But I Never Promised You

I was told at the hospital that I would have to undergo minor surgery to repair the damage to my hip.

Okay.

No biggie, right?

Wrong.

I didn’t have much of a problem with it. I was still covered by my mother’s insurance company and she had excellent insurance. She was a physician after all. She had to have good insurance.

Alex was the problem.

To say he was freaking out would be an understatement. Probably even the understatement of the year.

“Alex, you need to calm down. I’m going to be fine.”

“I can’t calm down, Mika. What if you’re not fine? What if the doctor does something wrong in surgery?”

“Alex,” I said, barely above a whisper.

He looked at me then, taking his head out of his hands. “Yes?”

“Please, just calm down. Nothing is going to go wrong. I’m going to come out of surgery tomorrow and we’re going to go home and it will be almost as if nothing happened, minus me probably not being able to walk for a while, of course. I’ll even let you play nurse, if you want.”

He smiled at me then. I think I finally got through to him.

“Now, why don’t you call Jack or Rian to come pick you up and you can explain to everyone what happened while I sit here and find out if I will be staying overnight or if I’ll get to go home and come back in the morning.”

“I want to stay here. I don’t want to leave you.”

“Alex, if I need anything, I’ll call. You shouldn’t be stuck in a hospital all day just because I have to be.”

“But...”

“No buts, Alex.” I pointed to the door. “Go call Jack.”

He sat in the chair next to me for another couple minutes while I stared at him. I kept giving him a look that said, “If you don’t, you’re going to regret it”. He finally gave in and walked into the hall to call one of the guys.

I could just barely hear Alex, “Jack, it’s Alex. Could you come pick me up at the hospital?”

After a pause, he continued, “Mika got hit by a car, but she’s fine. Her hip is broken. She’s forcing me into making this phone call.”

“I heard that, Gaskarth.”

He stuck his tongue out at me before turning back to his conversation. “Thanks man.”

After he hung up his phone, he walked back into my room.

I raised my eyebrow at him. “Well?”

“He said he’d be here soon.”

“Good.”

While waiting for Jack to get here, the doctor came in to check on me.

“Hello, Miss Oliver. How are you feeling?”

“Oh, as good as I could, I suppose. A broken hip doesn’t feel very pleasant.”

That got a chuckle out of the doctor. “No, that it doesn’t.”

He checked my vitals once more, just to make sure I was as good as I said I was.

“Well, you seem to be doing just fine, considering the circumstances. Your surgery has been scheduled for nine am. For this procedure, we don’t require you to stay overnight, but it’s recommended. That really means, it’s up to you whether you stay or not. If you don’t, just be back here by about eight thirty so we can prep you for surgery. Also, you can’t eat anything for twelve hours prior to surgery, so eat as much as you want until nine pm tonight.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“Anytime, Miss Oliver. Have a pleasant evening.”

After the doctor had walked out of the room, I turned to Alex. “Did you hear that? I don’t have to stay if I don’t want to.”

“Do you want to stay?”

I looked up at him, a slight frown forming on my face. “I don’t know. I mean, I know my bed is more comfortable than this one, but what if I end up hurting myself worse at home. I’m not as likely to get hurt if I stay here.”

“I don’t want you to hurt yourself more, but I want to be with you, even if you stay here.”

“I can’t let you stay here, Alex. It’s not fair to you. You deserve to get a good night’s sleep. You wouldn’t get that here.”

“I wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep at home, either. I would be too worried about you.”

“Honestly, Alex, I don’t even know if the hospital would let you stay overnight. I understand that you’re my boyfriend, but I think only relatives are allowed to stay past visiting hours.”

“I don’t care what the hospital says. I’ll tell them we’re engaged or married if I have to.”

I blushed. “I’m not going to win this argument, am I?”

He shook his head. “No, you’re not. There is no possible way you can win it. I need to be with you, Mika. What don’t you understand about that?”

“I just can’t accept the fact that someone might love me, Alex. Not after my dad walked out because I wasn’t good enough. It…I just need time to get used to it.”

“Mika…”

I had started crying. It didn’t make sense to me. Someone couldn’t love me, could they? I was a screw up. I had to have done something wrong to make my dad leave. Right? He wouldn’t say I wasn’t good enough without a reason. Would he?

Alex stood up and walked over to the bed. He sat down beside me, carefully as to not hurt my hip.

“I’ll wait. As long as it takes to make you understand that you’re worth falling for, Mika. I’ll be here as long as you’re willing to let me stay.”

I smiled and wiped my eyes.

“Alex! I’m here!”

Jack, always the moment ruiner.