“Once Sam’s feeling better, how about we go back to the resort and stay a week this time? I didn’t get to try out their new spa,” Laurel said with a hint of disappointment in her voice, knowing my answer would never come back there.
At seven in the morning, I’m putting together food for the lunchboxes. I didn’t sleep at all last night, and pretending otherwise would be a lie. “Laurel, where’s Austin?” I pushed myself to move faster, knowing I tend to fumble under pressure.
“He’s on his way,” she replied before disappearing upstairs, likely to get changed. I’d been dressed for three hours already, so once Laurel woke up, we’d only have to pack for Sam’s hospital visit. I kept texting Sarah, but she hadn’t responded. I couldn’t really feel anger toward her, after all, she’s the only one taking care of Sam right now.
I heard the sound of a car pulling up. “He’s here!” Austin and I quickly filled the car with the things to bring, double checking that we had it all. I’d packed Sam’s clothes and some familiar items for him, plus a lot of food I prepared.
“I’m here, I'm here. Hey, babe.” We all made our way directly to the hospital to see Sam.
“Has anyone heard any updates on Irish?” I asked suddenly, curiosity getting the better of me. My blood still boils at the thought of her, but I need to make sure she stays away from Sam. I’m not sure how I’d react if I saw her again.
“Uh, we visited her before going to see Sam yesterday. She’s stable and awake, but she doesn’t really have anyone there for her.” I happened to hear from Clea that Irish's mom passed away when she was in high school and her dad is in jail now. I don’t know why, but it seems like her life inside is chaotic, she just doesn’t show it to everyone with the work she's doing outside. I mean, if her family's background is almost nonexistent and her dad’s in jail, how messed up is she?
I stayed quiet for the whole ride to the hospital, just thinking about how much I miss having him by my side. Everywhere I go, it's like there’s a piece of us left behind. Like now, sitting in the car, I usually feel sleepy and tired when traveling. He’d always put on soft music because he knew it was what I liked. Whenever I woke up from my nap, he’d surprise me with a snack he picked up somewhere during the drive. And sometimes, when I saw him looking tired from driving, I’d start talking to him until I ran out of things to say. I miss how he’d tease me and joke around, just like friends hanging out. After a few more minutes on the road, we finally arrived at the hospital. I brought his backpack with me and a lunchbox of sandwiches I made just for him.
While we were walking, I kept thinking about how much I wanted him to be awake right now. All I could focus on was holding onto hope. As we got closer to his room, my chest started pounding as I heard loud voices coming from the hallway near his room. We weren’t even at the door yet, but we could already see Sarah and Irish shouting at each other near Sam’s room. “You have always been selfish, Sarah!”
“When it comes to my son, absolutely! You've done this to him again. I swear I’ll see you behind bars this time!” A nurse is holding Irish back, preventing her from getting closer to Sarah. She’s wearing a hospital gown with no slippers. The moment she spotted us, she locked eyes with me looking furious.
She looked past Sarah and directed her attention toward me. “You! She did this to Sam! It wasn’t me—”
“Could you please take her out of here?” Laurel stepped up infront of me and told the nurse who's holding her.
“I'll never forget you, Cari! We're exactly alike, we're both insane and everyone around us knows it! Stay the hell away from him! We’re poison for him!” Her scream was so piercing that it made everyone pause and watch what was happening. She continued to fight the nurse who was trying to hold her back and every person around turned to see how she was acting until her voice echoed through the space. Sarah appeared scared, just like the rest of the people around us, including me. I know I had said I would probably react negatively toward her if I saw her again, but once I saw her, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. After she was out of sight, we all turned toward Sarah who looked bothered by our presence. I hurried toward her as I saw her unsure expression. “How’s Sam?” I asked her without hesitation. She stared at the items in our hands with a look of curiosity.
