Bulletproof (Josh Dun)

TWENTY THREE

"Are you okay?" I asked Josh before offering him a cup of coffee from the machine down the hall in the hospital.

He took it and nodded before raising the cup to his lips. He was leaning forward with his elbows resting on his thighs, and he avoided my eyes when I sat down next to him quietly.

All the walls in the hallways was painted creme white, making them look hollow and even longer than they actually were.

I looked around me to see a few people waiting in the waiting room, and a couple of doctors in white gowns talking with low voices on the other side of the hall while distractingly riffling through the journals in their hands. Even though I was too far away, I could almost hear it.

The last time I was in a hospital like this, I was waiting for the doctors to give me an answer about my parents after the bus crash. I remember sitting on the floor for six or seven hours before anyone could tell me what was actually going on, and then I just remember everything going black in front of me.

I guess you could say hospitals wasn't my favorite place, but I had to be here for Josh.

"Mr Dun?" A voice called and both me and Josh looked up at a bald, pretty short doctor who held a chart in his hand. He seemed nervous by the way he flickered through the pages.

"Your mother is stable for now, but she's pretty heavily sedated so you can not see her just yet" he spoke and shifted his eyes from Josh to me when Josh buried his face in his hands.

I put my hand on his shoulder and calmly stroke my fingers up and down.

All kinds of images flashed through my head, and I was relieved Josh wouldn't have to receive the same news I once did.

"If you want to there are guest rooms where you can spend the night, I'll give you some time to think and I'll come back later to give you some more information okay?" He nodded at me before leaving us alone again.

Josh sighed heavily and revealed his face again. His eyes were red from crying and my heart broke for him. I rested my head on his shoulder when he leaned back on the couch. 
I had never seen him this vulnerable before, it was like a whole new world took form. A world where Josh was human, and his whole gang leader facade had dropped. 

He was no longer the Josh that people feared, but someone who had fears himself. Fears of losing the people he loved.

"What do you wanna do?" I asked him.

"I have to stay" he sighed. "I can't leave her like this"

I nodded understanding.

"You want me to go grab some clothes?"

"My car is at her house" he sighed.

"I know, but I can take the bus. It will be quick" Honestly I needed to get out of there for a while, I needed to breathe some fresh air and not being surrounded by doctors and nurses.

"Okay, just be safe" he met my eyes with a serious and sad look, but I knew that under all of that he was thankful. He never had to say those things to me.

"I promise! See you soon" I kissed his cheek before getting up and walking towards the exit.

I felt bad for leaving Josh alone in there, but it was better now that he knew his mom would be okay. He needed to be alone with his thoughts as much as I did.

I walked to the bus stop and waited for five minutes before a large blue city bus arrived.

The ride was only ten minutes to Josh's place, but it was enough time to stare out the window and pretend I was somewhere else. Somewhere where not everyone had accidents and ended up in hospitals.