MIND GAMES: Guild Tryouts

Chapter 14

—The room was dark, even though it was only 3:00 PM. White noise floods the atmosphere, being produced from the equipment scattered around the room. A bed was situated in the middle of the convoluted mess. Nurses, doctors, and even a member of the county police were all waiting in line to greet the patient.

Jayson, Isabelle, and Josh were in line, being put at the front since Jayson was considered a special guest.

The entire time Jayson spent walking Isabelle and Josh around the hospital was not nearly as impactful as getting to see his mom. It was indeed the highlight of his day and week.

As Jayson and his friends approach their turn to see his mother, he turns to the few remaining staff in the room.

"Excuse me, but I'd rather the room not be so crowded," Jayson utters.

"Of course." A doctor responds, "Everyone, let's give the young man some private time with her."

Isabelle and Josh watched silently as the rest of the people in the room walked out of the room, letting the door behind them have the slightest amount of space from being shut. Once everyone is gone, Jayson loosens the straps on his shoulders and allows his backpack to sway in front of him. He unzips the top pocket and pulls out a set of flowers.

'Thank god they aren't ruined this time!' Jayson thinks as he pulls out the bundle of fauna.

Isabelle and Josh shimmery back and forth in a semi-awkward motion since they didn't know what to do. This was their first time seeing Jayson this vulnerable, let alone see him do his routine here. Jayson picks up the old flowers from last week and holds them in his opposite hand to put the new flowers in the vase.

"Um, Maguire..." Josh mumbles, "Want me to throw those out for you?"

"Nah, it's alright," Jayson responds, walking over to the trash can.

Isabelle walks over to the vase with her arms crossed tightly. She takes a better look at the flowers Jayson had bought, then studies the rest of the nightstand they rested on top of. She then spots the calendar Jayson marks every week, seeing all of the "X" marks on each Sunday of this month and the previous.

"If you want, you can mark today!" Jayson says from behind her right shoulder, then turning to Josh, "And so can you!"

"Are you sure? This seems to be a 'you' thing..." Ivy says nervously.

"Yea, I was thinking the same thing," Josh says.

"Well, this is your first time being here in the first place, so you guys could sign your names on today's date to commemorate it! It would be cool to look back on." Jayson explains.

When he put it like that, Isabelle and Josh seemed to be more open to it. Jayson shows them how he usually does it, crossing the date out with an "X." Then Isabelle and Josh sign their names next to the "X."

Josh looks at the calendar from two weeks ago. A circle was placed under the crossed-out date, having the words "2nd Anniversary!" in Jayson's writing style written next to it.

"Two whole years, huh?" Josh says to himself.

"Yeah, it doesn't feel that long ago, does it?" Jayson responds.

Isabelle walks over to Jayson's mom and inspects all of the wires and hookups around her body. Her eyes were covered with a sleeping mask, and her hands and arms were covered in IVs. Several machines next to her bed had readings of her heartbeat, oxygen levels, and pulse. Isabelle starts to get a little over-anxious looking at the state of Jayson's mother but doesn't want to make a scene.