When Carolyn and Arthur arrived a few minutes later, Martin's eyes were still open.
"Hi Skip!" Arthur chirped. Martin's eyes followed him lazily as he skipped around the bed to sit in the chair next to him.
"How long's he been awake for?" Carolyn asked Douglas quietly.
"About ten minutes. He'd been in and out before that, but nothing lucid."
Carolyn nodded and they both turned their attention back to the one sided conversation on the bed.
"Do you like your otter?"
Martin nodded slightly and smiled. Arthur beamed. "I picked him out all on my own. It took me a while to find the shop, and then I couldn't understand how much it was, or even how to pay for it."
Martin furrowed his brow.
"Oh, don't worry. I figured it out."
"How did you Arthur?" Douglas asked skeptically.
"Oh. Well, I mostly gave them money until they looked happy."
Douglas could hear Carolyn sigh, and knew she was resting her face in her hands without even looking.
Martin gave him a weak thumbs up.
"Have you figured out what you're going to name him?"
Martin shrugged.
"Oh, come on Skip! You have to have some idea."
Martin's eyes wandered around the room for a minute before he motioned for Arthur's hand.
"What is it Skip?"
Martin traced out shaky letters on Arthur's hand.
Arthur muttered to himself under his breath to keep track.
"O... L... I... U... oh sorry, not a U. V? Right. Okay. Erm... E... R... And that's all the letters? Alright... Oli... what were the next letters?"
"Oliver, Arthur," Douglas said wearily. "He's spelling Oliver."
"Oh! That's a brilliant name Skip!"
Martin nodded and closed his eyes.
"Are you going to sleep now Skip?"
Martin nodded slightly.
"Well, I think I'll just sit here quietly for a while, if that's alright with you."
Martin nodded slightly, but didn't open his eyes.
Douglas smiled as Arthur grabbed Martin's hand and held it as he played with the stuffed otter he had bought for him.
Douglas inched closer to Carolyn."I'm going to go to the hotel for a bit. Take a shower, you know. Can I have the key?" he muttered to Carolyn, not wanting to disturb the heartwarming scene before him.
Carolyn held out a key card for him. "Your bags are in the room."
Douglas nodded as thanks and took the elevator down to the first floor where he wandered until he found the exit. From there it was only a short walk across the windy street straight into the hotel.
The room was much nicer than the one they'd stayed in the previous night, and Douglas wasn't sure why Carolyn couldn't have booked a couple of rooms here to begin with.
If the cost has been an issue, Douglas would have been perfectly fine to share a room with Martin, and Arthur was always thrilled to sleep on the floor. So many problems could have been avoided that way, or at least minimized. Martin wouldn't have gotten as sick in a properly heated room, and even if he had, would have been right across the street from a hospital rather than a half hour drive away.
Of course, there was nothing that could be done about that now.
Douglas took a hot shower, relishing the warmth.
When he was finally done, decidedly wrinkly and waterlogged, he changed into his what were supposed to be his sleep clothes. Of course, considering the only other clothes he had was his flight uniform and one other outfit, this would make do for now. He was only going to be sitting by Martin's bedside for, at the very least, a couple of days, probably more. No need to dress up, especially considering Martin only really slept, and couldn't care less about how Douglas looked.
He doubted Martin would remember much of anything after this was all over.