It was peaceful during my stay here, much more than I had considered. Dawn must have been holding up well with her treatments since no one told me about her. I had considered asking Catherine about it multiple times, but I felt like she wouldn't tell me.
There was one thing Dr Jones must have not considered when she shoved me in here: Dawn was free to visit me, under the condition that she knew where I was. She found out.
It was day nine of my stay here and I wished for it to end so much. My days were getting much more boring and I was trying not to fall asleep in the middle of re-watching the video on IV fluids. It was a topic still difficult for me to understand fully.
The door creaked open at around 11 a.m. when it shouldn't have. The only time the doors opened was when someone — usually Dr Jones or a nurse — got me food.
Dawn smoothly wheeled herself in, as if she had practised it a million times. She saw me in bed, wearing the hospital gown, and tears started getting ready for take-off.
"I'm not sick, Dawn, I'm just here because Dr Jones insisted that I recharge," I spoke hurriedly, trying to explain.
"Then why can't I see you? You can just stay somewhere close to my room…"
"Believe me, I wanted to, but Dr Jones and my uncle insisted I stay here so I can focus on resting. I won't be staying here too long, don't worry."
Dawn rolled over to me and leaned her head down on my lap, closing her eyes. "I thought… Maybe you were overworking yourself or something. That you were overworking yourself so Dr Jones forced you in here."
"No, she just thought I needed some resting time to prevent that sort of burn-out. It's just her being cautious, not that important, don't worry." I spoke, trying to calm her down.
"I'm not blaming Dr Jones for this. I know she did this with good intentions and because she thought you needed it. I'm just sad that she — or anyone else, really — didn't tell me why, as if something was wrong with you."
Dawn looked like she was on the verge of crying. That almost made me panic, so I tried to first calm myself down. Convincing her after that took a while, but holding her in my arms seemed to convince her effectively. I guess it was because she knew I wouldn't have the strength to lift her if I was sick.
By the time I finished convincing her, it was getting late. Dawn needed to return to her room for dinner if she wished to continue this outing of hers, but before I could say or do anything, the door burst open.
Catherine was looking at us in shock, my expression probably matching hers. Dawn was arguably shocked as well but looked as cool as a cucumber. "There was nothing against me finding him here, yes?"
"God… Dr Jones and Johnson will come soon. Here. To check on Lucas. I just came to make sure he was in here but…" Catherine turned to face Dawn and said, "You gotta get out of here if you want to come and see him again. I've heard them saying about having a nurse in your room 24/7 for your safety and everything. If you don't want that happening, come with me, right now."
Dawn seemed to have her mind set on something, which isn't a good thing whatever it may be. No wonder, Dawn states this: "I'm not leaving."
Catherine looked completely exasperated and looked at me, giving me a look to tell me to convince her. I simply shook my head and said, "You know it's difficult to convince her now."
"But, Lucas…"
"If staying with me is what she wants, let her. I'll tell them it was I that called her over here and told her."
"How would they believe that? You haven't sent her a message on her phone or anything. No one except Dr Jones, your uncle and I enter this room with maybe some of the nurses. You don't know the nurse's name and don't you dare assume I'll help you."
I just quietly opened the drawer beside the bed and pulled out a pen and paper. I wrote the number of my room on it and handed it to Dawn, who then took the paper. "What do I do with this?"
I just smiled at that question and opened my hands, gesturing to her to do what she felt like. She must have understood somehow, as she crumpled the paper and then shoved it into her pocket.
I smiled at her and faced Catherine, trying to look much more confident than I am. "You can tell them if you want. It's up to you." I just hugged Dawn again, placing the things back into their original places.
I felt like they were near. I didn't know what to do, but I was getting nervous. I knew Catherine wouldn't be standing on our side and wasn't sure why Dawn was so calm. "Dawn, you okay?"
"I'm fine. You know I'm good at staying calm, right? I'm not going to break down randomly, okay?" She was trying to reassure me, so I — although not convinced — let go of the subject and hugged her.
Catherine seemed awestruck and at a loss of words at how calm we were (technically, I was trying to look calm). "You believe I'm going to stand by your side, Dawn?"
"I don't care. I know you probably won't but now we've got evidence that backs us up."
"You mean you, not us. That'll get all the blame on Lucas, that's his plan."
Dawn turned to look at me, probably realising the true meaning of my plan for the first time. "You don't have to, though…"
I just smiled and said, "They'll just ground me for a while and don't stop you from getting here. Besides, they were against me searching for you, not vice versa. That's what I'm aiming at, so you can still come and see me."
"Well, thank you for that sweet confession, Lucas." Dr Jones said as she entered with my uncle.