The next day:
Kenna's POV
I woke up peacefully the next morning of our date.
Mom and Danica weren't in sight, so I guessed they were at the cafeteria grabbing breakfast.
I went to the bathroom and got done with my work.
Mom and Danica were back from the cafeteria with a tray in hand.
Danica hands me my breakfast, which was a slice of wheat bread toast and sliced cucumbers with a glass of carrot juice.
I'm used to this kind of food by now.
As I consume my healthy breakfast, Danica walks towards me with a tiny shopping bag in her hand.
"This is for you, Kenny," she says, handing the bag to me.
I take the bag from her and say, "Thanks, Dani."
Once I finished my breakfast and Danica had cleaned up, I looked into the bag Dani got for me.
Inside was a blue and white scarf. It has a white base with blue flowers on it.
It's very beautiful.
"Thanks, Dani," I say, and she gives me a hug.
"I thought you might need it," she says, tightening the hug.
"Aw, let me snap a picture of you two," mom says, and she clicks Dani and me.
Dani wraps the scarf around my head and smiles in adoration.
Mom and Dani snap pictures of me and my bald head, now covered with the beautiful scarf.
We chatted for the rest of the day, and mom and Dani told me about the times they'd hang out with Ben and Jason.
.
.
At around six thirty in the evening, when I was lazily sitting on my bed with Dani and mom sprawled on the couch, there was a knock on the door.
"Oh, we have a little surprise for you, Kenny," mom says, walking towards the door.
She opens the door to reveal a gorgeous-looking mulatto man and a very familiar-looking guy behind him.
"Meet Jason and Ben," mom says, sounding very excited.
"Oh, hello, Jason and Ben," I say, mostly looking at Jason rather than Ben.
Oh wait. Ben, the receptionist.
"Okay, I heard that you are a beautiful girl, but I don't think even the word beautiful does justice to you," Jason says, walking towards me.
He was quite tallâmaybe around six feet. He had slightly curly hair, lovely gray eyes, a perfect nose, and thick lips.
He extends his right arm, and I shake it.
He looks deep into my eyes, and I look into his mesmerizing ones.
Mom clears her throat, and we withdraw our hands.
"So this is Ben, Ben Austin," she says, looking coy as Ben looks at her with so much fondness.
Aw, they look cute already.
"Hey Ben," I say in an attempt to get off my bed, but he rushes quickly to my bed and shakes my hand.
"I am pleased to meet you. Don't bother getting up," he says, giving me a polite smile.
"So is it okay if we all hang out together here? Ben's done with his shift, and Jason's patient has visitors over," Danica asks, looking at me.
"Yes, of course! I'd love to get to know Jason and Ben!" I exclaim.
They all smile as they settle themselves on the furniture in my room.
Mom and Danica sit on mom's bed, as Ben pulls a chair closer to mom and Jason pulls a chair next to me.
So we were sitting in the order of Ben, mom, Danica, Jason, and me on my bed.
We looked like a group sitting in a semicircle at the Grammy Awards.
Danica was the first to speak: "How's Hernan? Is he getting better?" she asks Jason.
"Oh yeah, he's better now. His son, Fabian, is here to visit him along with his wife," he says, looking at everyone.
I was confused because I had no idea who he was talking about.
He senses this and says to me, "Hernan is the patient I take care of the way Danica takes care of you. And his son Fabian, along with his wife, came to visit him today after almost three weeks. Poor old man has a few days left."
"Oh" was all I could manage.
How long do I have?
The conversation picks up quickly, and everyone's busy talking about a cruise trip that would begin eight months later, at Christmas, to be precise.
By everyone, I mean mom, Dani, and Ben.
Jason and I just looked at them as they talked.
He gets tired of this and turns his chair towards me.
"So, tell me something pretty, girl," he said, looking at me.
"Um, what do you want to know?" I asked nervously.
"Actually, I know pretty much everything about you," he says, smiling.
"Then tell me about yourself," I say, staring into the distance ahead of me and then looking at him.
"Well, my full name is Jason Sanchez. My mom is from the Caribbean and my dad is from Latin America; that's probably evident by my complexion," he says and flashes a smile.
I notice the tiny dimple on the right side of his cheek.
Why is everyone so gorgeous in this hospital?
"I have two older sisters and a younger brother. Well, my sisters are married, so they don't live with us. At home, it's my mom, dad, and baby brother," he adds with a look of finality.
"Oh, and also the love of my life," he says as he realizes he's missed someone out.
Yeah, of course, this extremely handsome guy surely has a girlfriend or a wife.
Or a boyfriend or husband.
"Well, I'm single if you thought I had a girlfriend. I was talking about our pet, Coco," he says with the biggest grin on his face.
Okay, this might sound weird, but I felt relieved when he said he was single.
"Aw, please tell me it's a canine," I say, almost pleading.
"Yes, yes, it is", he says with a huge smile. "She's brown, like us," he laughs. "That's why the name Coco fits perfectly for a brown Labrador."
I smile at this.
He keeps telling me more about his family's background. They seem like a simple and ideal family.
As we were deep in conversation about one of Coco's many mischievous tales, there was a loud knock on the door.
Everyone froze mid-conversation.
"Is there anyone else you're expecting?" I ask mom, and she says no.
