I ran through the Emergency Room doors, looking for a familiar face. I frantically walked to the nurse's desk. She didn't bother looking up.
"Hi, I'm Maddison Heemer's sister, I was wondering if she's okay?" The nurse still didn't look at me.
"The doctor will be in shortly to brief you and the rest of your party. Please take a seat." I looked around the small waiting room, immediately spotting Zara and Maddi's best friend, Llewellyn. They weren't the only ones sitting there. I quickly noticed Zach, Star and my dad.
Wait a second, my dad?! He had never visited Maddi before and I wasn't even aware that he was home. Which makes sense as to why Zach and Star were here.
"Gabbi!" I heard from the entrance to the Emergency Room. I looked over to see Troy running in, followed by a tall boy with short, brown hair who looked about my age. I immediately wondered who he was.
"Any update on Maddi?" Troy asked frantically. I shook my head.
"I just got here myself." I explained. "Who's your friend?" He glanced behind him to the boy wearing a pair of cowboy boots, blue jeans, and a green plaid shirt. The guy was quiet built, and a bit attractive. He wasn't really my type, though. I had an epiphany, realizing I don't have a type.
"You mean you don't know him? He's in your grade." I shook my head. "This is Tanner Donnelly, we have some mutual friends but don't really know each other and when I got your call, he was the only one willing to give me a ride." I smiled at Tanner.
"Thanks for giving him a ride, I hope it wasn't too much of an inconvenience." Tanner shook his head. "I'm Gabbi, by the way, one of Troy's older sisters as you probably already know." I held out my hand and he took it.
"I'm Tanner." His handshake was strong and firm, I could feel the rough callouses on his hand.
"Thanks for bringing him. I'm pretty sure I can take him home if you don't want to stick around." He nodded and said bye to me and Troy before walking out. I pulled Troy aside before he could get a look at who was here.
"Troy, don't freak out, but Dad is here."
"What?!" He shouted, spinning around to look for him. His loud exclamation caused the whole room to look at him, but he didn't care, he was too busy gaping at our father.
"Dad-" He was interrupted by the soothing voice of a doctor that had just entered the room.
"Maddison Heemers?" She asked. Everyone stood up and walked over to her. She looked at the large crowd. "Family only, please." Llewellyn and Zara retreated back to their seats. The doctor stared at all four of us kids, then at my dad.
"She's going to be okay." The doctor started explaining what had happened to her body, but the only part that made sense to me was that she was okay.
"Can we see her?" My dad asked after she was finished explaining. She nodded and led us to Maddi's room. When we got there, she was fast asleep.
"I'm just going to keep her here overnight for observation. She will be free to go home in the morning." The doctor stated. My dad thanked her and we all gathered around her bed. I was just thanking my lucky stars when Maddi woke up.
"Hey, Mads, how are you feeling?" My dad asked, calling her the nickname he gave her when she was young. She shrugged.
"I'm okay." She said softly. "Where's Zara and Llewellyn?"
"They're out in the waiting room, the doctors won't let them in." I answered. Her face fell a little.
"Oh. Well, will you please thank them?" She asked. I nodded. That's when she noticed Troy in the room.
"Would you guys mind giving me and Troy a little space, I need to talk to him." I shot Maddi a look then Troy.
"Sure." I agreed, ushering out everyone else. When we got out to the waiting room, I walked over to Zara and Llewellyn and explained Maddi's condition, making sure to thank them in the process. I was grateful that they were there when I couldn't be and I couldn't imagine what would have happened if they didn't show up. After our conversation, they decided to leave, telling me they would stop by tomorrow evening to check up on Maddi.
My dad was sitting near the nurses station, his head in his hands, while Zach distracted Star with some Barbies. I slowly walked over to him, taking the seat beside his.
"Hey," I said softly. "Are you okay?" He looked up, his eyes red from crying.
"Yeah, I will be." He explained quietly. "It was just seeing her in that hospital bed scared me out of my wits and I just can't imagine wha-" His voice hitched and he buried his face again. I suddenly had a flashback of my mother, but I pushed it aside.
"Hey, hey, hey," I placed a hand on his back, attempting to comfort him. "it's not your fault. She's going to be in and out of that hospital bed all throughout her life. The only thing we can do is be there for her. We need to give her the strength to continue." My dad nodded.
