Melted

Chapter 13

"I'm looking for my brother!" I shouted, running to the hospital front desk, "Richie- Richard Lamere. Please, I'm his sister!" The woman behind the desk look terrified. Peter pulled me away and took the calm approach.

"Hi, I'm sorry. That's Brijit Lamere. I'm her... friend Peter. Her brother came in because he attempted suicide. We were wondering if we could visit him," he said completely calmly. I basically said the same thing, except I was his sister so I was allowed to freak out.

"Yes, Richard Lamere was just checked into room 217 in the psychiatric wing, but visiting hours are over," the woman said looking back and forth between the computer screen and us. I glanced at Peter, who nodded.

"Thanks, we'll take it from here," I replied, heading down the hallway. Peter followed close behind. The woman shouted after us, but we ignored whatever she said and started running. My heart was pounding, and for a second, in the thrill of it all, I felt a twinge of happiness. Then I thought of my brother, trying to end his life. Goodbye to my last scrap of joy.

"Brijit?" a hoarse voice coughed from inside a room. I peeked in to see my brother, covered in bandages and hooked up to dozens of beeping, flashing machines. I nearly fell to the floor.

"Richie? Richie! Oh my god what the hell happened? What were you thinking? I'm sorry. I love you. I'm so glad you're alive," I rambled, rushing to the side of his bed. He smiled and grabbed my hand.

"Me too," he whispered.

"Wait, I thought you just wanted to kill yourself. I mean sorry if it's touchy," I said. Richie looked at Peter and then back to me.

"Yeah, I did. But I'm glad I didn't. It was a mistake," he answered. He seemed like he was hiding something. Maybe that wasn't the truth, but I was just so glad to be with my little brother. I'd sleep on the floor if it meant I never had to leave his side.

"Where's Mom?" Richie asked, looking around the room. I was surprised to see she wasn't there. She was the one that had told me anyway.

"I don't know. She knows you're here. She texted me to let me know. She might've gone home since technically visiting hours are over," I told him. It was typical of Mom to play by the rules. I usually followed the rules too, but not when my brother was hospitalized after trying to kill himself.

"Well I'm glad you don't care about visiting hours," Richie teased. I stuck my tongue out and squeezed his hand. Other than the beeping machines and bandages, he still seemed like my little brother. That helped me feel a little less guilty for not picking up on his suicidal behavior. He had no signs though. Suddenly he just showed up at the hospital with tubes in his stomach and gauze wrapping his arms. Unless I was too preoccupied with my petty issues to notice, which seemed likely. All I thought about was Peter and Gen. Of course I cared about my brother, but for some reason I always viewed my problems as more important. All I had to deal was whether or not I liked a boy.

Speaking of which...

I glanced back to see that Peter had made himself comfortable in the recliner. There were no other chairs in the room, so I was stuck on the cold floor. How chivalrous of him. Still, I couldn't stop my heart from pounding when I looked at him. It was a stupid, ridiculous feeling that I didn't like, but didn't know how to get rid of.

"Excuse me ma'am?" a voice called from the doorway. A security guard stood, walkie-talkie in hand, looking at me. "Visiting hours are over." I wasn't gonna put up a fight this time. As long as I could see Richie once. I nodded and kissed Richard's forehead. He was already falling asleep. Peter stood up and wrapped his arm around me. Maybe all he needed was a crisis, which made him care for me uncontrollably, to return to normal. He couldn't stop his protective instinct.