by Leah Laurens
She’s a sight for sore eyes as she walks into the emergency room. She’s wearing her baggy sweatpants, glasses, and her hair is messily piled on her head. She walks up to the counter. “I’m sick.” It’s all she can really get out.
The woman takes her temperature. “You’re pale as a ghost, sweetie. Here. Sit in this wheelchair, and we will get you some medicine and fluids.”
Hailey collapses into the wheelchair. She used the last little bit of her energy just to get to the hospital. As she lays in the hospital bed, the room seems to have a pulse. Her head hurts so badly. The nurse says she’s probably dehydrated and puts an IV in her arm. Hailey looks at the woman and barely manages to whisper, “Thank you.”
***
Jimmy is at work, when his phone light up with a message from his friend that works for Hailey.
Jimmy reads the message. “Hey just a heads up, your friend Hailey is out sick.”
Jimmy stops, overcome with worry about Hailey, knowing she doesn’t have anyone to take care of her. He closes his laptop and tells the other team members he has a family emergency. He races home and sees Hailey’s car is not in the driveway. After the incident last night, he is extra worried about her.
Being that they are a small town, the hospital is the only place to go when you’re sick, so he drives directly there. He rushes into the front entrance. “I’m here to see Hailey.”
The woman says, “Are you family?”
He lies. “Boyfriend.”
The woman smiles at his earnestness to see her, and she shows him to where Hailey is now sleeping, telling him the medicine is starting to take effect.
“She was really dehydrated, the doctor wants to keep her here overnight to make sure she gets properly hydrated. I wouldn’t go too close. She’s contagious.”
“Oh, okay. You think I could come back in about an hour?”
“They are probably going to move her to Hall B, where it’s a little quieter. As long as you’re back by 7, when visiting hours are over, you’re good.”
He nods. “Okay, thank you.” Jimmy sees a window of opportunity to help Hailey, because he knows she really needs someone to be there for her. No one likes to be in the hospital, and from the looks of it, she doesn’t have anything besides her purse.”
He drives home and goes across the street to her house, picking up the pot next to the door to find the spare key. He decides to bring Hailey some fresh clothes and grabs her makeup bag from the bathroom. He gets some socks, and her cell phone charger and the box of crackers from the kitchen table. After he closes her front door, he carefully puts the key back. He doesn’t care if she gets mad at her for going through her things.
Jimmy runs back into his house and grabs a Gatorade. He contemplates buying flowers but realizes that might send the wrong message, and he’s trying to be respectful of her. He wonders if he should just have his mom drop the things off for her, but his mom is at her book club until later tonight. He decides to just go and not worry about it. If it were him he’d definitely want his deodorant and toothbrush, too.
***
Hailey wakes up as the nurse comes in to check on her. The new shift nurse tells her they want to keep her for the night to get her feeling a little better, and Hailey nods, still very weak. As they wheel Hailey to the room she’ll stay in, she hugs her purse. She feels cared for, but also a little scared to be staying in the hospital overnight alone. She considers calling her mom, but she told her mom they wouldn’t speak until she was sober.
The nurse transitions her into the new room and dims the lights. The woman places a warmed blanket over her. “I’m going to be back in a bit to check on you.”
Hailey nods.
The nurse walks out, and Hailey looks around at the strange place she’s in. She sends a message to her girlfriend. “Hope I didn’t accidentally give you the flu when we were hanging. I’m sick in the hospital!”
Her friend immediately responds. “Oh no! I’m coming to keep you company. Don’t worry!”
Hailey is grateful knowing someone cares. She rests her phone on her chest, still exhausted from the loss of fluids. When she wakes up, she hears the door to her room opening, and her friend pops her head in with a handful of flowers.
She says, “Hey you. How you doing?”
“I feel like shit!”
The girl walks up to the bed, and Hailey says, “Don’t get too close in case I’m still contagious.”
“Have you been able to eat? Did they say how long you have to be here?”
