Everything I Need

Part 12

She falls into the chair beside the bed and Charlotte curls onto her side facing away from her.

“You have a tattoo on your back,” Shela says curiously a few moments later. Charlotte opens one sleepy eye to glance back over her shoulder. She hums out a sound of acknowledgement. “It’s really pretty. Why haven’t I seen it before?”

Charlotte’s shoulders shrug. “I have one on the back of my ear too. I don’t really care that much about them anymore. I was young and stupid when I got them.”

“They’re so pretty though,” Shela whispers and Charlotte tries not to shudder at the way her fingertips skate up the length of her spine before finding the second tattoo at the back of her neck. She lets the touch soothe her instead and Shela must notice because she doesn’t stop and hums gently to her as she steadily falls back to sleep.

She wakes up to cough a little while later and Shela hands her another tray and disposes it before sitting back down beside her. Charlotte watches her as her eyelids flutter against the tops of her cheeks.

“You should sleep,” she whispers. “You can go back to the dorm. I’ll be fine.”

Shela shakes her head and props her chin up on her hand. Charlotte pulls the blankets back without a thought and watches as Shela eyes her curiously. She sighs before reluctantly dragging herself out of the chair and walking around to the other side of the bed. She climbs in behind Charlotte and moves in close to her. Charlotte can feel her breath against her neck as she turns to look at her questioningly.

“I didn’t want to tug on all your monitors that side,” Shela whispers and Charlotte likes how she reaches forward and arranges the pillows against the side of the bed so that she can lay more comfortably. She likes how Shela urges her against them before pulling the blankets up around her waist. “Comfy?” she asks and Charlotte’s eyes close when a hand presses to the middle of her back and a thumb starts sweeping over her skin. Her nod collapses into the pillow. “Rest.”

Charlotte should have listened to Shela all along.

//

The doctors tell her she can go home Sunday afternoon after six hours of her complaining that she can’t miss school.

Shela tells her she’s not missing anything because she can’t go to school and Charlotte spends the following three hours sulking under her covers while the doctors tell Shela everything she needs to know. She’s written on the paperwork as the person who will be overseeing Charlotte’s care and ensuring that Charlotte stays safe. She’s their point of contact and Shela takes the responsibility gladly as Charlotte continues to peacefully drift in and out of sleep.

“I want food from that Chinese place,” Charlotte mumbles as Shela finds clean clothes for her to wear home from the bag of her things. She was surprised to find a pair of beat up old Vans in Charlotte’s things and she takes them out of the bag before replacing them with Charlotte’s trademark ankle boots. “No more soup and toast.”

Shela snorts. “You’re obviously feeling better.”

“I still feel like something’s crushing my chest but that doesn’t mean I’m not starving,” she mumbles and when Shela turns to her, she’s smirking into her pillow.

“You’re a pig,” she comments as she puts the bag aside and reaches over to push Charlotte’s glasses up her nose and her hair from her eyes. “You smell like one too.”

Charlotte hums in agreement and Shela smiles down at her as she continues to snuggle into the pillows. The doctor said she’d probably sleep constantly for the next week and Shela’s not so worried about that. She’s not a pain in the a*s when she’s sleeping. She’s sure the doctors and nurses can’t wait for them to leave.

After all, Charlotte Kavell is a little s**t.

“I thought you wanted to go,” Shela reminds her, hand stroking down the gap in her hospital gown. It’s a bold habit she’s developed in the last forty-eight hours and she knows she needs to stop doing it. She knows but she can’t because Charlotte doesn’t seem to mind. “Can’t do that until you’re dressed.”

Charlotte groans but they have to wait for the nurse to come and remove the cannula in the side of her hand anyway. She picked up Charlotte’s medicine from the pharmacy already and she’s glad that they can finally go back to their own space. Charlotte manages to set off about four alarms while changing into her sweatpants and Shela rolls her eyes when she sasses the nurses. She acts like a complete baby when they remove the cannula and Shela rolls her eyes as she clutches the spot like it’s a goddamn bullet wound or something. She complains the entire time she changes into her t-shirt and sweater and just takes her glasses when Shela hands them back to her.

The nurses wish Shela luck when Charlotte gets wheeled down to the parking lot and Shela laughs when Charlotte laments about how she’s actually a good patient. She laughs so hard that Charlotte punches her and ends up in a coughing fit. It’s funny and Charlotte glares at her all the way to the Chinese takeout place where she becomes too busy ordering everything to carry on being mad.

It’s hot in their dorm room and Shela makes Charlotte take a shower before they eat. She stands near the bathroom door listening the entire time and hates that Charlotte comes out looking uneasy. She barely eats and spends most of the time tugging uncomfortably at her t-shirt. Shela tells her she should wear what makes her comfortable if she’s too hot and doesn’t bat an eyelid when Charlotte sheepishly takes off her pajama pants. It leaves her in her t-shirt and underwear and Shela rolls her eyes when Charlotte blushes. She’s seen her in worse states and in much less this weekend.

