Chapter 5

For the next few days, my time consisted of strengthening exercises with the doctor and daily visits from James. I told him he didn’t have to come and see me anymore but he insisted. I quickly learnt that James Owen Mathews was a very stubborn man. It was mid afternoon, almost a week since I had woken up in this hospital bed. I lay backwards on my bed, my feet propped up and my head almost hanging off. There wasn’t a lot to do in this room. 

“What are you doing?” asked a confused voice from the doorway. I tilted my head to see James standing in the doorway with a paper bag and a backpack in his hands. 

“I’m laying down. What does it look like I’m doing?” I asked rhetorically. 

“I know that, smartass. I’m asking why you’re laying like that,” he retorted as he walked into the room, placing the bags on the bed with me. 

“Cause I felt like it. What’s in the bags?” I asked as I sat up and faced him. 

“Presents,” he said with a smile as he took a McDonald’s cheeseburger out of the bag and handed it to me. 

“Oh my god. I love you,” I squealed and took the burger, hungrily ripping off the wrapping paper and taking a big bite. “Oh, sweet baby Jesus. It’s so good to have human food,” I mumbled around a mouthful of burger. 

“Good thing I got a few of them,” James laughed, taking them out of the bag and setting it on the rolly bedside table. “I also brought you my laptop, an old phone that’s got my Spotify and a bunch of old games on it, a few books and an empty notebook and some pens. Figured you could use them so you wouldn’t be so bored in here.”

I stared up at him in surprise, the burger momentarily forgotten. “You didn’t have to bring me all this stuff, James.”

“I know I didn’t, but I wanted to,” James replied as he set everything on the small table by my bed. “So what’s the prognosis?”

“Doc says I can go home in maybe a week. Said I’m recovering nicely. Far better than was expected,” I said as I finished my first burger and moved onto my second. 

“Well that’s good. I’m sure you’d be glad to go home,” James mused as he picked up a burger and started to eat. 

“Yeah, I wanna get the hell out of here. But I’m not looking forward to leaving in a hospital gown,” I joked softly. 

“Well tell me your address and where I can find a key and I will pick up clothes and things for you,” he said as he finished his first burger and moved onto his second. 

“No way. You do too much for me already,” I said, shaking my head as I finished my second burger, well past full. 

“Too bad, I’m doing it anyway. I don’t want you going home in a gown,” James said with his arms crossed, staring at me as if daring me to argue. 

“You’re so damn stubborn,” I grumbled trying to hide my smile. I gave up and told him my address and where he could find the spare key. He wrote it down in his phone then made me get a chat app so we could text. “It’s a big place so you might get a little lost.”

“I won’t snoop too much. Promise.” he teased. 

“You’re a good guy, James Owen Mathews. I’m glad you’re my friend.” I smiled at James as he sat in the chair by my bed, his feet propped up on the mattress. 

“You’re a good girl, Haven Emory Thompson, and I’m glad you’re my friend.” James smiles, his blue eyes sparkling. I wrinkled my nose and fake pouted. 

“When you say ‘girl’ it makes me feel like a little kid.”

“Well you are little,” he teased. 

“ I am not.” I bugged indignantly. “I’m 20.”

“Yeah, and I’m 28 and 6’3”, so you are little compared to me.” James laughed at my facial expression. 

“Hmm... glad I could amuse you, Mr. Mathews.” I snorted. Very lady like. 

“Very lady-like, Haven.” James snorted in amusement. 

“What, you can do it but I can’t? That’s hardly fair,” I pouted. 

For the next little while we poked fun at each other and talked about random things. I liked having James around. He was easy to talk to and had a great sense of humour -not to mention I was developing a bit of a hero worship crush on him. I mean, who wouldn’t? The man saved my life.

As we were sitting on my bed watching shows on James’s laptop, the door opened and my doctor, Dr. Morgan, came into the room. 

“How are you feeling, Haven?” Dr. Morgan asked as he checked over my chart. 

“I’m good. A little stiff but not much. I took a walk around the hospital last night and it didn’t tire me out,” I explained. 

“Well that’s good, Miss Thompson. You heal fast so I’m sure you’ll be out of here in no time. And today we can take off the bandage on your neck.”

“Thank God.” I yelled, causing both men to chuckle. “Nothing against you, Doc. I just want to get out of here. And this thing itches so I’m ready for it to be off.” I smiled at him sheepishly. 

“I completely understand, Haven. Just keep up with the exercises and you will be out of here real soon. Alright, let’s take this off shall we?”

He slowly undid the tape and carefully pulled off the bandage; it tugged on my skin slightly. I scrunched up my face at the feeling and stretched my neck and jaw a bit in relief. “Alright. It looks really good. Healed very nicely. Now, there is a bit of a scar but not nearly as bad as it could have been.”

I gingerly lifted my hand to touch the skin of my neck. It felt rough, and it felt like it ran from my collar bone to my cheek bone. I’ll admit the vain part of me didn’t want to look at it - or my hair, which was more uneven than I thought. I had been skillfully avoiding all mirrors since I woke up almost a week ago. 

“There’s still a bit of healing and the redness will go away as it does. Over time, it will fade even more. I’ll come back to check on you later.” And with that, Dr. Morgan was gone from the room. 

“You’re not going to look at it?” James asked gently as he watched me closely. I bit my lip and shook my head. 

“I’m not ready to see all the scars. My hands aren’t bad, nor is my torso, but there’s quite a few on my back and legs. I know it could have been so much worse, but every time I see them I feel the pain all over again and I smell my skin burning. I don’t want to face that right now,” I admitted as I played with my hospital robe. 

“Have you thought about talking to someone about your experiences? It might help you process everything.”

“Dr. Morgan sent in a referral for me to talk with a psychiatrist. Just waiting for an appointment to be set up.” I nodded before looking back up at James. He smiled at me gently before motioning to his laptop. 

“Back to shows?” I nodded with a grateful smile and we settled back on my bed to watch. James reached into his backpack and pulled out some gummy worms. 

“Here, I got the good stuff.”

“That you did,” I snorted with a laugh.