The Deadly Truth

Chapter Five

Our hospital was those of the future, or so the advertisements said.  Newly renovated, the building was sleek and uncomfortable. The waiting room chairs were made out of this new “revolutionary” foam that supposedly fit the need of every individual who had the joy of sitting in it. When I sat in it, it felt like a rock.

                Just being there, on the rock chair, smelling the sterile air, made me feel nauseous and nervous. I twiddled my thumbs and bit my lip anxiously as Len asked the receptionist if we could see Lanai. Len soon walked over and noticed my twitching.

                “Relax, Sarna. If you walk into Lanai’s room like that, you’ll scare her,” he motioned for me to follow him and smiled as I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. We passed a number of rooms, all occupied by lesion-filled patients. I’m pretty sure I would have completely gnawed my lip off if Lanai’s room wasn’t as close as it was.

                “Hey,” Len said casually as he walked through the door. I tried not to stare at the skeleton that was Lanai. She looked like, for lack of a better word, death. Her face was drained of all color, resembling a skull, even more so with the lack of hair. Her eyes were swollen and dark, sad even. Luckily, her lesion filled arms were under her blankets, otherwise I would have puked upon arrival. I wouldn’t have been able to take all of the sickness of her at once. Remembering Len’s words, I tried to pull myself together. Lanai had it bad enough as it was. I didn’t want to make it any worse.

                “Oh, hey, guys,” she rasped, with a half-hearted grin. She looked like my old doll I used to play with when I was younger, all torn up and broken. I couldn’t help but grimace. Len lightly elbowed me in the ribs. Lanai noticed and laughed a laugh like a squeaky old door.

                “I know. I look like shit,” she mumbled, sitting herself up while her bones crackled. 

                “No, you look fine,” Len disagreed while I simply nodded toward her. I couldn’t speak. I lost my voice when we entered the room.

                We both sat on the only available seat in the room. Surprisingly, it wasn’t modern. It was the same kind of chair I sat in while waiting to hear if I could see my mother or not in Happy Trails, the asylum she was sent to. (I couldn’t see her) Blue cushion with a floral pattern of pink. I couldn’t think of which type of chair was worse: the modern lie, or the proof of my mother’s insanity.

                “So, how are you feeling?” Len asked. His eyes steadily focused on Lanai’s ill face. He was acting so normal around her, just casually talking to her and taking a seat. I almost expected him to just kick back and set his feet on her bed. It must have taken a lot of courage. I couldn’t even stomach the whole situation. Len swallowed all of it without a grimace.

                “I’m alright I guess. The doctors say it’s because when I was younger, I didn’t eat enough vegetables. I sure regret that now,” she added with a laugh. Both Len and I looked at each other quizzically. Vegetables? Surely her condition was caused by the Mone. Why would the doctors tell her otherwise? Len, suddenly alert, sat up abruptly.

                 “Lanai, let me see your arm,” he said urgently. Lanai looked at him confused at the sudden outburst, but obliged and pulled down her covers.

                The sight was horrible. Her whole arm was a foul color of purple and green. You could see every vein poking out, with a puss of some sort seeping onto her sheets. I couldn’t take it. I could feel vomit rising through my throat, and barely made it to the trash can. I heaved and cried for a minute, feeling sicker than I ever felt before. Len held my hair back from my face while arguing with Lanai simultaneously.

                “What the Hell? Overreaction much? It’s not that horrible. I mean, you should see Juyl’s. Hers is pretty brutal. I already told you, it’s just a side effect,” she said over the sound of my gags.

                “Lanai! That is worse than horrible! How can the doctors think you’re ill because you didn’t eat enough vegetables? That’s ridiculous! There is puss! Call a doctor now! We need to have a word with them,” Len shouted back, his rare anger beginning to show again. What do you know, even Len couldn’t handle it perfectly. Even though I wasn’t looking, I could feel Lanai’s eye roll as she pressed her “Help” button.

                Frantic footsteps could be heard rushing from down the hall when I sat back up, making sure I averted my eyes from what was left of Lanai’s arm. I knew if I even glanced at it, I would need to vomit again. Len checked me over as he led back to the chair.

                “You think you’ll be alright?” he asked, looking deeply into my eyes with his blue, blue eyes. I blushed. Sometimes he cared a little too much. “I’m fine,” I answered looking down at my feet, trying to hide my tomato face. He patted me on the back before standing back up to see the doctor that entered the room.

                “What is this? Do you think this hospital is some kind of joke? Only press the ‘help’ button when it is absolutely necessary! I was in the middle of something very important! Why didn’t you just call Nurse Lindy or something?”  The doctor accused immediately, not even giving us a chance to speak. “You put her up to this, didn’t you?” He asked, pointing at Len and me. I guess our dark clothes and generally grunge look set us back a few points with adults. “Punks like you are the reason the death rate is going up!” His meaty forehead started to sweat more the angrier he got. He opened his mouth to say more, but Len interrupted him.

                “Please, sir, give us a chance to try and talk to you! It’s very important we tell you what we have to say!” he pleaded, probably knowing the doctor wouldn’t give us a chance.

                “What could you possibly need to say? You and your girlfriend need to get out of this hospital this instant because you are nothing but trouble!” To this day, I still don’t know why authority figures always treat Len and me so negatively. Maybe it was because we knew as much as them, if not more, and they just couldn’t handle it.

                Ignoring the girlfriend comment, and the nausea in my stomach, I jumped in, absolutely fuming.

                “You asshat! Look at her arm! How do you explain that? Oh, it’s just a ‘side effect’, isn’t it? Her almost lifeless body is from not eating vegetables! That is something absolutely juvenile to believe! You have to give her something to help calm this lesion that is sucking her life away, because apparently your vegetable medicine isn’t doing its job!” I screamed. I felt victory for only a second, because then I felt dizzy and had to sit down.

                The man blubbered for a second, confused and defeated. “Get out,” he seethed through clenched teeth.  When neither Len nor I moved, he forcibly pushed us out of the door and slammed it shut. I pounded on it as hard as I could, screaming even more than before. It wasn’t fair, why wouldn’t they listen to us?

                Len grabbed my hand comfortably, pulling me into an embrace until I calmed down. He rubbed my hair and cooed soothing words into my ear. I didn’t understand him, though. All I could hear was a rushing sound and the doctor’s words repeating over and over. All I saw was Lanai’s sick body and lesion. I held on tighter to Len, not ever wanting to let go. I squeezed my eyes shut and thought-

                “Excuse me, I’m sorry, but you are going to have to leave,” an uptight voice cut through my thoughts. I looked up at her, blinking away my tears. She wore a fake, nervous smile, with lips smeared in red lipstick. She was the receptionist. I recognized her huge blonde hair. I didn’t even have the energy to tell her to fuck off. I just wanted to hug Len.

                “Sorry, we were just leaving,” Len apologized and let go of me. He started to head for the exit and I followed slowly, still dizzy and choked up.