Ceilings

CEILINGS, PLASTER, CAN’T YOU MAKE IT MOVE FASTER? LOVELY TO BE SITTING HERE WITH YOU. YOU’RE KIND OF CUTE.

She sat at the doctor’s office with her feet on the ground and her eyes trained on the cracks between the cement stones, afraid that if she looked up the pain would hit her tenfold.

It had started early that morning, awaking her from her slumber. She was sure it was another migraine which would go away on its own. But no, the pain grew and dots floated around her vision.

Headaches were nothing new to her. She suffered from them often, a chronic condition. She had medicine from the doctor to try and make it better. But she had been neglecting taking them, or refilling her prescription when her current medicine had run out.

Sure, it was self-inflicted. But that knowledge didn’t make the pain any better.

She sighed, her head pounding and her eyes stinging with unshed tears. She wanted nothing more than to go back home and sleep it off, but her all too loving boyfriend was having none of it and demanded (more like forced) her to go visit the doctor.

Her boyfriend sat with his warm hand holding hers, his thumb rubbing lazy circles over the skin of the back of her hand as they both waited for the receptionist to call her name so they could pick up the prescription.

For the recent months they had been dating, he had always noticed she never slept well and so if he could do just one thing to try and help her out, no matter how big or small, he was going to do it regardless of if she found it a waste of time or not.

She had told him off countless times before.

In the mornings, she placed her mug in the sink with the silent promise to wash it once she finished her shower. But when she went back, he would have already washed it and put it away for her.

He got the chicken out of the freezer the night before and put it in the fridge to slowly defrost for the following night’s dinner menu.

All small acts, all adding up to his love for her.

Finally the woman behind the desk called her name, but she was too dizzy to stand. As if her boyfriend could sense the swirling feeling in her head, he stood and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead before he dropped her hand to walk to the counter and collect the medicine for her.

For the briefest of seconds, she felt the cold hit her more than expected. The absence of him hurt her to her core, but she knew it was only going to last for just a few seconds. She could bear it for those few seconds.

Before she knew it, he walked back over to her and crouched down, his hands on her knees as he smiled softly.

Despite trying to reassure her everything was okay, his ears turned red from the way her eyes stared into his. She couldn’t stop the smile, despite the pain behind her eyebrows that felt as if her brain was being rattled by a pickaxe.

“Let’s get you home, yeah?” He sounded sweet, gentle, as if trying to coax a screaming child to calm down. His smile remained just as soft as she nodded her head in agreement.

His hands took hers as he helped her to stand. He wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her steady, helping her out of the doctors office and into his car.

As he pulled her seatbelt to ensure her safety, that was the moment she realised she loved this man.