Tuesday, 5th of September

"Miss Faye?" a voice woke me up, "Miss Faye, you need to get up to take your medication."

I opened my eyes and realized that I was lying on my front. I turned my head sideways and saw the nurse, Angela, standing at the end of the bed. I looked around and realized that I was back in the room I had been sleeping in for the past few nights, but Alma was nowhere to be found.

"You need to keep lying on your front for the next few hours," spoke the nurse before realizing that I was looking for Alma, so she then added, "Miss White will get here around noon, your parents took her home to keep her company while you were under surgery."

Knowing that Alma was with my parents and didn't just wait all alone for me to wake up once again made me calm down until I realized that Angela said "medication" and got scared. I hated swallowing pills, even tiny ones. Almost choking on one had traumatized me as a kid.

"The surgery went well, and without any complications, so your nerves should start to regenerate soon. We can't estimate how long it will take for the healing start, but once it does, you will have to take medication. We will tell you the details later today, for now, you just need to take this," she instructed.

She placed a small plate on the bedside table, which apparently was adjustable in height. She lowered the table so that I could reach it while lying on my front. When it was low enough, I got to see what was laying on the small plate. My fear became true; on the plate was lying a pill. But not just any pill, this was the biggest one I had ever seen. There was no way I could swallow that.

"I... I can't..." I told her. She looked bewildered before replying, "No worries, you can lift your upper body a bit for that."

She got the wrong idea, so I cleared things up, "No... I can't... swallow pills..."

"Oh, I see..." Angela looked surprised, and after a bit of thinking continued, "well I can give you an injection instead if that helps."

I nodded and heard the nurse leave the room, taking the plate with her. She came back shortly after with a syringe in her hand.

She partly took off the blanket that was covering me, so that my upper arms were visible. Now that the blanket wasn't covering my back anymore, I realized that I was wearing neither a shirt nor a bra. I remembered that I had to take those off for the surgery.

While I could feel the heat rush to my face from the embarrassment of lying here half naked, the nurse started rubbing my upper right arm with a wet piece of cloth. This was the standard procedure when getting injections and I always wondered what kind of liquid they put on before giving you the shot.

I could feel the small stingy sensation of the needle entering my skin before Angela put on a sticking plaster. I looked down at my arm and saw a little pink plaster with violet flowers print on it. I looked at her, and my facial expression must have told her that I wasn't exactly happy with this childish plaster.

"Not satisfied? I also have a plaster with a Pokémon print on it, would you prefer that on?" Angela asked sarcastically. It was apparent that this was her way of joking and honestly, I didn't mind. Everyone needs to find a way to make their job more fun.

"Actually... yes, I would," I answered sincerely. Then she took out another pack of plasters, chose one of them and placed it on my arm. She simply stuck it diagonally over the first one, so now I had a cross made of two childish plasters on my arm.

"Better now?" joked Angela while smirking. She was definitely enjoying herself. I let my head drop face-first into the pillow in front of me but had a smile on my lips. Although her stupid jokes were slightly annoying, she was doing her job right. Improving the mood of the patients like this is important, it made me feel a lot better already.

"You can go back to sleep now if you want," said the nurse before heading for the door. As soon as she left, the room became silent. I tried to do what I was told and closed my eyes but couldn't fall asleep. Aside from the fact that lying on my front wasn't exactly the most comfortable position to be in, I was also missing the warmth of Alma who had been by my side for the last few nights. It just felt... empty.

I turned my head to the side and saw Alma's sketchbook lying on the chair beside the bed. I grabbed the corner of the chair and pulled it in my direction so I could reach the block. On the front page was the drawing that Alma made yesterday while I was sleeping in the garden. I realized that Alma added a bit of text in the top left corner. With very cute handwriting, there was written "You make me happy. Thank you for being mine."

Reading this made something tingle deep inside of me; it was like a warmth that spread throughout my whole body. My lips couldn't help but form a smile when I thought about that adorable blue-haired girl that left me this message. Silently smiling into my pillow in happiness and thinking about Alma made me feel at peace, so I fell asleep shortly after.

When I woke up a few hours later, I wasn't alone anymore. As soon as I opened my eyes, I was looking at the back of a kneeling girl. Alma was sitting on her legs on my bed, with her back and bare feet to me. Her tail was swaying slowly left to right, and she seemed very concentrated.

