MORTAL ✰ ISAAC LAHEY

[CHAPTER 18]

The Emergency Room

2 AM.

It was nearly 2 AM when Scott McCall stumbled through the sliding glass doors of the bright hospital. He was blinking rapidly at the overwhelmingly bright lights and frazzled by the lack of movement around him.

Hours earlier, the entrance would've been packed to the brim with students constantly badgering the nurses and doctors for any bit of information and gossip, but the crowd had thinned out as time passed. A lot of students had left whether it was of their own accord or if they were slowly forced out by nagging nurses, annoyed parents or law enforcement officers called to dispel the flocking high schoolers.

As the night slowly began to pass more towards morning, the leftover students and staff were exhausted. The remainder of Beacon Hills High's student population found themselves lounging half asleep, half lazily perched, and mostly just grumbling under their breaths about how uncomfortable it was to fall asleep in an emergency room. A few had eventually gotten up and found themselves searching endlessly for the hospital room of the girl they were here for or for a cup of coffee to enhance their drooping eyes and sluggish appearance.

Besides the disgruntled and upset students, the hospital was both a completely different environment to the serene outdoors at night and also the same. It was both bustling with actions and emotions and yet calmer than it appeared. It was both exceedingly quiet yet all the combinations of noise made everything seem louder. It was the dead of night and the hospital had this aura that made it feel more dead than ever, but at the same time, it was alive.

This contrast was what Scott found himself struck with as he passed through the doors he had been passing through since he was a young child. It was almost routine to him to be in the hospital — he was an asthmatic child, he often got injured, his twin often got injured herself, and his mom was a nurse — but tonight was completely different.

Tonight, he wasn't here for a mere accident or injury, nor was he here to drop off his mother's dinner with a bright smile. Tonight, he was here because it could be the last time he would ever see his sister alive.

In an hour, two hours, or even the next day, he might not even have a chance to exist at the same time as his sister.

// ok hi. i wrote this before my twenty one pilot concert (July 15th, 2bu) but i've kinda been crying and sad that the concert is over and i have to wait until february and also because i want to meet them and thank them so much and yeah that's not happening. also, today i saw now you see me 2 with my best friend and tomorrow is another friend's birthday party so i may or may not update tomorrow. it's 2:22 am now so i probs won't wake up early enough and i had a bloody nose earlier (probs because i keep crying and sorry if it's tmi!!) so if i cry writing the next chapter, it'll probably end badly.