code blue | l.r.h

nice to meet ya

"cause when the mornin' comes, i know you won't be there"

~

Michael felt a hand on his shoulder and was abruptly shaken. He didn't know how long his eyes were closed, AirPods blaring his favorite music, trying to drown out his racing thoughts. He sat up quickly, scrambling around and yanking them out of his ears. A man in the waiting room next to him gestured towards the tall doctor in the doorway with papers in his hand.

"Is there a, um, Mr. Clifford?"

Michael shot up from his chair, stumbling over his two feet and backpack, "Me! I am! Where is she? Is she okay? Can I see her?"

"I take it you're here for Marlee Pierce, if I'm not mistaken?" The doctor with black hair and a clean-shaven face spoke to him.

The boy was quick to nod his head at the sound of his best friend's name. It had been a long day, and now he only wanted to reassure her that everything would be okay.

"Yeah, sorry, who are you?" Michael could recall seeing him barge into the room Marlee was being held in out of the corner of his eye, but at the time, it felt as if everything was spinning around him and wouldn't plan on slowing down anytime soon. However, now that he's had time to clear his head, the nausea has finally subsided.

"Dr. Irwin, head of trauma. A pleasure to meet you." The doctor spoke with a hand outstretched, trying to offer the boy comfort.

Michael's gaze followed the doctor's hand, his brain taking a minute to process what he was doing but quickly shaking his hand, "Likewise."

"If you follow me, I can take you to your friend now."

As Michael followed the doctor, a million thoughts were racing through his mind. What was wrong with Marlee? Would she be mad he didn't make it to her sooner? The gears in his head wouldn't stop turning; to say he was anxious was the understatement of the year. Finally, they turned a corner, and Michael was back in the middle of the busy emergency room where his freak-out first began. His eyes looked everywhere for his petite brunette best friend. Finally, he caught a glimpse of her in a separate room as the doors swung open, with two blonde doctors walking through them, making their way to Dr. Irwin and himself.

"Your friend had another heart attack; we'll have to keep her here to run some tests to figure out what's happening. You can see her for a minute, but it really is family only." A tan doctor with buzzed blonde hair spoke to Michael.

"I am her family. She doesn't have anyone else." Michael shoved past the doctor and into the room with Marlee. She was lying on the hospital bed with her eyes closed and EKG tabs sticking to her chest. Two nurses were in the room; one was drawing blood from Marlee's arm, the other typing away on a computer.

"Mar?"

"Mikey... Can I go home? I just want to go home. Please." The girl had been drained of every ounce of energy she had. Marlee knew damn well how to put up a fight, but she was finally at wit's end and didn't know how much longer she could keep trying to show off this brave face for every nurse and doctor that poked and prodded at her.

"Miss Pierce, we need to run tests. I think you're smart enough to know that someone your age having heart attacks is not normal." The doctor to Michael's right spoke up, startling him a little. He had dirty blonde hair on the longer side, peeking out of a scrub cap to keep the strands out of his eyes.

Michael scoffed, "We're in our third year at Harvard Medical, we're smart enough to know that, but we don't know what it is, and clearly, you don't either!"