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“She’s going to murder you once she finds out about this.”
“Oh lighten up, Steph. I can always get you to rein her in.”
“Who says I will?”
“Oh, please – Even you can't resist my charm.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night…”
“Damn... Okay now shut up – she’s waking up!”
Alex groaned; it felt like there was a desert in her throat. Her head was throbbing and the annoying beeping sound in the background was not helping. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked rapidly against the harsh light.
She brought her hand up to rub at her eyes, but it was caught in a bundle of different wires. Alex frowned.
Where am I?
Alex looked up from the white blanket she was laying under to take in her surroundings. The first thing she saw was the large window overlooking the city; the sun was beginning to set behind the tall buildings, spilling colors across the sky. Then Alex noticed various machines around her.
Oh. I’m in the hospital.
Why am I in the hospital?
She groggily turned her head to the left and saw a guy with blonde hair, a phone in his hand, and a large grin on his face. Alex didn’t know him, but he frowned deeper in suspicion.
“We need to work on your pouting game, Alex. But please tell the audience at home – how high are you right now?” The guy asked her through a laugh and a wink.
Alex blinked.
She wasn’t high (I don’t think I am, it’s been a long time since high school…) – she was just tired.
And confused.
Alex opened her mouth to reply but couldn’t find her voice because her throat was so dry.
Suddenly there was a soft pressure on her right arm so she flopped her head in that direction.
Alex felt her jaw drop with a quiet gasp.
I am not in the hospital. I died and I am in heaven.
In front of her was an angel. She had piercing green eyes and a soft and adoring smile on her perfect face.
She wasn't sure since when angels wore beanies but,
Holy shit.
The other girl gave a laugh and Alex could hear the other stranger laughing as well.
“Here, Alex, drink this,” the angel said to Alex, gently placing a cup in front of her. Alex clumsily took the straw and drank the cold water that felt like the best fucking thing against her sandpaper-like throat.
She never once looked away from the auburn haired stranger in fear she would disappear if she did.
Maybe I’m in a desert and she’s a mirage.
“Oh my fucking god I cannot believe this – look at those heart eyes, Steph!”
“Ryan, honestly, she just came out of surgery and anesthesia isn’t fun to wake up from.”
“Well I beg to differ; I’m having fun and it just started.”
Alex was finally done drinking and pulled away from the straw. Steph smiled at her and placed the cup on the table beside her.
“Steph?” Alex’s voice was rough, but she liked the way the other girl’s name sounded.
“Hey, babe. How’re you feeling? You got out of surgery about an hour ago. Everything went well and you’re going to be just fine. You just have three tiny scars on your belly now, which is super hot in my opinion. But your appendix won’t be bothering you again. Because it’s, you know, gone”
Alex heard the beeping pick up in the background.
This literal angel – Steph – just called Alex babe.
That has to mean something, right? Oh my god, please let this mean something.
“Babe?” Alex tested. She needed answers.
“Yeah, what do you need, Alex?” Steph leaned over and gently smoothed Alex's hair down. Alex felt herself catch on fire wherever Steph’s skin grazed hers.
“I think I am… Um…?” Alex felt like there was fog in her head. She just wasn’t sure if it was from the drugs she was on, or Steph.
“On cloud nine?” Ryan prompted from the other side of Alex – who almost jumped out of her skin because she forgot the guy was there in her Steph Haze. Ryan’s snicker turned into a cackle when Alex gave him a glare equivalent to the ferocity of a puppy.
“You think you’re what? In pain?” Her head rolled back to the beautiful girl in a beanie and just like that the fog in her mind tripled. Alex shook her head and tried to form a coherent sentence to properly describe the conundrum she was currently dealing with.
“Gay.”
Nailed it.
“Oh my god!”
Alex frowned as Ryan fell out of his hospital chair from laughing so hard. Meanwhile, Steph was biting her lip to keep from facing the same fate as her friend.
Oh well that doesn’t help.
“I cannot believe this. I literally cannot. This is YouTube gold!”
“Ryan, honestly,” Steph reprimanded though her voice lacked the actual seriousness for that.
Okay, Alex, time to put your thinking beanie on and figure out who Steph is. And – most importantly – figure out her phone number.
“Do you work here, Steph?”
The girl gave an amused chuckle but answered nonetheless. “No. You know that.”
