BRIGHT

Chapter 54- Peyton POV- Surprise

After Greyson and Maggie left, I could not stop thinking about what Maggie said. I tossed and turned in my bed. Maybe she was lying, it was possible she had just said it because she wanted us to be together. But, part of me wanted her to be telling the truth. Even after a few months, my feelings were the same. 

I couldn't sleep at that night. I couldn't stop tossing and turning and thinking about Greyson. I continued to debate if I should tell him how I felt or not. I didn't want to ruin our friendship. I turned over to look at my clock. 5 am. Shoot. I eventually dozed off sometime after looking at the clock.

"Peyton, wake up!" a voice shouted. My eyes peeled open to see Josh.

"What's going on?" I asked groggily, looking at the clock. 11:30 am.

"Something went wrong with Meredith's surgery, we have to go!" he explained, freaking out.

"Wait what?" I shouted, jumping out of bed.

"All I know is that something went wrong, but nothing else. Mom and Dad are both at work already, we were lucky they were able to leave yesterday. Come on, we gotta go," he said, throwing clothes at me, then running out of the room. Oh my god. I hoped she was okay. I need her to be okay. She may not be my biological sister, but she still was my sister. I threw on the sweatshirt and leggings Josh had thrown at me and slipped on my Uggs. I quickly brushed my teeth, washed my face, and threw my hair into a quick ponytail.

"Let's go," I called to Josh, racing out to the car. We both jumped inside and he pulled quickly out of the garage. Tears were beginning to go down my cheeks, but I tried my best for Josh not to see them. I knew he was already nervous and he didn't need to be worrying about me as well.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. He stared at the road for a couple of seconds.

"No," he whispered as a thin tear rolled down his cheek. I put my hand on his thigh.

"I'm here for you. And I know you're here for me. We'll always have each other, Josh, no matter what happens," I told him and he nodded. 

"Do Mom and Dad know what is going on?" I asked him.

"No. Daisy texted me this morning and told me. The surgery was at 7 this morning and all she said was something went wrong and to come down as soon as possible," Josh explained.

"I'm going to call Mom, okay?" I said. He nodded and I dialed her number into my phone.

"Hi, Peyton," my mom said to me through the call.

"Mom, something went wrong with Meredith's surgery. Josh and I are heading down to the lab now," I blurted out.

"Oh my gosh, that's awful! I can't come now, I'm in the middle of a meeting. But, once it's over, I'll be right down," she promised.

"Okay," I said softly.

"Honey, it's going to be okay. Did they say what went wrong?" she asked me.

"No. We were just told to come right away," I explained.

"Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll let your dad know, but he's in a huge meeting also, so I doubt he will be able to come down. It's all going to be alright. Love you," she said.

"Love you too," I replied and ended the call.

"Is she coming?" Josh asked me.

"No, she is in the middle of a meeting, but she's coming after," I told him. The rest of the drive was silent. I couldn't stop worrying about Meredith.

As we reached the building, I was really beginning to become nervous. I really wanted everything to be okay for Meredith. Josh parked quickly and the two of us raced into the building and I noticed Daisy in the waiting room along with her husband, Evan.

"Daisy," I called and she ran up to me. She submerged me in a hug and said nothing. I hadn't seen any of the Emerson family after what happened, but it wasn't like there was much of it. The people I used to call my grandparents had all passed away, we had never known about the Koles, and Daisy was Mr. Emerson's only sister.   

"Oh my gosh, Peyton," she whispered in my ear and I could feel her shaking. She released me from the hug and hugged Josh. They had met a few times when Josh had gone to their place to see Meredith. Daisy released Josh from her arms.

"How bad is it?" I asked softly.

"We don't know. All we know is she had an allergic reaction to one of the medicines," she explained, as tears went down her cheeks. Josh squeezed my hand as we sat with Daisy and Evan.

"Are we the only ones who know?" I asked.

"Her friends knew that she was here. Some from her volleyball team came to visit yesterday. But, I only told you two that something went wrong," Daisy told us. Then, Dr. Jansen emerged into the waiting room. He walked over to us.

"Well?" Evan asked. He had his hand on Daisy's thigh. I squeezed Josh's hand. Dr. Jansen removed his glasses and took a deep breath.

"We had given Meredith one of the new medications for the procedure to help with the pain. We had given the same medicine to Peyton when she had the surgery. But, Meredith was allergic to this specific medication," he explained.

"What does that mean? Will she be okay?" Josh asked desperately.

"We did everything we could, but the medicine stopped her from breathing. We did all we could to bring her back to, but it was too late. Meredith has died."