"Ithn't it thunny how, like...the world...jutht...You know?" Jeffrey waved his hands.
"I'm not sure I do, Mr. Tifton." the nurse replied dryly as she guided him over to where Skye was sitting.
"How'd it go?" She asked getting up, "Did you have a hard time fixing his tooth?"
"I theel thine!" Jeffrey beamed.
"It was simple enough. Dr. Rob was able to get in just fine and remove all the shattered pieces. He's going to have a sore mouth all week and you've got to make sure he doesn't exert himself so that dry rot doesn't set in, but he should be just fine. He's hopped on painkillers at the moment; so, he'll be rather loopy for awhile, but, well, you could see that."
"Trust me, this actually isn't too far off from his regular self." Skye rolled her eyes and stopped Jeffrey from sticking his fingers in his mouth.
"He's got gauze in there right now, here's some more so you can change it later. The bleeding should only last forty-eight hours at the most. And this is his prescription for penicillin and the rest of his pain meds. You're in charge of handing them to him. He's not allowed to take it for himself, even though there shouldn't be enough there to get him addicted." The nurse instructed, "And that's it. You're free to go, Mr. Tifton. Next time be more careful when you're eating gummies."
"I told him he should drink milk and orange juice more often." Skye said, "He never listens though."
"Gummies! Can I hath gummies!" Jeffrey perked up when he heard his favorite candy mentioned.
"No gummies for you, Mr. Tifton. You'll have to stick to soft foods for now. Try applesauce and pudding for now." The nurse ordered sternly, "Do you need help walking him out?"
"Please. He's dragging his feet."
"No! I'm walkthing!" Jeffrey insisted, letting his feet dangle as the nurse and Skye led him out the exit, "Theep up, guyths!"
"We're trying. You're just way too fast for us." Skye told him sarcastically as she opened the passenger side of her car. She and the nurse had a hard time getting Jeffrey in, because he couldn't remember how to duck. When he finally did remember, he just lay horizontal over the seat instead of sitting on it. Skye had to turn him over and shove his feet in, while the nurse hurriedly buckled him before he toppled over.
"Thank you." Skye waved apologetically as the nurse walked away grumbling and rubbing her back. Skye glared at Jeffrey, but he only blinked back in puzzlement; so, she only sighed and shifted the car into reverse. Jeffrey flung his arms out at the movement.
"Whoa! We're going weally fast!" He cried.
"We're going all of three miles an hour, Tifton." Skye said patiently as she pulled Jeffrey's hand off of her shoulder and looked backwards as she pulled out.
"Three mwiles!" Spit flew from Jeffrey's mouth at his exclamation, "Are you crathy?! You'll bwe arrethted for spweeding!"
"Here's an idea. Why don't I just accelerate to thirty miles per hour, so that I'm undetectable on the police's radar?"
"I wike your thwinking." Jeffrey nodded energetically.
"I'm so glad."
Skye was even gladder when Jeffrey turned on the radio, because the music distracted him from talking and she was able to get all the way onto the highway before he opened his mouth.
"I wove this song!" Jeffrey gasped and clutched at Skye's arm in his excitement. Skye started and pulled his hand off.
"I'm trying to drive, Dork." She scolded.
"Cawse, Baby, you're a fwirework! Come on thow em what you're woth!" Jeffrey sang at the top of his lungs.
"Jeffrey, that's not this song." Skye groaned.
"Iths not?" Jeffrey frowned, "I thwink I know muthic, Skye."
"I'm sure of it, Jeffrey. This is a classical piece. Remember? You turned the radio onto to classical on the way to the dentist?"
"No? I donth rememwer?" Jeffrey squinted in confusion, his whole head cocking to the side. Skye laughed at that. He looked a little adorable with his cheeks all swollen like a chipmunks. Of course she'd never tell him that though.
Jeffrey smiled back at her, happy that he was the cause of her laughing. Jeffrey felt very drowsy and dim, and the closed space of the car wasn't helping, but he also felt a twist in his stomach that wasn't due to the effects of his painkillers. It was Skye. He had been in love with her longer than he could remember, and yet, he had never done anything about it, because he was too scared of being rejected. Right then though, probably because he was so out of it, Jeffrey began to feel bolder and more determined. Quite suddenly, he felt impatient. Impatient with himself for having never said anything of his feelings. Why had he been such a coward? Especially now that he was realizing for the first time how blue Skye's eyes were.
How long had they been friends? Jeffrey struggled to add up the numbers in his head, but all he got was the fact that it had been a very long time. It was about time he said something, he should just go ahead while he was feeling brave.
"Skye?"
Skye turned to see Jeffrey staring at her with strong focus.
"What?" Skye asked nonchalantly, picking up her travel mug to take a drink.
"Skye, I haf somfing to tell you. Somfing I should haf said long ago." Jeffrey said solemnly.
"Hmm." Skye hummed carelessly as she took a drink.
"I'm in lofe wif you." Jeffrey said bravely.
Skye spewed her drink all over the steering wheel in her shock at his sudden announcement.
"What?!"
"I'm in lofe wif you." Jeffrey repeated, his stomach sinking at her reaction. "Ife been in lofe wif you for longer fan I can rememwer. I hafent ever said anyfing because I'm too scared to ruin what we hafe."
"Jeffrey-"
"No! Let me finif!" Jeffrey insisted, "I lofe you so much it hurtfs, Skye Pewnderwick. I can't stopf finking about you! I'm thorry if you didn't want to hear that, but I shouldf told you longer ago. I understwand if you don't feel the same, and if you juft want to ftay friends, I understwand and I'll be happy to oblige."
Skye had pulled over during his long lisping speech, and was staring at Jeffrey with a strange expression that Jeffrey couldn't read. Then, she began to laugh. Skye laughed long and hard, and it was like something out of Jeffrey's worst nightmare. He could feel his heart breaking and he felt as if he was going to cry, but he did his upmost to not break down.
"I see." He said downtrodden, "Forry, the idea is fo hilariouf to you-"
"Dork!" Skye wheezed, still laughing, "You utterly, humongous, dork!"
Jeffrey hadn't expected that. He had expected Skye to be furious, uncomfortable, or even just hesitant. Not this laughing, fond name-calling that he was getting.
"What?" Jeffrey asked confused, "What's fo funny?"
Skye cackled.
"You dork! We've been married for two years!"
So I've been reading a lot of O'Henry's works lately, and of course I felt the urge to do something with a plot-twist ending. I know this one-shot is rather on the short side, but I do hope you enjoyed it. Have a lovely Saturday folks.
KoalaLover-ABC-123: Thank you for that delightful review, it made me very happy that you liked the one-shot, (Although, I wouldn't go so far as to call it perfection.). Thank you again for the inspiration to write it, I really enjoyed myself. To be honest, I can't blame my long disappearance on anything but laziness and procrastination, but I'm trying to get back in the game now.
GM01: Thanks! I could never leave Ben sad, I have way too much of a fondness for him now, you might begin to find him popping up more often now. Yeah, I'm still here, not dead yet; though, I feel that if I did die my ghost would still review Nijibrush's works, so you might not want to take that as evidence that I'm still alive. :)
Nijibrush: Thank you for the gold star, I'm glad you liked the story. Ben was kind of based off my own feelings too, I think we can all relate to feeling lost in our lives. I had to approach the idea from the point of: "If I had the Penderwick girls as sisters, how would I feel?" It was surprisingly easy after that. Kinda kicking myself for not thinking like that in the first place, because the story would have been written sooner. Thank you for your constant support.