Oh, I do?
“The only thing I know is that you’re really beautiful and I kind of want to hold your hand.”
Oops. Didn’t mean to say that out loud.
But Steph was blushing and reaching over to hold her hand and suddenly Alex no longer regretted her lack of filter.
“Jesus, I’m barfing over here. Is she always such a sap?”
“Oh I have many inside stories to share later,” Steph gave a wink and Alex felt her heart light up with happiness.
“Does that mean we’re together?!” Alex squeezed Steph’s hand in excitement.
Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please say we are.
“Alex, we’ve been together for almost two years now.”
Oh my fucking god.
“Oh my fucking god. No way. We have? Two years?”
Steph nodded her head and smiled.
“That’s like forever! And you’re dating me? For two years?”
Steph grinned and kissed the back of Alex’s hand that she was holding.
“Jesus Christ this keeps getting better and better.”
Alex ignored Ryan.
“Wow,” Alex’s head dropped back against her pillow and she stared up at the ceiling. She blinked as a grin slowly took over her face. She turned her head to look back at Steph again.
“We’re dating?”
“Uh huh.”
“And we’ve been dating for two years?”
“This coming July.”
“So does this mean we’ve kissed?”
Ryan almost fell out of the chair again.
“Many times.”
Alex’s heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.
“Whoa… Because you’re just… Whoa… Do we live together?”
“Yes we do; we live in an apartment with lots of flowers and vinyls and every Sunday we make pancakes.”
Alex wanted to cry.
Oh, I actually am crying.
“Huh.”
Steph leaned over to wipe her tears away.
“Oh no, babe, it’s alright. Don’t cry, Alex. You’re okay.” Steph softly shushed her, but Alex felt more tears coming.
“I’m just so happy.” Steph continued to wipe her tears away and Alex felt butterflies fill up her stomach.
“Oh man, Riley is going to be so pissed that she missed this. Thank god for modern day technology, am I right?”
“Ryan, come on. I think I rubbed off on you a little too much.”
“This is payback for all the times you guys made fun of me!”
Alex squeezed Steph’s hand to bring her attention back to her. She felt like every atom in her body was a tiny star and there were millions of supernovas happening all at once inside of her.
But she also felt tired.
Very, very tired.
Steph smiled as Alex’s eyelids drooped down. Alex was fighting to stay awake, but it was a losing battle.
“Alex… Go to sleep, okay? You need your rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“Promise?” Alex mumbled. She didn’t know Steph, but she couldn’t ignore the pinging in her heart. She felt as if she was floating – high above the clouds, and the only thing that could ground her was Steph.
“I promise.”
Alex shook her head to stay awake for a little bit longer.
“One more thing,” Alex less said and more slurred.
“Anything,” Steph answered.
Alex looked back out the window at the sunset and then over at Steph.
“Do you know that I love you?”
Steph’s smile was filled with adoration as she leaned over to gently kiss Alex’s forehead. Alex’s eyes drifted close at the contact, and they didn’t open again.
“I love you too.”
Steph ran her hand through Alex’s hair as she began to softly hum.
“That was so gross. You know that, right?”
“Oh shut up, Ryan.” Steph laughed at her friend. “… But make sure you send me that video. It’s so going on MyBlock.”
“Hey…”
“Welcome back, sleeping beauty. Here: water. Wait, you know who I am, right?”
“Of course, Steph. They took out my appendix, not my brain.”
“Okay, cool… Just making sure…”
“Yeah… Hey, can you hand me my phone? How long was I out anyway?”
“Oh, um… aha… Only like… three hours… Maybe…”
“Steph…?”
“Mhm?”
“Why do I have a text from Mac of all people asking me if I ‘saved some’ for him?”
“Oh uh actually…”
“And why do I have sixty-four MyBlock notifications?”
“Well – funny story, actually. One I’m sure Ryan would love to tell you all about when he gets ba –”
“STEPH GINGRICH WHY IS THERE A VIDEO OF ME FROM TWO HOURS AGO ON MYBLOCK?”
“Oh did you hear that? I think Ryan is calling for me! I gotta go –”
“STEPH GET BACK HERE I SWEAR TO GOD!”
“Just remember that I love you and it was all Ryan’s idea!”
“STEPH!”