"You're right." That's when Troy walked out, and suddenly everyone was in a rush to leave.
"Is she okay, at least?" My best friend, Caleb asked, taking a seat beside me. I took a bite of my apple, only to realize it had gone bad. I nodded my head, answering his question.
"She's fine, Ana Louise picked her up this morning and she'll be back in school on Monday. It was nothing major." I threw the bad apple into the trash with a flick of my wrist, making it from ten feet away.
"Koby!" My other best friend, Chloe yelled in a deep voice, occupying the seat in front of me and Caleb.
"Nothing major?!" Caleb exclaimed. "She could have died!"
I rolled my eyes at him. He was always one to make things over dramatic. I know that it was part of his flamboyant attitude, but he never acted this way around strangers. Although, he always did make friends quickly, so nobody was really a stranger around Caleb.
"She wasn't going to die." I reassured, which seemed to satisfy him, because he almost immediately launched into a conversation with Chloe about something that had happened at a party they had both gone to that weekend. Seeing as the conversation wasn't interesting, I focused on the salad I had in front of me. That was when a certain brunette had caught my eye from across the hall. Tanner was sitting by himself, very focused about writing in some notebook.
"I'll be right back." I said to Chloe and Caleb, who didn't noticed. I walked over to Tanner, throwing away the rest of my salad.
"Hey." I said when I reached him. I noticed that his notebook was actually last night's Calculus homework. He looked up at me and gave me a small smile.
"Hi." He replied quietly.
"Where are your friends?" I asked, gesturing to the empty table. He turned his attention back to his homework.
"They went out for lunch." He stated. I raised my eyebrow at him.
"You didn't want to go with?" He shook his head. Clearly, this conversation was going nowhere.
"Well if you get lonely, you can always come and sit with me and my friends." He nodded. "Alright then. I'll see you around."
I walked back to my table, feeling defeated for some reason. I returned to my seat next to Caleb and tried to contribute to the conversation, but it was kind of difficult when you had no idea what they're talking about. I eventually gave up, deciding to put together a work out for after field hockey that night. To my surprise, Tanner sat next to me a few minutes later. My friends still hadn't noticed.
"Well, look who's here." He chuckled.
"My table was overrun by people I don't know." I looked over to where he was previously sat, which was now occupied by a bunch of stoners sharing a few pizzas.
"They look like fun." I teased. Tanner shook his head, a small smirk on his lips. I noticed that my friends had stopped talking and were now looking at us.
"Oh!" I blurted. "Guys, this is Tanner Donnelly. Tanner, this is Chloe Tucker and Caleb Valentine." I introduced, pointing to each of them as I said their names. Tanner nodded at them in greeting, while Caleb and Chloe both said hi.
"So are you guys going to the football game tomorrow?" Chloe asked, commencing a new conversation.
"Oh my god, yes. Natasha is the cheer captain and she looks so cute in her uniform. Plus, it's her first game as cheer captain and I want to be there to support her." Caleb explained.
Natasha Oropeza was probably the most popular girl in school, and prettiest. She's in the same grade as us, and Caleb was unfortunately in love with her. The only problem was that she saw him as a friend, and was completely oblivious to his feelings, no matter how obvious he tried to make them clear. Every other month, she would flaunt her new boyfriend in front of Caleb's face, crushing his heart every time. Of course, this meant that Chloe and I had to cheer him up any time this would happen.
"Yes," I replied. "my brother's playing his first game as varsity." I looked at Tanner. "What about you?" I ask him. Tanner shrugged in response.
"How is he already on the Varsity team as a sophomore?" Caleb complained.
"He's a Heemers, do you expect anything less?"
"True." Chloe pointed out. That was when the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. Chloe and Caleb, got up, immediately heading to their next class together. I strayed behind to walk with Tanner a bit.
"Thanks for sitting with us." I smiled up at him. Tanner shrugged.
"Wasn't much of a bad decision. Your friends are very..." He paused, searching for the right word. I expected him to say something like outgoing, unique, or colorful, but his answer took me by surprise. "annoying." I gawked at him, and he noticed. "Not in a bad way, in a good way." He tried to quickly cover up. I grinned at his attempt.
"Well, you should let me know if you go to that game tomorrow." I suggested.
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"Guess you'll have to sit with us again tomorrow." I left him with a smirk and headed off to Sports Medicine.