“At least a night. I can’t keep anything down.”
Hailey’s friend stays for a while, making sure she’s okay. She turns on the TV for her to bring a little life to the room. “Well, I’m going to come back tomorrow morning and check on you. You get some rest. You’re in good hands.”
Hailey smiles. “Thanks for the flowers.”
“I saw them on the side of the road on the way here.”
“You’re awesome!”
***
Hailey’s friend walks out of the room and closes the door. Just as she’s turning, she collides with Jimmy, who is looking for Hailey’s room.
He says, “Oh gosh sorry!”
“No, it’s my bad. I wasn’t paying attention.”
Jimmy looks up at the room number. “Oh, were you visiting Hailey?”
“Yeah she’s a friend of mine.”
“Oh cool. Nice to meet you. I’m Jimmy. Her neighbor.”
She smiles, thinking how cute Jimmy is. “Crystal. I told her I’d come back in the morning to check on her.”
“Oh, can I get your number so you can tell me how she is? I have to work early.”
She pulls out her phone, puts his number in, and calls his phone.
He says, “Great, thanks!” He then reaches for the door. He smiles at Crystal, not knowing she’s interested in him. He forgets how good looking and charming he is. He walks into Hailey’s room, and she is barely able to respond. She opens her eyes halfway.
He places the bag he brought on a chair. “Hey, you feeling okay?”
Hailey shakes her head. “No.”
“Well, I brought your bathroom stuff, some clothes, your phone charger, crackers, and Gatorade.”
Hailey swallows, as she turns her head to look at the bag and just nods. She lifts her hand and points to the bottom of the bed.
Jimmy says, “You want the blanket?”
Hailey nods.
He pulls the blanket up for her. “They are going to kick me out of here in a few minutes. I’ll plug your phone in. Just call or text if you need anything at all. Doesn’t matter what time.”
She nods and closes her eyes. He plugs in her phone and pushes the chair closer so she can reach her stuff. He places the crackers and Gatorade on the table by her bed. When he sees her eyes are closed, he quietly slips out.
On his drive home, he thinks about how she must feel with no family or boyfriend there to help her. He doesn’t even care that he’s not able to be her friend or boyfriend at this point. He just wants her to feel cared for and isn’t too miserable.
***
Hailey wakes up the next morning, feeling like the fog is starting to lift. She’s hungry and reaches for the crackers on the table. She washes them down with her favorite flavor of Gatorade, the white one, which she bets Jimmy remembered.
She sends a quick message to say she’s still going to be out of work and also tells Crystal she’s feeling a little better. She sits up and gets a waft of her morning breath. She reaches into the bag Jimmy brought, slowly getting out of bed and brushing her teeth in the sink. She uses the change of underwear, the deodorant, and makeup, feeling refreshed.
She’s still tired and lays back down just as the morning shift doctor comes in. He smiles. “Look who’s awake. And you’ve got some color back in your cheeks.”
Hailey grins. “Thank you for taking care of me. I’ve never been hit so hard with something.”
The doctor looks at his clipboard. “
You have a nasty strain of this year's flu that has been going around. It’s good you were able to come in. Dehydration is very serious.”
“Any idea when I might feel back to normal?”
“Most patients are feeling back to normal within three to four days. If you’re still doing okay by this afternoon, I think we can send you home.”
Hailey nods, feeling the life start to return to her again.
The doctor says, “Your meds will be kicking in, and you won’t be contagious soon.”
Hailey nods again, thanking him before the doctor walks out.
***
Hailey sips some orange juice, trying to regain her energy. She hears a quiet knock on the door, and a nurse brings in a flower arrangement with her name on it. Hailey pulls the card off, and the nurse places the flowers on the table.
The card reads, “My mom always said it’s nice to get flowers when you’re sick. Jimmy.”
Hailey doesn’t know what to think about the flowers and doesn’t have the energy to figure it out. She glances at the two flowers arrangements on her table next to her box of crackers. She realizes that right now her circle is pretty small. She has two friends, and one of them, she’s trying really hard to push away.
