The hospital room felt smaller with every passing minute. The steady *beep... beep... beep* from Aeri’s heart monitor was the only real sound besides my own breathing. I was still holding her hand, thumb moving slowly back and forth across her knuckles, when the phone buzzed again in my lap.
I glanced at the screen. Jonathan.
I hit answer and brought it to my ear.
"Hello fucker!" Jonathan’s voice burst through the speaker—loud, bright, full of that sa dumb energy he always had. Completely clueless about the ss I was sitting in.
"Jonathan..." I said softly, almost too quiet.
"Obviously who else would it be?" he shot back. I could picture him raising one eyebrow, smirking to himself like he always did when he thought he’d caught off guard.
"Yeah. I an—hello," I said, clearing my throat. I sounded rough even to my own ears. I coughed once, trying to shake it off.
"Man, you sound so dull, brother. Everything okay?" His tone shifted a little—still light, but now with a tiny edge of worry. "I haven’t seen your face in a while. You ghosting or what?"
"Yeah... I’m good," I lied, pressing two fingers hard into the spot between my eyes. The pressure helped keep my head from spinning. "Just had breakfast. Got so decent sleep. You know."
I didn’t want to tell him. Not yet. Not over the phone. Not when I still had no real answers myself. Aeri was lying right here, hooked up to machines, drugs in her blood that made no sense, and I didn’t even know where to start. I’d tell him when the ti felt right. If it ever did.
"Ahhh, that’s why," Jonathan said, dragging the words out like he’d just solved a mystery. "Enjoying life with your step-mom, huh? You sneaky little bitch."
He laughed—big, loud, the kind of laugh that usually made roll my eyes and grin back.
I forced a small laugh too. "Hehe... sorry for that."
The sound felt fake coming out of my mouth, but he didn’t seem to notice.
"So what’s up?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from . "Why’d you call? New client or sothing?"
Jonathan sucked his teeth like I’d just insulted him.
"What makes you think I only call you when it’s about work?" he said, voice turning fake-serious, like he was about to give a lecture. "I can’t just check on my friend? See how my favorite pain-in-the-ass is doing? Damn, Ezra. Give a guy so credit."
I let out a tired half-smile even though he couldn’t see it. "Yeah, yeah... you’re right. Sorry."
The hospital room felt even quieter after Jonathan’s loud laugh faded into the phone. I kept my eyes on Aeri—her chest moving up and down in that slow, steady rhythm the monitor was counting out. I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to shake off the heavy feeling sitting on my chest.
"Na, not like that," I said, keeping my voice calm so he wouldn’t worry more than he already sounded. "I just thought sothing must’ve co up, that’s all."
"Well yeah!" Jonathan answered, his tone dropping a little, almost flat now. "You’re right though. I did call because so work ca up."
"Thought so," I said, matching his flat tone without even trying.
He let out a short laugh. "Haha, you know well enough now."
"Obviously," I replied, letting out a small sigh that slipped out on its own. "Since when do you think I don’t know you?"
"Hehe..." He just laughed again, softer this ti, like he was caught.
I shifted in the chair, the plastic creaking under . My free hand rested on the bed rail, fingers tapping once, twice, restless.
"So what’s the work you’ve got for ?" I asked, cutting straight to it. No point dragging this out.
"Well, Mister," Jonathan said, putting on that fake-fancy voice he sotis used when he was trying to sound professional. "You have a new client today."
"Ohh... I see..." My voice went slow, dropping lower as my eyes drifted back to Aeri’s sleeping face. The words felt heavy coming out.
"Yeah," he went on. "It’s urgent. And the client—she especially asked for you."
I swallowed. "For the entire night? Or just the evening?"
"It’s not reserved yet," Jonathan explained. "She said she’ll decide depending on if she’s enjoying it or not. You know how so of them are—starts as a couple hours, turns into sunrise if the vibe’s right."
I scratched my forehead hard, nails digging in a little. The skin felt tight there, like a headache was already building behind my eyes.
"Alright," I said after a second. "I’ll be there in an hour."
The line went quiet for half a beat.
"You sure?" Jonathan asked, voice dropping the joking tone completely now. "You still sound off, man. If you need to skip—"
"No," I cut in, quick but quiet. "I’ll co. Just... give an hour to sort things here."
"Cool. I’ll tell her you’re coming. Sa room as usual. Don’t be late, yeah? She’s paying good money."
For a long mont I just stared at Aeri. The IV drip was still going, tiny drops falling every few seconds. Her face looked peaceful, but that only made the knot in my stomach worse.
I didn’t want to leave her. Not even for a second. The thought of walking out of this room while she was still out cold made feel sick. But I also knew Jonathan was covering for these last few days. I hadn’t shown up for shifts, hadn’t answered half his ssages. If I bailed again, he’d start losing patience. And I needed the money—hospital bills don’t wait.
She won’t wake up till tomorrow anyway, I told myself. The doctor said 18–20 hours at least. I’ll go, do the job, finish early if I can, and be back before she even opens her eyes.
I leaned forward, brushed a few strands of hair off Aeri’s forehead with the back of my fingers. Her skin felt cool.
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