T W E N T Y - S E V E N :
ᴍɪɴᴏʀ ᴛʀɪɢɢᴇʀ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ
"Oh, shit!"
"Jesus Christ!"
"Ow, ow, ow!"
"Shit, shit, shit!" Oak's voice yelped as she grabbed the boiling hot tray from the oven without an oven glove—it was her own fault. All she was trying to do was make a pizza for her and Harper, who had decided to pop around for a little bit.
The black-haired girl was very confused as to why there was such a racket coming from Oak's kitchen but then didn't bother questioning it, Oak was fairly clumsy so this sort of predicament was usual. Oak was actually a pretty good cook when she wanted to be but right now, it was all going tits up.
Nevertheless, Oak got the pizza cutter from the drawer that was above the 'pan' cupboard and began as neatly as she could, cutting up the Margherita that was bought from the Tesco's down the road. Patiently, Harper was sat waiting in the living room for her friend to return with a plate full of the cheesy goodness, Elias was coming over when he finished work at his paint station in town that specialised in all different paints, it was a nice little place but the man who owned it, not so much.
"Eli said he's coming over soon so you can take photos of him," Harper chuckled as Oak handed her the plate with a few slices of pizza "Thank you," She said and almost instantly dug her teeth into the heaven that pizza was.
"Tell him I've saved him some pizza," Oak told her as she plonked herself down next to her long-haired friend.
"Are you not having any?" Harper asked, a mouth full of cheese.
"I'll just have a sandwich later, I'm not that hungry," Oak responded with a soft shrug and Harper just nodded. They hadn't really planned to do anything today except 'hang out', it was likely that they were gonna end up watching some form of TV.
Harper acted as though she wasn't concerned about her friend who was only a few centimetres to her right, but she was, massively. She knew Oak was old enough to control her lifestyle but Harper had noticed that she hadn't been eating as much as she used to or so it seemed; without hesitation, she pulled her phone out and decided to message one of her band mates.
Harper Daviesnok
Hi, can I ask you something?
Joe Marrow
Sure, what's the matter?
Harper Daviesnok
Do you know when you lot were in NY?
Joe Marrow
Yeah???
Harper Daviesnok
Did you notice anything odd about Oak?
Joe Marrow
Well, she is always kind of odd
Harper Daviesnok
I know but I mean like when it came to food
Joe Marrow
Eh, kind of I guess, why?
Harper Daviesnok
She's not eating pizza
Joe Marrow
Really?
Harper Daviesnok
Yeah & I've noticed that she's been off of her food recently
Joe Marrow
She has, in NY we went out with the cast and everyone else was getting proper meals and she got something from the starter menu. She did say she wasn't that hungry but she hadn't eaten lunch beforehand...
Harper Daviesnok
She said she wasn't that hungry then
Joe Marrow
I've heard Alex & Charles mention it too, maybe we should talk to her
Harper Daviesnok
Idk, maybe she doesn't wanna talk about it
Joe Marrow
Bet fucking anything it's to do with that prick of a father she's got
Harper Daviesnok
Probably, hate that man with a passion
Joe Marrow
Most of us do haha
Harper Daviesnok
Anyway, thank u, see you later
Joe Marrow
No probs, bye!
——— ••• ———
Joe had been trying his best to concoct a rhythm for a song they were yet to publicise, he knew that it had to be somewhat slow but then it goes absolutely ragged when the chorus comes in. The song was about the range of different sexuality's and how even to this day people had an issue with it, it was a nice song that the band had wrote a month or so ago.
He was due to visit his nana in hospital in about half an hour so he had to wrap this up as soon as he could, his mum was working a night shift at the care home so Joe told her that he would go. His nana, Geraldine was only sixty-six, she had Joe's mum pretty young.
Geraldine had a seizure just less than a week ago and the reason for how it occurred was not yet known to the doctors or the family. She had always been a happy and seemingly healthy lady, she enjoyed going to a book club with her friends because she'd always been a fan of literature.
"Hi Nana, how are you?" Joe asked sweetly, pecking the lady on the head gently. The white-haired lady smiled up at her grandson, she was beyond proud of him and everything he had achieved so far at such a young age.
She remembers when she was his age she was still hooked up in the party lifestyle, sleeping with loads of boys who showed an interest in her; when she was in school she was constantly told that she would never do well and that she would always be a failure so she followed her labels. Geraldine had four children, Joe's mum, Heather was born a month after Geraldine had turned twenty-one. She then had Christina three years later, then a year and a half after Chris she had Samantha then four years after Sam she had Diana—she definitely had her work cut out.
Joe handed the lady in the bed a bunch of her favourite purple lilies and a packet of wine gums, which he knew she loved. Geraldine had missed her beautiful blonde grandson, she hadn't seen him for a while, from what she remembered—Joe did come and see her when she was first admitted but then his work wanted him to do some overtime.
"How've you been?" Joe asked politely, making himself comfortable in the chair that was by her hospital bed.
"I've been better but I feel much better than I did yesterday," The white-haired lady smiled at Joe "How've you been, it seems like such a long time since I last saw you?" She asked in return reaching her hand out for him to grab, which he did.
"I've been good, the band went to New York for a around two weeks so that was fun," Joe spoke with a large smile at the recent trip.
"What band?" Geraldine quizzed, her eyebrows furrowed and her mind blank. She hadn't a clue what the blonde boy by her side was talking about, New York was quite some distance.
"My band," Joe told her with a smile.
"Oh, of course, your mum mentioned it, did you find a lady friend?" She chuckled, shaking her head at the lack of memory she had about her grandsons band, that she was insanely proud of.
Joe laughed in response, he would've never found a 'lady friend' in the space of two weeks, he couldn't even find one in his hometown and he'd lived here nearly all his life "No, but we had a great time," He informed her, the smile never leaving his face. He missed spending time with his nana, she was a sweet person, most of the time.
