Tongue Tied *UNDERGOING EDITING*

17. The Waiting Room

More silence. I asked the question for a reason, Luke! To break the silence! Dumbass. No, I shouldn't call him that. He's been really nice about all of this. I just want to talk about something. And I also want to know the answer.

The elevator bell dings, sounding louder than it probably is, and the doors open, cutting apart the reflection and then disappearing inside the walls. I walk out and turn left, according to the sign that points to room 418. Her door is at the end of the hallway. I find myself breaking into a run to get to it. I need to see her. Make sure she's OK.

I twist the door open and look up. Zoey is there, lying in her bed, motionless except for her chest rising and falling. Her eyes are closed and she has tubes in her nose and mouth to help her breathe. She looks so different. I clamp my hand over my mouth to hold in my sobs, but my body shivers with them anyway. I feel a pair of hands on my hips, but right now, I really don't care who's hands they are.

I'm only focused on my best friend.

I break away from the pair of hands holding me steady and walk over to the chair beside her bed. Even with all these machines she still looks like my beautiful best friend. "Someone needs to call her parents. She was supposed to be home an hour ago." I say, never taking my eyes off of her. "They should hear the news from you Ariel. I'll stay with Zoey." Luke says to me, walking over to my chair.

"Ok." I say, giving Zoey's hand a small squeeze and letting Luke take my seat. I walk out of the room and into the hallway where it's alive with activity. I turn to face away from the buzz and dial Zoey's house phone number. "Hello? Ariel? Have you seen Zoey? She was supposed to be home an hour ago!" Mrs. Chambers sounds really worried, but I wouldn't blame her. I just don't want to be the one to tell her that her daughter is in the hospital.

"Mrs. Chambers, um, Zoey...she's in the hospital. Luke and I are there with her now." the words spill out quickly, and I hope that Mrs. Chambers understood what I said. "Why is she in the hospital? Ariel, what happened?" Mrs. Chambers asked. "I don't really know how to explain it. I just know that she had a seizure." I say, feeling tears spring to my eyes. But I can't cry. I need to stay strong while talking to Mrs. Chambers. I know how scared she must be feeling right now.

"Oh God, I'm on my way." she says and the line goes dead. I walk back over to the door quietly and I'm about to walk inside when I hear Luke whispering to Zoey. I spin around so my back is pressed against the open door and listen. You shouldn't be eavesdropping, Ariel. You don't know what he's telling her. Maybe its something you're not meant to hear. But I can't make myself walk into the room. I try to tune out everything around me except for Luke's soft whispers.

"I don't know if I have feelings for you or not-no, that won't work." he says, turning away from her. What? I scooch a little closer to the room. "I think I might have feelings for you...No, why is this so hard?" he whispers, obviously frustrated.

He has feelings for Zoey? What about Alyssa? What about me?

What are you saying, Ariel? Luke's a player. He can like two girls at once, he could probably cheat on Alyssa and not even feel guilty about it. And there is no you in his love life. You don't belong there. You will never belong there.

But no matter how much I try to convince myself that it was silly to even think he likes me that way, I still feel myself starting to cry. I can't cry about something this stupid at a time like this. All I want to do is run away and hide but I can't because Zoey's mom will be here soon. Zoey can be with Luke, what do I care? He's not good enough for her anyway.

I wipe the tears away and wait for Mrs. Chambers to come. When she finally shows up, she sees me waiting at the end of the hallway and runs toward me. "Where is she?" she asks. "In there. Luke's with her." I say. "Luke Mason?" she asks. "Yeah. He waited with her while I called you." I explain. "Why didn't you go back in there?" she asks. I really don't want to talk about this right now. "I wanted to wait for you so would know where to go." I say. She nods and rushes into the room.

I follow her and Luke looks up at us. "Oh, Zoey." Mrs. Chambers says, tears in her eyes. She sits down beside Zoey and grasps her hand tightly. "I'll find the doctor." I say. "I'll come with you." Luke says. "No you should stay here with Zoey's mom." I say and break free of his gently grip on my wrist. He doesn't follow. He can't know that I overheard him.

I realize after I leave the room that I don't know where to go. But I can't go back in there, I'll look like an idiot. A nurse walks into Zoey's room, but I tap on her shoulder just before she enters. "Can I help you with something?" she asks sweetly. "Actually yes, Zoey's mom wants to see her doctor." I say. "Zoey?" the nurse asks. "The patient." I say, pointing to the room and then the chart that sits in the plastic container outside of the door. "Oh, yes, I'll page him." she says and walks inside the room. I follow her, feeling somewhat like a lost puppy.

"Ariel can I talk to you for a minute?" Luke asks. "I have no desire to talk to you right now, Luke. My best friend needs me. I want to hear what the doctor says." I say. I sit in the chair on the other side and hold Zoey's other hand while Mrs. Chambers stands up to talk to the doctor. Luke walks over to me and stands behind my chair. "Mrs. Chambers, I'm going to take your daughter down for some tests to explain her seizure." the doctor explains. Some nurses come in and wheel her away, the doctor following.

I place my head in my hands and focus on taking deep breaths. How did this happen? She said she was feeling better just a few hours ago. I start to cry again, and feel a pair of hands on my shoulders. I wriggle away from them, knowing they belong to Luke. I stand up and walk out of the room. No point in being in there now if Zoey isn't there. And I really don't want to talk to Luke.

"Ariel?" Luke says. I don't look up. Maybe if I don't talk, then he'll go away. "Ariel?" he asks again. I hear him take a step towards me and then crouch down on the ground next to me. I keep my head tucked into my legs. "Ariel can you please look at me?" he asks once more. "Can you just leave me alone?!" I yell out. His surprised face is inches from mine.

I stare into his eyes, feeling mine become tear - filled. "Whats wrong?" he asks softly, even though I just yelled in his face. His eyes search my face for some type of emotion, besides sadness. "I can't tell you." I say. "Why not?" he asks. "I don't want to. I don't want to tell you anything." I say, putting my head back in my hands. He doesn't move, he just stays sitting next to me.

I peek over at him and see him leaning against the wall, his arms resting against his propped up legs. He closes his eyes, probably as tired as I am from the day's events. I turn away from him and close my eyes too, until I hear the rolling of Zoey's bed. My head snaps up and I wipe away a few tears. It is Zoey's bed, and the doctor is with her.

I get up and walk past Luke, who looks up and sees me following the doctor into Zoey's room. He stands up, brushes off his pants and walks in. For some reason, I wait for him to walk in and go in next to him. The nurses adjust Zoey's bed and I stand near her, holding onto her hand. This time, when Luke tries to stand next to me or put his hands on my shoulders, I don't move. I have a feeling that Zoey's news isn't going to be very good because of the doctors face.

"Mrs. Chambers, Ariel, Luke, I have Zoey's test results back." he starts off. I find myself holding my breath and Luke tightens his grip on my shoulders. I see from across the bed Mrs. Chambers gripping Zoey's hand tightly. Before the doctor tells us the results, I wonder back to when Zoey and her mom went to the hospital a few days ago, and I wonder if they got any news then but didn't tell Zoey.

He pauses, the news obviously difficult to say. But then he speaks up, taking a breath before revealing the news.

"Zoey has a brain tumor."