A Bit Of Luck

Scarlett hated hospitals.

However, not because of the normal reasons. Normally people disliked them for their distinct disinfectant smell and their general air of gloominess. But that wasn’t Scarlett’s reasons. Her reason was because she was in them so much, for simple everyday illnesses that wreaked havoc on her weak immune system.

But that was pretty standard for someone with HIV.

It wasn’t AIDS as many people assumed. It was simply HIV. If Scarlett didn’t take her daily cocktail of tablets and constantly go to clinic check-ups, it would progress into AIDS, but for now, she was ok. She kept her spirits high, her drugs taken and her secret safe and that was enough to keep her happy.

She had got it when her mother was travelling around Africa and fell into a Lion Trap by accident. She had needed a blood transfusion to save her and to try to save the baby she was 5 months pregnant with. The blood was relatively fresh and hadn’t been scanned due to a backlog and the fact that they were in an undeveloped countries. Her mum said to give her the transfusion anyway, despite the risk. A choice that proved to be fatal.

Currently, she was sitting in her usual hospital room on the bed, in her pyjamas, with her iPod plugged in, tapping her foot, somewhat restlessly, to the beat. She was bored, the repetitive procedure was far from interesting. A nurse came in, as they did every hour without fail, and busied herself checking all the machines. She sent a sideward glance at Scarlett, trying to cover it up by blowing her hair out of her eyes.

“Problem?” Scarlett snapped, her mood plummeting with every minute in the hospital.

“Nothing,” the nurse replied. Scarlett scoffed, not buying it.

“It’s just… your t-shirt… It’s pretty… different?” It sounded more like a question to Scarlett and she raised her eyebrow incredulously.

“Different?” she questioned.

“Well, it’s not exactly for the faint hearted,” the nurse stated, believing that would satisfy Scarlett as a worthy answer.

“I don’t wear things for other people. I wear them for myself,” Scarlett snapped, fed up of this particular nurse. “Could you go away now?” she asked, rather rudely, but she didn’t care.

The nurse backed out of the room, almost fearfully and Scarlett smirked. She wasn’t the sort of person to keep her opinion quiet. She looked down at her t-shirt fondly. It was her old, scruffy, worn out and decidedly stretched Iron Maiden t-shirt, which she wore as a pyjama top. It was possibly a bit graphic for some people, but as she said, she wore things for herself, not other people. She sighed, comfortable in her shirt and plain red PJ bottoms, but more bored than before.

The door swung open again and just as Scarlett went to snap at the nurse, she realised it was Cobe coming to visit, a cake box in her hand, as per usual. She smiled softly and frowned slightly in confusion as Cobe smirked.

"So, Scar, who is that dashing young Frank who seems to take such a shine to you?" Cobe asked, smirking the whole time.

Scarlett let out a small laugh.

“Probably the only person I haven’t snapped at so far today,” Scarlett responded with a small chuckle.

“Bored, huh?” Cobe said, knowing Scarlett well enough to deduce that much.

Scarlett scowled playfully and rolled her eyes. “Shut up, don’t be so … smartarse-ish.”

Cobe started laughing and muttered, “Only you could make up such a word.”

Scarlett smiled proudly and went to reply, but was interrupted by the door opening, revealing the nurse from earlier. Scarlett’s face visibly darkened and she glared at the nurse. “God, I need a cigarette,” she muttered.

Scarlett was well aware that she would get sick more easily if she smoked, but quitting the cigarettes had proven too difficult and made things worse rather than better so she had stopped trying to quit. Coffee and Cigarettes were her poisons of choice. No-one had force her to smoke or drink coffee.

“Don’t mind me!” the nurse chirped cheerily, unaware of Scarlett who now had her teeth grinding dangerously, as an attempt to keep silent. The nurse continued chatting away, more to Cobe than Scarlett, saying her name was Nicole and other useless information that made Scarlett’s blood boil.

Cobe bit her lip, trying to fight back giggles. Scarlett was clenching her fists now, trying desperately to keep her cool. Just as Cobe was preparing to stop Scarlett from attempting to kill Nicole, the door opened again and Frank stepped in, smiling widely.

“Hey Scarlie,” he said cheerfully, a manner that would have got Nicole decapitated.

“Hey Frankie,” Scarlett replied, her tone back to usual.

Frank walked into the room completely and sat on the side of the bed, finding the earphone Scarlett didn’t have in and putting it in his ear. “Sweet! Highfive!” he cried loudly and highfived her. She smiled slightly and Cobe shot her a questioning look.

“Let’s just say I found another crazy Misfits fan who lives in New Jersey,” she said, then tucked her black hair behind her ear. She looked back up to Cobe, ignoring Frank who was literally bouncing beside her, and said, “So, what’ve I missed at work?”

Cobe started laughing and managed to say, “You honestly want to know about work?”