Non-stop

Chapter IV

In the morning, I went to the hospital instead of school. I mean, it was a family emergency. They couldn't blame me for ditching.

Dad spent the night there with mom. When I walked into the room, he was still asleep, but my mom was awake, staring at him. His steady breaths were overcome by my mother's adoration.

"Mom," I whispered. I inched deeper into the room. She smiled at me then glanced back to my father. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm okay." She muttered to me. I really wanted to just run and throw my arms around her, but instead I inched more and more until I was standing beside her hospital bed.

"What happened? Is it major?" I asked, carefully observing her arms, legs, and face. A smile beamed on her face. "Come here," she urged me. Her body scooted over a little to the left side of the bed. I hesitated but climbed on and hugged her. I heard a quick inhale, but it slowly relaxed, and I felt my mom slowly rest her arms on my back.

How could she be so brave, I thought to myself. All this hospital shit was happening to her, and she just sat here, calm. I felt like I could've held on forever, but eventually I released when I heard my dad squirm ever so slightly. He was awake.

He squinted and blinked. His eyes dashed from my mother to me. I smiled widely. He was probably thinking why the hell I wasn't in school. "Wha-what's happening?" He grunted. "Well, Becs was just going to leaving for school." My mom replied. 

I looked at her like "are you #!?#! crazy?!". Ha. If she thought I would casually leave to go torture myself in boring lectures and piles of homework while she was in the hospital, she must have hit her head harder than I thought. If she even hit her head, but besides the point.

Then, I saw the look she gave back. It was heart-breaking. The way her eyes begged me to go because she wanted to know I would be safe, not that school was any safer than the real world. I had to give in. " Fine, whatever. Just," I started. I glanced from one parent to another, and my eyes softened. " let me know if something happens. 'Kay?" My dad gave a slight nod. 

I walked out of the room with my usual mix of feelings- worry, relief, and regret. Every step I took weighed me down because I knew that I shouldn't have left. I kept telling myself it's what she wanted. It's for the best. Everything she did was for the best. The thought lingered in my mind as I took a deep breath and headed out the main doors.