Change of Location - Pedri González

xviii. rejection

***

Sophia was skating a very thin line between lawful and unlawful driving. Veering more towards unlawful at that.

With the ambulance having its emergency siren and lights handy to swerve and veer away from traffic, Sophia did her best under normal traffic conditions, relying on her own memory of the streets of Sevilla rather than following the ambulance. It had left her after the first traffic light.

When, at long last the drive had finally ended, handbrake pulled up, engine switched off, Sophia having parked grudgingly within the hospital parking bays. She turns behind to Clarissa, Pedri at her side too.

"You two go in," says Sophia. "I need to call Gio. Let him and his parents know what's happened."

They nod in agreement, and Pedri slides off his seat and outside, making way for Clarissa to push his seat  forward - Sophia's car only had two passenger doors, annoyingly. Before they both leave her sight, though, Pedri drops his head back into the vehicle, a hand on the roof of the car as he bent down.

"Hey, relax, okay?" He says. "They know what they're doing in there. She'll be okay. Breathe."

And breathe, she did. Pedri left and Sophia scrolled through her contacts to Gio's number. She hits call, and it starts ringing.

She hadn't spoken to him since she left him hanging, yesterday. When he confessed that he liked her. And now she needed to tell him his sister was in the hospital. God, this was messy.

"Gio," she says, when the throat on the other end cleared in answer. "Hi."

"Hey, Soph," he replies. "Um, I'm glad you called. Everything okay?"

"Yeah—I..." She sighs. No point in sugarcoating anything. "No. It's Maddie. I'm at the hospital for her."

"What," he breathed, and for a second, it sounded like his heart stopped.

Poor guy. That's his little sister.

"Don't worry," she tells him, though she's not quite sure she sounds as convincing as she should be. "I think she's okay. She's just here in the hospital as a precaution; she fell at the football game and was knocked unconscious. There was head bleeding, so the ambulance was called. I'm with Clarissa and Pedri, and they've gone in to check into her room."

"Thanks, Soph," he says slowly. "For doing this."

"Don't mention it. Thought you and your parents had to know."

"Yeah, um. I'm gonna go let them know. We'll be there soon. It's a lot to ask but any chance you can, er, stay for a while? She'd be relieved to wake up to a familiar face, to see yourself or Clarissa."

"Yeah, Gio," says Sophia, "We'll stay with her until you get here."

"Thanks, Soph. Appreciate it."

"See you soon, Gio."

It felt strange to Sophia. Being in the hospital for someone. Despite her degree relating to science as well as healthcare in some fashions, going to the hospital for someone - in most cases, one would naturally be uneasy. Let alone it being a friend that's been hurt.

Sophia texted her parents that because of this, she and Clarissa might be home a little later.

"Any news?" asks Sophia.