"How you feeling?" Miles asked Lola as she stared down at the doctor who was now treating her fractured toe.
"I feel stupid." Lola pouted. "And I ruined our date. I didn't even get to completely own you in bowling." She pulled him toward her, placing a kiss on his jaw before continuing. "Who fractures their toe from dropping a bowling ball on it? I'm gonna have to come up with a cooler story to tell people when they ask."
Miles responded with a light laugh, not exactly the reaction Lola was expecting. She looked at him and noticed that his mind seemed elsewhere. He had been so present all night, but now all of a sudden his eyes were glazed over and his focus was not on Lola.
The doctor finished wrapping up Lola's toe and reassured her that the fracture wasn't a big deal and that she'd be back to normal in a little more than a month. Lola thanked him profusely, but all of her words were half hearted. The rest of her heart, and her concerns, were directed toward Miles. Something was clearly wrong.
"What's up?" She questioned, and in an instant, he snapped out of the daze.
"Nothing, I'm good." Miles reassured a bit too quickly.
"Tell me." She pulled him close once again and held his hand in hers. "Please?"
Miles exhaled. He was reluctant, but he spoke. "I just haven't spent much time in hospitals since..."
"The crash." Lola said. "I can't believe I didn't even think about how coming to the hospital like this could be... triggering." She said, holding his hand even tighter, trying to relay her guilt through tight hand holding, as if that was something that was going to help.
Lola relied on Miles's grip to help her stand up. She winced at the pain from putting pressure on her fractured toe. "The doctor said the nurse was going to bring me a pair of crutches.. Can you go find the nurse?" Lola asked, sitting back down. The pain was far too much. She had been given a little bit of pain medicine when she first arrived at the emergency unit, to tie her over until someone could come figure out what was going on. The truth of the matter was, she did need the crutches, but she also needed to get her pain medicine, which wasn't something she wanted to flaunt in front of Miles's face. First, she forces him to relive the trauma of the bus crash and practically living at the hospital visiting his comatose boyfriend, and now she was going to dangle pain pills in front of his face? She wasn't sure the exact details of the substance abuse issues he had a few years back, but she knew that something went down, so she needed to discuss pills with her doctor in private.
Luckily, she spotted her doctor in the hall almost immediately, and Miles was nowhere in sight. She called out for the doctor, who heard her call and entered the room.
"Hey, I know I said no when you asked if I needed a prescription, but..." Lola said, "I think I'd like something for the pain. It's a lot."
The doctor nodded and pulled out his prescription pad. "Just be careful with these. Only take them when you really need them."
Lola nodded, opening her mouth to thank the doctor, but her voice was replaced by another familiar one. Miles.
"I got the crutches." He said, holding silver crutches that were adjusted way too tall for Lola's short frame. "Gonna need to take these down a peg or two." Miles looked to the doctor and gave him a small smile. He seemed like he was in a better mood. Lola wondered what perked him up. For a moment, she thought about that, but she realized the next moment as the doctor was handing her a sheet of paper with a prescription for pain pills on it... that perkiness would probably be ruined soon.
Lola snatched the prescription from her doctor and smiled, "Thank you." She said in a rushed tone. "I'm sure you have like, cancer to cure or something, so I won't take up any more of your time."
The doctor gave her a strange look, but exited the situation. Now all Lola had to do was figure out how to handle this. She didn't want to lie to Miles, they just started dating. Even the whitest of white lies could crumble a new relationship. But she didn't want to admit that she was trying to hide the fact that she was taking pills. Then he'd realize she was treating him differently due to his past, and... Every path was a road to disaster.
"Boo." She said, reaching out for the crutches. "Help me adjust these?" She tried the route of 'ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist'. But by the look on Miles's face she wasn't sure if she was pulling it off.
"What'd he want to talk to you about?" He asked, not even an ounce of suspicion in his voice. He was too good for Lola. He held a finger out, taking a minute to adjust the crutches before he handed to them. "That should be better." He handed to them, the height now much more suited for Lola's tiny body.
Lola shakily stood up once again, still feeling a lot of pain as her weight pushed on the fractured bone. She situated the crutches under her armpits, which was immediately uncomfortable. "I'm gonna hate this." She expressed with a sigh, and Miles leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek.
"Come on, lets go grab dinner." Miles suggested, sweet as ever. Was he really just going to drop walking in on Lola having a shady exchange with her doctor? Was he really not curious what they were talking about or what the piece of paper she had shoved into her pocket hastily was? Again, Lola didn't deserve this boy.
The two made their way out of the hospital and out to Miles's car, Lola leaning on Miles more than the crutches. Finally, after a few minutes of Lola hobbling, exchanging balance between her feet, the crutches, and Miles's body, he finally scooped her up and began carrying her to the car. He carried her most of the way, finally tapping out once the car was in sight.
"I promise this is no commentary on your body," Miles said as he opened the passenger door for Lola and allowed her to enter the car. "But I really need to hit the gym and lift some weights." He shut the door when Lola was all settled in and walked around the car to get into the driver's seat. He climbed in, started the car and backed out of the parking spot. "What are you feeling for dinner?" Miles asked. "No ball shaped food, right?"
Lola cracked a smile, but kept her gaze outside. "Today has been really weird." She said out loud. And once she began speaking, it was like word vomit. It was all coming out. "First, I find out about my dad lying to me... Then I see you, then I found that note, then I fractured my toe. And it's only..." She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time and noticed several missed calls from Frankie. "12:31. Also, Frankie has called me seventeen times, why?"