Like Walking Into a Dream

I finally was able to give Brian his shot and walked out of his room to find Michelle. I found her pacing back and forth while biting her nails.

“Excuse me, you can go see Brian now,” I said kindly. Michelle glared at me before walking back into Brian’s room. Even Casey and I could hear the screaming before the door shut all the way.

“Poor guy,” I heard Casey mumble from beside me.

“Yeah, that’s his girlfriend,” I told my friend.

“Ouch, even worse. I’m just glad I don’t have to deal with clingy guys like that,” Casey said. She was more of the stay single kind of girl who likes to have fun, not that I didn’t like to have fun. I had always wanted my perfect wedding and all.

I saw Jimmy and the rest of the guys bolt out of Brian’s room. Jimmy jogged over to me.

“We didn’t really want to stick around for her bitch fits. It should end in a few minutes,” he told me.

“Does this happen a lot?”

“Almost every time they talk to each other it ends in a fight. I don’t see why he keeps her around if she only makes him miserable,” Jimmy shook his head and pulled me into another hug.

“Take care of yourself and I’ll come back later today after the witch leaves,” he kissed me on the forehead before leaving with the rest of the band. Jimmy had always acted as my older brother so I felt fine when he became touchy because we both know that we would only be friends and nothing more.

“So that’s Mr. James Owen Sullivan,” Casey said with a smirk.

“Yeah and he has a really nice girlfriend named Leana,” I told her as a warning. Casey snapped her fingers and pouted. A few minutes later we finally saw Michelle leaving Brian’s room.

“I’ll go assess the damage,” I whispered and walked into Brian’s room. He was sitting up and rubbing his temples roughly with his eyes closed.

“Do you want me to get you anything? I can call Jimmy if you want company,” I offered. Brian opened his eyes and looked up at me with a small smile.

“No I just want to rest. Sorry about that. Ever since we got engaged, she’s been really stressed out,” he apologized. Engaged? I thought Jimmy say they were just going out. Oh well, it’s none of my business anyway.

“Okay, I can put a sign up that says no visitors if you want to get some rest,” I told him. He nodded.

“That’d be great,” I left the room and got a no visitors sign from the nurses’ station and taped it to Brian’s door. Hopefully the poor guy can get some rest now.

I looked up at the clock and saw that it was just past one and my shift was over. Gabi, my relief, was just walking to take over for me so I could go home. Casey had to stay here until 4 and then she had the night off.

I grabbed my coat and said bye to Casey telling her I would call her after her shift was over. Before leaving, I walked into Eric’s office to tell him goodbye. He was dozing off in his chair behind his desk.

“Baby, I’m going home now,” I whispered next to his ear. He opened his eyes a little and smiled softly.

“I’ll be home at 2,” he replied and kissed my lips softly. I said goodbye and quietly left so he could get some rest before he was beeped again. I walked out of the building and over to my Mini Cooper S. It’s small, but cute and I love it.

I got in and right before I started to drive, my phone started ringing. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Jimmy.

“Hello?” I asked pulling out of the parking lot.

“Hey, Pey. Haha that rhymed! Damn I good!” I laughed along with him.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Nothing, I remembered you saying that you got off at one and I was calling to see if you wanted to hang out. I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Jimmy it’s only been like 2 days since we last hung out,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, that’s definitely too long. I’ll just meet you at your house then.” Before I could object, he had hung up. I wasn’t mad, I was happy actually. Jimmy made me smile like a good friend is supposed to do.

When I pulled into mine and Eric’s driveway, I already saw Jimmy sitting on our front porch. He bounced up to his feet when he saw me.

“PEYTON!” he screamed and ran over to me. He hugged me quickly before letting me go.

“Quiet, you’ll scare all of my neighbors,” I scolded with a laugh trying to be serious which was a very hard thing to do around a guy like Jimmy. I unlocked the front door and let Jimmy come in.

“We should have a sleep over soon. Like we used to do. Leana misses you too so she won’t mind if you come stay the night,” Jimmy said out of the blue. I raised an eyebrow as I got a water bottle out of the fridge.

“A sleepover? When was the last time we had one of those?” I asked him. When we were little, I used to always be over at his house and spent the night all the time.

“Uh, I actually think you were like 17 or 18 and your parents got mad at us because they thought we were more than friends and wouldn’t let you do it anymore.” I actually remember that. When I got home the morning after my mom was so pissed at me that I was grounded for like 3 weeks.

“Well good thing I can make my own decisions now,” I said.

“So that’s a yes?! Great, I’ll let Leana know that you can come this Friday!” Once again, he didn’t let me say anything and already texted his girlfriend about the plans he made all by himself.

“You will always be such a kid,” I mumbled.

“But you love me for that,” I cracked a smile at this and nodded. We both sat down on my couch and talked like we usually do. We can talk about anything for hours on end and never get bored with each other.

“So when will Brian be able to be discharged?” Jimmy asked.

“Well, if he heals as well as he is right now, Eric thinks he should be out by Friday the earliest and Sunday the latest,” I told him. Tomorrow was Friday so he could be out sooner than everyone thinks.

“Hey he also told me he was engaged to Michelle. I thought you said she was just his girlfriend.”

“Yeah we all call her his girlfriend because none of us want to admit that that bitch is actually going to marry Brian. He can do some much better than her and it makes us mad that he sticks with her.” Jimmy didn’t seem to like the idea of a wedding between them at all.

“I want him to find someone that will make him happy like Leana makes me or Eric makes you,” he said. I smiled and thought about Eric. We were happy, but what Casey said earlier was itching inside my head.

“What happens if you become too comfortable with someone and there’s no spark anymore?” I asked softly. Jimmy gave me a confused look.

“Have you and Eric lost your spark?” he asked. I jerked my head up and shook it.

“No no no no! We’re fine, better than fine. A friend of mine is having problems with her boyfriend. That’s all,” I lied and bit my lip. I have been thinking about this subject lately and it’s been upsetting me. Eric and I are engaged for God’s sake.

“Well I would tell her to try to find that spark again, but if it’s not there and she’s not happy, then she should maybe break it off and not waste her time on something that won’t please her in the end. Her happiness should come first,” I smiled softly at Jimmy. He always gave good advice.

“I’ll be sure to let her know.” Just then we heard Eric’s car pull into the driveway and he walked in.

“Is Jimmy here?”

“HERE! But I was just leaving,” Jimmy hugged me goodbye and said bye to Eric before leaving. It was just me and him again. He loosened his tie and got comfy.

“I need to go take a nap,” he walked past me to the bedroom. He didn’t even kiss me when he came in… Where did our spark go? It used to be so strong and now it’s just gone. What will happen to our marriage…?