Take a Chance on Me

Thirty-five

The next few minutes are a blur as I usher Chase into my car and speed off to the hospital. Gabby insisted that she would stay and get everyone home safely and that I go with Chase and bring Alex along because he will need his best friend. I wonder if Gabby has any idea that I had once been in Chase's situation, unsure if I would ever see my mom again. 

It's dark outside and the silence of the night matches the silence in the car. The radio is off and no one is talking. There's no right thing to say in this situation, nothing that can make Chase feel better. The entirety of the situation is unknown. His dad, the one I just recently met, the one who was in such high spirits, is now in the hospital due to a heart attack. 

Chase sobered up the instant his phone rang and the caller ID showed that his mom was on the other end of the line. Did he, somewhere deep down, have a feeling that something wasn't right? That his life would be flipped upside down in an instant. I think back to my mom. I was so young. I didn't understand the density of the situation. I can barely remember the hospital room, or even her. But Chase, if his dad doesn't make it, will never be the same. 

-

As soon as we walk through the automatic sliding doors, Chase's mom is running towards us, her eyes swollen from the tears she has shed. As soon as they embrace one another, they immediately begin sobbing in sync, shaking, unable to contain the emotions that are bending them, wanting them to break. 

I turn to Alex, wanting to give Chase and his mom space, and see his face turn a sickly shade of green. "I'm sorry. I drank too much. I'm gonna be sick." He covers his mouth with one hand and I grab the other, dragging him to the nearest restroom. I pull open the door to the large single stall and all of the alcohol he drank immediately comes up as he kneels on the floor in front of the toilet. 

I rub in between his shoulders as he continues, unsure if he is feeling this way strictly due to the alcohol, or because his best friend since childhood's dad, the man that was a second father to him, is in this hospital right now fighting for his life. 

-

After Alex got everything he could out of his system, we join Chase and his mom in the waiting room. From the look on her face, her body is out of tears to cry. I can see the stains on her cheeks, as if they are permanently drawn on her face, and she is beyond exhausted. Chase is silent, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, twiddling with his thumbs. Alex, as I expected, is out cold, his body unable to stay awake from expelling all of the alcohol from his system. 

"Holland." A doctor comes through the waiting room doors. "Family of George Holland?"

Chase and his mom jump to their feet and approach the doctor.

"I'm Angela, his wife." She points to Chase. "And this is his son, Chase."

The doctor pulls them out of the room to have a private discussion. Alex is awake, extremely hungover, but awake nonetheless. He's comforting me, rubbing the back of my neck and as I rest my head on his shoulder.

"This must be hard for you, being in the hospital, uncertain of what's next." Alex turns to me and continues. "It's okay, Leah. You don't have to have that brave face on the whole time. I can see how difficult this situation is right now."

He's right. This is really hard for me. Although my mom passed away a long time ago, I've never felt comfortable being in a hospital since. I actually haven't been to a hospital since I lost her. I avoid it like the plague. But I know I'm not the only one hurting right now.

"But it's your best friend's dad, Alex. I want to be here for you, for Chase. I want to be strong for you guys. I know Mr. Holland played a huge role in your life."

He grabs my hands and intertwines his fingers with mine. "You're talking like it's all in the past. He's not gone, Leah. I know he will be just fine in a few hours. He will be back home in a few days, fully recovered."

When I look up at him I smile, knowing that he has to be right. There's no way he is going to die. He is going to make it and this night will be here just to remind us to hold our loved ones closer and bit tighter. 

But when I hear wailing coming from the other side of the door, where Chase and his mom, Angela, are talking to the doctor, I know that something isn't right. I know that the optimistic scenario Alex and I just created isn't the actual outcome of tonight's events.