The sunlight wakes me in the morning. The wind must have blown the curtains open because I'm blinded by the rising sun. What the helllll. "Jeez." I mumble as I flip the covers off me and go to close the curtains. As I grab both of them, I start to pull them shut and something outside catches my eye. I squint and look closer and see a boy walking around in the front yard looking a little lost. I groan internally and decide to let the adults handle it. I close the curtains and go back to bed. Right as I get settled the doorbell rings. I look at the clock and its only 7:15 on a Sunday morning. Can't a girl sleep in?
I drag myself out of bed and grab a pair of short-shorts on the way out. I'm so groggy that I almost walk right by the note taped to the wall at the end of the hallway and waiting for me:
Rosaline,
Sorry we had to duck out for a little while. Zion got a call from work and had to leave and I'm going to church, meeting a friend for lunch then heading to the farmers market. Should be back around 4. Call if you need anything,
xoxo Avenlea
I pull it off the wall and put the shorts on as I'm walking down stairs. I open the front door, the sunlight making me squint again. "Can I help you?"
"Hi. I'm looking for Tyler Penn? I'm Sophia Thomas's brother, Christian. She wanted me to drop off a jacket he left her with the other day."
All I can think is hello gorgeous. He has dirty blond hair, brown eyes and a jaw line carved from the stone of beauty by God himself. He's quite a bit taller than me and by the looks of it, pretty toned under that white t-shirt and gray cardigan. Umph.
"He's not here. He is actually in the hospital right now. I'm Rosaline by the way," I shake his hand, "Tyler is my best friend. I'm going to be seeing him a little bit actually so I can give it to him if you want."
"Oh! Okay then yeah I'll just leave it with you. Let me just get it out of the car a sec." I watch him walk away and I can see all the muscles in his back from here. Its not a bad view from where I'm standing.
He comes back and hands me the jacket. "So I'll see you around then I guess?"
"Yup." I give him a polite smile.
"Alright. Bye then." He smiles back at me.
"Bye. " he starts to back away and almost trips down the steps. He laughs and gives me a goofy smile and then turns and walks away. He gets in his car -which by the way is a 1967 Mustang, redone and reupholstered, something which only I would notice- and waves at me before driving off. I hope I see that boy again.
I run upstairs to get dressed and end up in Tyler's hoodie and a pair of jeans. I let my natural curls do their thing and end up with a giant mess of brown hair. I wash my face and stand in the kitchen for a bit, eating blueberries and trying to decide what to do today. I make up my mind and walk out the door in a pair of old white converse I forgot I had.
-
It takes me about 20 minutes to get to the hospital, a minute to sign in and 2 minutes to get to Ty's room. I knock on the door frame and give Tyler a shy smile before entering. "Good morning sleepy."
He smiles back at me. "Good morning bestie. How's it goin?" His voice has that rough groggy tone to it that always gives me chills.
"I've been better. How about you?" I sit in the same spot on his bed as yesterday and he slowly pulls himself into a sitting position, wincing when he settles back down again. My face must show some concern because he takes my hand again.
"I'm doing fantastic" he laughs. "What are you doing today?"
"I was planning on spending it with you. I don't have much else to do anyway." I shrug.
"Thanks! Glad to know I'm a top priority!" He sticks his tongue out at me and laughs.
"Oh whatever!" I laugh too.
"Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
"Kinda. You hungry? I can get you something if you want."
"I'm starving. Could you grab me as much health stuff as you can find? I'm in the mood for fruits and stuff. I don't want to have to ask you to get me stuff but I'm crazy hungry."
I get up and walk toward the door. "Yeah sure! I'll be back in a few minutes."
I can't find the cafeteria on this floor so I find a sign instead. I work my way down the building and through halls, the whole way thinking why would they make this place such a maze? Isn't the whole point to get people into rooms safely and QUICKLY?
I finally find myself in the right place and start grabbing as many things as I can. An apple, a pudding cup, a bowl of veggies, a Mandarin. I start walking my way back up to Tyler's floor, moving out of the way once in a while for doctors and nurses running past me and into various rooms. I take the elevator up the three flights and when I walk into the lobby, the first thing I notice are a couple of nurses running past me and down the hall. I keep walking, not thinking anything of it until I get closer and the sound of beeping gets louder.
I get to Tyler's door and I see a doctor and a few nurses rushing around his room, messing with monitors and wires and shouting things that don't make any sense to me. Ty is passed out again and the beeping that I now recognize as a heart monitor is going fast and then really slow, only to speed up again. Everything happens in slow motion as I watch them put an oxygen mask on him and start to pull out a defibrillator. A nurse sees me and rushes to shut the door in my face and everything speeds up back to real time.
I stand there for a moment trying to figure out what exactly just happened. Another nurse shows up out of nowhere and gently leads me back to the waiting area. I plop down in a chair and she starts asking me questions and trying to get my attention but I can't seem to get the replay of what just happened out of my head, trying to find one thing I understand. I only left for a few minutes! What the hell!
