me know in such a gentle, unremorseful way."
"No, no, no!" Oscar said in a close-to-pleading tone, "It's just...just..."
"Just what?!" she snapped. She was very obviously being washed over by a big ole mood swing right now. Oscar could tell, especially since she experienced them so frequently, but he still felt the need to answer back seriously.
"It's just embarrassing!" he blurted out, "I know we're going to get married in the future and stuff, but I still can't get over the basic feelings and sensations of sleeping in the same bed as you! I'm still kinda fifteen, you know! Things like that are sort of beyond people like me's dreams!"
He had no idea why his face felt like it was flaming, nor why his cheeks were bright scarlet and his hands were tensed up into tight fists. Why was mentioning the embarrassment of sleeping in the same bed as her working him up so much?
She had literally expressed the same embarrassed face after Sammy had answered Oscar's question about the bed. So why was this such an issue right now?
Suddenly, as suddenly and randomly as her rage had appeared, it disappeared and gave way to an apologetic, sorry expression and demeanor.
"Oh, sorry, sorry," Ruby apologized, instantly calm, "I was sort of joking, but then I suddenly got really mad thinking about if it wasn't a joke. Sorry."
"It's fine, Ruby," Oscar sighed, "Is there any way you could control your mood swing self? I feel like I'm living with Spruce Bannar."
"Spruce who-now?" Ruby asked, confused.
"Never mind," he chuckled, "It's a character from a show I watched when I was really little. Don't worry about it."
"Whatever you say..," she mumbled.
They looked around the room a little while longer before deciding to have a look around the actual hotel itself. They were going to need to familiarize themselves with this place if they were going to live there for the next 3 months.
Since neither of them, especially Oscar, had much hotel experience, they both analyzed the place as some kind of luxurious mansion. The long carpeted hallways with lights and doors, the chandelier hanging in the lobby, the glass windows that were on every floor...
Not just that, but the whole building was generally quiet and peaceful. Despite the quite demeanor of Maria, the addition of all the others had negated her peacefulness, so peace and quite was mildly foreign to them at this time.
After the long, awe-filled tour of the hotel, they decided to take upon themselves the trip of exploring the surrounding area of city around their hotel. Traveling by taxi, they gaped at the shops, restaurants, rows of houses, numbers of people, and beauty of the city's design and architecture.
In all, they concluded at the end of the day that their situation had improved by ten-billion percent.
That night, they sat on their bed with the open cardboard box of cheese and crackers. Ruby had changed from her hospital robe, which they'd allowed her to keep, into one of the three white robes hanging in the closet.
It was very similar to the ones the hospital featured, only they were much softer and less loose and hang-y. They were also a bit snugger and fit even better for Ruby's swollen stomach.
"What's 'blueberry cheese'?" Ruby asked, holding up a packaged block of white cheese. Spots of deep blue-purple-indigo could be seen here and there over the surface of the cheese.
"Oh, me and my aunt liked eating this stuff all the time," Oscar replied with a smile, "It's just basic cheese, which usually means a very mild cheddar, with preserved, half-dried blueberries in it. We actually sold some of it one year from our farm."
"Hm," she murmured, interested, "Is it good?"
"Oh, yes," he said, "Try some!"
Ruby unwrapped the block and broke a piece of the soft, moist cheese off. She popped it into her mouth, chewed some, and swallowed with a thoughtful look on her face.
"How is it?" he asked.
"Pretty good," she answered, "Is it hard to make?"
"Not really. It's not much different from making other kinds of cheese. But we weren't really a cheese-producing farm, so it's not like I'm super familiar with making the stuff."
They continued munching on their cheese and crackers, making random comments on the cheese types or the crackers' textures, until nearly three-fourths of the box had been consumed.
It was when they noticed this that they collectively decided to save the rest for tomorrow in an effort to save the money that Sammy had so generously given them.
When it was finally time for bed, they turned off every single light in the room. Oscar dressed himself in one of the other robes, away from Ruby's view, while she curled up into the bed.
It was a little disappointing when he returned to find Ruby splayed out in the center of the bed, arms practically reaching to take up as much space as possible. Three of the six pillows on the bed were under various parts of her body.
Oscar made a face that resembled a confliction between the urge to laugh and an annoyed frown.
"Ruby, could you please move over?" he asked gently, giving her arm a slight nudge.
She groaned in reply, eyes tightly shut, and rolled her head to the side. Oscar softly cleared his throat, chuckling slightly, and shook her a little harder.
"Ruby," he said, "I need to lay down."
"Then lay down," she mumbled blearily.
"I can't if you're hogging it all," he said with a smile.
"Oh," she muttered. She moved her head again, stretched, and then shifted her position so that her leg reached all the way to the other corner of the bed. Then she remained still and began her relaxed breathing once more.
Oscar frowned. Her silly tiredness wasn't very amusing anymore. He was tired, too.
"Ruby, please," he pressed, "I don't feel like sleeping on the couch. Please move over!" He felt like he was begging her now. She didn't even own the bed!
"But I'm tired," she moaned after he shook her again.
"I'm tired too," he sighed back, "Ruby, I don't think you want me to physically move you on my own."
When she gave no reply except for more relaxed breathing, implying that she was sleeping, he gave an irritated, exasperated sigh.
He walked around the bed and hesitantly placed his hands on both sides of Ruby's arms. Then he gave them a very light push sideways. When she hardly budged, not due to his strength but to her weight, he stopped.
He tried one more time, but it didn't get any further in his goal of clearing some space for himself. He didn't dare shove her, not to mention moving her in any way that required actual force.
"Aw, who am I kidding?" he asked out loud, "This is so selfish."
He sighed one more time, grabbed an extra, unoccupied pillow from the bed, and retired onto the couch. It was reasonably comfortable, and being a huntsmen-in-training, he should get used to the absence of beds.
He was technically already used to it, though, so why did he want to sleep in the bed so much?!
Why do I want to sleep in the bed so much? It's not because of comfort, is it..? No, there's no way it's because Ruby's in it, right?
He practically jumped in his laying position at the registration of this thought.
No! No, I refuse to let that be the reason! It's not because Ruby's there; she cramps the whole place up, anyway! That'd be weird...right?
He gave up trying to reason with himself and resorted to banging his forehead quietly against the arm of the couch.
Eventually, he fell asleep, without a blanket, and dreamed about the future.
Not sure what to say at the end of this...Welp, a massive thanks to how ever many of you are still here from all that time forever ago. It means a lot, I guess.
Thanks for reading and tune in for more chapters!