Spinning the bottle

Chapter six

It wasn't long until we made it to the bus stop. We were right on time, because the bus was about the leave and if we'd missed it we had to wait another 15 minutes for the next one.

Mia hadn't said a lot to me since we had started walking towards the bus stop. I blamed it on the situation she was in. She must be worried sick, even though the doctors had told her that Nora would be okay.

I didn't know how I would have responded if my mom got into a bad car accident. I'd still have my dad though, Mia had to go through this by herself.

I hoped that my presence would give her some kind of comfort. We weren't really on good terms yet, but that wasn't something to bring up right now.

The bus ride to the hospital took forever. Mia and I were sitting in silence, but it wasn't one of those really awkward silences. Not that it was the most comfortable silences I had been in. Mia avoided eye contact with me as much as she possibly could.

When she did look at me, I could see tears bottling up in her eyes. She tried her best to keep them from falling.

The look on her face broke my heart. It was obvious she was in a lot of pain and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

I could have put my hand on hers, just to tell her that everything would be alright without using words. But I was afraid, afraid to push her away.

The bus finally stopped at the bus stop near the hospital. I had never seen somebody standing up that quick as Mia did when she realised we were there. She practically sprinted out of the bus towards the hospital. I was quick to follow and caught up to her soon after.

I had never liked the hospital. There was just so much gloom. People were sick, families had to say their last goodbyes and the doctors and nurses had to work late hours.

Mia walked up to the information desk to ask about her mother. The woman behind the desk told her where she could find Nora. Mia gave me a sign and together we walked towards the ICU.

Walking through all of that chagrin caused my heart to twinge. I could almost feel the grieve from everybody. It became worse as we came closer and closer to the ICU.

A door was open and I could see a little girl crying next to the hospital bed where a man was lying. It was probably her father.

I had always been one of those types that had to cry when they saw other people crying. But I refused to be the one crying in this situation so I fought my tears and tried to hold them back.

The closer we got to Nora's room, the paler Mia turned. Every kind of color just vanished from her face. Her skin got kind of a gray tone.

Eventually we stood in front of the room where Nora was in. Mia's hand reached to the door handle. When her hand almost touched the handle, ready to open the door, she hesitated.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Mia sighed.

"It is a bit embarrassing, but I'm kinda afraid of what I would see when I open this door," she said.

That did not even occur to me. The image of the little girl sitting next to her father's hospital bed flashed through my mind. Seeing one of your parents in this state must be traumatizing.

I put my hand on Mia's back as a way of comfort. I was surprised when she didn't step away from me.

"There is nothing to be embarrassed about. If you want to, I can come in with you. I understand it though if you prefer to be alone with your mom right now."