The Curse of Once Upon a Time

Chapter XVII: The Hospital

Salvadore kept tapping his foot on the ground while they were waiting for news at the hospital. He hadn't expected the way that he found out about where Serenity was to be because she had a major asthma attack and hadn't been able to breathe. He thought that she might have gone back on her own.

It was nearing the time that they would go to bed when Arrow had gotten a call about Serenity being in the hospital. The plan had been that Arrow and Calliope would get a car to the hospital to see how she was doing, but Salvadore was so anxious to see her that he had convinced their parents to let him go with them.

They hadn't given much information on what happened or how she was doing. All they had said was that she was alive for the time being, but she was still having trouble breathing. They just couldn't see her yet, not until she didn't need as much maintenance.

"Are you alright?" Eryx asked. Salvadore glanced up at him. Eryx had been there from before they were. He wanted to be mad, but Eryx could have saved Serenity's life. If he hadn't been there to call for help, she might have choked to death.

He was just angry that Eryx had been there in the first place. Serenity had trusted Eryx over him. She hadn't known Eryx for that long, but she had known him all her life. The good thing at least was that they knew where she was, but they didn't know that she was okay.

Eryx shook his head. "I don't know why you blame this on me."

"You could have at least tried to help her breath. If you saw her having trouble breathing, then you should have gotten her inhaler."

"I didn't know."

"What?"

"She never told me about her lungs." Eryx said. "I didn't know what was happening. I didn't even know that she had an inhaler."

Salvadore scrunched up his nose. "Why wouldn't she have told you?"

"I don't know. It wasn't until I was at the hospital and asking about what happened that they told me about her lungs and asthma." He said. "I would have tried to help her more if I had known that it was so bad."

Salvadore had to admit that he couldn't be mad at Eryx for that. Serenity hadn't told him about her lungs. Salvadore just couldn't understand why Serenity would have said anything about it. She knew that her lungs were important and if somebody didn't know about them and she got into trouble, she could be in danger. If Eryx hadn't reacted the way that he did, she could have been in a much worse scenario.

"At least you called for help." Salvadore muttered. Part of him really hated that Eryx wasn't to blame. It was Serenity's fault, not his. It just felt like it should have been his fault.

Eryx nodded, moving his eyes towards the ground. "Salvadore." Calliope called, walking over and tapping Salvadore's shoulder. "They're letting us see her. She's out right now, but we'll be able to see her."

"Really?" Salvadore asked. He was getting tired. They weren't going to make it back to their house. The plan had been to get a hotel after they saw Serenity. "Is she going to be okay?"

"They think so. They have her hooked up to a machine, but she's gotten better since she got here." Calliope said. She looked over at Eryx, pausing a moment when she saw him. Salvadore had almost forgotten that their parents hadn't met Eryx. "Who are you?"

Eryx stood up, extending his hand to shake hers. "I'm Eryx... I called for help to get Serenity to the hospital." He said. "I'm a friend."

"I see." Calliope said. Salvadore had to bite his lip so that he didn't laugh. Their parents liked them to be taught strict and raised properly. Eryx would have been the friend they never wanted their kids to hang out with. He couldn't say that he was surprised by the way she reacted.