It's Cold Outside

It was so cold. It was always so cold. No matter how hot she turned the water on, her body still shook. Figures they only let the water be only as warm as it needed to be to take a comfortable shower. It was probably better off that way, right now she wanted to take a bath in burning hot water, she wanted her skin to turn bright red, she wanted to be warm for just once in her god damn life.

She turned the shower off and shivered when she wrapped herself in a towel. She got dressed as quickly as possible, not caring that her skin was still wet. She was so cold that not even the sweater she just put on was keeping her warm. The door opened.

"Do you need help with that?" the nurse asked. She shook her head.

"Let's get you back inside and under a blanket," she said. The nurse took her stand and helped her back to bed where she could lay down. She thought she must have looked like a maniac, with how fast she climbed into the blankets. The nurse adjusted her stand and left the room. She sighed and shivered.

A minute later, the nurse came back to hand her a warm blanket. Nodding her thanks, the young girl wrapped herself in it. She must have nodded off, she forgot what happened until her doctor came in. He greeted her and said a bunch of stuff that she didn't care to listen to, she actually ignored him until he listed her meal for the day.

"You had an apple and some almonds for breakfast, now for lunch we're going to give you a half a cup of oatmeal with some milk and carrots and raisins, for a snack, some fresh spinach with balsamic vinegar, and a tangerine, and for dinner, a mix salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar, and bowls of red potatoes, carrots, and onions. Lunch is in two hours. Any questions?"

She wanted to ask him to take away some things from that meal plan, that seemed way too much for her to eat. She shook her head and watched him leave.

For once, she wished that her mom was here. Even though the fact that both of her parents had took off for the holidays should have angered her, it didn't. She had no energy to be angry.

Focusing on getting warm for awhile, the nurse came in and asked her if she wanted anything.

"Could you bring me into the other room?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to bring you if you're cold-"

"Yes," she said, interrupting the nurse. The nurse nodded and helped the girl into the room next door after she grabbed her book.

It was a bright and colorful room, probably the only cheerful looking room in the whole place. There were a few people there, a young boy doing a puzzle with his mother, a girl watching television, and another young boy playing table hockey with an older man.

She sat down on the couch and opened her book. This place could get lonely sometimes, so it's always good to have a book as a companion.

Every once in awhile, she'd tilt the book down to see how many pages she'd read into it so far. She nodded in approval when she saw she had finished a good half of the book in only two days. Continuing to read, she tried to block out the sound of the television.

"Hey there."

She looked up to see a man in front of her.

He had a cute face. He was somewhat short, he had black hair that looked like it hadn't been combed in awhile, and green eyes that smiled by themselves.

"Hello," she responded, putting a bookmark in her book before she set it down.

"What were you reading?" he asked, sitting next to her. She handed him the book and watched as his pretty green eyes scanned the cover.

"The Catcher In The Rye, that's a great book," he said, handing it back to her.

"Yes, it is. I think Holden Caulfield is a male version of myself," she said. The man nodded and smiled.

"What's your name?" he asked. She wanted to lie and give him a different name. She knew how it was, once you introduce yourself you get attached.

"Danielle," she said. The man smiled at her again.

"Nice to meet you, Danielle, I'm Zacky," he said, holding out a hand. She looked at him for a moment before she shook it.

"What are you doing in a place like this? It is Christmas Eve, after all," she said.

"Oh. I was just visiting one of my friends who works here, how about you?" he said, shifting in his seat. She bit on her lower lip.

"Oh, I'm just sick," she said.

"How old are you?" Zacky asked, furrowing his eyebrows. She was so embarrassed to tell people about her age, for her own reasons.

"Twenty-one," she mumbled.

"I thought you looked young," he commented. "Where's your family? They didn't leave you here alone on Christmas, did they?"

"They went to New York," she said, fiddling with her sweater. He frowned and shook his head.

"That's not cool of them to leave you here. Who wants to be alone on Christmas, eh?" he said. She nodded. What the hell was he still doing here when he could be home with his own family?