She watches some old reruns on TV as she dozes on and off. Each time she opens her eyes, she momentarily forgets where she is. She sees the flowers and a feeling of warmth comes over her. She knows she is going to be fine.
In her exhausted state, she realizes it’s actually nice to get flowers when you’re sick. Jimmy’s mom was right.
Crystal stops by and brings her some soup and bread. Hailey is only able to eat slowly. Crystal says, “We need to get you back to normal for next week’s trivia night!”
Hailey smiles. “I know!”
Crystal looks at her. “When do you get to go home?”
Hailey looks at the clock. “In a few hours.” Hailey pushes the button to raise her bed higher. “Thanks so much for visiting. Being in the hospital sucks!”
“Oh, it’s nothing, girl! I’m just glad you’re feeling better! Now, I’ve got to go get ready for work though.”
Hailey nods, and Crystal hops up. “Let me know how you’re doing later and if you need anything, okay?”
Hailey nods again. After Crystal leaves, Hailey glances at the TV, seeing a commercial of a family going to Disneyland together. She feels a wave of sadness come over her. She never got a chance to have family memories like vacations and camping. She never even went to summer camp. She feels like she missed out on a lot of what a normal childhood is supposed to be like.
She thinks back to her tenth birthday party with Jimmy, the one year she had a cake and presents. That year was really fun. Being able to play at his house all the time made her feel like she almost had a normal family.
Her and her mom have a long way to go when it comes to healing their relationship, and it seems like she might start getting more of these realizations about how much her childhood upset her. She decides to face the emotions when they come up now and try to move past them, not ignore them. She realizes that she’d still be alone and angry if she didn’t start dealing with her past.
***
Jimmy wakes up and gets ready for work. He rushes out the door, grabbing a muffin and gets to work just in time. He glances at the clock, and as he sits down, it turns to 9.
He sends a quick message to Hailey’s friend Crystal, asking if she know how Hailey is doing. He sets his phone down, opens his laptop, and takes a sip of his morning coffee while he waits for his computer to load.
He sees a message on his phone from Crystal. “Just visited her. She’s feeling better. Going home in a few hours.” There is a smiley face and a heart emoji after what she wrote. Jimmy assumes it means that Crystal’s happy Hailey is going home.
He sends a quick, “Thanks for the update. Glad she’s okay.”
Then he gets to work. Around lunchtime, his eyes are feeling strained and he closes his laptop to stretch his legs. He walks outside to the turf area and sees one of the girls stretching on a yoga mat. He follows her lead and walks to the other side of the lawn, sitting down to do some light stretches.
As the sun hits his face, he thinks about Hailey’s sick face in the hospital. He didn’t find the same look of hatred that he’s been seeing since she returned. He wonders if it was just because she was sick, or if she’s really starting to forgive him.
His phone buzzes. It’s another message from Hailey’s friend. “I brought her some breakfast, but I have to work late. Maybe you can check on her later.”
“Sure, no problem. I’ll bring her something to eat.”
Crystal responds with two green heart emojis. Jimmy just assumes means she’s being nice.
He decides to take his ideas to the company to see if they like any of them. He feels a little more confident now that he has helped Hailey. He walks inside and goes to the office where the fun supervisor is sitting.
He says, “Hey! You got a minute?”
The guy stands up. “Of course! What’s going on?”
“Well, I wanted to run some ideas by you.” Jimmy spends an hour with his fun supervisor, explaining his ideas. Jimmy’s glad that the guy is excited about his ideas, which helps Jimmy share even more.
At the end of the conversation, the guy tells Jimmy that he’s pumped to find ways to systematically implement some – if not all – of his ideas. He tells Jimmy to expect to get some extra bonuses from the revenue they bring in as well.
He smiles. “We like to reward creativity here!”
Jimmy says, “Man, I just love how you guys operate.”
