Three men walked into the hospital with grim expressions, leaving the nurses at the reception uncertain if it was okay to let these cold-looking men into the hospital filled with vulnerable patients. They were cleared quickly, and the three of them took a turn to the ward where the victim was.
Berry heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the boy casually pacing around in the room, looking fine and unscathed. He sent a knowing look at Aspen, who shrugged casually before shaking his head. Now that this was settled, he was more than relieved. At least no one died or became crippled.
With that, they left the room, leaving the boy staring at their backs in confusion, wondering why three strangers entered his room only to stare at him before leaving.
"Can we go now?" Stuart asked as soon as they left the ward. He really wanted to go home because he had never liked hospitals and because he didn't like Aspen.
"A few more minutes, and I will be done, I promise," Berry assured, and Stuart could only nod, even if he wanted to shake his head at this. What else did Berry want to do in a hospital at night?
He soon got his answers when he saw Berry leave and come back with a nurse, whom he assigned to Aspen. "This is him. Give him the dose, and from today, he will come back every day to receive it. If not, give me a call," he said to the nurse while giving Aspen a stern look. The nurse nodded politely, but when she tried to go closer to Aspen, he stepped back like she was a plague.
"Do I have to do this? Right here? I can do it myself when I get home?" He tried to plead but was mercilessly ignored by Berry, who said, "if you were going to do it, you would have done it before leaving your house, no?" Aspen gulped, but he wasn't letting this happen without a fight. "But it stings, and I can't bear it."
"I know that, but you have no choice, do you? Come on Aspen, you are a doctor. I don't need to explain these things to you," he tried to reason with Aspen, but he remained stubborn. Who in this world said that doctors were immune to pain? He shook his head, clearly expressing his decision, and Berry's face changed from normal to angry. He turned to the nurse, "you know what? Give it to me; I will do it myself!" Then to Aspen, he said, "sit, I don't have all day."
Aspen, with no other choice, reluctantly sat down on one of the metal chairs in the corridor. His face showed that he was against what was going to happen, but Berry couldn't care about that right now.
Stuart, who had listened to their banter, was confused and rightfully so. He thought he would wait to see what was going to happen, but when he saw Berry approaching and leaning over Aspen, he found himself stepping forward to stop him. "Can we talk for a sec?"
Berry was surprised, wondering what Stuart wanted to talk about suddenly, "oh, give me a minute, and I will be done." He requested, but Stuart was getting impatient.
"Please Berry, it wouldn't take long, I swear." Berry instantly felt the same thing he felt at the police station and not wanting to worsen things, he handed the bottle back to the nurse, and after giving Aspen a stern warning, he left with Stuart.
Stuart kept walking until they were in another corridor where it was silent. They sat on the metal chairs while Berry waited for him to speak. "What do you want to say?" He asked carefully.
Stuart began to fiddle with his fingers while biting on his lower lip. He had no idea what spirit possessed him to make him act like that because now, he couldn't say anything. "Say something," Berry urged him, but like his lips had a will of their own, they refused to part.
Finally, after taking a deep breath, he managed to say, "I don't like Aspen, and I don't like it when you get close to him. I don't like it when you look at him, and I absolutely hate it when you worry so much about him." Okay, maybe those were not the words he had at the tip of his tongue before, but now that he had said it, he couldn't take them back. Moreover, this was how he truly felt.
Berry was staring speechlessly at Stuart. To be honest, what he heard was, "I don't like Aspen, and I am jealous, jealous and very jealous." He carefully scrutinized Stuart's features before a look of realization formed in his expression, "you are jealous, aren't you?"
Stuart did not try to deny it, and he nodded with his lips pursed. Berry smiled; he wanted to laugh but he didn't for fear of upsetting Stuart more. "Aspen is just a friend," he said, but Stuart rolled his eyes. Who wasn't a friend to who these days? "I mean it, and I am only worried because Aspen has something wrong with his eyes. I really can't say much on it because I don't know myself, but sometimes, he can't see because of that, which is the cause of the accident."
As the new information sank into his head, Stuart found himself nodding like an old professor who just discovered something new. He had always thought that Aspen was bumping into him because he wanted to annoy him, so this little information explained many things. But though he felt bad for Aspen, this did not improve his thoughts about him at all.
"You are so sweet, you know that?" Berry said suddenly, drawing Stuart out of his thoughts, and he began to wonder what made Berry say that.
With a smile, Stuart said, "don't go all soft on me, Berry."
"I mean it, though. You are the sweetest man alive. I could kiss you right now."