“Oh god” I repeated over and over to myself as I waited outside in the pouring rain for my taxi to arrive. Sooner than expected, a pair of blinding headlights beamed out from the darkness. I leapt for it, but before I could reach the handle the door swung open, almost knocking me over.
“Whoa! Sorry” the person apologized.
Without so much as glancing at the man, I pushed him to the side and hopped in.
“Eli?” I heard him say.
Looking up, I saw Nick staring back at me “Are you alright?” he asked, looking worried.
Without thinking, I slammed the car door shut and told driver to step on it.
On the way to the hospital, hundreds of terrifying thoughts kept flashing through my mind. How could this happen?
When we finally arrived, I threw the driver some cash and bolted out.
I felt my claustrophobia kick in the second I stepped through those infernal entrance doors. I hated hospitals.
“Miss! Miss!” I shouted as I ran over to the information desk.
The secretary looked up from behind her desk. “May I help you?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“They called me!” I told her, the panic making my voice high and quivery. “My brother, Jason. Jason Lawford.”
“Let’s see” she said, typing up the name in the computer. “Oh here we go. He’s in surgery”
“What!” I yelped. I felt my entire body go numb from shock. “What happened? Why’s he in surgery?”
“Here” she said simply, pointing at the monitor. “His room has already been assigned; 604. I’ll...”
Before she even finished her sentence, I made a mad dash for the elevator. Stepping out on the landing, I took a deep breath, the fear rising in my best. This was all my fault…
I jogged down hall after hall, frantically searching for his room. I then heard my name being called.
Spinning around, I saw Jena and without a second thought, I sprinted towards her. Bending down, I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tightly. I peered around and saw that we were surrounded by several more people including Tom’s mother, Mrs. Kline.
“Felicity!” Mrs. Kline exclaimed in a relieved tone.
“What happened?” I asked, taking a seat and feeling more nervous than ever.
“His appendix is what happened” I heard a male voice say. Looking around, I spotted a doctor walking towards us. “I’m Dr. Ali” he said, shaking my hand. “There’s no reason to fret, Miss. Lawford. He’s already in recovery.”
I felt Holly clutch my arm, and I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you” I breathed.
Dr. Ali left us, and I spent the following fifteen minutes listening to my sisters’ ramble on about the events of the day, leading up to the part when Jason collapsed on the baseball field. I had just about as much as I could take. Politely excusing myself, I asked Mrs. Kline to watch over the children for me while I went for a coffee.
“On second thought” I went, turning back “Would you mind taking the twins over to your place? It’s getting late, and I don’t want to leave Jason alone tonight.”
“Certainly, sweety” said Mrs. Kline, getting to her feet. “Come on girls” she said, beckoning the kids to her.
And with a quick goodbye, they were gone.
My stomach rumbled loudly and I figured it was time to get something to eat. Not knowing where to go, and being too hungry to even care, I started making my way down either one of the corridors. I felt goosebumps run up my arms at the sight of all the patients lying in their beds. Sick people... dying people...
“Thank god” I thought, grinning at the sight of the vending machine “Chocolate!”
I fed the machine my dollar and waited for the chocolate bar to fall out... and waited... and waited...
“What the... Oh no” I whined, realizing that it was stuck.
“This is just what I need” I said, grinding my teeth. I started kicking the blasted contraption, every blow getting harder as I vented all my frustration; making enough noise to wake the dead. After almost a minute of relentless pounding, my Mars Bar finally came rattling out.
Smiling satisfactorily, I turned around to unwrap my well deserved sweet. Taking one content step forward, I was startled as I bumped chest first into someone.
“Eli! I’ve been looking all over for you!”
I looked up, completely shocked. “Nick ? What the hell are you doing here?” I exclaimed.
“Well after you left in the cab I arrived, another one pulled up. The driver said he came to pick up someone to bring to the hospital, and figured it was you. So I came to check it out. I’ve been walking up and down these halls forever trying to find you” he explained.
I couldn’t believe my ears. “That was very nice of you,” I told him sincerely “but you really shouldn't have.”
“Don’t be silly” he said, the concern in his voice strikingly apparent. “What happened?”
“Well” I began, biting off a mouthful of chocolate as I slowly led the way back to Jason’s room. “Once I got home, there was a message on my machine saying that my brother had been brought in to the hospital. Turned out it was appendicitis… but he’s fine now.”
“Wow” went Nick, shaking his head. “Well I’m happy to hear that he’s gonna be alright”
“Yeah...” I was suddenly distracted by the nurse walking out of Jason’s room
“Excuse me, has my little brother Jason Lawford been brought in yet?” I asked her urgently.
“Yes” the nurse answered. “But he’s asleep now.”
“Oh. Well thank you” I said as she walked away.
“Are you going to wake him up?” Nick asked.
Frowning, I sat down in one of those cursed plastic chairs again. “No, I’ll let him rest”
“That’d probably be best” grinned Nick supportively, taking a seat next to me.
Looking into Nick’s puffy and tired eyes, I told him that he was in no obligation to stay.
“Nah, I wanna stay” he assured me “Besides, it sure beats staying at the hotel with a bunch of smelly guys”
I laughed.
I looked down at my watch and sighed again. “What now?” I moaned.
Nick shrugged. “Beats me”
His face then lit up. “Hey, any questions about your future career as a mega pop star?” he beamed enthusiastically “I’m the expert!”
Truth was, I hadn’t given Jane Floyd’s proposal any thought since I found out about Jason. How the heck was I expected to balance a music career and my family life? Nick started going on about all the trials and tribulations that come with stardom. The more he spoke, the more my heart sank. After a while, I just burst into tears.
Nick was suddenly wrong-footed. “What’s wrong?” he asked, looking slightly apologetic.
“I…I don’t know” I said between tears “I just.... I can’t take this”
“Can’t take what?” he asked kindly.
“This!” I exclaimed loudly “I can scarcely handle my life as is, and now....”
Nick didn’t need to listen to anything else. He reached over and cradled me in his arms. “It’s Ok, you’re just worn out and edgy at the moment. Let’s just… drop the subject for tonight, k?”
For some reason, I felt extraordinarily safe in his arms; as thought all the stress and confusion weighing over me had been magically lifted off my shoulders.
So I continued to lie there, soaking his shirt with my tears until I eventually fell asleep in his arms.
