A few minutes after the door closes, it opens back up again and suddenly Tyler is being rolled quickly into the hallway and back down another. They run straight by me and I stand up to follow. They go into a room and slam the door and the hallway gets quiet again. I look at the sign next to the door. Operations.
I start to hyperventilate slightly. I'm standing there and I can't breathe and then I jump when Dr. Bensen taps on my shoulder. "Rosaline? Are you alright?"
I nod but I can't talk for a few seconds. He waits politely. "Why is he in there?"
"They found a piece of debris that may have punctured is heart, causing the internal bleeding and the heart problems. They're going to try to remove it. Assuming they can do it safely, he'll be fine and he should be sent home soon after he heals. I would be in there to supervise it but I'm not a surgeon. I recommend going home. I'll let you know when he's okay to have visitors again but that could take a while."
"Thank you." I start to head back down the hall, only just now realizing I'm still holding Ty's food. I take it all the way to the car then climb in hesitantly. I sit in the car for a little while and try to think of what to do now. I think about things I haven't done in a while, things to take my mind off of what just happened. I think about places I used to go with Skylar and I end up on my way to the book store in the mall.
I get there around 9 and when I do, I go up to the food court and grab a mango smoothie, remembering how Sky always used to giggle when she got her berry smoothie. She'd pretend it was blood. I laugh to myself and then walk into the book store. I go straight to the fiction section and pick up Indigo. I sit down in a chair next to the little café facing the children's section downstairs. I take a deep breath and try to lose myself in the book but as soon as I start on the first page, someone says my name. I look up and there I meet the same pair of warm brown eyes that met me this morning.
"Christian right?" I smile up at him, thankful for a distraction.
"Yeah," he smiles at me, "is there any chance you might want to hang out for a little while? My sister is shopping and that could take forever. I figured I would just walk around a while until she got back but if you're not busy maybe we could walk around together?"
"Yeah. Lemme just buy this book and then we can hang out." After I pay for it, I slip it in my purse and we walk out of the book store.
"So what are you doing here?" We walk to the right and begin our loop around the mall.
"I needed a distraction."
"Rough day so far?"
"You could say that."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"Its just Tyler. He's not doing very well and I went to see him and...yeah it went downhill pretty quickly."
"Ah. How do you two know each other anyway? How did you meet?"
"He was in my 4th grade class and we got along really well. I've been best friends with him ever since."
"You guys ever have anything more than that? Its none of my business but I had a best friend like that. We dated for a while and when we broke up we weren't as close."
"Yeah we did. It got...complicated and I didn't talk to him for a long time. We just started talking again like a week ago. We just clicked right back into our groove though. It was like nothing had ever changed." I realize I'm smiling when I finish talking and I look at Christian and he's already staring at me. I clear my throat and try to ignore the warmth that's spreading across my face. "Anyway, what about you? Where do you come from? What's your mysterious back story?"
He looks away finally and thinks for a second. "Well. We moved here from Detroit at the beginning of the summer. My mom died and my dad got a really good job out here so we packed up and relocated. I got on the football team pretty quick and then I joined photography and I made friends fast. You know, your little town is so much easier to get along in. There are so many more people in Detroit compared to here. And that's saying something because my highschool had around 1500 students. That's not many."
"Welcome to the country."
He laughs, "thanks! Anyway, I think I fit in here. I like it."
"I'm glad. We don't get many new students way out here. Its nice to see a new face."
We keep walking and talking. He's easy to talk to, polite, funny, sweet, and he's got great taste in music. Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Panic at the Disco, Florence and the Machine. When he tells me his favorite song is a toss up between Mr. Brightside by The Killers and This Is Gospel by Panic at the Disco, I basically decide right then and there that he is a possible candidate for my next boyfriend. He's perfect.
We stop for lunch and I don't even realize we've been talking for an hour and a half until he says that his sister wants to leave. "Sorry but I've got to go. It was nice talking to you though. Thanks for keeping me company." He says with a smile.
"No problem. Can I see you phone for just a second?" He hands it to me without a second thought and I put my number in it. "Just in case you ever need someone to keep you company again." I hand it back to him and he's smiling like an idiot when he walks away.
-
Around 4 or so I go back to the hospital. I ask to speak with Dr. Bensen and he greets me with a smile.
"Dr. Bensen, is there any chance Tyler is awake yet? I really need to see him."
"He got out of surgery about an hour and a half ago. He's still pretty drugged up but he's awake. You can see him if you really want to but he's pretty out of it."
He lets me find my way to Tyler's room. I knock once then enter and close the door again behind me. Ty sees me and smiles really wide. "Rosaline! My babe! My beautiful girl! My sister from another mister! What's up girl? What's happenin in the land of Ros?"
I start laughing and I have to sit down. "The land of Ros, huh? That's a new one."
He just continues to smile at me. "I would laugh but you would not believe how much that hurts. By the way, did you see the unicorn and his girlfriend in the lobby? I saw them and I was like 'what! How did such an animal get such a hot babe?!' I mean she's smokin. Like a cigar yanno." he makes a gesture like he's pretending to inhale a cigar and blow out 'o' shaped smoke.
"Oh my god Tyler. This is great." I'm laughing so hard at this point that I can't breathe. By the time I finally catch my breath, Ty is blowing imaginary smoke bubbles and trying to catch it, mumbling "damn" everytime he misses one.
"Dude." He suddenly turns to me with wide eyes, "I feel. Fan-friggin-tastic" he slurs.
"Yeah I bet. What have they got you on? A gallon of morphine?" I'm looking at all the bags leading in through the IV in his arm and wondering what they're all for.
He starts laughing then stops and coughs then winces. "Ros. You're funny. And pretty and smart and cute and perfect and you can sing like an angel! Like this-Ros watch! Like this, like this" he waves his hand at me to get my attention then proceeds to sing the most awful, off-key note I've heard since Joceline Martinez tried out for the solo in Freshman year. I give Ty a thumbs-up and he laughs a little with delight. "Duuuuuuuddddeeeeee. I'm hungry man."
"I'll ask the doctor what you can eat okay?"
"Thanks bruh. I know you got my back."
I walk out and find Dr. Bensen by the front desk. He says he'll have someone bring food in for Ty and I go back to report to him, only to find that he's asleep again. I sit next to his bed and lean my head back against the wall and try to fall asleep. A few minutes passes in silence and I'm starting to wonder when they'll bring his food when Ty mumbles my name. I look at him and he's got his hand out.
"Can you hold my hand? I want to make sure you stay here. I don't like being here alone."
"Sure, Ty. I asked them to bring you food by the way. It'll be here soon I think." I don't think he's listening anymore. His eyes start to close and his breathing evens out and I know he's out for a while.
I take the quiet moment to call his parents and let them know I won't be home for dinner. Avenlea answers and I tell her I'm going to be with Tyler for a while. She asks how he is and I tell her he's sleeping right now. I told her about his surgery this morning and how he was drugged up but other than being tired, he seems perfectly fine now. She thanks me and hangs up. I fall asleep a little while later with Ty still holding my hand and my phone in the other hand. I barely notice the nurse come in, leave the food on a tray and leave again.