"That's the main thing, you don't want to be sleeping with some slut," Geraldine joked but she was being deadly honest, she knew what girls were like, she was once a young girl and they're only out for one thing, the cock.
Joe loved his nana with his whole heart but she was very stuck in her ways, in the belief that women shouldn't work—when she found out Heather had got a job the pan hit the roof, it was the oddest thing she had ever heard in her life and then all of her daughters started getting jobs without having a husband who'd do that for them. She also believed that women, when approaching a man dressed in shorter clothing, that they were a whore or something along those lines. Geraldine was more or less a woman-hater despite her being one, she also didn't understand all these sexualities that popped up in this generation.
Suddenly, Geraldine's body began shaking rapidly and her eyes were rolling back. Joe sprung out of his seat almost instantly in pure worry "Nana?" He called, not that it would help in any way whatsoever. Her body still shook and Joe's heart was racing, he quickly ran outside into the hospital's corridor.
"Someone help!" He shouted in panic and the nurse who was a few meters away ran in his direction grabbing a few colleagues, this wasn't the first time something like this had happened to Geraldine whilst she'd been here. The two nurses darted past the blonde boy and into the room where the lady was situated, there was no explanation as to what had caused this, they'd done tests and she didn't have epilepsy, they were constantly running tests to see what was wrong.
Joe stepped back into the room, his blue eyes brimming with tears, what he was seeing was beyond horrifying. "I'm sorry sir, you can't stay in here," The nurse with tied back black hair said to him and escorted him out of the room, slyly as possible grabbing the attention of some of her other colleagues.
The blonde boy stood there stunned, not sure what to do with himself, that was his nana and seeing her like that was truly heartbreaking. He dragged himself towards a waiting area chair that was in the corridor his nana was in, what was wrong with her? Why did that happen again?
He pulled out his jet black mobile and called the only person who he knew was free, his heart was hurting more and more every time he thought about it. The phone rang for about five seconds before the recipient picked up, in confusion, they hardly ever called each other unless it was an emergency and this was, he didn't want to be alone.
"Can you come to the hospital please?" Joe asked, his voice cracking.
"Yeah. . . Of course, are you okay?" She responded, concern lacing her tone, she grabbed her coat almost instantly and threw it on herself. Harper and Elias had left just minutes ago, so she was now waiting on her mums' arrival.
"I'm fine, it's my-it's my nana," He stumbled on his words, it pained him to add such sorrow to his friend's agenda. Oak knew what had happened to Geraldine a few days ago and it hurt her because she knew how much her family adored the bones off of her.
"I'll be there as quick as I can, okay?" She told him softly "What wing and floor are you on?" She asked so she didn't have to bother at the reception.
"Erm. . . The Neurology Wing and floor three," He said in sadness, Oak nodded even though the boy couldn't see her, said a quick goodbye and jogged her way to the bus stop.
Her heart was hurting for her friend because despite Joe not agreeing with his Nana's viewpoints on certain topics, she knew how much he loved her and how much she meant to him. Geraldine was a very kind woman who would do anything for anyone, at a price, usually but if you knew her she'd do anything for you selflessly.
oak rivers
i won't be home when you get back, i'll be at the hospital x
mother <3
Okay darling x
mother <3
Why are you going to the hospital? You're not pregnant, are you?
oak rivers
i'm going for joe & no, i'm not pregnant x
mother <3
Is he okay? Give him and Heather my love x
oak rivers
i will do, see you soon x
mother <3
See you soon sweetheart x
Within fifteen minutes Oak was outside the hospital, luckily for her, the journey was quick because the rush hour had just passed, which meant she could get to her friend as quickly as possible. She thanked the bus driver and as rapidly as she got on she sped walked towards the hospital's entrance.
She'd been receiving funny looks off of some teenagers on the bus for having her blue hair tied up in a messy bun and wearing some black leggings with a grey hoodie and a denim jacket on top, they clearly weren't impressed by her style but she didn't really give a fuck, there were more important things going on in her mind than the way she looked.
Oak's boots hit the floor of the hospital and her eyes flashed up at the signs that directed her to the Neurology wing, which was where she'd find more directions. She didn't know what to do with herself, she felt such panic for her friend so she couldn't imagine how much panic he was feeling, it was his nana.
The lift queue was too long so the next best thing was to take the stairs, which wasn't the best idea seen as the blue-haired girl wasn't in her peak fitness period, well, she never really had been but that was beside the point. Her long legs ran up the concrete flooring, she ended up travelling up to six flights before she managed to reach the designated floor.
Joe was sat waiting, he knew his friend was getting here as quickly as she could and in all honesty, she hadn't even been that long, he just didn't want to be alone. His eyes looked up as he heard someone approaching him, he made eye contact with the ocean eyes of his best friend and straight away pulled her in for a tight hug.
Her long arms wrapped themselves around him in a comforting response as he allowed his tears to fall, she moved the pair to the seats so they didn't get in the way of the doctors and other visitors. "She just started seizing-and I-I didn't know what to do," He sobbed between his words, Oaks hand smoothed out his blonde hair as she kept hold of him and she would until he was ready to let go.
"It's okay," She said gently in a hushed tone "She's gonna be fine, she's a fighter," The girl reassured him, the best she could. Joe knew she was right, Geraldine never gave up without a fight or having the last word but seeing her like that was just truly awful.
"I know, I'm just so scared. . ." He cried even more, letting every ounce of salty water leave his eyes. He'd think positive thoughts, nothing other than, he had to be strong for her.
wrote; friday 21st february 2020
(partially) edited; monday 31st august 2020
published; thursday 17th september 2020