Expected to recover.

Lawan insisted on driving, saying it would be safer than having me, bleeding, or Piya, distracted by her boyfriend bleeding, driving, so we sat in the back of her car, with Piya curled against my hip applying pressure to the wound she had caused. As Lawan drove us, I became pretty sure it wasn't safer, I became convinced she just wanted to drive her sister's car. What gave it away was when she swerved through three lanes of traffic to catch our exit and yell out, "this is great! Piya never lets me drive her car."

"And you'll never get to again if you kill us," Piya answers, "he isn't going to die from this, please stop driving like a maniac."

For whatever reason Piya isn't wearing her safety belt and slides into my lap a couple with Lawan's erratic yanks of the wheel. Each time she slides into me there is a bump of electricity and each time we lock eyes I catch her blushing, her blushing makes me smile which leads her to giggle. This causes me to laugh at the fact that we've somehow reverted to just two people with a crush in the backseat. It's a moment I find myself wanting to remember.

The sweet moment is interrupted by Lawan, "why is he laughing? Why are you laughing? Oh God is he delirious?"

"No, I'm fine!" I assure our driver as I reach and grab Piya's hand giving it a soft squeeze, "hospital is on the right Lawan."

She responds by turning without her blinker and swinging around until dramatically slamming on the brakes outside the front entrance. "You guys go in, I'll find a parking spot. Do you have your phones? I'll text and come find you."

No one is going to have to tell me twice to get out of the car and as Piya and I get out, Lawan calls out while peeling away towards the parking lot, "I hope you're okay Roo!"

From there Piya and I walked into the reception area, filled out the required paperwork, cuddling with each other, exchanging soft kisses on each other's temples while we wait.

About ten minutes later, with no sign of Lawan, I get called into an exam room by a woman in a white lab coat with gorgeous jet black hair in a short bobbed hairstyle. She is tall and lean, the black heels she's wearing make her look taller and leaner and her curves are striking even under her lab coat.

"Oh my God! Candace!" Piya says when she looks at the Doctor calling me in. "Candace I didn't know you were working here. Honey, this is Candace Xi, she was a couple years ahead of me at University. Candace, this is my boyfriend." Piya kind of rolls her shoulder into my back to get me to reach my hand out to shake her friend's hand.

"Oh, so this is the upgrade huh?" Candace says warmly as she shakes my hand, "come on back. What brings you to the hospital today?" she asks before seeing the bloody forehead gash, "Oh! ouch! How did this happen? Anyway, come on back we'll get that taken care of."

Piya excitedly tells Dr Xi the story, coyly admitting to how I got cut up as Candace examines and cleans the cut in her office, she chuckles and with her as close as she is I can smell the jasmine in her perfume.

Piya keeps chatting and gabbing with her old friend, they talk about the conference in Sydney and Candace mentions how she's actually going too. Then she turns to me and says, "you must be so proud of your girl here, this is a big deal! It took me years to get an invite, I definitely didn't get one while I was still in school."

"I very much am. I confess science has never been my subject but I know enough to know how brilliant Piya is," I look over to my girlfriend who is beaming, smiling from ear to ear.

"Well, I think you can do with a few stitches here stud," Candace says as she snaps off her latex glove, "Let me go get a kit and I'll be right back to patch you up. You might have a bit of a scar but nothing so bad it'll mess up your pretty face. Its already closing up a little but you'll still want to take care of it, especially if you two plan on being so... active."

The statement certainly doesn't seem professional, but it's a friend of Piya's so I roll with it, looking over at Piya and saying "Hear that baby, you've marked me as yours."

Candace reaches out and rubs Piya's forearm lightly as she passes her to the door, "you got yourself a keeper here Piya. Great guy, things are already taking off career-wise, I might be a little jealous!" Stepping out, "I will be back shortly with that Stitch kit."

"Hey, Candace... Dr Xi, if you see my sister roaming the halls could you send her in here?" Piya asks and Candace agrees.

Alone in the exam room, Piya starts apologizing about making me get stitches. I won't hear of it, telling her how much I love the wildness in her passion. I grab her arm and pull her over to me for a hug and as I wrap my arms around her thin, delicate but powerful frame there is a knock on the door