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Owen tilted his head back onto the itchy pillow, sighing as he gazed outside the window. Lights glowed from the small town of Churchill, some flicking off every few hours.
“George?” Owen whispered, turning his head towards the hanging curtain that separated their two beds. “Cheese?”
“Mmm?” George groaned, reaching over and pushing the curtain back before flopping his arm back down, eyes still shut.
“Are you awake?” Owen asked, waving his good arm to catch George’s attention. George blinked his eyes open, sitting up and wincing as his head hit the pillow once again. “I am now.”
Owen, surprisingly, barely had anything to say after that. He hadn’t thought much of his words past “Are you awake?”
George sighed in the dark. “Did you really just wake me up for no reason?”
“No,” Owen defended. “I just couldn’t sleep.”
“Oh, I was wondering why I couldn’t hear loud, obnoxious snoring,” George joked, and Owen couldn’t help but let out a quiet chuckle.
“Not where I was going with this conversation,” Owen replied with a smile. “but alrighty.”
George smiled before reaching over to their shared side table and clicking the small light on. A warm glow filled a small section of the room, illuminating the two boy’s faces.
“Oh, dude, you look wrecked,” Owen said, causing George to roll his eyes. Owen wasn’t inherently wrong, however—George’s head injury made it a nightmare to sleep, causing hours of painful tossing and turning before falling into an uncomfortable sleep—inevitably making his hair stand up in every way possible.
“You look like you were hit by a bus,” George countered. Owen snickered, the noise soft and welcoming in the cold clinic room. “Fair enough,” Owen said.
It was quiet for a moment before Owen started laughing. He kept laughing, so much so that George contemplated whether he should call the nurse or not.
“Why are you laughing so much?” George asked, eyebrow raised. Owen wiped his eyes, grin still plastered onto his face.
“The irony,” Owen said simply. George snorted. “I’m shocked you even know what that means.”
Owen ignored that jab, continuing. “Pretty ironic how I’m here, stuck in a clinic with multiple polar bear injuries, yet I’d consider myself knowing the most about those animals.”
George hummed, thinking Owen’s statement over. “I guess you’re right. Try to work on being a little less egotistical though.”
“Egotistical,” Owen repeated. “Or egotastical.”
George blinked, registering the sentence in his mind. “What?”
“Egotastical,” Owen said again. “It’s like ‘egotistical’ and ‘fantastic’ combined.”
George shook his head. “I still don’t understand, but whatever helps you sleep at night.”
“On the contrary,” Owen grinned. “Nothing is helping me sleep at night.”
George laughed. “Touché.”
The soft clicking noise of heels came down the hall caused both boys to flick off the light and hide under the covers. The nurse stopped at their door, knocking twice and opening it gently.
“Boys,” the nurse said quietly. “I know you two are awake.”
George popped open an eye, and Owen carefully sat up. The nurse sighed, shaking her head. “Well, it must be torture sleeping with those injuries…”
“My head hurts,” George said simply. “Can I have ice cream, please?”
“Me too!” Owen exclaimed. “My arm is starting to hurt again.”
The nurse sighed, her heart sinking for the two kids in pain. “I suppose I can get you two something to ease the pain. Would you like vanilla ice cream or chocolate?”
Owen and George brightened, the two providing an unanimous exclamation of vanilla. The nurse smiled, giving them a thumbs up before turning and walking down to the clinic cafeteria.
“Dude, that nurse practically just gave us permission to stay up all night!” Owen said, elated. George raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think that’s what she said.”
“Well, she didn’t exactly say ‘go back to sleep’,” Owen replied. George hummed, turning the bedside lamp back on. “I guess.”
The few minutes passed before the nurse came back, holding a tray containing two bowls of vanilla ice cream and their respective doses of pain medication. Owen and George immediately reached for their ice creams, the nurse shaking her head. “Boys, take your medicine first.”
Owen and George shared a look. The last time they’d taken this medication, they vomited every last bit of it. Owen put on his best pleading face.
“But do we really have to take it?” Owen whined. “It’s horrible.”
“Yeah,” George agreed. “Can’t we just eat the ice cream? I bet it’ll make us a million times better!”
The nurse raised an eyebrow. “Who’s the one with a degree from medical school?”
George and Owen groaned, taking the small cups of medication from the tray. The nurse set up and adjusted the bed trays before gently placing down the two bowls of ice cream.
“Get to bed soon, okay?” The nurse asked calmly, smiling as the boys nodded obediently. The nurse turned and walked out of the clinic room, shutting the door behind her.
“We’re not drinking this, are we?” Owen asked.
“Ehhh…we kind of have to,” George said. Owen put his medicine cup down, immediately digging into his ice cream.
George stared at his medicine before downing it all in one gulp. Owen sighed and shook his head, shoveling another spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. “I thought you’ve played these games before, Cheese.”
George groaned, putting the cup down and reaching for his ice cream. “That was the worst medicine I’ve ever drank-en.”
Owen squinted. “Is that even a word?”
“It is now,” George mumbled before reaching for his ice cream.
~~~
“George?” Owen asked, the electrical clock on the wall blinking 4:45 A.M. George hummed, pulling back the curtain. “Yeah?”
“Do you think you’ll move away by the end of the year?”
George looked away, taking a deep breath before speaking. “Honestly, I don’t know. I haven’t had the chance to speak to my parents about it.”
Owen nodded, even though he knew George probably couldn’t see it.
“For what it’s worth,” Owen whispered. “I want you to stay.”
George snickered. “I know you do.”
“Maybe your parents don’t understand the true friendship power that the Mac and Cheese duo holds,” Owen exclaimed, grinning. George laughed and shook his head. “That is so corny.”
“You ever seen the My Little Pony movie?” Owen continued. “The Equestria Girls one where they have a Battle of the Bands? They literally defeated the Dazzlings with the power of friendship.”
George raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised you’ve watched My Little Pony.”
“Hey, don’t knock it till you try it.”
George smiled. “I’ll knock it if you go to sleep.”
Owen laughed. “Deal.”