𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒 [ 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 ]

just a bump

You, Jean, and Marco sat in the emergency waiting room, the minutes feeling like hours as you waited for the doctor to call for Connie. He was walking around the room, something you found weird, but it was keeping him distracted.

"Connie, why don't you just sit down?" You suggested once again and he shook his head, his feet still moving him around the room.

Jean leaned over to you, pulling the sleeve of your sweatshirt and grabbing your attention. Discreetly, he whispered, "Connie...he doesn't really like hospitals," he said, not really giving much away. You only nodded your head, wondering if it had something to do with Connie's family.

"So why didn't he fight against going to the hospital?" You inquired, your curiosity getting the best of you as questions racked your brain.

"It's-" Jean shifted uncomfortably in his seat, expressing that he wasn't going to say anything as he finished with, "It's just complicated..."

"...Connie Springer?" His head shot up when the nurse called his name, and the three of you stood up. The nurse eyed your group and scratched the back of his head in thought. He had short, smooth, light hair that was parted neatly down the middle and his name tag read "Moblit Berner". He carried a worried expression about himself— it was unsettling due to the circumstances.

"I can only allow one of you come back," the nurse smiled apologetically as the three of you looked at Connie. He stared with blank eyes before gesturing his hand at Jean, the ashy brown haired fellow looking somewhat surprised Connie picked him.

"I'll see what I can do for the two of you in a moment," he stated before guiding Jean and Connie into the other hallway, your eyes watching the two of them disappear behind the heavy doors.

"Well...now what?" You looked over at Marco and he shrugged, plopping down into the chair. You sat down beside him and propped your arm up on the armrest, allowing your hand to hold up your head as you let out an exasperated sigh.

"Do you think they'll take us to the actual waiting room?" You asked as you looked around where you were at now. People with bloody clothes or other things going on were surrounding you.

"Maybe...I'm not sure why we all couldn't go with Connie."

"Maybe so it's not so crowded?" You replied and Marco just shrugged as the two of you sat in silence. Neither one of you felt like talking, so you waited in comfortable silence and Marco ended up falling asleep on your shoulder.

About two hours had passed when a man walked up to you, clearing his throat. Marco woke up abruptly and glanced up at the mam. You looked up and took in his neat blonde hair and bushy eyebrows as he stared down at you, his blue eyes piercing.

"Are you here for Springer?" His voice was smooth and soft, not something you were expecting to hear since his face was so hard.

You caught a glance at his name tag and saw that it said "Erwin Smith". You and Marco looked back up at him and nodded your heads, wondering what news the man had to tell you.

A look of recognition came across Dr. Smith's face as he looked at Marco, but before Mr. Smith could say anything, Marco asked what he was here for.

"I'll be taking you to our standard waiting room where your other friend will be joining you shortly. We're examining Connie's hand right now, but it may take a while," Dr. Smith commented and you and Marco followed after him as he started to walk away.

"So...what do you do here...Dr. Smith?" You asked after he updated you on Connie's condition and what the next steps would be.

"Please, call me Erwin! I'm one of the orthopedic doctors here. I'll most likely be doing Connie's surgery." Erwin lead you to a large room where many other people were waiting. Some looked bored, some looked anxious, and some were crying. It felt weird being in a space like this where people were so vulnerable and most likely sad.