Forest

Chapter Eighteen

"Look, I'm his sons best friend, and I know that may not be considered family, but he needs someone right now and I'm all he's got." I tell Gabrielle, leaning against the desk so only she can hear me. That seems to do the trick, because she nods at me and looks something up on her computer.

"Okay, his room number is one forty-five, you're good to go." I offer her another smile and begin my journey to Jeremiah's hospital room, a man I've never really met, and I'm not even going for him. The elevator ride to the right floor is painful, it was barely a minute but it felt like hours. My stomach swam with anticipation and nerves, I am not in control of my emotions and I hate it. That's normally the one thing I do have control over, but lately that doesn't seem to be true anymore.

What if Atlas isn't even here? My anxiety spikes at the thought. He has to be here. There's no where else for him to go for that long, it doesn't make sense. I can't imagine him being okay or in the right headspace to be alone right now. I want to help him, but to do that, I need to find him first. I walk down the hallway, passing what feels like millions of doors to get to the one that matters. As I'm approaching, I here someone unfamiliar call my name from behind me.

"Forest?" The voice says questionably. I turn around to find Athena, Atlas' sister, sitting on a bench not too far away from her fathers room. She looks pretty tired, sick even. There are dark circles under her eyes, which are swollen and red from crying. Her cheeks are red as well and her mouth is making a sad pout. "Atlas isn't here, if that's who you're looking for." Athena speaks again, this time I note the raspy tone in her voice. That's definitely a disappointment, but I don't tell her that, and I don't leave either. This girl clearly needs someone right now, and if she's important to Atlas, she's important to me.

"How are you?" I ask, sitting next to her on the bench. She looks at me in surprise, like she's not used to people asking her that.

"I'm doing as good as I can be." She mutters. I can tell she's hiding her true feelings, but why would she tell me anything anyway? Technically, I'm still a stranger to her.

"I'm Forest." I stretch my hand out in front of her, offering it to her to shake. She looks over at me with a confused look, I just flash her a smile in return, shaking my hand a little to convince her. "Since we were never properly introduced." I clarify, so she understands what I'm doing. She can't be younger than fourteen, but I say it just in case. She giggles and takes her small hand in mine, shaking it.

"I'm Athena." She tells me, speaking a little louder this time around, which makes me smile. I think she's getting comfortable around me, more confident.

"What happened with your dad, Athena?" I know that he had a heart attack, and that's about it.

"Where do I even begin?" She asks, more to herself than me. I tell her to start from the beginning, because I want to know everything. "When our mom passed, our father was in denial about it up until we buried her, and after that he was in shock. He pretty much hasn't moved from our living room until the other day.

"The doctors said he was so heartbroken because of her death, that he went into shock. Every once in a while, he would break out of it and become really aggressive. Well, this time around, he broke out permanently, and had a heart attack. Now, he's in a coma and we don't know when he will wake up." Atlas has danced around this topic a few times, but Athena's confession pieces everything together. I finally understand now.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that." I tell her, putting my hand on hers to try and give her at least a little comfort. "How are you really feeling?"

"I'm scared," She says, taking a big pause in between like she's trying to gather her thoughts. "I'm scared that he's really gone this time and I'll be all alone. I'm scared that I'll have to go live with another family." A tear slips down her cheek, one of a hundred I'm sure.