Suit & Tie

Chapter 48- Heart rate & Hospital hallways

It was the fourth time the doors had opened and led to disappointment, and my third cup of coffee, and the second time my father and Ian had left to get McDonald's, but the first time anyone had dared to mention anything about how Shawn wasn't sitting in the uncomfortable chair beside me.  Instead of having him for support, I had been clutching to Russo's ' hand for the past two hours, and then when Russo was allowed to go back and see his boyfriend (who proudly had 16 new stitches on his forehead from the corner of the coffee table), I ended up clinging to Ian . 

The problem wasn't that I didn't have anyone who could support me while waiting for Tyler's heart scan to get back. In fact, I had more than enough people. The problem was that the one person that really should have been there, more than anyone else in that waiting room, wasn't.  And it took nearly two hours for anybody to comment. Naturally, it was my mother who squeezed my hand tightly as another random person slipped through the waiting room entrance, disappointing me when it wasn't Shawn .

"Norah, lovely," she said softly, "I don't think he's coming."  I took in a sharp, strangled breath.

"I'm really, really trying to forget about that right now, mom. Tyler is all that matters. That's it." 

"I know you're stressed --" 

"Mom, please. I just want to know why the fuck my best friend passed out in the middle of our living room, okay? Please."  She sighed quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

"Okay, lovely. Do you need me to do anything? Need the boys to pick up anything else while they're out?" 

"No. Just...distract me, please," I whimpered, curling up into her side. "I don't want to think right now." 

"Have I told you about how we bought chickens to raise in the backyard?" 

I let out a small, choked laugh as my mother started her ridiculous story about the four chickens they adopted to raise for fresh eggs. And, as suspected, the outrageous tale dragged my mind out of the over-sanitised hospital room and all the negative things that came with it.  Eventually my father and Ian burst through the door, arms full of greasy McDonalds bag and worried looks still on each of their scruffy faces. They both rushed towards us and immediately began asking questions about Tyler as they passed out the food.

"He's still good?" Ian asked, tossing me my order. "And you? Need anything? There's some coffee shop down the street that I could go grab you something from real quick. I know that hospital coffee has gotta be awful. But Tyler is good?"  I smiled up at him through watery eyes.

"Yeah, shouldn't be too much longer. They said it'd only be an hour for the EKG results to get back." 

"Right, right. Okay. And Julia, I picked up some sort of muffin thingy for you? I don't know, Joshua said it was healthy enough. If not, I mean, I can go find something else --"

"Ian," my mother scolded gently, "sit down right now. You don't have to look after me, I promise. Sit." 

He gave her a tired, grateful smile as he fell into the seat beside me, hand immediately intertwining with mine where Russo ' had been only moments prior. The support system around me at the moment was more than I could have ever asked for, even without Shawn .  I gave Ian's hand a soft squeeze.

"Thank you. For the coffee, y'know. And for remembering to get me a fruit cup. And for being here." 

"Yeah, yeah. Now shut up and give me some of your fries. I forgot mine because I was worried about your stupid fruit cup."

"Hey!" 

He stuck out his tongue and snatched the small packet right out of my hand, cocky little smile showing that he already knew I wasn't going to be protesting at all. The four of us all snacked quietly on the greasy food (besides my mother, of course, whose healthy meal looked like it was made for rabbits).  We were mid-meal when Russo burst out from behind the doors, eyes frantically searching the room and fists clenched at his sides. If it were possible, I would have said he'd aged at least ten years in the past four hours due to the stress of having his boyfriend pass out right in front of them.