“Well, the people who started this company believed work shouldn’t be a place you dread going.”
“You know, I completely agree. Thanks for following your dream and making a place we can all enjoy to work at.”
“Absolutely! Hey, by the way, I’m on the world’s worst bar trivia team, and we are short a player! If you want to come next Monday, we’d love to show you how to lose in style!”
“Oh, perfect! I’m horrible at trivia!”
“Awesome!”
Jimmy goes to the snack bar, picking out a few snacks and finding a beanbag chair to finish his work. He feels pretty content and is glad knowing Hailey’s doing better. He’s made peace with her not wanting to be his friend, because he understands she is mad. But he’s still holding out hope that one day, she’ll forgive him and they can rebuild their friendship. Of course, he still wants more, but he can’t be selfish.
On the way home from work, he calls ahead to order two pizzas with side salads. He realizes he never showed Hailey the treehouse and plans to put her pizza in the treehouse and tell her to go back there on her own, so she can have it all to herself. He does this and goes back inside.
He sits down at the table and texts Hailey, telling her there’s some pizza for her in the new and improved treehouse, adding that he will leave her alone so she can just enjoy it on her own.
***
Hailey has just gotten home and is starving. She’s on her couch, sifting through old takeout menus from the drawer. They’re faded and stuck together.
Her phone buzzes. She sees a message from Jimmy and worries that he wants to hang out. She doesn’t want to be around anyone right now. She still doesn’t feel good, and she hasn’t had a chance to think about Jimmy or her feelings about him.
She sees that he got her dinner and is confused when he tells her it’s in the treehouse. She walks out of her front door, wrapped in a big jacket, and sees the path next to Jimmy’s house is lit up by solar lights.
She strolls down the path, staring up at the new treehouse. It’s meticulously designed to resemble a real house. She can’t believe her eyes, and she finds herself climbing up the nice, sturdy ladder.
She sees a hatch with a rubber seal, and assumes it’s to keep bugs away. She pushes the hatch up and is astounded by the table and chairs attached to the walls. There’s artwork of Wonder Woman an
d a beautiful loft.
She gazes at the windows as she stands and taps on the real glass. Her jaw is wide open as she spins, taking in all the nice fixtures and finishes. The place feels like an adult getaway with a splash of fun.
There are cushions on the seats that fold out from the wall. There’s wainscoting painted to look like a chair rail. There’s even a real skylight.
She finds herself squealing when she realizes there is a space heater, a fan, and electricity. There are switches and everything.
She wonders how in the world he figured out how to do all of this. She remembers the sawing she heard when she first moved back, realizing that this is all brand new. It even has that fresh paint smell. She realizes that he must have done this for her. She’ touched. She sits down and opens the pizza box, taking in her favorite smell. She smiles, seeing that Jimmy remembered to order her extra cheese. She eats one slide, staring at the painting of Wonder Woman.
She wonders if she should send Jimmy a message, telling him how amazing it all is. But for now, she just wants to soak it all in. As she reaches for a second piece, she’s smiling, ear to ear.
***
Jimmy peeks through the blinds, gazing out at the treehouse. He can see Hailey’s head from the back and knows she’s sitting at the table. He’s happy she stayed to eat and wonders if he should go out there and talk to her.
He’s worried she’s lonely, but stops himself. He tells himself he needs to just be a good friend and let her come to him if and only if she wants to. He sets down his phone, deciding she probably just wants to be left alone.
He goes up to his room to relax in bed and try to not think about Hailey. He’s still struggling to get over her, so he reluctantly opens the dating app and forces himself to start swiping.
He remembers he forgot to respond to the girl he met for drinks. He sends a quick message, saying, “Hey, sorry I didn’t respond. I got preoccupied with a friend in the hospital.”
He sees the girl quickly starts typing, which gives him a little anxiety. He’s just not into her, and he has been avoiding setting up a second time to meet. He goes back to the dating app and tells himself to keep swiping, even though his heart is somewhere else.