Because Puppets Need Love Too

After a few minutes of clinging to you, I stopped sobbing and calmed down. I didn’t care that people were staring. When you get older, it’s not easy to have a good cry anymore, people seem to think you’re crazy.

"How bad do I look?" I asked, rubbing my puffy eyes.

"It's not that bad. Remember, there are other people who have been crying over worse things than this. Just walk over to the births and deaths ward. So people shouldn’t think you’re weird." You always knew the right thing to say.

"I guess, that's true. So, you probably have to go back up to your room now, right? I bet the Doctors are chucking a spazz trying to find you." I pointed out.

"Yeah, they probably are… I don't actually feel like going back. Why don't we be bad boys and see how long we can avoid them?" You proposed, grinning like an idiot.

"That sounds like fun. But I think we'd better start now, I can see a doctor coming!"

"Shit!" I grabbed your hand and we ran down the corridors, laughing like people from the mental ward. After about five minutes of running, you sat down on one of the seats, panting.

"I... I think we'd better go back now. I feel really dizzy, like I'm about to faint..."

And then you did just that.

"Crap! Doctor? Doctor, can we get this guy back up to his room, he just passed out!" I called to the nearest person.

"Sorry, I'm not a doctor, but I'm sure this guy is." He said, pointing to a man with a clip-board and a white jacket.

"What's the problem?" He asked.

"Rod just passed out! We have to get him up to his room right now!" I told him, beginning to panic.

"Okay, we'll get him up as fast as we can." The Doctor replied, cool as a cucumber. How could he be calm when you were unconscious was a mystery to me. I watched like a hawk as they put you on a bed and took you back up to your room. I felt so stupid for agreeing to that silly idea of yours, I should have known this would happen.

“Nicky! What happened? What did you do to Rod?” Princeton exclaimed as we entered the room.

“Nothing. We made up, and then decided to run through the hospital.” I replied sighing.

“That was stupid.”

“Yeah.” I sat down on the plastic chair and waited for the Doctor to finish hooking you back up to those god-awful machines.

“Well, it’s not serious, he’s just very tired. He shouldn’t have put so much stress on his body like that. He’ll be fine.”
And with that, he left me alone with you.

I stood up and walked over to your bed, just watching you rest. The heart monitor beeped steadily as your chest rose and fell softly. I bent down, kissed your forehead and then just stroked your hair for a while. I pulled the chair closer to the bed to be able to sit next to you. I wanted to be the first person you saw when you woke up, so I could apologise to you.

Somewhere from a hidden speaker, I heard White Noise by The Living End begin to play faintly. I smiled to myself, thinking how ironic it was that the whole place was white. It was like they were trying to scare the germs away by being obsessed with that “pure”, easily stained colour. I wondered if they would play The Sound of White by Missy Higgins next. I knew how much you hated that song, so I hoped that they didn’t play it. Then, I got an idea. I walked out of the room and down the corridors, trying to find my way to the elevator. I hoped you’d be awake by the time I got to the front desk.