Alone I Break | LingOrm FF

~ Part 4 ~

Mikey nearly ran Lingling over as he rushed down the halls of Thana-Kan Hospital. In the back of his mind, it occurred to him that he'd been to this damn place more times than he'd prefer, but it was only a passing thought. His main concern at the moment was Orm.

"Lingling!" he shouted louder than he should have, grabbing his friend's arm. "What's going on? I heard the call on the radio for an ambulance, so I came here instead."

Lingling stared blankly at Mikey, the words penetrating her brain in a slow trickle. It wasn't until Mikey shook her that she responded. "Orm...she...she tore up the house. S-she was on the floor, unconscious...and there...there was blood."

"Did she...," Mikey trailed off, unable to voice the mere thought that Orm may have harmed herself.

"I don't know," Lingling mumbled. And she didn't know. The moment she'd seen the blood and her unmoving body, she'd called for an ambulance. Though she had wanted to, she hadn't touched her while she waited for help, too afraid of causing more harm to her.

"Damnit!" Mikey cursed, his fist slamming into the nearest wall. He grimaced, shaking his hand as pain lanced up his arm. "I knew I should have stayed with her!"

"She shouldn't have been alone," echoed Lingling, though her own thoughts were on her own carelessness. Every day since James's death she had wanted to go see her, talk to her, but she had stayed away. She had let their tumultuous past get in the way of being there for her, and now she was worse. If she had gone to her, Lingling knew she could have stopped this from happening.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Mikey asked, peering down the hall in hopes of seeing a doctor coming toward them.

"No." Lingling shook her head. "Uncle is with her. They've only been back there about fifteen minutes.

A nurse came over and told them they would be more comfortable in the waiting room, but both declined the offer. Neither wanted to be too far away, feeling as if they'd already let Orm down enough by not being there for her. So instead, they stood stoically in the hallway, waiting impatiently for news. 

The image of Orm lying unconscious on the living room floor would not leave Lingling's mind. It was etched there like a permanent stain. She wanted to deny that Orm could have done something to hurt herself, but she knew it was a real possibility. Grief made people do things they normally wouldn't, and Orm had had plenty of grief in her short life. And some of it was caused by her. For an instant, Lingling wondered if things would have been different if the relationship between her and Orm were better. She would have been able to cry on her shoulder, and turn to her for comfort, then, instead of retreating into herself. Unfortunately, she couldn't change the past or change what she did. Though it didn't stop her wishing.

Mikey glanced at Lingling out of the corner of his eye. He could tell that his friend was deep in thought. About what, he could only guess. If he had to put money on it, he'd wager that Lingling was beating herself up over things she couldn't change. She had a tendency to do things like that. Not that Mikey could blame her. It was hard not to second guess your actions when one of your friends was lying in a hospital bed.

Somchai wearily walked down the hallway toward them. The doctor wiped at the sweat beaded on his forehead, forcing himself to hold back a yawn. He was utterly exhausted. His shift had ended nearly two hours earlier, but first he'd been held up by a problem with a patient, and then, just as he was about to head home to his wife Jenny, Orm had been rushed through the doors of the emergency room. There was no way he would leave her care to anybody else.

"Lingling, Mikey," he said, coming to halt in front of his niece Lingling.

"How is she?" Lingling asked hurriedly.