The Yearbook

Chapter 71

.Riley.

"How's she doing?" James asks, approaching Kate and I as we stood outside the room Michelle was put in inside the hospital. He wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me slightly closer to him and Kate glances up before sighing, shrugging her shoulders. 

"Michelle's barely been at rehearsals. She can't have overworked herself. I have no idea what happened but the doctors are still running a few tests," she says, sounding somewhat frustrated as she looked back through the glass window where one of the main featuring dancers lay on the bed, basically unconscious still. There was an IV attached to her finger and her clothes had changed to scrubs. 

I feel James's thumb draw subtle patterns over my hip but I don't leave his side as the two of us continue listening to what Kate had to say. 

"I'm gonna check in with the others. You two stay here for when she wakes up, okay?" she tells us both, causing us to nod our heads in response before she walks off and leaves us in the corridor with other nurses and doctors rushing around us. 

"You think she's okay?" I ask, sighing as I rest my head on James's shoulder. 

He looks into her room and through our reflections I watch him lean down to press his lips against the top of my head. "I can only hope so," he says with a soft smile before taking hold of my hand. "Come on, let's go check on her." 

I nod, allowing him to lead me into the room just as the nurse walks out, asking us how we were related to her. "We're her friends," I answer. "We're on the same dance team as her." 

"Okay. But no more than two of you allowed in there at a time, okay?" she says with a smile to which both of us nod before she leaves us in the room alone with Michelle. 

I take a seat on the edge of her bed and James sits himself down opposite me on the chair by Michelle's bed. She stirs a little, blinking repeatedly as her eyes adjust to the light before she sits herself up. 

"James? Ri?" she asks, clearly confused as to what had happened. 

"Hey," I say lightly, taking hold of her hand so that she could focus properly. 

She looks between us both at a loss of what was going on so James exchanged a look with me before choosing her to fill her in, leaning forwards slightly. "We're in the hospital, M. You passed out on stage near the end of the dance. The nurses are just running some tests." 

"Did we lose?" she asks, making me let out a small chuckle as I shake my head. 

"No, we're through to the next round still. It's mine and James's duet tomorrow," I tell her, smiling lightly to try and make her feel better but the look on her face didn't change from its distant expression. 

The same nurse who had allowed us inside just minutes ago returns within seconds, this time with printed documents in her hands. She offers us a smile when she enters and so I return it, letting go of her hand while I sat with y back up straight. 

"Is your guardian around at all?" she asks, looking over the three of us before James shakes his head to respond for Michelle since she still seemed pretty overwhelmed, trying to comprehend exactly what was happening. 

"She's with the rest of our team at the moment? Why? What's up?" He copies me by sitting up with his back against the chair while he looked at the nurse, awaiting to hear whatever information she had written on the sheet clasped in her hands. 

"Well, really, I shouldn't be saying this without the respective adult around," she begins before continuing, filling us in regardless. "But it seems Michelle fainted due to a major blood loss which caused her to experience a heavy migraine when she was dancing. She didn't have enough blood to pump around her body fast enough so it led to her passing out. We've given her some medication but she really needs to ensure she stays hydrated and gets enough rest. I give it a couple days before she'll be up and dancing again-" 

"A couple days?" Michelle interjects suddenly, that most likely being the only thing she had gathered from the nurse's speech. "I don't have a couple days. I have a small group dance tomorrow. And the day after that is the semi-finals and the finals. I need to dance-" 

"Michelle," I whisper to her, moving my hand to her arm. 

James does the same and once she looks at him, he shakes his head at her. "It's okay. We'll sort it out, okay? We'll put on an alternate. But you're not dancing if it's doctors' orders." 

"No!" she yells, shaking us off her grip. "I'm doing it! I'm dancing! I haven't come all this way to just not dance! There's nothing wrong with me, I'm perfectly fine!" 

"I'm afraid that's not the case, Michelle," the nurse counters, causing us all to look back at her, but this time even I was worried as I took in her expression. 

It wasn't a good one... 

"Your body just about has enough strength at the moment to be mobile. Your limbs are losing their strength. The bruises on your body are throbbing. If you continue dancing, it could lead to you passing out again and next time it might take a lot longer for you to heal and get treatment." 

Both mine and James's faces change at the description she had just explained to us, and Michelle glances down, but it was as if she knew exactly what the nurse was talking about. I'd thought Tyler only ever hurt her head. I had no idea it was across her entire body.

"Michelle," I whisper again, trying to get through to her, but it was no use. She whacks my arm away in an instant. 

"Get out," she mumbles.

 James looks at me and his gaze softens. "M, we just want to help you," he tells her, but it only pushes her into growing all the more frustrated. 

"I said get out!" she yells. 

"I'll stay with the nurse, that's it. But I don't want to talk to either of you right now, okay? I can't..." her voice had become a murmur but it was enough to get James and I to listen and respect her decisions. 

He nods his head at me, placing his hand on the small of my back as he leads us both out of the room so she was in there alone.

As soon as we're outside, however, James shakes his head violently before punching his fist against the wall to our side. I breathe out a sigh and move my hand to his back, stroking it softly. "Are you okay?" I ask him. 

His lip trembles but he manages to control his anger and then he nods. "Yeah," he whispers. "I just need a coffee or something, okay? Let's go," he mumbles, turning around and walking ahead in front of me, causing me to hesitantly follow along behind him.