Hope

Zack stayed by Kristel’s bedside, falling asleep a couple times, waiting for her to wake up again. Kristel opened her eyes to see Zack asleep by the side of her bed, her hand in his warm calloused hand. Looking around the room, she noticed he was the only one in the room. “Zack,” Kristel whispered, lightly shaking his hand, suddenly realizing that she was thirsty. “Zack, wake up.”

Zack mumbled something in his sleep, shifting his hand. “Zack,” Kristel persisted, running her fingers through his hair, hoping that would wake him. Zack grabbed her hand that was in his hair and moved it so he was using it as a pillow. Kristel sighed, rolling her eyes. “Zackery!” she snapped, making him jump.

He looked around the room, before noticing Kristel was awake. “Good dream?” she teased him, as he wiped drool from his face. “How long have you been here?” Kristel continued, before he could respond.

“Um,” Zack pulled out his phone, to get bearings on his time. “Three hours?”

“Where’s everyone else?” Kristel asked, sitting up, then wincing in pain, instantly regretting her decision.

“They’re all at their homes. Matt and Val have Amber, and will take care of her until you’re released,” Zack explained, hoping she wouldn’t have another panic attack.

“How long are they keeping me here?”

Zack shrugged, “The doctor hasn’t been in here…that I know of.” They were silent for a moment, before Zack spoke up again. “Kristel,” Kristel turned towards Zack. “You know I can help you with the hospital cost, right?”

Kristel sighed, “I know. I just don’t like it.” Kristel was silent for a moment, then, before Zack could say anything, continued. “It’s just…I should have a job by now. I should be able to support myself, but I can’t. I couldn’t even finish college,” Kristel ended, burying her face in her hands, trying hard not to cry.

“What’d you go to school for?” Zack asked, curiously.

“Accounting,” Kristel laughed. “Mom kept badgering me to go to school, so I said fine, and looked online. Found an accounting class, thought to myself, oh this’ll be easy. Go to school the first day, and the first thing out of my teachers’ mouth was ‘this will not be an easy course’. I swear half the class instantly went ‘crap’ after that.”

Zack laughed, “I never did like math.”

“I didn’t either,” Kristel tried to calm her laughs down. “I sucked at it in high school, but I took the accounting course in college, and…I freakin’ loved it.”

Kristel smiled, making Zack smile. He wasn’t sure why, but she just made him happy when she was happy. “So how come you didn’t finish the course?” Zack asked.

“Oh, having three jobs, being a mom and doing full time school didn’t seem too mix too well for me. So, I got suspended,” Kristel explained.

“You?” Zack asked in disbelief. “You got suspended?”

“I know right?” Kristel laughed. “Apparently, bad grades are enough to suspend you.”

“You don’t seem like you get in trouble a lot,” Zack mused, rubbing his hand along his chin.

“Never,” Kristel laughed. “Oh, if I ever got caught doing something I wasn’t supposed to, my mom would skin me alive.” Kristel thought for a moment before continuing, still laughing. “I got sent to the principal’s office once and thought I was about to die.”

“What’d you do?”

“I shared my lunch account number with a friend, so they could get a brownie,” Kristel smirked.

“And they sent you to the principals for that?!”

“Well,” Kristel thought for a moment. “It wasn’t the first time I did it, so they figured I needed to stop.”

“But still,” Zack was still in disbelief. “I got sent to the principal for plenty worse.”

“Oh, so you were one of the bad kids,” Kristel teased. “My mom definitely would not approve.”

Zack chuckled, “Is that so?”

“Oh yes,” Kristel nodded, trying not to smile. “She had rules.”

“And what were these rules?” Zack asked, leaning in closer to Kristel.

Kristel started using her fingers to count, “Any potential boyfriend had to, go to church faithfully, couldn’t be more than a few years older or younger than me, no piercings, no tattoos…anywhere, can’t drink excessively, have no history of law violations, and absolutely no smoking what-so-ever.”

