Page 22 of The Moment You Know

“Tonight was our first date. Well, it was supposed to be. We didn’t even make it to the table, thanks to you and your … girlfriend.” Hale tilted his head. “Oh, and just so you know? I don’t think she was an upgrade.”

A testosterone fueled moment hung between them for several seconds before David abruptly changed the subject. Recycling Dr. Helms’s question from earlier, David asked Hale, “Are you planning on hanging around for a while?”

“Yes. I plan on hanging around until I know she’s really okay, because you know, I’m not an asshole.”

“Fine. I’ll keep you updated on how she’s doing, then.”

“That would be great.” Hale’s sarcasm was still going strong. “Thanks.”

Their conversation basically over, David left Hale and went back up to Paige’s room. To his surprise, she was awake again and looked extremely distraught as a nurse talked to her in a hushed tone.

“Here he is,” the nurse said when she spotted David. She then gave him a slightly reproachful glance, which he interpreted to mean he couldn’t just wander off without notifying someone first.

“Are you okay?” he asked Paige as he hurried over to the bed and sat down in his chair.

“You … left me.”

“Just for a few minutes.” He gently uncurled her fingers from around the call button she was clutching and then enclosed her hand in both of his.

“I didn’t know where you were.”

“I’m sorry. I had to go talk to someone,” he explained gently, hoping to calm her down. “I’ll probably have to talk to them again, but I promise I’ll let you or the nurses know before I do, okay?”

The nurse gave him a nod of approval and then checked the fluid level in Paige’s IV bag before leaving.

“Something’s wrong,” Paige said when they were alone. “Everything hurts.”

“I know and I’m sorry. But you don’t need to worry because you’re going to be fine.”

“Everything is confused. I don’t know what’s real.”

In the dim light, she looked him over with a frown. Tentatively, she raised her hand and touched his hair, playing with the long strands. “Your hair …”

Not knowing how to respond to what was apparently bewildering to her, he didn’t say anything.

She then shocked him by touching his beard. It began as a superficial kind of petting but turned exploratory when she really started to get her fingers in there, especially on his chin. David sat there, conflicted at the feel of her touching him, which grew when he realized she was ‘searching’ for his cleft.

He was grateful when this oddly unrestrained version of Paige finally pulled her hands away and closed her eyes, her attention span thankfully short.

David leaned back in his chair, thinking she’d fallen asleep again but after only a few minutes her eyes opened again and she awkwardly began to sit up.

“Paige, no,” he began.

She resisted his efforts to push her back. “I have to pee.”

“Oh.” He immediately reached for the call button. “Let me get the nurse to help you.”

“No.”

“You need help.”

“You can help me.”

He blinked at her, taken aback by that suggestion, remembering how private she used to be about her time in the bathroom.

“I think it would be better if the nurse helped you.”

“No. You.”

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