(REWRITING) The Skylar Experiment : Coveting

14. Stay

*I didn't really intend to write this but at this point I'm just fucking around with Raymond and Lauren and this is what Roots is all about: me doing whatever the hell I want 😂*

The twins and Greg stayed by Raymond's side even during sundown. While Luc strolled off to loosen his legs and Greg left to get the kids something from the teashop on ground level, Lauren plunked on the chair by Raymond's bedside. 

"Still not talking to me?" he tested. 

She pointedly steered her eyes to the window, hiding her face in her hair. 

"I'm literally in a hospital bed nursing a flesh wound and you're giving me the silent treatment?" 

Well, it has been established that he wasn't dying, so she allowed herself to act like a fusspot. For added effect, she fluffed a hand in her hair and turned her body away from the bed. She swung her legs over the armchair and folded her arms. 

Raymond scowled. "You're such a baby."

"Am not."

"Aha! Gotcha, Wikie."

She groaned, tipping her head over the other armchair, and resumed the silent treatement again. The strained peacefulness in the room lasted until the sheets ruffled and Raymond wormed out of them. He extended an arm for a latch, supporting himself on the cushion with the other. Lauren's cheeks hollowed as he thrusted forward. 

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to crawl to the bathroom, do you mind?"

She dropped one leg to the floor. "Yeah, I do mind. You're not supposed to walk."

He whipped his head and rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll just piss on the sheets and make the nurse clean it." His hospital slippers touched ground, and he immediately suppressed a grunt rumbling deep in his throat. "I'll drag myself slower than grandma Mimi or just fucking levitate the toilet bowl off the ceramic and bring it over..."

"Alright, alright!"

Lauren shot to her feet and rounded the stretcher, grabbing one of his hands with hers and supporting his elbow. She'd learnt this from an ER show when a nurse disclosed how to safely walk patients who were unstable in the hall. 

"Hold still." Her free arm had to surround his waist, so she circled him above the fresh stitches and secured his hip to hers--well, her midsection. He had longer legs. "Can you move like this?"

"Yeah," he huffed out as his chest swelled. 

They limped clumsily to the bathroom door. Before she let him go, she asked, "Will you be fine?"

"Why, you wanna see me do my business?" He winked. 

She glared at him and shut the door, cheeks blazing in discomfort. He laughed on the other side from the immense pleasure that came with embarrassing her, but cut himself. She imagined the jolts sent more pain through his body. 

Serves him right... she thought, waiting against the wall. 

There was the sound of flushing and running water from the sink. A moment later, Raymond flung the door open and stumbled out. She helped him back to bed and watched him grit his teeth while tucking himself into position. 

"You don't want me to push or something?" 

He shook his head, slamming his lids shut when he released his weight and crashed onto his back. She detailed the black veins around his wrist again as his breath steadied. Her fingers lifted to point at one of them, skimming over his skin.