Archive of Our Own ^beta

You were half asleep when the door to your room opened and closed quietly. Having just gotten painkillers and your medicine had made you extremely sleepy.

Your mind drifted from the visitor to Charlie. She said she was going to visit you as soon as she was back in town, and you were beginning to get worried.

Suddenly, a soft voice filled the otherwise empty room.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

You smiled, inwardly, body too tired to act. She was always so sweet, your Charlie.

"It had a perfectly green round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls and floors-"

Charlie got interrupted by the opening and closing of a door.

"Excuse me, miss, but the visiting time is almost over. I have to ask you to leave."

Faintly, the sound of a book closing reached your ears. A chair was pushed over the floor, and you could image Charlie nodding politely, even though she was annoyed on the inside.

"Of course. I'm just going to say goodbye."

The door once again opened and closed. Pressure on your hand made you just a little more aware. You squeezed Charlies hand weakly. The bed shifted as your girlfriend leaned over you to press a kiss on your forehead.

"I'll come back tomorrow. Get well soon."