Chapter 8

Justin looked around the hospital cafeteria. He went with a BLT, chips, and a package of Oreos. He made his way up to her room. A handsome doctor was in her room, talking with her. 

“Oh,” the doctor said as Justin came into the room. “I’ll see you around, Nicki.”

Justin was silent as the doctor left the room. 

“That’s Parker, I guess he’s a doctor in my ward. Came to say hi and that I can come back soon.”

Yeah, I bet he does… Justin thought. He clenched his fists a little before sitting down in the chair. 

“Well, if this is a date, you CAN come a little closer,” she said, gesturing to the end of her bed. “Where were we?”

“You were asking me what I do, typical date questions.”

“Right. Our actual date a couple nights ago, where did we go?”

“We went to a fancy restaurant.”

“You try to impress me?”

“Something like that, yeah.  It was a special night, it deserved a special place.”

“What did we have?” 

“I had the filet mignon, you had chicken marsala.”

“For someone that has no idea what that is right now?”

“I had steak, you had chicken and mushrooms.”

“Oh. That does sound good.  Better than this, that’s for sure. Are you a good cook?”

“Good enough, I guess. I play around every now and then. You’re not bad yourself.”

“Hopefully that hasn’t changed,” she sighed. 

“You seem to be the you from before, just your memories are gone.”

“So, if we were to go on another date, where would we go? What would we do?”

“I guess you’ll have to agree to another date and find out,” Justin smiled. 

“What makes you think I’ll agree to a second date?” Nicki laughed. 

“Hopeful optimism,” he blushed. 

“Well, how can I say no to that?”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Me too.”  Nicki slowly reached for his hand. He smiled, turning his hand over. 

She looked in his eyes. They sat like that, holding hands, looking into each other’s eyes, smiling, for what seemed like a long time. 

God I just want to kiss her…  he thought. 

I wish he’d kiss me… she thought. 

The moment ruined too soon when someone came to take her food tray, and a nurse came in to check her vitals. 

“I should head home, but thanks for calling and having me see you. Hoping you’re ready for that date soon.”

“Can I call you tomorrow? You can visit me any time, Justin. I won’t mind.”

“You can call me, text me, whatever. This was nice, talking to you.”

“It was. Thank you for coming by.”

“Good night, sleep well. Before I forget, I got you this,” he said, giving her the card. 

He left the room. She smiled, reaching for the card. She pulled it gently from the envelope, looking at the painting on the front. It’s beautiful, peaceful, she thought. She opened the card and saw his message. 

Nicki,

I hope you get well soon. Above all, I hope you find happiness in all of this. I’ll do what I can, if you’ll let me. 

Justin

She sighed, butterflies in her stomach. I wonder if I felt like this before the accident. If not, I’m glad I feel it now. 

Justin smiled as he walked out of her room, down the elevator, and out into the parking lot. He had butterflies in his stomach. It feels like when we first started out, I hope it keeps going well. 

He drove home, thinking about how the night went, when he would see her again. I’ll wait for her to call me or something first, he thought. He got ready for bed, when his phone buzzed. 

Hey man, haven’t heard from you. Things ok?  It was JC checking in. 

Great. She asked me out on a date.  Justin couldn’t stop smiling. 

Awesome!  When? JC replied. 

Before Justin could answer, his phone buzzed again. 

Breakfast tomorrow? It was Nicki. 

Sure, let me know when you’re up and want me to head over. Sleep well. 

Tomorrow, he replied to JC, smiling.