Yellow [Dwayne Hoover]

8

The sun shined into your room through the window curtains, stinging your eyes as you opened them. You let out a small groan, using your hand to shield your vision from the bright sun as you turned over to glance at the small clock beside the bed.

It was about 7.

You took a quick shower and got dressed just as fast as harsh knocks came at the door. You shouted a quick 'two seconds!' before exiting the bathroom and swinging the door open to see Frank and EMT's walking behind him.

"What's wrong?" You question, peering out to see more walking towards the two of you with a stretcher. "Olive woke up but grandpa didn't..." was all Frank whispered as he motioned for you to grab your things that sat on the hotel bed.

===

The drive was almost uncomfortable and dead silent; the only noise being the ambulance sirens in front of the van. It didn't take long to make it to the hospital; only a rough ten minutes or so.

Richard parked while the ambulance pulled into the front and took Edwin inside. They instructed you all to wait in the waiting room which you all promptly did; in another unnerving silence.

You sat in the middle of three empty seats, to the left of Sheryl while Dwayne stood, gazing out the window and Olive rummaging through the pamphlets on the wall. She was the first to break the silence, holding up one of the small, rectangular, pamphlets, "Want to take an eye test?"

She was looking towards Dwayne as she spoke but he simply looked back out the window. "Uncle Frank? An eye test?"

A small frown formed on your face at Olive's attempts at lightening the mood or at least trying to distract everyone from the situation.

"Olive, come here. Put those away." Sheryl sighed, sitting up slightly as she spoke, "We're gonna have a family meeting, y/n included. Dwayne, family meeting."

Olive did as she was told, walking over to stand beside Dwayne who sat in between you and Sheryl. Sure she included you in the family meeting but you still felt unsure considering the circumstances.

After a moment, Sheryl glanced between both Dwayne and Olive, "First of all, the doctors are doing everything they can to help grandpa right now. He's had a long, eventful life, and I know he loves both of you very much. But if God wants to take him, we have to be ready to accept that, ok?"

Richard had stood, leaning against a wall as he also listened. You could tell that it was all effecting him as much as he tried to hide it. It was the only time you truly felt sympathy for him.

"Whatever happens...we're a family. And what's important is that we love each other. I love you guys so, so much..."

Sheryl rested her head in her hands, sobbing softly.  You blinked away tears of your own, not wanting to cry in front of literally everyone. You watched as Olive went to hug her mother; a doctor walking in at the same moment.

"Are you the family of Edwin Hoover?"

The question made everyone's heads snap up, Richard confirming and walking over. "I'm sorry. We did everything we could. He was, uh...well, it was too much." The doctor sighed, looking down at Olive, "He probably just fell asleep and never woke up."

Everyone was dead silent; looking at each other, at the doctor or at the tiles below their feet. "I'll have someone come talk to you about handling the remains."

"Thank you." Richard mumbled, keeping his gaze to the floor as the doctor walked away with a nod. You watched as the doctor peered into a doorway shouting 'Linda' before leaving. You furrowed your brows as the sudden informality.