3 Years

74 - Frightful

"Yeah?!" they both screamed.

"Come down here!"

In an instant, pounding footsteps echoed. "Yeah?" they both jinxed when they made it to the bottom of the stairs.

She went over to them and quickly hugged them while explaining: "I've got to go to the hospital. Mr. Bowen is apparently there. If I'm not back in time for dinner, you can order a pizza. Bye, love you now."

"Love you," they both said. They were now scared. He was a wonderful man who was seemingly healthy; well, he was doing his best at the very least. They knew of his lung problems since they were used to Nini going over and taking care of him, but they thought everything was minor.

They watched Nini take the car away and down the street, waiting until she was completely gone to speak again. "Do you think he's ok?" Jayden wondered.

"I don't know," Lauren answered honestly. "I hope so."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nini drove quickly to the hospital, probably breaking the speeding limit. As she was searching for a parking space, she received yet another call; this time it was from Big Red. "Red, please make it quick," she answered.

"Nini, do you know what's wrong with Mike?"

"Uh, no. How do you know about that?"

"I'm his other emergency contact, remember? I'm on my way to the hospital now."

Oh, right. "I'm in the parking lot now."

"Ok, I'm about twenty-ish minutes away."

"Ok, see you soon then."

After having to cram between two cars, Nini rushed to the front door. She went straight to the receptionist's desk and word vomited to the woman seated behind it. "Hi, I'm Nina Salazar-Roberts; I'm looking for Micheal Bowen. I got a call that he was brought in today." She took short breaths quietly, trying to regain a little composure after the shock of the news.

The woman sitting there looked like she was hanging on by a thread. "What was your name again?" she asked, sliding over to the computer.

"Nina Salazar-Roberts," she repeated.

"And who are you here to see?"

"Micheal Bowen." She continued typing. Nini felt like she was at the airport requesting a flight. Jesus fucking christ, hurry up!

After an eternity, the woman said, "Ok, take the elevator up to the fourth floor then turn left. He is in room 428."

"Ok, great, thank you." She walked down the hallway to the elevator; the ride up took longer than she thought it would with each beep only giving her more anxiety.

She began speeding down the hall once the doors opened but was stopped. "Nini?"

She spun on her heel and saw Ricky sitting in a chair. "Ricky? How did you get here?"

Nini could tell he had been crying; his eyes were red, and his hair was a little messier, most likely from possible frustration. He stood and approached her. "I- I stopped at my dad's 'cause I told him I would help him move some stuff around. I... I found him asleep, but he wouldn't wake up, so I panicked and called an ambulance, but they won't let me see him."

Nini grabbed his hand and pulled him to the receptionist desk that was on this floor. The man sitting there looked up and sighed. "Look, I already said no," he said looking at Ricky.

"Hi, I'm Nina Salazar-Roberts," Nini interjected. "We're here to see Micheal Bowen." He typed something on the computer, not taking as long as the woman on the main floor yet still an odd amount of time.

"ID?" he questioned. Nini dug around in her purse for her wallet, pulling her license out and passing it over the desk. After examining it for a minute, he said, "Ok, head down that hallway," he said, pointing over his left shoulder. "Room 428."

"Great, thanks." She began to pull Ricky with her, but the man stopped her.

"Wait, he can't go with you."

"And why not?"

The receptionist sighed, clearly having already had this conversation with Ricky. "Look, it's against hospital policy. Without proof of ID and no records, I can not let him go past this point."

"Please," Ricky begged, "my dad is back there, and I just want to see him."

The man squinted and clicked a few buttons on his desktop. "Look," he said, spinning the monitor around for them to see. "Our records show that the only family of Micheal Bowen are Lauren Salazar-Roberts and Jayden Salazar-Roberts," he said, pointing at a box. The twins had the title of granddaughter and grandson over their names. "As for other names, Nina Salazar-Roberts and Big Red Redonovich are emergency contacts."

"Richard Bowen," Nini said.

He scrolled down some to another box. "It says so right here," he pointed. "Richard Bowen is deceased."

"I'm standing right in front of you!" Ricky said angrily. News that the team survived wasn't public information yet, which was by request of the returning four wanting a slow adjustment back into their previous lives. Unfortunately, it was working against him at the moment.

Nini, still holding him, squeezed his hand as a way to try and calm him down. Ricky looked down at their hands and took a quiet, deep breath. "Look, I understand the situation, but-" she started.

The elevator dinged and out came Big Red. He immediately came over to the desk and hugged Ricky. "What's the hold-up?" he asked when the two pulled away. Ricky quickly explained the situation, not hiding his newfound hatred for the receptionist.

Big Red pulled out his ID, confirming his identity. "As Mr. Bowen's emergency contacts," the redhead began, "can't we approve of who is allowed to see him?"

The man's eyes bounced between each of their faces. "Very well," he gritted. The three said a quick thank you before going down the hall.

When they made it to the door, Ricky felt his hands sweating. He slowly opened the door. The room was small and dark; his eyes instantly focused on the bed that took up a majority of the space. There lay his father on his back with an oxygen mask over his face.

"Oh my god." Ricky promptly went to sit in the chair by the bed; Nini came to stand next to him while Big Red went to the opposite side.

He looked paler and weaker. Ricky hadn't noticed it initially, but he thinks his father might have lost some weight too.

Tears fell down his face the fastest; he wiped his face with the back of his hands. Nini sat on the arm of the chair and put an arm around his shoulders, rubbing gently.

The trio were all speechless as they looked at the man on the bed, only thinking of the worst.

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