Chapter Twenty Five
I got to the hospital not long later on. I barged my way into the waiting room which was packed full of people.
“Angus McCall?” an old woman with greyish hair asked, walking over to me, tissues clutched in her hands. She would be in her fifties but she looked quite strong and slender.
“Yeah, that's me,” I replied.
“Oh good,” she mused, before falling onto me, her arms draped over my shoulders and burst into tears. I led her to an empty seat and sat beside her, patting her back while she cried all over me. People in the room came and went. Only a few waited as long as we did, it was early morning by the time a nurse called for Mrs. Langley. Betty as I now knew her. She'd been letting me all about Andrew's childhood when the nurse came. When Betty went in I told her I'd wait out here to give them some space alone. She just nodded, thinking that was right too. When Betty came back out to get me I was alone in the waiting room. I was only wearing a shirt and shorts, and by the time it came for me to move again I'd frozen to the seat. But I didn't let it show as I walked down the long corridor into one of the recovery rooms. When I walked in I wasn't prepared for what I saw. Andrew was laid out on the typical hospital beds in a nightgown, a blanket draped over him. There was a tube running across his face going under his nose, as well as several tubes coming from his arms and hands. That's not what scared me though. One arm was in a sling, a leg in a plaster. His neck in a collar and his head heavily bandaged and bruised. I didn't even recognise him. I felt weak at the knees and without thinking I slumped into the chair beside his bed and touched his hand without moving it or applying any pressure. I gasped at how blue and cold his skin was. Horrified I turned to star questioning at his mother. She just bowed her head. The nurse behind her answered me instead.
“He's very damaged, but he's stable now. He should be waking up soon. If you go home we can call you when-” the nurse explained.
“No,” I cut her off, “I'm staying here.” the nurse just sighed, obviously hearing that statement often, and left, closing the door behind her. Betty patted me on the shoulder lightly, "I'll be outside if you need me," she said and then left. I looked back at Andrew's red and purple face and cringed. I'd never seen this kind of thing close up, only on TV and in movies, it made everything feel like it wasn't really happening. This was my fault, if Andrew hadn't of dropped me home late, he would have been at his house after the library. It was all my fault. Andrew's hand twitched in mine and I looked up at his face. his eyelids were fluttering. I stood, looking behind me to see if I should call someone.
"Angus?" Andrew moaned. His eyes were open now, his lips parted.
"I'm here," I stumbled on my words.
"Oh good," Andrew sighed. then his body began to shake violently, his eyes rolled back in his head so all I could see was white and liquid bubbled out of his mouth.
"HELP!" I cried. I pushed the emergency call button above his bed and rushed into the hall. "SOMEONE HELP!" Betty got to her feet as several nurses came rushing down the corridor. I was shoved out of the way when they rushed into the room. the door was slammed on my face. I was pushed down into a chair by one of the others then time seemed to sit still. my mum came and picked me up after that.