4:26am
The waiting room of the hospital was empty, the air heavy. Emma’s parents remained at the station, choosing to be with each other at the moment. I had wanted to come. Somebody had to, even if she wasn’t open for visitors. I sat in the stiff chair flicking lazily through the offered magazines. Not out of interest, but to busy my hands. I didn’t care in the least what was written inside.
There was a nurse clicking away at a computer. We were the only two in the room. Some of the lights had flickered off, switching to the generator-run ones to save power.
I flopped the magazine back on the end table, dropping my face in my hands.
Oh, Emma.
~*~
5:30am
It was still sufficiently dark. The clock on the opposite wall ticked away annoyingly, each one seeming to pound straight through my head. The desk lady had switched shifts a half-hour ago.
I couldn’t seem to stop my leg from bobbing anxiously up and down. I could tell it was irritating the new desk worker, but she didn’t say anything. She just cast occasional irked looks my way. Pleasing her, however, wasn’t exactly at the top of my list.
Seeing Emma was.
Seeing her alive.
~*~
6:14am
I felt like my eyes were drying up. I had resorted to pacing around the small waiting room, having lost feeling in my legs four times. Nobody came out to update me on her progress. Nobody even emerged from the room. I had never been a nervous-habit kind of guy but I found myself gnawing down on my thumb nail.
It was hell.
Long, drawn-out minutes of hell.
~*~
7:42am
When normal morning hours rolled around more people frequented the hospital. I hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep the night before and I was sure you could see it on my face.
There was still no news of Emma.
I jumped when I felt a touch on my shoulder. Lack of sleep tended to make me jumpy. I snapped my head up and saw Judy standing there, a soft smile on her face. I was so exhausted I couldn’t even work up any animosity toward her. “Why are you here?” I croaked, throat cracked and dry.
“Your father was going to come but I offered to go instead. He’s going to be speaking with Emma’s parents.”
I swallowed hard. “What do you want?”
She lowered into the chair beside me. “To know how you’re doing. Are you okay?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, running my hand over my hair. “Some perverted sociopath drugged Emma up with the intent to kill her, Judy. Do you think I’m okay?”
“No.” she smiled sadly. “I guess it was a stupid question.”
I grunted.
“I phoned the school and told them you wouldn’t be in today. News of this hasn’t quite gotten out to all of Heart yet but I’m sure it will come as quite a shock when it does.”
“Well, that’s what we get for living in a small town where nothing ever happens.”
“It will be hard for Emma when she wakes up.”
“If she wakes up,” I couldn’t help but add under my breath.
“Rhys,” she said sternly, resting her hand on my arm. “You mustn’t think that way. Emma is strong. If you hold onto your faith she will pull through.”
“Faith? What faith? The one person that comes into my life and tries to clean it up instead of making it worse, and she’s taken from me. How am I supposed to invest anymore faith?”
“It’s hard,” she murmured. “But in situations like these, it’s all you have.”
I pulled my arm away from her touch and slouched forward.
She sighed. “I’m going to get some coffee. You want some?”
“Highly caffeinated, yes,” I replied, face buried in my arms.
She patted my back and I heard her high heels click sharply away.
~*~
8:23am
I was still in the waiting room. Judy was sitting beside me, though, finding more interest in the magazines supplied. The coffee spread warmth through my fingers as I recounted recent events. I had to think about something, and since my mind refused to dwindle on anything but Emma, rehashing everything seemed the safer bet. At least I could organize the stuff in my head.
I took a sip of the beverage, wondering if they were gaining any progress at all with her locked away in that cell.
“Do you like apple pie?” Judy asked out of nowhere.
“I don’t know, I’ve never tried it,” I mumbled.
“Hm. They have a recipe in here for one. It looks delicious.”
I couldn’t bring myself to carry on the conversation. She was trying for normalcy, trying to ease my anxieties and pretend like everything was okay, but it didn’t work.
I couldn’t just pretend like any of this wasn’t happening.
~*~
10:31am
I wished I had more coffee. All that lack of sleep was finally getting to me and the caffeine was wearing off, sending me on a crash course. But I refused to fall asleep. I couldn’t. Not until the verdict was made.
Judy was still stationed beside me, clearly with nothing better to do than keep me company.
And then shouts could be heard, penetrating the suffocating silence. Doctors dashed by the door, white coats flying behind them. I couldn’t make out a lot of what they were saying, but what I did hear was something severe about a patient in room three-forty.
Emma’s room.
Before I knew what I was doing I was jumping out of my seat, drawn to the commotion. Judy called me back but I ignored her. I whipped open the door and raced down the hall where all the noise was centered. I heard beeping—a lot of beeping—and worried voices. There was some shaking and rattling, too.
“Hey! You’re not supposed to be back here!”
“Emma,” I gasped, feeling breathless for some reason. “Emmalyn Hall. She’s in that room. What happened?”
The burly doctor restraining me flashed a sympathetic look. “A seizure, son. They’re in there right now doing all they can for her.”
A seizure.
When he realized I wasn’t going to go running in like a madman, he released me. “You know her?”
“Yes,” I murmured.
He shook his head. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Is she okay?”
“What’s your name?”
“Rhys Richardson,” I replied, wishing he would just answer my question.
“Are you a churchgoing guy, Mr. Richardson?”
I frowned. “No.”
The doctor sighed. “For her sake, I think you should give it a try. She’s going to need all the help we can give her.”
~*~
12:00pm
The frenzy in the back quieted down, which I hoped was a good sign. I was back in the waiting room with Judy, who had tried and failed to calm me down.
“I need you, Rhys. I know it sounds stupid and weak but I do. I don’t trust easy and I know you don’t like me very much but I need a friend. I need somebody.”