“Well, apparently I’m out,”

“Not even an option,” Kristel gently put a finger on his nose, moving her face closer, then gently pushing his face away from hers. “Gotta marry that good working man,” Kristel teased, daring him to move closer, again.

“I’m a good working man,” Zack moved slightly closer, making Kristel’s heart rate increase.

“Time for pain medication,” a nurse walked in, making Kristel and Zack separate quickly, Kristel’s face reddening. “Looks like you could use some,” the nurse commented, ignoring Zack.

“Thank you,” Kristel smiled at the nurse, taking the medication and water, mentally kicking herself for getting that close to Zack.

“Since you’re up, the registration nurse will be in soon to finish getting your medical records,” the nurse mentioned before leaving the room.

“Okay,” Kristel gave her a small smile. “I don’t suppose any of my stuff would be here?” Kristel looked towards Zack.

“Uh, no. Val took your diaper bag to their house, and I didn’t think about anything else. Did you need anything?” Zack asked.

“My wallet’s in the diaper bag, I’m not sure if they’d need anything in there or not,” Kristel shrugged. Zack went for his phone, before Kristel stopped him. “I wouldn’t worry about it, unless they ask for something. I can always get it later.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am,” Kristel confirmed, making him put his phone away.

The registration nurse came in a few minutes later with a rolling computer, “How’re you feeling dearie?”

“Better,” Kristel gave a weak smile.

“Just have a few things to ask you, then you can get back to your boyfriend,” the nurse gave Kristel and Zack a cheery grin.

“Oh, um,” Zack stuttered.

“Thanks, we appreciate it,” Kristel acknowledged the nurse. The nurse smiled, then started into their routine questions. Zack jumping in for a few things, that Kristel was unable to answer, such as the address she was staying at and the possible emergency contacts.

“Thanks for the patience,” the nurse thanked them before walking out of the room.

“Why’d you let her think we were together?” Zack asked Kristel, after a few moments of silence.

Kristel shrugged, “Sometimes it’s just not worth the time in the explanation.”

Zack thought for a moment before shrugging, “That’s not a bad philosophy.”

“I like to keep things simple,” Kristel shrugged, smiling a little, before her mind began to wander, making her smile slowly fade.

“What’s wrong?” Zack asked, noticing her change.

Kristel sighed, “It’s nothing really.” She glanced at him, before looking back at her sheets. “Just…thinking about my family.”

“Do you miss them?”

“A little,” Kristel paused. “Well, my dad and sister a lot. My mom on the other hand,” Kristel shook her head. “Maybe a little.”

“Why don’t you miss your mom that much?” Zack cocked his head, wondering how much information he’d be able to get out of her before she clammed back up.

She sighed again, before looking at him. “My mom and I never really saw eye to eye. I never really felt like she cared about me as much, or about anything I really did…and when I got pregnant out of marriage,” Kristel stopped, trying to keep the tears from coming.

“She wasn’t happy,” Zack finished for her, taking her hand in his.

“It was the worst thing that could’ve happened to her,” a tear ran down Kristel’s face, making her stop talking, trying to regain composure.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Zack tried to soothe her, sitting on the edge of Kristel’s bed, holding her in his arms. “I’m sorry for bringing it up.” Kristel shook her head, but wasn’t able to speak. Zack sat with her until she calmed down, then told her he had to run home so he could fix the door, but would be back to check on her. “You okay?” Zack double checked with her as he began to get up.

“Yeah,” Kristel replied, softly.

“I’ll be back,” Zack gently kissed Kristel on her forehead, then walked out of the room. Kristel laid back on her bed, completely at peace, so glad that Zack had found her.

Notes

Sorry it took a little while to get this chapter up. I just started canning for the first time, and am attempting barbeque sauce because I apparantly like difficult things. I got the tomatoes and peeled and seeded and now will wait until morning to finish them. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter. It's kinda a filler, but Kristel is starting to open up about herself.

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