Never Too Late

Chapter Thirty Six

Johan watched sunlight peel through his bedroom curtains as he lay on his back in bed. He had succumbed to boredom after having nothing to do for the past seven days since he had taken time off from school after having his eye surgery. He had spent most of his time pacing around his room and scrolling on his phone; he even tried to call Asher every now and again, but he never answered. He hadn't said anything to anyone about the news report he saw but he was sure his old friends were aware of it by now. Sighing, he sat up in bed because that was just one of many things he had to worry about.

He turned and looked at his closet mirror before touching the white bandage over his eye. Today was the appointment to remove it and he would finally know if the surgery worked. His parents were still at work, and his siblings were at school, so he was left to worry on his own until they came back. He had put on a brave face in front of everyone, but secretly, he was afraid, and he felt alone.

Going back to scrolling on his phone, he passed his time aimlessly and occasionally tried to review his school notes, but he realized he was too flustered to focus on anything.

"Mom, what time are you getting home?" Johan asked his mother after finally deciding to call her.

"I'm going to be late this evening, I'm so sorry but something came up at work," his mother apologized. "Your dad will have to take you to your appointment,"

"Oh, okay," Johan resigned.

"I know it'll go well, I can't wait to see you later!" She told him before hanging up.

Johan slumped on his bed in silence as he watched the hours tick by until finally, he decided to call his father too.

"Hey, Dad, are you almost home yet? My appointment is an hour and a half," Johan asked worriedly.

"Ah, no, I'm busy, I have a project I need to finish by tonight. I thought your mother was taking you?" His father asked amidst a background full of noise.

"No, something came up at work for her as well," Johan murmured, trying his best to hide his disappointment.

"I'm sorry, Johan, maybe your brother can take you when he gets back from school, or we could reschedule." His father suggested.

"No it's okay. I can go by myself. I'll take the bus." Johan told him before hanging up.

He chided himself for feeling so helpless when he was eighteen and more than capable of doing things on his own. Getting off his bed, he went and got ready for his appointment but he couldn't ignore the knots he felt tying in his stomach.

Maybe he could try to drive? He was sure he could do it even though the medication he was taking made him a little nauseous but what if the news he got was what he was fearing? Would he be in any state to drive home?

Picking his phone back up, he wanted to call his father again, but he knew he was still busy, and his mom was the same, but he felt that he had to talk to someone so he kept scrolling through his contacts until he saw Ericka's number. He got it from when they had a group presentation together, but after that, he never reached out to her again. For unknown reasons, he clicked on her number and called her.

"Hey, Ericka?" He said nervously when she picked up.

"Johan? Hey, how are you doing?"

"Um, not too bad." He replied nervously, swallowing the lump that formed in his throat. He wasn't sure why he called her but he was regretting it as he thought he was embarrassing himself.

"You should take it easy until you recover," Ericka told him. She found out about his eye from Luke, and thankfully, she had kept it a secret from his classmates.