19. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
Rory
" M orning!" I chirp, walking into Jaylen's room. "I just need to check your vitals and then Markus wants me to work on testing out your strength and mobility to see if there's any further improvement."
"You mean like this?" Jaylen mutters from across the room, his voice quiet and subdued.
I turn to him with a frown, confused by his comment and the tone of his voice.
When I see him partially sat up in his bed, leaning on his elbows as he shakily holds the upper half of his body away from the mattress, I gasp and rush over to him, placing my hands against his back to help him support his weight.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"I needed a drink, and I couldn't reach the remote," he says, leaning some of his weight against me and gesturing with his hand to where the remote with the assistance button is laying on the floor.
"I got fed up of waiting for someone to pop their head in, so I decided to try and get myself a drink and that's as far as I managed to get. "
I help lower him gently back against his pillows and then I walk around his bed, grabbing the glass from the little side table and fill it up with water.
"Well, although it's impressive that you managed to move almost your whole upper body, as well as apply weight onto your arms and hold yourself up for a short manner of time, it's also really stupid," I tell him, moving the cup towards him.
When he lifts his arm up and takes the glass from me, drinking it himself without any assistance, I stare at him in astonishment.
"You need to let yourself heal, Jaylen. You shouldn't be moving this much already, especially with the stitches you have along your abdomen."
He hands the glass back to me and his eyes drop from my face to where his hands are now resting in his lap.
When he remains silent and continues staring at his lap, I place the glass on the side and move closer to his bedside, trying to gain his attention so that I can try and get an understanding of what may be wrong, but he doesn't look at me.
"Jaylen, are you okay? Are you in any pain?" I ask.
He shakes his head.
"Hey," I say, reaching my hand under his chin and nudging his head up until his blue eyes clash with mine. "Are you okay?"
He stares at me for a moment, his usual bright eyes now dull, and his lips downturned, evidently showing his emotions.
"I'm fine," he mumbles, tearing his gaze away from mine.
My brows furrow in confusion, but I drop my hand from his face.
"Okay, well, uh, I'll give you some time alone and I'll come back to check on you in an hour, okay? "
He nods and then closes his eyes as he allows his head to drop back against the pillows behind him.
I reluctantly walk out of his room, worried about the way he's acting and wondering what could be affecting him.
When I realise that it may be because he's in pain and is too stubborn to admit it, I walk down the corridor in search of Markus.
Spotting him at the nurses station, chatting to Lola, I slow my pace, waiting for them to finish up their conversation.
As he piles up a load of paperwork, tucking it into his chest and turning away, I jump into action, following after him as he strides down the hall.
"Markus!" I call out, hoping he'll slow down for me to catch up to him.
He glances over his shoulder, spotting me and his brows raise as he stops, waiting for me to get closer to him before he continues.
"I was hoping you could check on Jaylen King for me within the next hour or so," I tell him, following him into his office at the end of the hallway and closing the door behind me.
"How come?"
"Well, I went in there a moment ago, and he was sitting up, holding himself up on his arms." His attention drifts away from the papers in his hand as his shocked gaze meets mine.
"He had full range of motion of his body?" he asks.
"Well, I'm not sure about his whole body, but definitely from the torso up.
He said he was trying to get some water, but he doesn't seem to be in a good mood and wanted some time alone.
I wasn't able to check on him, but I think that his sour mood may be because he's in pain from pushing himself to move so quickly. "
He frowns at me for a moment and then nods his head.
"I will go and check on him briefly and I will check his stitches, but Rory, you have a job to do, no matter whether the patient is in a good mood or not, you can't let that deter you from doing what you need to do."
My skin prickles with discomfort at his harsh tone, his words laced with disappointment.
"Yes sir, I understand," I mutter, pushing my hands into the pockets of my scrubs.
I walk back out his office, ducking my head to hide my tinged cheeks as embarrassment flushes through me due to being chastised.
"Hey, wait up!"
I turn around to find Lola practically skipping towards me with a sickly sweet smile plastered on her face.
"Where are you off to?" she asks, falling into step beside me.
"I'm going to check on Mr Krill and then probably take my first fifteen because it seems I have nothing to do today."
She glances around the hallway, smiling at a patient that's shuffling down the hall with a nurse at his side, and then she hooks her arm around mine and leans into me.
"Mind telling me why you're not in with the blonde charmer, also known as Mr Jaylen King?"
I nervously chuckle as I lean away from her and subtly remove her hold on my arm.
"He didn't seem to be in a good mood and wanted some time alone, so Markus is going to do some checks on him in a moment. Therefore, I have nothing else to do. "
"I would offer to come and do nothing with you, but unfortunately, not all of us are lucky enough to only be assigned to two patients, one of which has been here for years and is likely never waking up."
I wince at her comment and although I don't think she meant for it to bother me, it does.
"You know I would rather be put to work and be run off my feet like the rest of you, working with multiple patients, right?"
"Girl, sorry if I offended you because it looks like I did," she says, smiling at me. "I'm just saying that you're lucky to have been assigned to Jaylen, that's all! It just seems you have a fairy godmother out there somewhere. Anyways, I have to go, but I'll catch you later for lunch!"
With that, she hurries away down the hall, coincidentally leaving me stood outside Jaylen's room.
I stare at the door as my stomach clenches with worry.
Maybe I should check on him?
He's clearly not okay, and I don't want him to be alone while he's going through something.
I shake my head and step away from his door, forcing myself to walk away.
Why do I care so much?
He's a patient, not a friend.
I barely even know him.
But, I feel like I do know him… I'm getting to know him, and although that would've scared the hell out of me a week ago, it's actually been really nice.
He's nothing like what I'm used to.
He's nice, and sweet, and he cares, not only about me but about everyone and everything .
Even when he's laid up in a hospital bed, healing from a torrent of injuries, he still cares and worries about other people.
It's admirable.