I released a strangled cry. Her voice would interrupt my thoughts randomly, and pierce me right through the heart every time.
She had needed me, and I had let her down.
~*~
1:33pm
The door opened and Emma’s parents came through. They spotted me sitting alone, sorrow written along the lines of their faces. Judy had left to go track down a bathroom, and probably more magazines, as she had gone through the given ones a good ten times.
“Oh, honey,” her mother breathed, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. It was such a mother thing to do it made my throat clog up. I would never get that. My mother was a cold-hearted bitch.
“They haven’t said anything.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Eight hours.”
She gasped. “You look like you haven’t slept a wink!”
“I haven’t.”
Her eyes trailed over the fatigue of my face in a way that was also extremely motherly. “Why don’t you go home and get some rest? We’ll be here. We can contact you if anything changes.”
I shook my head. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I insist—”
“I appreciate the offer, Mrs. Hall,” I cut her off, “but I really just want to wait for Emma.”
A soft smile graced her face, and I had to turn away because it looked so fucking much like Emma. “Well, I can’t very well say anything against that.”
They took a seat in the chairs across from me, clutching tightly to each other’s hands. Judy strolled in several minutes later, indeed with more magazines in her grasp.
“Hello,” she greeted them, setting the magazines down on the table. “You must be Emma’s parents.”
“Indeed we are,” Mrs. Hall offered a smile as she shook Judy’s hands. “And you are?”
“His caretaker,” she said playfully, jerking a thumb over her shoulder in my direction. I rolled my eyes. “Judy.”
“Nice to meet you, Judy. Thank you for being here. I know it’s not . . . Easy.”
She settled herself back in her original seat. “No, it certainly isn’t.” She looked at me. “But if Rhys can do it, I figured I could give it a shot as well.”
~*~
2:10pm
Mr. Hall went out and bought everybody lunch. He had not been back thirty seconds when my father walked in.
“How is everything?” he asked.
“Still the same,” I mumbled, breaking out into a wide yawn. “Good of you to finally join us, though. I guess we can have a party now.”
Judy patted my knee. “He’s just snarky because he’s hungry. Don’t mind him.”
My father sat down in the seat beside Judy. “Is there any news?”
His answer was four shaking heads.
I bit into my cheeseburger. It filled my stomach but it tasted like cardboard all the way down. The room, for the next fair amount of time, was quiet, but for the sounds of us finishing our lunch. Some people said silence was deafening and I believed it in that moment. We were all thinking and it all bordered on the same subject, and the room was filled with it.
I tossed my trash in the can when I finished. The fact that I hadn’t slept in over twelve hours didn’t faze me too much. Not a lot was.
Several people encouraged me to take a nap, but I didn’t listen.
I didn’t want to miss a thing.
~*~
4:45pm
“Where is she?”
The high voice had my shoulders hunching and teeth gritting together. We had fallen into somewhat of a workable silence. I thought all the visitors we would be having were present. I had apparently forgotten about Rose and Luke.
“Rose, calm down,” an older woman soothed. Emma’s mom’s face brightened when she glanced toward the door.
“Chloe, Trevor, hey,” she greeted. The two adults—one a brunette, the other a clear red-head—sat beside Emma’s parents. They engaged in a hushed conversation, the smiles eventually dropping and morphing into frowns. Luke and Rose came to stand in front of me.
And awkward didn’t even begin to describe the way they looked.
“Listen, man,” Luke started. “I’m sorry—”
“Save it,” I cut him off. “Just save it.”
He nodded, pressing his lips together. Rose appeared near tears.
“Have they said anything?” she asked.
“Nope,” I replied.
“Have they let you see her?”
“No.”
“Do you know anything?”
I stiffened. “You think I’m not trying?” I exploded, effectively silencing the entire waiting room. Even the nurse at the desk glanced up to see what was going on. “I’ve been here since four in the fucking morning, Rose.”
“Rhys, calm down,” Judy piped up, but I just released an irritated breath and walked out the door. Maybe all that lack of sleep was finally catching up with me.
“Son.”
I had my hands braced along the wall outside, head bowed. “I don’t have the energy to argue, Dad.”
“Good, because that’s not why I’m out here.” He propped his shoulder against the wall beside me. “You’re looking rough, Rhys. You need to get some sleep.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.” He turned me around to face him. “You’re worried and stressed and tired, and that is not a good combination. The best thing you can do for Emma right now is sleep and keep yourself from becoming addled. Okay?”
He was right, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. “I have a confession to make.”
He frowned. “Okay.”
“I went to see Mom.” Why I was telling him this now, of all times, I had no idea.
His mouth fell open. “You what? I didn’t . . . I didn’t know you even knew where she lived.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I’m never seeing her again, anyway.”
“Rhys.”
“I’m serious.”
“Good Lord.” He moved a hand over his face. “We’ll talk about this another time, when we’re not in a hospital. But I want you to go in there and try to sleep, alright? You won’t miss anything.”
I bobbed my head up and down. “Fine.”
He exhaled slowly. “Thank you.”
~*~
9:59pm
“Rhys.”
I grunted, eyelids flickering.
“Rhys, wake up.”
When I remembered where I was—hard not to by the uncomfortable, stiff metal chair—I pried my eyes open and jolted up straight. The room was empty, save for my father crouching before me. “What?” I dug the heels of my palms into my eyes. “Where is everybody?”
“With Emma. She’s stable now.”
Before the words had even fully registered I was up and running through the halls. All I heard was “Emma” and “stable” and that was all I needed.
“Rhys!” my father called. “I think there’s something you should know!”
I came to a skidding halt at the open door. Both couples, Judy, Rose and Luke were standing by, all in different states of sadness and shock. I looked on, not quite believing what I was seeing.
My father came up behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “She’s in a coma.”