Even before he opened his eyes, Jason knew from the sterile disinfectant stench that he was in the hospital again. Groaning slightly from the ache of the lights, he forced his eyes opened and glanced around the small private room he was in. From his experience, he believed once you’ve seen one hospital room, you’ve seen them all, and he wasn’t disappointed to find that this room was like all other’s he’d ever been in. Sterile white paint on the walls. Cream white shades pulled to block the sunlight or glare of headlights from passing vehicles driving around the parking lot outside. A bed with a mattress hard enough to encourage the sick to want to get up out of it, with just a single recliner and a small hard chair for guests to use when they visit the room. The only bright points to the room at all were the small television hanging down from the ceiling across from the bed, and the sight of Pam sitting and sleeping half curled in the recliner only a few feet away.
Trying to smile made the corners of Jason’s mouth crinkle unpleasantly, as parched and dried as they were, causing him to glare around and look for a drink of some sort. Usually a large cup or pitcher of ice water would be sitting on a small table beside the bed, but unfortunately he didn’t see anything of the sort this time. For a few moments, Jason tried to fight back the dry thirst in the back of his throat so he wouldn’t disturb Pam, but it proved to be a futile fight as he soon coughed and hacked dryly several times.
Yawning widely, Pam stretched in response to almost the first dry cough. Turning slightly to face in his direction, she sleepily rubbed her eyes several times before blinking and looking over at the bed. When her groggy mind finally registered that Jason was awake, Pam jerked in sudden surprise then fell over the corner of the chair’s armrest, tumbling into the floor.
“Pam?!” Forcing her name from his parched throat was a struggle for Jason, as he squirmed and tried to weakly turn for a better look into the floor to check on her. Much to his relief, Pam was giggling lightly and already climbing up to her feet while blushing embarrassedly.
“Sorry,” Pam apologized, standing and dusting her dress off slightly. She seemed wide awake now; smiling and laughing brightly as she bounced over to sit down on the edge of the bed. “It just surprised me to see you awake already,” she admitted, embarrassed red tint slightly coloring her cheeks. “Are you feeling better now?” She asked gently.
“A drink please,” Jason croaked hoarsely.
“I think I can do that,” Pam reassured him. “I’ll let the nurses know you’re awake in case they want to come in, or the doctor. Just give me a few moments after that and I’ll run down to the cafeteria. I’ll let your mother know you’re awake – she was going down to grab some coffee, I think – and then I’ll bring you back a couple cans of soda and a straw.”
“Water,” Jason corrected, dryly.
“Then a couple of bottles of water and a straw,” Pam assured him. Reaching up, she took his hand in hers and gently squeezed it once, before turning and rushing out of the door and down the hallway.
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A little while later, Pam and Jason’s mother walked back into the room together, chatting lightly back and forth. Seeing Jason still awake, his mother unscrewed the lid from a bottle of water and stuck a straw down in it, before walking over and holding it out towards him. “How’s my little man,” she asked? Ignoring Jason as he reached for the bottle, his mother instead chose to hold it up to his mouth for him to sip directly.
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“I’m okay,” Jason croaked hoarsely in response a moment later. “What happened?”
“The doctors say it’s nothing bad this time,” his mother reassured him. “You had an asthma attack which they think may have led into a panic attack, which caused your heartbeat to rise, surged your blood pressure, and basically caused you to faint. They gave you a breathing treatment to open up your airways better, and have run several tests while you rested and recovered.”
“Yeah,” Pam chimed up, interrupting suddenly, “it’s not going to work this time!”
Taking another sip of water from the bottle his mother was still holding, Jason frowned slightly and asked, “What’s not going to work?”
“You’re not getting out of school this time, silly!” Giggling slightly, Pam half skipped back over and pounced into the recliner. “The doctors have already said they’re going to release you in the morning. They probably would’ve released you in the middle of the night tonight, but your mother got in a fight with one of the doctors! She told him you were sleeping and they weren’t going to move you; that they should let you get a good nights sleep; and the doc wanted to send you on home in an hour or two, to free up the hospital bed.”
Trying to laugh, but coughing instead, Jason smiled slightly. “I guess we see who won that fight. Momma’s stubborn.”
“I am not,” his mother insisted, as Pamela readily agreed with, “Ain’t that the truth!” Looking back at first one and then the other, Jason’s mother scowled at both Jason and Pam, causing Pam to giggle suddenly and Jason to hack and cough several more times. “I wasn’t stubborn at all,” she insisted, half frowning and half smiling at the same time. “I was just having a simple adult conversation with the medical staff here.”
“Which led to security being called for,” Pam reminded her, giggling even harder.
“Well,” Jason’s mother straighten up and sat the bottle down on the nightstand near the bed, “that might have happened.” Going over, she sat down on the small chair and flattened her skirt with her hands, before primly crossing her legs and acting as if nothing had happened. “You two get some rest. Morning will be here before you know it, and you both have school tomorrow. I don’t see any reason for either of you to miss. You can sleep through the whole weekend if you need to.”
Nodding slightly, Jason reached for the bottle to sip another long drink, while Pam stretched and slowly moved around to the left side of the bed. “Scoot over,” she commanded, pushing Jason slightly with her hands.
“Huh?” Sitting the bottle back down, Jason blinked several times, looking confused.
“Scoot,” Pam repeated. “I can’t sleep sitting up in some stupid chair and there’s plenty of room if you just slide a foot over or so.”
“Oh, sorry,” Jason apologized, turning on his side and sliding up closer to the bars on the right side of the bed. He wasn’t certain what Pam was doing, but he’d play along with her for now, just to see what she was up to. Everyone knew hospital beds were single patient only!
Giggling lightly, Pam pulled the covers back and then gently slid in and snuggled up to Jason’s back. The war pressure of her breasts squishing against his back was enough to make him smile even past the shock that flashed on his face. “See,” Pam giggled again, “plenty of room!” Pulling the covers back up over the both of them, she settled down, giving every indication that she was intending to stay there.
Watching the whole scene with a raised eyebrow was Jason’s mother. For a moment, she frowned several times, as if it seemed she was struggling over saying something or not. Finally making up her mind, she stretched lightly and slowly stood up and strode outside the room, pulling the door shut behind her. Leaning back against the wall beside the door relaxing, she pulled out her phone and typed several messages to her husband and then Penny, letting them know everything was fine. Every time a nurse or orderly walked past, she glanced up from her phone and gave them a stern, unflinching glare.
The cubs were sleeping peacefully while the mother bear watched protectively over them from right outside the den.