The Turnout

Chapter 3

July 14, 2015, 5:23 PM
(Austin's point of view)
I rubbed my eyes. Being awake since 4 AM does that to you. Still no word on Athea, but I'm still at the hospital with her. Our friend Owen is also with us, and Atheas mom.
My mom gets off of work at 6, in a half hour. The hospital is about 30 minutes away from her work, so she will be here in about an hour. I'm going to be in so much trouble. But I don't know why, I thought I did the right thing.
"Hey, dude. When do you have soccer?" I asked Owen. He shrugged. "I don't know, and don't care. I'm staying here so..." I bit my lip. "Fair enough."
Then my mom walked into the waiting room. I gasped. "What are you doing here already?" She sniffled. "I got fired." My jaw dropped. "What? Why?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. My boss just told me to leave." I took a deep breath. My dad left us when I was 3. Her work is what allows us to buy food, pay for our house, water, gas, electricity. Everything!
"I'll have to get a job." I said. Owen raised her eyebrows. "Dude, that's a lot of work. Are you sure, man?" I nodded. "Would you rather me die?"
He played with the hem of his shirt. "No..." I smiled. "Well then!" Then a nurse came out, with a clipboard in hand. "Are you," she looked at her clipboard, "Austin and Owen?"
I stood up. "Yes mam, this is he!" Then Owen stood up, "yeah, I'm Owen." I glared at him. "Please, come with me. Where's Athea's mother?" Owen shrugged.
"She went down to the food court," I said, "nervous eating." She nodded. "When she comes back, please keep her here. I will be back in 10 minutes."
I nodded. "I could go get her." The nurse itched her nose. "If you insist... I'll be back in 10, remember." I nodded and the nurse walked away.
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I had found Atheas mom, and took her back to the waiting room. The nurse should be back any minute now. "Dude, so how'd you do on the math test?" Owen asked me.
"A. You?" I responded. "C+! I'm so proud!" I bit my lip. I would be so upset if I got a C+! I'm upset that I got an A. I wanted an A+, but oh well.
Then the nurse walked out. "Hi, are you Atheas mother?" She asked Atheas mom. She nodded. "Well, I have some unfortunate news." The nurse said.
"What? What's wrong with my baby?" Atheas mom asked. "Did she get the polio vaccination?" The nursed questioned. Atheas mom shook her head.
"Well, she has polio. Hips down are paralyzed. Happened in her sleep. Nothing we can do about it. The vaccine would have prevented it." The nurse said.
My jaw dropped, and I broke into tears. "No!" Owen was playing Beat The Boss on his phone. "Dude, suck it up." He said.
"More bad news. She needs an organ." I sniffled. "I'm an organ donor. What organ does she need?" The nurse took a deep breathe. "Kidney."
"Could I give her a kidney?" The nurse grinned. "Yeah." I nodded. "Awesome!" My mom touched my shoulder. "Sweetie, you can't! We don't have the money."
The nurse gasped. "Oh, no! Its free of charge!" My mom shook her head. "Sweetie we can't risk anything right now." I looked back towards the hospital rooms.
"But shes my best friend. And I love her."