Chapter 2

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"Would you stop poking me? I'm injured not dead."

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All Holly wanted to do was see Matt. 

The night Matt walked Holly home, from the moment she entered her apartment she was on cloud nine. She couldn't stop smiling-something that although was common for her, was much harder to get rid of now, and was swooning over her brothers best friend like an idiot in a rom-com.

Mr. James moved his head up in the direction of Holly as she cleaned off the tools next to his bed. Christmas music played softly from the TV in his room as he turned the volume down to speak with her. 

"I never knew needles could bring a person such joy." Mr. James said, making Holly wipe the smile off her face as she peered up at him. "Don't get me wrong, I love your smile, but your starting to scare me." 

She gave a small snark. "Sorry- I'm just in a really good mood." She looked back down at the tools in front of her. 

Mr. James had a grin wipe across his face. "If I was mistaken I would think you had a boy on your mind." He gave suggestive look as Holly looked over at her. "Are you cheating on me Holly Nelson?"

Holly smiled down at the floor as she collected the tools she needed- her stethoscope, the blood pressure cuff, and her butterfly needles. "I am not cheating on you, don't worry." She furrowed her brows at him. "Last I heard though there's another woman with your last name. Would I be wrong to assume your cheating on me?"

Mr. James shook his head as he looked away jokingly. "No, never." Holly laughed at his remark as she took his blood pressure. "But really, are you going to tell me why you've been smiling like a maniac or am I going to hear about it on the news?"

She looked at the numbers before writing them down on the clipboard in her lap. "It's a boy."

Mr. James let out a dramatic groan as he fell back into his seat. "Holly, your too good for any of these men in the world." He shook his head. "Don't waste your time with guys who can't even see your potential." 

Oh Mr. James, I'm wasting my time on a guy who can't see anything.

"You sound just like my father." She placed the stethoscope up to his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He scoffed before he spoke. 

"Your father sounds like a smart man." He said as he took one large deep breath as she moved from one side of his chest to the other. "So who is this mystery guy?"

Holly pulled back, taking the stethoscope from her ears as she reached down for the clipboard. "His name is Matt. But it's not anything special, I just asked him if he wanted to come over tonight and watch a movie." She wrote down all the information she needed on the clipboard. "He hasn't even texted me so If I'm being honest he probably won't come." She shrugged. 

"Here's a bit of information from a guy, we don't respond until the last minute." He let out an irritated gruff. "When I was dating my wife, I would ignore her calls for hours. But the hour before we had plans, I would pick up." 

Holly furrowed her brows and cocked her head. "Why?"

"Because men are a bunch of stuck up dicks." Holly bursted out in laughter. "Pardon my language, but it's true." Holly began to clean his arm off as she prepared to take his blood. 

"Matt isn't like that." She moved her head a bit. "Or at least I think he isn't. I highly doubt my brother would introduce me to a professional dick." She poked the needle through his skin as blood started to draw into the vitals. "But we'll see." 

Mr. James nodded his head. "Well either way, if he shows up or not, I can already tell you this guy doesn't deserve you." He looked behind Holly as a smile appeared on his face. "Speaking of men who don't deserve women." 

Holly turned behind her, seeing Mrs. James wearing a large smile as she carried two gifts in her hands-all covered in red and green wrapping paper. 

"Oh Holly, dear!" She exclaimed with a smile as she walked over to Holly as she took the needle from his arm and wrapped it up. "What are you doing here on Christmas? Shouldn't you be at home with your family?"

Holly stood as she walked over to the short elderly woman, reaching down as she gave her a hug. "I told Anna I would work a shift for her so she could be with her son." Mrs. James let out a disappointed noise, sad that Holly was at a hospital with a rather old man instead of being out with her family. "-But it's fine. I didn't have any big plans anyway, so this keeps me occupied." 

Mrs. James gave her a short smile, the dimples on her cheeks forming. "Still, I feel bad your here. Your young, you should be enjoying your youth." She looked behind Holly at Mr. James as her face grew a bit softer. "How's he been today?"

"He's been good." Holly gave a smile. "Hasn't repeated anything, and all his vitals are sounding good."

Mrs. James gave a thankful smile as she placed her free hand over her heart. "Well Christ, consider this a Christmas miracle."  She looked at Holly and handed her a wrapped box. "Here, I got you a gift. From Arthur and I." 

Holly took the box in her hand, giving Mrs. James a smile. "Thank you, Dorthey." She sighed to herself. "I'm so sorry, I didn't get you guys anything-"

"Don't be." Dorthey placed her hand on Holly's arm. "Thank you for taking care of my husband better then any nurse has."

Holly was on the bridge of tears. "Anytime, Mrs. James." She looked back at Mr. James. "I'll leave you both too it." Before she left the room, she turned back and pointed at Arthur. "Oh! And the 'I Love Lucy' Christmas special is on tonight. I recorded it for you both in case you wanted to watch it." 

Arthur gave Holly a smile and a nod. "Thank you, Holly. Merry Christmas, to you and your special friend." He wiggled his eyebrows, making Mrs. James slap his arm as he let out a faint 'Ouch.'

Holly chuckled. "Thank you, Merry Christmas to you both too."

