~eyes talk~
September 4th
"Hi, uh, I'm here to visit Luke Patterson?" Julie stuttered out, playing with her nails.
The front desk woman typed some things into her laptop before looking at Julie. "Okay, sweetheart, go ahead and take that visitors pass, just place it right on your shirt, and you can go ahead and take the elevator to floor 4, room 404. Just remember visiting hours end at 9." The frost desk woman smiled.
"Thank you." Julie smiled.
She stuck her visitors pass on her shirt, and went ahead and took the elevator. She had stopped at her flower shop right before, and bought him a bouquet of daisies.
She arrived on floor 4, and made her way outside Luke's room. She knocked lightly before coming in.
She opened the door to see Luke in a hospital bed, Carrie, and two other boys she hadn't met before.
"Hi." Julie smiled.
"Can you guys give us a second?" Luke asked once he saw Julie. The 3 raised their eyebrows in shock, and got up and left.
After the door shut after the 3, Julie began to talk. "I got you a few daisies...I don't know if you're a flower person or not, but you seemed to really liked daisies so, I thought I might as well." Julie rambled.
"They're beautiful. Thank you." He smiled.
Julie went and sat down on the chair next to his bed. "How are you feeling?" Julie asked.
"Better than before, but mostly because of the drugs." He joked. Julie rolled her eyes, chuckling a little.
"How did this even happen?" Julie asked.
"I just didn't feel good. My doctor said go to the E.R, and now we're here. I should find out what's wrong in a bit." He said. "How was your day?" He asked.
Julie turned her head, and raised her eyebrows. "Seriously? You're sitting here in a hospital bed, and you are asking how my day went?"
"Yeah! How was work?" He smiled, giggling a bit.
"It was fine." She started. "Until I found out you were in the hospital." She said pointing at his chest and emphasizing the you.
"I'm sorry?" He joked.
The two's laughter was interrupted by a knock at the door. The doctor slowly entered the room, with a clipboard.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Frishman, I've been examining Luke's current state since he's gotten here, and as of right now, he seems fine, but it is a lot worse than it seems." She said.
Julie perked up and listened closely.
"Luke has Coronary Artery disease." The Doctor announced.
"What's that?" Julie asked.
"Basically, Luke's arteries are blocking up, because of his atherosclerosis." The doctor explained. Julie rose an eyebrow.
Julie's heart dropped. She came in here, thinking she'd get a good and helpful response, and now her friend has a heart disease
"Oh my..god." Julie sighed. "Is there a cure, o-or something?" She asked.
"Well yes there is a treatment, but CAD isn't something you can fully get rid of. It just lingers. We'd like to keep him here over night for observation, then you can come in tomorrow, and we'll let you know what we think is the best solution for him. But he looks great as of right now. It's only a matter of time." The doctor responded. "I'll leave you two to discuss."
"You..have atherosclerosis?" Julie asked
"Yeah." Luke muttered
"So were you planning on telling me?" Julie said, laughing a little to hide the pain, but with a slight attitude.
"I mean, how do you bring up the fact you have a heart disease? Do I just say it out the blue?" He responded, laughing along, picking up on the attitude.
"We said how our parents died pretty "out of the blue." Julie muttered, air quoting.
"Julie, why are you mad." Luke asked, trying to calm her down.
"I'm not..." Julie stopped and realized he was right. "I don't know it's just...frustrating to be put in this situation again." She said
Luke rose his eyebrows "Again?"
Julie sighed before speaking. "My mom died of Cancer. But she didn't tell us for almost an entire year. When she did tell us, it was only 2 months before she passed away. So if I had known she had cancer-"
"You would've got to spend more time with her." Luke finished for you. "So you were mad that I didn't tell you because you didn't want to be put in that situation again."
Julie nodded, sighing. "Selfish move, I know." She said forcing a laugh and fiddling with her rings.
"It's not." Luke said, "I understand what you're saying, and I get it. I'm sorry." He said.
"You sure?" Julie asked.
"Yeah." He smiled, as did Julie.
The 2 heard an "Aww." Outside the door. Julie got up, and walked to the door. When she opened it, she saw Carrie and the two boys, looking like a deer in headlights.
"Heyyy." The blonde boy said. "I'm Alex."
Julie laughed, shaking his hand. "I'm Julie."
Julie looked at the darker haired boy, who looked as if he was about to explode. "You good there bud?" She asked.
"You guys are so cute!" He squealed.
"You were eavesdropping?" Julie asked
"No! We were just listening to you guys confess your love for each other without your knowning consent! No biggie!" He said.
Julie looked back at Luke, in complete confusion and shock.
"That's Reggie for ya."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
hey guys! sorry for this short chapter lmao. for those who don't know atherosclerosis, is a disease of the arteries characterized by the deposition of plaques of fatty material on their inner walls, which can lead to ~Coronary Artery Disease~.
(definition for oxford languages)
