Recover

Chapter 9 ~ Recover

Shane's POV~

I was shaking with anticipation as the young nurse lead me through the halls and towards where Joey would be.

"Now, he just got out of surgery, so he's resting right now," she informed me. "They were repairing the wound on his side when they discovered he may have also ruptured his appendix. They removed it as well, just to be safe." She gave a tired smile. "He's been through a lot tonight."

I raised my eyebrows and smiled. "Don't I know it."

"So..." she slowly began. "What's exactly going on between you two? Just friends, or something more? If you don't mind me asking, of course."

"Honestly, I have no clue," I admitted, laughing a little. "We've been friends for what seems like forever, but..." I smiled down at my hands. "I dunno. I've got a feeling things are about to change."

She grinned. "I see."

We stopped in front of a window in the wall. "So, this is recovery," she offered after a moment of silence. "Joey has twenty more minutes of recovery time before he can head back to his room. So it's best to let him rest until then."

I pressed my hands to the glass, peering through. Joey was lying across from me, most likely asleep. I saw the steady rise and fall of his chest, which was a huge weight off my shoudlers already.

The nurse continued, "Even after he gets out, he'll probably sleep for a while still. He's under general anesthetic, and not to mention, it's still the middle of the night."

"It is?" I asked, scratching my head. So much had been going on, I'd kind of lost track of time.

"Yup, it's about..." she checked her watch. "2:30 or so."

I sat down on a bench across from the recovery window. I really wanted to call Joey's family to let them know what had happened, but I didn't have any contact information for them. Sawyer was also probably worried sick, considering all the terrible notes and the blood were still there. I shuddered at the thought about what it must've been like for him.

"Excuse me, miss-"

"I'm Julia," she interrupted.

I smiled. "Alright, Julia. Is there a phone I could use? I need to make a few calls."

"There's one in the visiting center, which is the first right down the hall," she pointed me in the right direction. "I'll come and find you if it comes time to move Joey."

I muttered a quick, "Thanks," before heading off down the hall. Luckily, Sawyer's number was one that I knew, so getting in touch with him was no trouble. I let him know what had happened, and (as I'd predicted) he started freaking out and said he would come down to the hospital as quickly as possible.

After the call, Julia came back to let me know that Joey had been transferred to a new room, 205. I followed her down to it; when we arrived, she turned to look at me.

"I'll let you head in alone," she smiled.

I nodded. "Thank you for everything." I hugged her, smiling.

She left and I eased the door open. As she'd suggested, Joey was still asleep. He looked so fragile, his head tilted off to one side and his arms limply on top of the covers. The slits on his wrists had been repaired and bandaged.

I pulled up a chair next to his bed and took his hand in mine, gently stroking it. "Thank god you're ok, Joey," I whispered, holding his hand to my lips and closing my eyes. "I thought I'd lost you."

"I'm sorry," I continued, knowing he was asleep, but I needed to get these things out. "I was an idiot not to realize the way you felt. It shouldn't have lead to this. This is all too close for comfort. You aren't useless, Joey. Or ugly, or fat, or any of those things. Why can't you see that you're as amazing as you are?

"I know I have Lisa, but... I don't know. I've been doing a lot of thinking, and somehow... I think that we could exist. All I know for sure is that there is something between us. So, I would be willing to give it a try. Don't get me wrong, I'm really confused, but hey – maybe we could figure this all out together."

I rubbed his hand with my thumb, smiling. "Regardless, I really care about you, Joey, and don't you dare think for a second that the world would be better if you weren't in it." I closed my eyes, grinning at the floor. "Anyway, Sawyer's coming down to see you as well, so I should go meet him. I'll be back soon. But for now, just focus on getting better."

I stood to leave and hesitated for a moment before leaning in and gently kissing Joey on his soft, pink lips. "I love you," I barely breathed into his ear, feeling my lips curve up into a smile.

I straightened up and walked towards the door, but froze in my steps as I heard Joey's voice. 

"I love you too, Shane."

~~~~

HO SNAP! Joey heard the whole thing! Oh boy! Haha so, kind of a boring chapter today, but it needed to be written. I stayed home from school today because I am SICK (and I feel disgusting) so I might get some work done on the next chapter. I had this really great idea for this story, but I forgot it! :O So I'm just gonna focus on bringing it back.

On a side note, everyone really wanted me to continue with this story for a little while, so that's what I'm gonna do! I still might post some other Shoey related stuff (I'm actually dying to write an mpreg Shoey fic! *shot*) but who knows! Thanks to everyone for reading, voting, etc and I LOVE YOU ALL! BAI!