Blue Fur

Chapter 4.

After my shower, I felt more awake as I had changed out of my hospital gown and back into my own clothing. I had taken the opportunity to have a good look at myself in the mirror. I wasn't surprised by my black eye, swollen cheek, split lip or the bruises I had on my hip and forearm from being pushed to the ground.

Last night's clothing was ruined with blood from the amount of hair and scalp they had ripped off the back of my head. I hadn't felt it happen, nor had I felt any blood running down my neck or back. I happily gave the clothes to the nurse when she came to check on me for her to throw them away.

As promised, the nurse brought me dinner and a few snacks.

"Here we go, darling. Some chicken and rice, with some veggies on the side, some custard and jelly for dessert, some orange juice, a bag of chips, and a muffin for later", nurse Amy said as she placed my dinner in front of me.

"Thanks," I said, crossing my legs on the bed as I pulled the table closer.

"It's a pleasure, darling. Your boyfriend gave me such a surprise! For such a big guy, I didn't even hear him walk up to my desk. He was as quiet as a field mouse", she scoffed, leaving before I could correct her.

Nevertheless, I was leaving anyway so she could think what she wanted to. I was just about done with my dinner when Mr. O'Brien knocked on my door.

"Good evening, Ms. Clark. How are we feeling?"

"I'm alright, a bit tired, but I'll be fine. Thank you", I said, taking a bite out of my muffin as the jelly and custard had gone down before my dinner.

I was hungry.

"It's good to see you feeling a bit better. If you would like, I could show you Patty's room", he said, taking a seat next to me as I finished my muffin.

I laughed, nearly choking on my muffin. "Please, if you ever meet Patrick, don't ever call him "Patty". He hates it".

Mr. O'Brien laughed, still giving me the impression of a young Santa Clause as it was jolly and loud. "I'll keep that in mind."

I smiled.

Something about his laugh made me relax back against my pillows, letting my guard down around adults similar in age as my parents wasn't something I was accustomed to. Sabrina and Sal were more or less the same age as them, but I've known them practically my whole life and they were the complete opposite. But, unfortunately, their constant worrying about me had me putting up a facade that I was fine.

My laugh sounded foreign to me as I let out a small chuckle, feeling the joy radiating off of Mr. O'Brien as he continued to laugh.

We spoke about nothing in particular for the next few minutes, Mr. O'Brien shared some old war stories from when he was younger and I told him about the string of qualifications I had acquired out of pure boredom over the past 7 years.

"Did you always have a thing for fashion and cosmetics?"

"I really liked needlework during my early teens, and as I got older, I decided that I wanted to learn more about how to hand sew my own clothing. I would've gotten a sewing machine eventually, but that costs money, and money isn't something I had. The cosmetic side of things came when I discovered rainbow hair during my senior year".

"I can imagine that was quite an experience to have", Mr. O'Brien said as he got more comfortable in his seat.

"Oh, it was. Up until I got a year-long apprenticeship at the local salon when I was 20, the way I bleached my hair was completely wrong", I said, curling my legs up underneath me.

"That must have been interesting to fix".

"It was. The lady who I did my apprenticeship under called it her "make or break" moment trying to fix the damage I had done to my hair. She gave up 2 weeks in and told me to wear a hat and to just grow it out".