one missed call

ten

There's a knock on the door before it opens. She poked her head up from the mount of pillows she's buried under to find him standing in her room.

"Ben, what're you doing here?"

He smiled awkwardly. "Came here to drop off these." He slid a vase of flowers onto her bedside table. They're tulips.

"They're beautiful."

He sat down on the tip of her bed and watched her for a moment as she marveled at the flowers.

"What else are you here for?"

He shrugged. "To check on my best friend, duh."

"You didn't need to."

"That's what you think."

"I'm fine."

"That's not what the doctors said—I... I heard what they found on you, North. Is it tru—"

"It's a lie. Doctors don't know shit. They know how shit forms and the symptoms of having to take a shit or what cure to perform when your shit becomes a disease but they do not know shit."

"I came here to check on how you were, not hear philosophy 101 about shit but go on."

His smile was hesitant though.