Suddenly she got mad about something and let out the most adorable tantrum I had ever seen, before sighing audibly. I moved my head slightly, so I was able to see her item of interest, which was her mobile phone. She was playing some game that reminded me of the old "Temple Run" app, but with a small kitten as the playable character, everything else also looked a lot cuter and pinkish.

I watched as she was dodging colorful balloons and collecting pink and white marshmallows. Although I had moved already, she didn't notice me being awake because of her preoccupation with the game. When the cat that Alma was controlling suddenly dropped off the table it was running on all the time, Alma put her phone down beside her and let out an annoyed "Meh..."

It was cute watching the shy Alma get worked up about this little game, but I liked the smiling Alma more, so I used this opportunity to tickle her. Her feet were placed in my direction, so I had a once in a lifetime chance. Slowly I lifted my hand and moved it in the direction of her adorable little feet.

Because I was still lying on my front, it wasn't as easy as expected to coordinate my movements well, but eventually, I reached her left foot and started to tickle it lightly. The sudden touch startled Alma and made her twitch while letting out a cute little scream. After that, she started laughing and tried to hide her feet from me, so I switched my targeted area to her waist and kept on tickling. Alma was curling up and twitching uncontrollably, then said while panting, "B-Brea... please... stop..."

She pushed herself off the bed and dropped to the floor, before standing up out of my reach. She was out of breath but eventually said, "You scared me..."

"I'm sorry... I couldn't resist," I replied smiling. Alma calmed down and once again sat down kneeling on my bed, but this time looking in my direction.

"Angela said that you can lay on your back now, no need to be lying on your front," explained Alma, "should I help you turn around?"

"Yes, please," I answered and pushed myself to the side. With Alma's help, I managed to finally lay down in my regular position, and I instantly could feel a sting on my back. It wasn't hurting very badly, but the sudden pain made me cringe.

"Are you okay!?" Alma asked worriedly. I nodded and relaxed my back which made the pain go away. The thing that was making me a lot more uncomfortable than the stingy feeling on my lower back was the fact that I was still topless. I made sure that I was covered with the blanket, but it still didn't feel right to be lying here without a shirt and bra.

Alma must have noticed the absence of clothing on my upper body when I was lying on my front because my back had been visible, so she asked, "Should I bring you a shirt?"

I once again nodded, and Alma got up to bring me one of my shirts. But when she came back to the bed and returned to her kneeling position, I noticed that it was impossible for me to lift myself. Whenever I started to strain a muscle, my back felt like killing me. There was no helping it, I had to use the blanket as my only cover for now. So, I tried to change the topic.

"How is Lucy doing?" I questioned. I knew my parents would take very good care of her, and by now she surely was used to being with them, but I was still worried about the cute kitten.

"She seemed very happy when she saw me... I hope we can go home soon," replied Alma.

"You can go home, you know? It's not like you have to stay here..." I told her. Of course, it would feel very lonely if she left, but I still felt bad for making her stay here at the hospital.

"I could never leave you alone here... Lucy has your parents who take good care of her," said Alma. Hearing that made me very happy because it showed me that I really meant something to her. Of course, we didn't know each other for very long yet, but I felt like Alma and I were made for each other.

She had a past that clearly broke her, and she needed someone who could make her feel appreciated and loved, while I needed someone who I could be just myself around. Not being the popular and perfect girl at school, only the nerdy, lazy, and of course, gay me. So, just by being by her side and loving her, I was giving her what she needed, while she was doing the same for me.

"Now that I think about that, your mom gave me this for you," said Alma while picking up a bag that was lying beside the bed and handing it to me. I opened the zipper and saw my tablet and other useful stuff. I started my tablet and instantly got numerous notifications from the last five weeks, including new publications of the books I was actively reading.

I didn't read books too often, but when I did, it was usually on a website called "Wattpad." I liked it because you were able to support authors who were writing for the first time and could chat with them so you could give feedback and suggestions right away. Usually, people published the books chapter by chapter, so there was a lot I needed to catch up on.

I looked through all the chapters that were published since I looked last time until I stopped at one specific book. Seeing that my all-time favorite book "Sidekick" got an update filled me with joy. The book was finished some time ago, and I read all of it twice already, but the author said that there would be some kind of epilogue, which I had patiently been waiting for.

