Learning to Dance

was bringing him. It was worse than usual tonight.
When it didn’t subside after a few minutes, he carefully
swung his legs over the side of his hospital bed and slowly
dressed in gym shorts and a G.L.E.E. t-shirt. Technically
the physio centre shouldn’t be open at this time of night, but
there was nothing else that would dull the pain.
The hospital hallways were darkened and deserted, the
only light coming from the bluish computer screens and a
crack flooding through the door of the nurses’ station.
Sneaking out should not be this easy, but everyone in the
League was still on a post-victory high. Jobs weren’t being
done the way they should. He wasn’t complaining.
He didn’t turn on any lights when he reached the physio
centre, just let the moonlight streaming through the tall
glass windows guide his way. He turned on the hot tub,
giving it a moment to warm up, then took off his shirt and
stepped inside, holding tightly to the handrail as he settled
himself in a seated position on one of the tubs’ inner
benches.
Relief melted into his human bones. His robot ones
didn’t feel anything at all.
Across the room, the door opened.
“Up?”
He watched her approach in the mirrors, dressed in the
same white nightgown, her hair the same wild mess around
her head. “I – I couldn’t sleep. I came to your room but you
weren’t there.”
She didn’t sit this time but stood against the mirror,
facing him, her hands behind her back. She looked nervous.
Why?
“Up, you and me-” she burst, and then looked down at
the floor. “It’s always been you and me, right?”
His forehead creased.
“I know this has been hard, but I want you to know that I