Tangled in Love

Chapter 12

Maya searched her surroundings blankly, not registering a thing she saw. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but every fiber of her body wanted to find it. She needed to find it. She needed to stop her mind from swarming her thoughts with heart-aching scenarios that threatened to burst her normally calm exterior. And the worst part about them was that she had no way of proving to herself they weren't true.

Maya needed to get to the hospital immediately.

"Okay what's- what's the name of the hospital?" she questioned, slurring her words together in panic.

"Beth Israel," the voice at the other end of the phone began, "Don't worry yourself, dear, just-"

"What's wrong with him?" Maya asked firmly, interrupting her. She couldn't take the woman's comfort. It was just a waste of time that she could spend making sure Nolan was safe and alright.

"Just come down as soon as you can. He was found passed out and witnesses say he asked for you right before he blanked. That's all I can tell you, honey. Just come on down and the doctors will explain everything."

"Okay. Thank you, ma'am."

Maya sprinted like she never did before, pressing her ankle-high black and white converse against the cement ground. The soles of her shoe flapped against the ground before making contact with the inner part of her broken shoe, exposing a thin crease of her orange and yellow socks to the dirty surface beneath her.

She waved her hand like tornado, praying desperately one of the many yellow and green cars passing by her would be a taxi willing to drive her to the hospital.

Finally, a mustard car approached her, shining a blurry reflection of her face coated with salty tears on every inch of skin under her eyes. In the window, she saw a droplet from her eyes roll off her cheek and plop onto the ground. The reflection girl's hands were vibrating so much as she tried to wipe her tears away that she just gave up and shook her head. With the wave of one hand, she slid into the torn blackberry-colored leather seats, the reflection in the window disappearing in the snap of her finger.

"Where to?" the cab driver inquired.

Maya looked up to the mirror hanging in the front of the car, seeing the pretty brunette woman with an eyebrow raised, waiting for her answer. She ignored her smile and simply stated in a flat voice, "Beth Israel. The hospital."

The lady nodded once in acknowledgment, her smiled disappearing as she focused her attention onto the road. Maya went about her own business as well, slipping her phone out of her right jegging pocket. She scrolled through the messages she had with Nolan and thought back to the old days.

Maya remembered when Nolan was her Romeo and she was his Juliet. She thought back to her recitation of her lines, her words full of passion and true feelings that matched the words sprouting out of her mouth. She flashed back to the day after the performance, when Nolan asked her out, his cheeks tainted with splits of pink. Her heart was beating as fast as it was now, but for a completely different reason. She was excited that day, but now, she was in panic and scared and terrified.

"Where art thou Romeo?" Maya quietly whispered into the air, feeling a new set of tears dripping down her cheeks.

As she rubbed them away, she registered the flicker of the woman's eyes onto the mirror, looking at her for a mere millisecond before glancing straight ahead.

Soon, the car began to slow down, and came to a stop. "We're here," the driver stated as she picked herself off the seats. "10 dollars, including tax." Scrounging into her pockets, she threw a $10 bill at her before slamming the door shut. Without a glance at her destination, her shoes slapped the ground and her arms moved in motion to support it, running as fast as she could to the entrance.