Secrets Untold

Chapter 8

"She just went under critical condition," the doctor said hastily but sympathetically to Ashton before murmuring under her breath something that sounded reassuring. "Don't worry about it," was the only phrase I caught completely before the doctor turned back to attend to the situation.

When Ashton turned back to me, his face was still lined with worry, but he motioned me out of the room. Closing the door silently behind us, he started walking towards the back end of the hospital and feeling a bit as if I were intruding, I followed in suit, wondering where he was going. When we finally reached the back, he opened the door for me and for the first time, I saw a part of the hospital I'd never seen before.

"Sorry again for making you drive here," he said sounding a bit guilty.

I waved away his apology before turning around in a circle, observing the place I was in with awe. We were in a medium sized glass dome where natural sunlight streamed in from above, touching lightly upon the greenery that was present. It almost seemed like we were in a mini-greenhouse, but the temperature was the same as the hospital as well as the air wasn't humid whatsoever. I walked over to a tree and gently rubbed its leaf and realized, to my surprise, that they were all real. "What is this place?" I finally asked, turning back to Ashton who was already walking towards one of the many benches that sat around the place.

"When my mom first came here, I used to just lounge around all worried in her room," he began before motioning me to sit down next to him. I gingerly took a seat, but awkwardly so that there was a visible gap between the two of us. If he noticed the vacant space, he ignored it. "So one of the nurses one day told me about this place and said that if I were to just sit around the hospital all day, I might as well sit someplace where the air was cleaner and where it was more peaceful and such. She told me that this place was donated by some wealthy person or whatever whose son got sick and later he believed that this hospital needed a waiting room that was quiet and peaceful for all those who are worried."

"Oh," I responded, not sure what else to add to that. We sat in silence for several minutes, and I constantly looked around the room as if pretending to be interested in the scenery. In reality, I was dying to ask what was going on, but a part of me told me that Ashton would tell me when he felt comfortable talking again. I took a sideways glance at Ashton, wondering whether all the rumors at school were true after all. I've only known him for a week and already he didn't strike me as the insensitive jerk that slept with someone new every other day. And except for the first day we met, he's never done anything to prove any of the rumors true. Suddenly, Ashton looked up and then turned his head in my direction, briefly catching my glance before I hastily look away, pretending to be completely interested in a flower.

"Take a picture; it lasts longer," Ashton said with ease, and I felt myself regretting my previous thoughts already.

"I don't think there should be that many photos of you," I retorted, turning back towards him. "It might make the world go blind."

"Well, I didn't think I was that good looking," he said in a flattered voice.

"I didn't mean it that way," I said bluntly.

"Sure," he dragged out sarcastically and I, immaturely, stuck out my tongue at him. We collapsed into another seemingly long silence before he finally began telling me his story. "My mom's here because of her health, obviously. We have a sort of heart disease streak within our family-my grandma has heart attacks frequently as well as her mom and so forth. The doctors have been trying to figure out a way to perhaps..." he paused for a second and studied me carefully as if making sure I could be trusted. "to perhaps... well prolong her life." He stood up shakily before sitting back down, and it wasn't until I noticed how he refused to meet my eyes that I realized how much this affected him.