The Penthouse: Walmart Version (Book 1)

Bless me Achoo! (Simon says be cool)

"WHERE THE F*CK IS JESS?" Zak exploded through the pristine white doors of the hospital, face engulfed in red. His eyes bulged, fists clenched.

"I SAID, WHERE'S JESS?"

"She's in there," Ana replied, voice meek as she gestured towards a wardroom. Zak stormed over to the door before a pair of strong arms stopped him from going any further.

"They're only letting one person go see her for now. She's still asleep," Jimmy sighed, tightly gripping onto the hem of Zak's shirt.

"Which dumbass is in there with her right now?"

"Matt's in there with her. Calm down. She'll be fine. There's the doctor, he'll tell you what happened."

Zak marched over to the doctor, voice low as he asked him what was wrong with his sister.

The doctor slipped his glasses off, "She's stable but barely. Your friends got her here just in time. We didn't think she would make it."

"What happened to her?" Zak's voice was now barely a whisper, all the anger had left his face upon hearing that his beloved sister was going to be okay.

The doctor took a deep breath before explaining, "She was with your friends when she... when she... sneezed." The doctor rubbed his forehead as Zak's face fell.

"She sneezed?" Zak whimpered as the words left his mouth.

"Yes. Your friends rushed her to the hospital, and so we managed to save her. She's going to be alright, but be careful. We're keeping her in observation for a day. She'll be discharged tomorrow." The doctor delicately patted Zak's shoulder before drifting off.

Zak walked back in a daze to his friends before sinking down to the floor.

"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have left, I-I should've stayed, I, I-" Zak's breathing became more laboured with each word.

"Zak, don't blame yourself for this," Jimmy frowned, crouching next to him. "You couldn't have done anything to stop this. You know how deadly sneezes are, we're just lucky Sam carried her here in time."

Zak gazed up at Sam, tears filling his eyes, "You carried her all the way here?"

"I couldn't just let her die," Sam replied meekly, eyes glued to the floor. "It was really nothing, don't worry about it," Sam tried to turn away, but Jimmy stood in front of him, towering over him and stopping Sam from leaving.

"What the hell do you mean it was nothing? You carried her 5 blocks to get here, that's a bit more than nothing!" Jimmy lectured, his voice getting louder and louder as he yelled. "Stop downplaying it, you saved her life. You should-"

"Thank you," Zak interrupted Jimmy's yelling as he stood up, placing his hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Thank you." Sam smiled softly, as he placed his hand on top of Zak's.

"You wanna know what happened? The whole story? Maybe it'll make you feel better now that Jess's out of danger. Think of it as closure," Ana said as she strolled over to Zak, her logic-driven mind making an appearance.

"Please. I beg you," Zak said.

Ana squeezed Zak's hand before she began to recite the day's events.

***

The group erupted into laughter, rolling around at the punchline of a hilarious joke Jimmy just made, Jess's smile reaching the sides of her face at the reaction from her friends. Sam stretched over, with the intention of slapping Jimmy's back as congratulations when he was interrupted.