"This place is so boring, we should go get the nurses to throw a Christmas party," he said. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Come on, it'll be fun," he added. She shrugged. He smiled at her and said he'd be right back before walking away, to go talk to a nurse, she assumed. When he came back, he said that he'd gotten them to agree to throw the party tonight.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked him.

"Doing what? The party? Just thought I'd cheer everyone up, you know. Being sick on Christmas sucks," he said.

"Yeah it does," she mumbled, looking at the floor.

"Hey, don't look so down, it's Christmas! Why don't you play a board game with me?" he asked.

"A board game?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. She looked down and sighed.

"Alright."

-x-

She had to admit that even though she didn't like parties, Zacky had done a great job organizing this one out of no where. She was still wondering why he was choosing to spend his Christmas with a bunch of sick people, but she figured that he was just that good of a guy. But could anyone really be that good of a guy?

"Hey, having fun?" he asked her. She turned around to look at him and smiled.

"Thank you, really. I'm sure everyone really appreciates all this," she said.

"It's nothing. You all deserve it," he nodded.

"What are you doing spending your Christmas with a bunch of sick people?" she asked. He laughed and took a sip of his drink, adjusting his shirt as he sat down.

"So sick people can't be fun?" he asked.

"I'm sure you'd rather be with your family," she said.

"Eh," he mumbled, taking another sip of his drink. She smiled at him.

"Zacky?"

They turned around to see a nurse, or possibly as doctor looking at them.

"What are you still doing here? Didn't you get released this morning?" she asked. Danielle looked at Zacky, confused. He never said he was a patient here.

"Uh, I think you have me confused with someone else," he said.

"No, I'm pretty sure-"

"I gotta go," Zacky mumbled, getting up.

"Zacky?" Danielle called after him. He left the room and she sighed, turning to the nurse.

"He was released this morning, I'm not sure why he's still here," she said.

"Could you help me find him?" Danielle asked.

"Sure," the nurse said.

-x-

"Do you think he went outside?" Danielle asked.

"Maybe, but it's too cold for you to go outside anyway," the nurse said. Danielle sighed. She wished Zacky wouldn't have run off like that, she wanted to talk to him.

"Is that him?" The nurse asked. Danielle squinted through the window she was in front of, and saw Zacky standing outside, smoking a cigarette. She knocked on the window, trying to get his attention. He nearly dropped his cigarette as he turned around. He saw her and his eyes softened. He threw his cigarette on the ground and put it out before stepping through the door just beside the window.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came to look for you, why'd you run off like that?" she said.

"I uh, I'll just leave now," the nurse said, walking away. Zacky rolled his eyes.

"Well?" Danielle asked, waiting for him to answer.

"I'm sorry. I was just. . .embarrassed, I guess," he said.

"Why would you be embarrassed?" He didn't answer.

"Why were you here? Can you tell me something?" she asked. Zacky sighed and looked down at his feet.

"I was sick myself, I guess. This is a rough time of year for me," he said.

"Why?" She felt bad asking him all these questions, but she was curious about why he would choose to stay here when he got out this morning.

"I just- a good friend of mine passed away around this time last year. It kind of ruins the holidays for you," he mumbled.

"I-I'm worry to hear that. But why would you stay here?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I thought I'd keep a pretty girl like yourself company. Is that so bad?" he asked. She shook her head. Zacky smiled and sighed, his eyes drifting up for a second.

"Danielle?" he asked.

"What?" He pointed a finger up to the ceiling. She looked up and saw that there was a mistletoe hanging in the doorway. She blushed furiously and looked down. God, she hated people who put these things up just to get other people in awkward situations.

Zacky tilted her head up and stared at her for a moment before he leaned in and kissed her gently, sure to be soft and sweet about it. Danielle felt butterflies in her stomach and she would have lost her balance if he wasn't holding onto her. He pulled away from her and smiled.

"A-are you coming back upstairs?" she asked, trying not to blush harder.

"Of course I am," he smiled, taking her hand as they walked off.