Hôpital Necker, December 20th, 8:34 AM
Liam was preparing to get the all clear from the hospital. He was dressed in his black jacket with yellow stripes, blue jeans and white trainers. As Liam packed the clothes from the explosion into a backpack, a nurse came in to his room.
"You okay, Liam?" the nurse asked her patient.
"Better now that I get to go home for Christmas. Mind you, I feel sorry that you have to work."
The nurse laughed. "Given the amount of accidents around the holidays, it's a good thing we work. Plus, the bonuses can help with presents." The nurse checked her file. "Liam, were you aware that blood tests showed an iron deficiency?"
Liam stopped in his tracks. "No. I didn't know that."
"Well, it's not too much worry. We can give you a transfusion to help get your iron intake to a normal level. We're ready if you are."
Liam was startled. "Isn't treatment that fast rather expensive?"
"Already taken care of. Courtesy of the president himself."
Liam hung his head. 'You gotta be kidding me. Don't know whether to be grateful or annoyed. Guess I can be both.' "Well, I'm ready."
The nurse smiled. "Could you follow me, please?" The nurse led Liam to a small room with a seat ready for Liam's blood transfusion. There was a family of 4 waiting to be seen. The family appeared to be Spanish. The father had short, curly black hair, a white, short-sleeve shirt, black jeans and grey trainers. The mother had a black business suit on with short heels. Twin 10-year-old boys spouted a bigger equivalent of their father's hair and wore Spider-Man themed t-shirts and red track suit trousers. Liam spoke the nurse
"Uh.. This family was clearly here before me. Shouldn't I wait?"
"Oh, it's okay, Senor." The mother said.
"Our daughter's giving her blood for donations now." The father added. At that moment, the closed curtain opened and out walked a teenage girl whose height left Liam at her chin. with shiny black hair that hung to her elbows. She wore a grey t-shirt with what looked like dirt all over it, a leather jacket that reminded Liam of Michael Jackson's Beat It jacket with the red being switched for royal blue, black leggings with the waistline covered by her shirt, and black loafers.
"All done." The teenager stated. "Someone waiti-?" The girl looked at Liam. "Wait, you're that student who fought the akuma villain!"
Liam's eyes widened. "Were you there?"
The girl walked forward. "Yeah. I'm in Miss Bernard's class at the school." Extending her hand, the student introduced herself. "Kayla Hernandez."
Liam shook her hand and smiled. "Liam Rejeter."
Kayla pulled her hand away. "Liam Rejeter? Relation to President Bryan Rejeter?"
"Please don't go yelling that in the corridor."
The nurse cleared her throat, alerting Liam. "We're ready for you now, Liam."
Liam nodded and turned towards Kayla. "Nice meeting you. All of you."
"Likewise." Kayla replied. "See you at school, and Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas." The Hernandez family walked away and one of the boys could be heard shouting "Kayla's got a boyfriend!" and Kayla could be heard shouting "Shut up. You don't even know what a boyfriend is." Liam chuckled at what his ears were hearing, then walked into the tiny room and laid his bag onto the floor. He sat on the chair with his arms rested on the pillows he was provided with. The nurse asked a question as she readied the blood sample with a syringe.
"Are you left-handed or right-handed, Liam?"
"Ambidextrous."
"Then we'll use whichever arm can give us a vein." Liam pulled his sleeves up and the nurse placed a clamped band around his right bicep, exposing a vein. The nurse wiped the injection area with disinfectant and placed the syringe into Liam's vein. Liam winced at the puncture, but looked straight at injection site, watching the blood go into his body. The nurse placed a small plaster over the site after she removed the syringe. "All done. Now you and that girl are bound by blood." The nurse gasped as soon as the words escaped her mouth. Liam knew what she had said.
"Kayla's the blood donor? I can see you didn't mean to say that. I won't tell anyone if saying that could get you fired."
"No. She didn't mind you knowing, it's just... She thought that it was going to someone random. If you get the chance, I would thank her." The nurse removed the band from Liam's arm. "Free to go."
Liam stood up and grabbed his bag, turning to the nurse. "Thank you."
"No problem."
"See you around and Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas." Liam walked out of the room, along the corridor and to the main entrance. Through the window before he went outside, he saw Rose in her winter outfit. He walked through the revolving doors and stood beside her. Rose took one look at Liam and exhaled, wiping her face with her hands. Liam saw that she was upset and tried to comfort her.
"You and Juleka are really close friends, aren't you?"
Rose took in breath to speak. "Yeah, we are. Best friends."
"Are you scared for her?"
"A bit. She woke up earlier. I was so happy when she did, I hugged her and didn't let go. But then she..." Rose looked pale.
"Easy, Rose. You don't have to tell me what the problem is if you feel uncomfortable."
Rose looked at Liam and bit her tongue. "She kissed me."
Liam looked around, baffled. "Is that the big problem?"
Rose was surprised by Liam's reaction. "You don't think it's-?"
"Can I just stop you right there, Rose? Juleka kissed you. There could be different reasons for that. She might have thought you were someone else. She might have been so happy to see you."
"The thing is, Liam. I actually liked it. But I was in shock and I... just ran out of there and stopped here. I-I'm worried I've hurt her. I never even thought that she was a lesbian or bisexual."
"I don't really know her and I don't judge people before I know them. But there is nothing wrong with not being straight. I mean, I view myself as bisexual."
Rose was taken aback by Liam's statement. "You're bisexual?"
"Sure am. I've kissed a few girls in my past - I admit, most of them were doing it either as a dare or to try and get money from me when they found out I was the president's son- but there were three guys who came to visit me earlier. Old classmates and band mates with Side Swipe. Anyway, didn't tell any of our classmates who were there, but I actually made out with one of them. So if you have feelings for Juleka... and she has feelings for you... Then what's the problem?"
Rose stroked her chin. "Well..."
"Rose. There is no problem. If you love her, don't be afraid to show it. Go and see her. Do not let your fears control you!"
Rose nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to tell her how I feel right now." Rose turned to Liam. "Thank you, Liam."
"It was nothing." Liam extended his right hand out and Rose shook it. This caused a reaction on Liam as he suddenly felt a surge of pain in his hand. "AHHH!"
Rose covered her mouth. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"
Liam downplayed the pain. "Yeah, I'll live. It was just a static shock. Don't worry about me. Go and find her, Rose."
Rose smiled and nodded, kissing Liam on the cheek and jogging back into the hospital to find Juleka. Liam waited at the front entrance until Félix arrived to take Liam home. As they drove, Liam's phone rang.
"Mmmmmmmyellow?" Liam answered his phone.
"Hey, Scott Donoko!" The voice on the other ended cheered. "It's Mr. XY!"
"Who?"