Holly strolled down the snowy streets of Hell's Kitchen. One of her earphones where in as she watched the area around her.

Children played in the alleyways with snow, tossing icy snowballs at their friends faces as they parents called for them to come inside. Christmas lights lit up the fire escape, along with window frames that reflected onto the white snowy floors. 

As she prepared to cross the street, she felt her phone buzz in her pockets- she swore she had never reached for her phone in such a quick manner. The same smile that had been lingering on her lips all day became wider as she read the message that reflected off her screen. 

Unknown Number: Hey, this is Matt from last night. I'm not sure I'll be able to make it tonight. Thanks for the offer, I'll let you know if anything changes.

Holly's face changes from her usual smile, to a small frown. Why was she disappointed? I mean this is what she expected right? 

Holly Nelson: No worries! Doors open if you want to stop by. 

She places her phone in her pocket as the white figure on the cross walk screen glows. She makes her way across the street, tugging her jacket further over her body as she avoids the cold wind that is blurting through her scarf. 

Holly sunk into the couch, her feet propped up on her coffee table as her eyes glued to the screen in front of her.

For some, they would consider a Christmas alone as something tragic-even a bit depressing. Holly on the other hand, thought of it as a win.

Spending day and night with people had it's benefits. She was never bored, and she always had a smile on her face. But with always having a smile on your face comes the worn out muscles and tired voice, along with the fact she hasn't had a moment of silence since last Friday. That being said, tonight was something she was thankful for. Alone time just for herself-despite the fact her disappointment over Matt was seeping into her brain.

Holly's hands dipped over to the plate of cookies she had pinned to her side. She popped one in her mouth, keeping her eyes on the screen as her face lit up with one of her favorite Christmas movies of all time.

Holly sat up slightly, talking to herself like she usually did.

Don't judge, I know you do it too.

"Oh this is my favorite part-" She turned the volume up, quoting the movie like she wrote it herself. "I'm sorry I ruined your lives and crammed 11 cookies into the VCR." She smiled as she sunk back into her couch.

the coldness from outside somehow made it's way into her apartment, making her teeth chatter slightly as she pulled the blanket further up her body. "God, It's fucking freezing in here." She complained to herself, standing from her spot on the couch as she walked over to the fireplace on the other side of her apartment.

As she began to walk over, she heard a loud noise echoing from behind her. The second she turned back, glass is cutting into her hand and violent cold air is pushing her body to the ground.

Instantly she cries out. Holly has a high pain tolerance when it comes to hit's or slaps, but glass and needles are a whole other story. Her arm moves to cover her neck and head as she curls up into a ball on the ground-hiding behind her couch for cover.

Holly mumbled many curse words to herself, along with a long list of prayers she hadn't said since she was 15. She waits until the harsh sound of glass breaking is completely gone before she stands up slowly, peaking her head over to her white rug that is well...no longer white.

Holly questions why there is red on her carpet. She didn't have wine that night, and she wasn't bleeding that bad. The moment she looks over though, her questions are answered as she sees a large figure sprawled out on her carpet-and that's when it registers.

And boy does it register quickly.

Elf continues playing in the background, along with the sound of groans that are escaping the mouth of the man on her floor.

"Oh my God." Holly manages to breath out. "Oh my fucking God." She shrieks, running over to the masked man as she crouches down on the side of him. "Please don't be dead. Oh, please for the love of Christ don't be dead."

As she gets a closer look, she notices that face. The pink blush lips that where formed in between a pout and a smile, the stubble that formed on his cheeks.

That's when it hit's her like a ton of bricks.

She begins to lift up the mask slowly, revealing the rest of this figures face. Sure enough, the man on her floor is the same man who she was with yesterday.

Holly's body becomes glued to the floor. She doesn't know what to do-despite her many years in the medical field. Instead she sits there, watching him and poking her finger at his body.

"Would you stop poking me?" The body groans. "I'm not dead."

Holly's face is still in utter shock. "Oh my God- It's really you." She says in disbelief. "H-how. How are you doing this? How are you the man in the mask?" Her questions are coming out rapid fire style, and her breathing is being caught panicked in her lungs.

He props himself up with his elbows, still groaning as he struggles to keep himself up. "Holly." Matt breaths. "I need to go, I can't explain this right now."

Holly shakes her head, slightly pushing on his chest to keep him down. "No no no no no, You need to stay here. I need to call 911."

Matt reaches his hand up quickly as he wraps his hand around Holly's wrist. "No." He shakes his head as her phone drops to the ground. "No hospitals, please." His dizzy spell is back, and he falls back to the ground-his head hitting the floor.

Holly breaths heavily as she pulls her hand from his grasp. She swallows, she needs to think.

She takes a deep breath before responding. "No hospitals, I fix you, you explain to me whatever the hell just happened, and you pay for my window." She says in one big panicked sentence. "Got it?"

Matt nods softly. "Holly."

For the first time in her life, Holly feels a rush of adrenaline and even some irritation. Why the fuck was she irritated? She wasn't the one bleeding out on the floor. "Yes, Matt?" She shakily questions with panic as she finds her hands pulling back on her hair. 

"Please get the glass out of my stomach." He says, right before he stops talking and passes out on the floor again.

Merry Christmas, Holly