Plus, it’s not like she doesn’t get cold fifteen minutes later and pull a blanket over her lap anyway.

She manages to stay awake until late and for some reason, it feels weird when Shela disappears into the bathroom to change into her own pajamas. Charlotte’s already in bed when she steps out and her eyes are heavy with sleep and exhaustion. Shela steps over to pull Charlotte’s blankets around her without thinking about it. It’s sort of become habit.

“Do you need anything?” she whispers. Charlotte shakes her head and Shela tugs the glasses from her nose before switching off the lamp on her nightstand. She falls into her own bed with a relief she didn’t know could exist, her entire body groaning in happiness as she tugs her pillow under her head and the blankets over her body. Her eyes flutter closed and it takes her seconds to fall asleep.

Her eyes open what feels like only a few moments later to coughing and uncomfortable shifting. She turns over and finds Charlotte trying to muffle her coughs into her hands as her body winces with the pains that still overwhelm it. Shela clicks her tongue before throwing back the covers and going to her.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Charlotte tries even as the sound of her chest and breathing says differently. Shela presses a hand to her forehead and checks her pulse with the other. It’s as good as can be expected and Shela rubs her back as she coughs into the tissues in her hands. “You can go back to bed. You can go back to bed. I’m fine.”

Shela sees the black bags under her eyes and sighs. “Have you slept at all yet?”

Charlotte pauses before shaking her head. Shela runs her hand down Charlotte’s spine and it feels strange not to be able to touch her skin. Charlotte sinks into the comfort of the touch and it gives Shela an idea.

“Lay down,” she whispers. Charlotte does as she’s told and gets comfy in her pillows lined against the wall. She only glances anxiously back at Shela once and softens completely when Shela slips under the covers to lay behind her. She lies on her side and strokes the hair from Charlotte's eyes before drifting to rub over her back and shoulders. “I’ll stay here until you fall asleep, okay?”

It takes fifty minutes of Shela’s hands on her body for her to fall asleep. Shela kind of loves it and it takes her too long to move back to her own bed.

When Charlotte wakes up coughing and panicking a few hours later, Shela’s relieved she has no classes until that afternoon. The sun’s just about to come up and she climbs in beside Charlotte and props herself up on an elbow to watch her. Her palm strokes soothing patterns over her arms and shoulders and she becomes bold when she reaches up to see if stroking her hair will soothe her too. It does and she smiles as Charlotte’s body soon becomes heavy and ridiculously soft. She turns over into Shela’s body twenty minutes later and Shela likes how Charlotte’s face buries into her neck, how her breathing seems more even than it has all weekend. She likes that Charlotte reaches up to grip at her t-shirt, that she whimpers in her sleep when Shela stops touching her.

She tells herself she’ll go back to her own bed soon.

Instead, she lets Charlotte have her comfort and keeps her safe while she sleeps.

She wakes up to the soft click of a door closing and the comforting smell of food. Her eyes stay closed and she snuggles closer to her pillows as she feels the familiar movements of someone behind her. She half-listens as Shela moves around the room before her bed dips and a cool hand presses against her cheek.

Shela doesn’t say anything when she reaches up to take the hand and hold it. It’s not like Charlotte has it in her to care if she did anyway.

“How was class?” she murmurs into her pillow. Shela lets their fingers tangle together and Charlotte sighs because Shela leans over her to let her other hand carefully stroke her hair from her eyes.

“It was okay,” she sighs, tucking the hair behind Charlotte’s ear. “How did you sleep? Did you sleep the whole afternoon?” Charlotte nods in confirmation and her eyes stay closed as Shela plays with her hair. “That’s good,” she says softly. “I went to get some supplies.”

Her hands pull away and Charlotte’s eyes open reluctantly. She turns onto her back with Shela’s help and she wordlessly accepts her glasses when Shela pushes them up her nose.

“So I got you some snacks in case you get hungry when I’m not here,” she explains as she goes through the bags sitting next to Charlotte’s desk. There’s a case of Gatorade tucked into the corner as well as some water and just the sight of them makes Charlotte thirsty. It’s almost like Shela knows because she hands Charlotte the open bottle of juice on her nightstand without thinking. “I also got a thermometer, just in case. Some cans of soup for when you’re not feeling hungry. Some flavored water if you wanted something sweet. Some tea. A thermos, so you don’t have to worry when I’m not here. Some really cute socks. Oh, and some blankets.”

“Blankets?”

Shela pulls out the three blankets of different textures and thicknesses and starts laying them over the one already covering Charlotte’s bare legs.

“I was thinking that it’d be easier to regulate your temperature if you had lots of blankets instead of one big thick one,” she explains, taking one of the blankets off again. Charlotte smiles at her and Shela smirks in response as she folds it and puts it by Charlotte’s feet. “Plus they’re really cute and I thought they’d make a nice addition to your little nest.”

//