In any case, I don't deserve his presence here now.
"Hi beautiful," he says. His words catch me off guard. He acknowledges me in such a considerate and sweet way—it's not something I deserve.
"You shouldn't be saying cordial things like that, Chance."
Judging by the look on his face, he seems to have surprised himself with what flew out of his mouth, so I try to brush it off.
After a few minutes of discussing the pieces to the puzzle of what happened tonight, the nurse returns to check my vitals. "Sweetie, we've decided to keep you overnight for observation."
"Why's that?" I ask, hoping they didn't find something new in a test result.
"We're still waiting on a couple of test results, and the discharge paperwork won't be ready for a bit. It's the middle of the night, so I think it's best that you rest, and we'll finish up in the morning."
"Can I stay?" Chance asks.
"Are you related? We will sometimes allow a family member to stay overnight with a patient."
"No, but I care about her. Doesn't that count?" Chance continues.
What in the world?
We aren't an item, dating, or even friends ... for the most part.
The nurse seems smitten by Chance's attempt to stay overnight. "I'll make an exception if Miss August wants the company."
Do I want the company? I don't think I want to be alone in a hospital—whatever hospital this is.
"Sure, he can stay," I tell the nurse.
"I'm just going to enter your vitals, and I'll be out of your hair so that you can rest." The nurse tends to the computer, and Chance gives me a curious look I can't decipher.
The nurse leaves the room, closing the door behind her. "Again, I'm just going to ask you why?"
He has no reason to be here. I'm nothing but a problem for him.
Chance scratches at the back of his head as if lost in thought and shakes it a bit, making me think he's having a conversation in his head. "I see something in you that I've seen in myself. I can't put my finger on it, but whatever it is, it's like a magnetic pull. I need to be around you."
I push myself up a bit so I can twist my body to chat with him more comfortably. "In any other circumstance, you realize I'd be thinking you're some kind of crazy person who has been following me around, right?"
He leans forward as if I'm the one not making any sense. "You do know you're the one who has been coming into the bar I've been going to nightly for years, right?"
"Yeah so?"
"If I came into your place of employment, or somewhere else you like to spend your time, and I was acting a bit like a train wreck, wouldn't you be concerned?"
His question makes my chest feel tight. "I would be worried. I'd probably try and become your friend so that I could help you."
"Well, we're not that different then, August."
"I guess you have me figured out, don't you?" Chance leans forward and sweeps a strand of my hair off to the side, tucking it loosely behind my ear. "With all due respect, you sort of wear your heart on your sleeve."
I do.
"What about you?" I ask him.
"Me?" he questions. "Well, I'm the guy who notices a baby bird that fell out of its nest. I'd sit with the bird until its mama came back. If the mama didn't come back, I'd take the bird home with me to see if I could give it what it needs to survive."
"Why?" I question. People like him are the way they are for a reason. Maybe it's a grade school teacher who inspired love, or perhapshe knows from experience.
