Jake walked up to the man behind the front desk. He knew that Ashley was here because he had texted him earlier. He held a "Get well soon balloon", along with a wrapped gift for Ashley.
"How can I help you, sir?" Said the nurse.
"I'm looking for Ashley Purdy. Which room is he in?" Jake asked kindly.
"23. Down that hallway; shouldn't be too hard to spot." He replied, pointing in the general direction of the room.
"Thanks." Jake said, slightly smiling as he headed down to see his friend.
Jake knocked on the door, and Andy opened it.
"Oh, hi Jake!" Andy smiled, welcoming him into the room.
"Ashley's asleep at the moment, but you can keep me company till he wakes up."
Jake walked over and sat down in one of two chairs in the room.
"How is he? Is he okay?" Jake asked, his voice full of concern. Ashley looked very hurt; he had an obviously broken nose, a black eye, and two huge bruises on his cheeks.
Andy nodded, looking at Ashley and sighing. "He's only in here another day. They want to make sure he's stable before he's released."
"How long have you been here?" Jake asked.
"Two days. I can't stand to be without him." Andy smiled at Ashley as he mumbled something in his sleep.
Jake and Andy sat in silence and watched Ashley sleeping peacefully.
"So..." Andy looked over at Jake, his eyes falling on the gift. "What'd you bring him?"
Jake shrugged. "It's his own tablet. It was broken, and he'd asked me to fix it. It's finally finished, and I thought, 'Why not wrap it up and make it like a little gift?'"
Andy laughed because that sounded exactly like something he'd do.
Ashley stirred and slowly sat up. Andy walked over to the side of the bed and helped him. Ashley was still in pain; he was in a cast because he had had a broken rib, and had bruises along his sides and all over his chest.
"We've got company." Andy said, nodding towards Jake.
"Hey, Jake!" Ashley smiled, despite being in pain.
"I brought you something." Jake handed the package to Ashley, which he opened excitedly.
"You fixed it?" Ashley asked. Jake nodded.
"I had to get a couple of parts for it, but it's fully functional."
"Thank you!"
"No problem."
The door was suddenly being opened slowly, and someone walked in. Andy smiled.
"Jinxx, what are you doing here?" He asked.
Jinxx smiled and looked at Ashley. "I consider Ashley a friend of mine."
"Really? I'm honored," Ashley said.
Jinxx laughed and walked over to Ashley. He pulled out a chocolate bar seemingly out of nowhere.
"I got this. Not much, but I thought you might like it. Hospital food sucks ass." Ashley took the candy and unwrapped it. He took a bite, and it was absolutely delicious.
"Thank you, Jinxx." Ashley said.
"No problem."
"How come you didn't get me anything when I was hurt?" Andy pouted playfully.
"Aww, does little Andy want some, too?" Jinxx teased.
Andy flipped him off, and Jinxx laughed.
"You really haven't changed at all since you were a teenager, have you, Biersack?"
"Nope!" Andy laughed.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a nurse walked in.
"Oh! You have company! Should I come back later, Ashley?" He asked.
He took one glance at Andy, and his face turned pale.
"You're...you're the guy from the ER... The one... You have..." The doctor was struggling to speak.
Andy sighed. "Goddammit," He whispered under his breath.
"I'll just go for now... Seems like it's a bad ti-"
"You're fine. Listen, I know, I'm weird. I'm different. But fuck that, I'm not dangerous. There's no reason in the goddamned world to be afraid of me. Yes, I have to potential to kick your ass, but so does everyone else in this room!" Andy was hurt that the doctor would think he was dangerous. He wasn't a bad guy, at all, and he knew that. Sure, he could be an asshole at times, but he wasn't bad.
The doctor was blushing, and he was fidgety. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be like that..."
Andy sat back down as the doctor and Ashley sorted out information about being released.
The doctor left, and Andy stood up and grabbed Ashley's hand. Ashley smiled up at him, staring into Andy's intense blue eyes.