I'll keep you a secret, until tomorrow

I had been in the hospital for a few days now. The doctors came and checked on me every few hours or so to check the bandages wrapped around my wrists to make sure that the staples hadn't budged yet. I was tired. The last few days had been mentally exhausting and taking up every inch of patience that I had. The only thing that had kept me remotely sane was Mr. Baker. He had barely left my side since he found out what happened. Only to go get food for us, or get a new change of clothes.

"Embree. Are you awake?" One of the doctors asked. I opened my eyes to see both Mr. Baker and her doctor standing in the doorway. A smile ran across my face when I focused my eyes on him.

"Yeah, I am now." I replied as I tried to sit up. My wrists, of course, were still sore and tender. "Why? What's going on?" I asked. Mr. Baker approached me to sit on the foot of the bed and he put his hand on my leg.

"You get to go home in a while."He said. "They're getting the discharge papers printed out right now." Mr. Baker told me. His eyes were bright and I could tell that he was excited for me to finally be able to go home.

"What home? I have nowhere to go right now." I asked, as I sat back against the bed. "My parents are dead, and the rest of my relatives? They're on the other side of the state or on the other side of the continent. I don't have a home." I felt the lump in my throat and the tears start to burn my eyes.

He reached over, rubbing my shoulder. "Well that's what I wanted to talk to you about, Embree. Could I have a moment alone with her, please?" Mr. Baker asked the doctor. The doctor nodded, heading out of the room and closing the door behind him. As soon as he left, Mr. Baker took hold of my hands. "Forgive me for being snoopy, but I noticed on your wristband that you're birthday is in a few days."

I nodded, glancing down at the wristband then back at Mr. Baker. "Yeah. It is. Why?" I questioned.

"Move in with me," He proposed. "You would be legally able to, anyway... And we wouldn't have to try to sneak around. It would be okay." He spoke as he rubbed his thumbs over the back of her hands, being careful with the positioning of his hands. "I want you to."

I thought for a moment. He was right. I was going to be eighteen, and there was nothing that anyone could do in the first place. Regardless, Mr. Baker could lose his job. So we would have to keep that part a secret until I graduated.

"Let's do it." I replied tiredly with a smile across my face. "You're sure that you want to? Like.. A hundred percent. Right? How long have you thought about this?" I asked. Mr. Baker's brows furrowed for a moment before looking back at me.

"I've been thinking about this for the last few days. Long and hard. And I want it." He replied. "So what if we have to keep you staying with me a secret? I'm sure that Jamie could cover for us since she knows what completely happened." I nodded slowly, chewing on my bottom lip. "It would be perfect. Just you and me."

Before Mr. Baker could say any more, the doctor knocked on the door, cracking it to look through the door. "Miss James? Your papers are ready for you to fill out and sign." He said, walking in and setting them on the table next to her. "Here's a pen."

"Thanks, Doc," I said, reaching to pull the table over my lap. I looked to Mr. Baker with a sigh. "My wrists are still so sore; I can barely write without it feeling like my staples are stabbing me." I chuckled, reading through the papers. Mr. Baker reached out, taking the papers.

"Let me help." He said, taking the pen as well.

Notes

Hello!! New co-writer here. I hope you guys enjoyed this, let me know if you do!!