The door swings open to reveal Tyler.
He stops dead in his tracks when he looks at everyone in my room.
"Woah woah. Why is everyone giving me the serious look as if I'm the serial killer who's just been found guilty?" he says, making everyone laugh.
He shuts the door, makes his way towards my bed, and pulls me in for a warm hug.
Once he lets go, I notice a weird look on Jason's face.
"Ben, who's at the reception?" he asks, looking around casually.
"It's Manuel's shift now," Ben says.
"Okay, cool. I lost track of time completely," Tyler says, sitting at the foot of my bed.
Jason clears his throat awkwardly, but no one takes notice of this except me.
Danica asks Jason about checking on Hernan, and everyone is focusing on him.
Well, except for Tyler.
He moves his hands to my feet, and I almost jump in fear.
I look at him, and he smirks.
Being in a hospital gown sucked. I've always worn trousers and can never sit decently while wearing dresses. One wrong move of my legs, and I could be putting myself on display and in a very awkward situation.
Tyler scoots closer and sits where my feet were, taking them in his lap.
My eyes widen at this.
I didn't expect Tyler to take my feet into his lap. I mean, why would I even think about it?
"No, Tyler," I whisper, and attempt to pull my feet away from his lap without.
"No, Kenny, trust me. It's okay. Let me play with your toes, if not your fingers," he smirks.
This boy melts my heart like a candle.
Everyone except the two of us was engrossed in deep conversation about old Hernan and his serious illness.
Tyler looks at me with the warmest expression on his face and asks, "How's my pretty girl feeling today?"
"Much better, since her favorite doctor just visited her," I say, blushing.
"You mean favorite person", he rolls his eyes. "I told you that you can have a favorite person, not a favorite doctor."
I act like I'm deep in thought, with my index finger on my chin, and look far off into the distance.
"Yeah, quit acting, because I clearly know you aren't," he laughs, shaking his head.
"Okay, you got me," I say, laughing.
"I've always got you, Kenny," he says seriously.
I blow him a flying kiss, and he pretends to catch it and put it in his heart.
I laugh at how cute he looks. Like a teenager trying to impress his crush.
Tyler and I were so lost in our own little world of looking at each other that we forgot about the people around us.
He moves closer to me, letting go of my legs and sitting closer to me.
He takes my fingers in his and smiles, "Perfect."
Indeed, perfect.
We were interrupted by a loud noiseâthe sound of a cell phone ringing.
Ben's cell phone.
He declines the call, bringing Tyler and me back to reality.
Back to Jason staring at Tyler and my laced fingers.
Tyler notices this and says, "Man, Jason, what's up?"
"Nothing bro. I've been zoning out," Jason replies.
He was clearly lying.
"Is everything okay?" Tyler asks.
"Yes, man, everything's fine," he says, but I could tell something was off.
I wonder what it is.
.
.
The next few hours were spent chatting about random stuff.
Tyler and I would suddenly drift off into our little world and would soon be interrupted by something or someone.
As the clock struck nine, Ben and Jason rose from their seats.
Ben waves at me, "Bye Kenna. Take care. I'll see you more often now that we've officially met."
"Yes, sure, Ben. I hope to see you around more often," I wave back.
Mom and Ben walk towards the door.
Jason walks up to me.
"Take care, beautiful girl. I'll see you tomorrow," he says, giving me a hug.
I return the hug.
"Also, is it okay if I could get your number? You know, just in case, since we're friends now?" he asks nervously.
"Yes sure. You can," I say, and relief washes over his face.
Tyler just sits between Jason and me and looks like an angry kid whose candy has just dropped on the floor.
Jason hands me his phone, and I type my name and number, saving the contact.
"Thanks, Kenna. I'll text you later. Good night", he says, walking towards the exit of my room.
"Good night!" I wave, and Danica follows him out of my room.
I look at a very angry, or maybe jealous, Tyler.
"What?" I ask.
"What just happened?" he asks me in turn.
"What is it, Tyler?"
"He just called you a beautiful girl and got your number on the same day he met you? How's that even possible?" he grumbles.
"Um, what's with that? You call me beautiful too," I say, shrugging my shoulders.
"That's the thing. You're my beautiful girl. Only I can call you beautiful and nobody else", he says, crossing his arms like a kid.
I laugh at him and give him a hug. He tightens the hug and whispers in my ear, "You're my beautiful girl. Only mine."
.
.
As mom now snores lightly in the background, I lay on my bed and look at a new text I've received.
Unknown number: Hey, beautiful girl, it's Jason. Thanks for letting me text you. Good night :) x
Kenna: Hey Jason, thanks for the text! Good night :)
I exit my inbox and open my gallery.
I look at the pictures of Tyler and me, the pictures we clicked on our first date.
I think about what he said today: "You are my beautiful girl. Only mine."
It's the first time someone has ever said this to me.
It feels good to know I am someone's. Or at least, I would be someone's.
And I'm so glad to be Tyler's.
_
A/N:
So this is the longest chapter with 2 thousand words! I've finally managed to cross 2k words in a single chapter!ð
Also, there's a new character; Jason. What do y'all think about him??
How do y'all like things between Tyler and Kenna? Do y'all ship them?
-Carita D'Costaâ¤ï¸