"Sidekick" was basically about a girl that became a superhero who also wanted to avenge her parents which got killed. Her urge for revenge was stronger than the need to live her own life, but she wasn't making any real progress with that, so she was slowly breaking on the inside. But this changes once the second female main character, the "sidekick," appears. Although this summary doesn't sound romantic at all, the book is indeed a lesbian romance story.

Alma was observing me and seemed very interested in all the books that were displayed on the screen of my tablet. I didn't know if she read a lot, so I decided to ask, "Do you like reading?"

Alma looked unsure and answered, "I don't know, I never had money to buy books..."

"You don't need to buy any, just download this app, and you will be able to read a big number of books. This one is my favorite, look," I explained and gave her my tablet while "Sidekick" was open. She curiously looked at the cover which had the two main characters in it.

One of them was a catgirl, just like Alma, but with green eyes, hair and fur, while the other one was a human with reddish-brown hair and glasses. While the catgirl, which was the superhero called Cora, was tall and slim, the reddish-haired girl was rather short and slightly chubby.

Alma scrolled through the synopsis and seemed very interested. I wouldn't mind her reading while sitting here beside me, I didn't need her attention all the time, so I said, "I can tell that you are intrigued by the synopsis alone, so go on, start reading it."

Alma looked like she wanted to reject my offer, but I didn't let her. I pressed on the first chapter and said, "You don't have to worry about me, I'm just happy as long as you are here with me. There is no need for you to constantly talk and cuddle with me."

Alma looked slightly surprised by my statement, but then answered shyly, "B-But... what if I want to?"

I felt like those six words melted my heart away. Although Alma became a lot more courageous, at times like this her adorable shyness came through. And I wouldn't want that to change. Ever. I was pretty sure that like this, she could make me do whatever she wanted. I could never turn down a request coming from this cute girl with this shy voice.

"Of course, you can talk to and cuddle me whenever and wherever you want. I couldn't think of a single thing I would wish for more than to cuddle you 24/7. Who in his right mind wouldn't want that?" I asked rhetorically. Even before I had finished saying that, Alma was already clinging to me. She was lying on top of me, hugging me tightly.

"If that is what you wish for, let me grant you that wish," whispered Alma with a soft voice and pressed her lips against mine. I didn't care that my back was hurting, that I couldn't feel my legs at all, or even that I was still topless under the blanket which was the only thing dividing my bare skin from Alma. Just the sensation of Alma's warm and soft lips pressed against mine made everything perfect.

Alma's tongue suddenly brushed my lips, which then instinctively parted. Her tongue entered my mouth, and I could taste the sweet flavor of saliva, while my hand moved to her back and started stroking her. There was nothing that could make this feeling better. Kissing Alma passionately while cuddling like this made me think that my life was perfect.

After a few minutes of making out fervently and stroking each other's body, Alma's left hand moved under the blanket which was covering me, and I could feel myself get scared. She obviously wasn't thinking of pulling the blanket off, but I couldn't help but get nervous. My heart was beating fast, after all, Alma was about to touch an important part of mine, and this time, it wouldn't be in her sleep. She was fully aware of what she was doing while she was sliding her slim fingers over my bare skin.

Her touch made me shiver and gave me goosebumps, but it was making me happy. When her hand reached the spot, she got a light grip of my right boob. I could feel her mouth forming a light smile while kissing, and my mouth was doing the exact same. My nervousness started fading away, while Alma kept on stroking my breast lightly. Sometimes her fingers slid over my nipple, which made me shake but also gave me excitement I never felt before.

We kept on kissing for quite some time, with Alma's slim fingers sliding around on my chest. Sometimes it made me let a light moan slip, which made me feel really embarrassed. I didn't know why, but almost instinctively, my hands moved, and I was about to pull the blanket down a bit so I would expose my bare chest to her. The moment when I started pulling it down, Alma stopped me, "N-No... I'm... I'm not ready... to show you everything..."

"B-But you don't have to..." I replied. There was no need for her to expose herself to me if she wasn't ready. But that didn't mean that I couldn't do it, right?

"N-No, I would feel bad. I'm sorry, but can we please continue like this for now? I'm really really sorry..." said Alma looking down. I placed my hand on her chin and lifted it slightly, so she was looking at me.

"I told you, right? There is nothing I could wish for more than to cuddle you whenever I can. There is no need to take this further than you are ready for," I answered and started kissing her again.

In between our kisses I could hear Alma whisper, "Thank you... I love you."