When the orderlies finally let Ben into Ryan's hospital room, he was already set up, lying in bed with an intravenous drip in his arm. He was propped up on pillows against the wall, wearing dark sunglasses to protect against the light that caused him such pain. When he saw her walk in, Ryan raised his free arm in greeting, and called out jovially.
"Benny! What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" He could barely keep the slur from his voice, and immediately cracked into hysterics.
Oh, my. What have they got him on?
"Hey, Ryan. How are you feeling?" She asked softly as she sat down on the foot of his bed. He immediately pulled himself up, so that he sat beside her, both of their feet hanging over the side of the bed.
"Well, you know, I have a pretty serious infection in my eye and my ophthalmologist says that immediate surgery is the only way to save my sight. But, man…" He laughed for a moment, then regained his composure. "The morphine is bomb. It's the reason people get hurt." At this, he laughed hysterically, clutching his sides until he calmed down. "Oh, and Ps," He added as he placed a hand on Ben's knee, the glasses sliding down his nose. "Thanks a million for the lift. You rock." Surprisingly, this statement was not followed by a fit of laughter, but a serious gaze into Benny's eyes.
She was speechless. Here he was, the man she had cared for so much, for so long, being affectionate and caring and grateful, but she could only blame it on morphine. Figures. It just figures.
"Only the best for Ryan Wolfe," She said softly as she placed her hand on Ryan's where it rested on her knee. "Any idea how long you'll be in here?" She was anxious for him to feel better; this invalid Ryan was not the one she had fallen in love with.
He only shrugged in response. "Depends what 'immediate surgery' means. Probably operate within twenty-four hours, then who knows how long I'll be in here before I go home." He allowed himself to fall back onto the mattress, so that he stared up at the white ceiling, legs still dangling over the edge of the mattress. He let out a deep sigh. "And that's assuming everything goes fine and I don't lose my sight completely." He placed a hand on Ben's upper arm, applying gentle pressure, to indicate that he wished for her to fall back, as well. She complied. Only because I'm a good friend and colleague. Not because I relish the thought of lying beside him in a bed again. Only because I'm a good friend and colleague.
They both rolled onto their sides to look at each other, face to face. Ryan's glasses were long gone at this point, and his bleary red eyes peered out at Benny hazily. When he spoke, she could feel his warm breath on her skin, smell his toothpaste.
"I owe you, Benny," He whispered, his speech still noticeably slurred. When she only blushed and ducked her head, he pulled her chin upward to see eye to eye with him. "I mean, for everything. For a year's worth of…everything. And for letting me be here." He gesticulated towards the mattress, then frowned. "Well, not here as in hospital. But thanks for taking me to here, here. I think I mean being here." He waved a hand between the two of them. "I was being figurative, I think." He was essentially delirious as he yawned and moved towards her, pulling her in with a strong arm, so that it was irrefutable that they were, indeed, lying together.
I guess, if you have to be in a hospital…
Both overworked and exhausted, they fell asleep together, among the white surgical wall paint and the permeating scent of disinfectant.