Love | R.L. (R5)

Chapter 14 -The Turn For The Worst-

I waited for a few minutes, not moving my hand off the cloth, until the nurse came back with the doctor behind her. The doctor went on the opposite side as me while the nurse came up right beside me. I pulled my hands away from Ross to let the nurse stand there. I noticed the doctor look at the nurse and nod. She stepped in front of me and reached across Ross.

“This might hurt a little” she whispered then she put her hands on his arm and gently rolled him over. I heard him moan and close his eyes in pain. I stood up and went beside the nurse then I picked up Ross’ hand.

“Everythings alright” I said trying to calm him. The scary thing was that I didn’t know if I was telling the truth. I noticed the doctor replace the nurse’s hands. The nurse then turned around and went over to the sink again. The doctor waited patiently for her to return with a few different things. She put her hands back on Ross’ arm, letting the doctor pull away and start to do somethings with the stuff she had brought. When he had finished he grabbed a towel and dipped it in the small bucket of water then gently put it on Ross’ back where he had been shot. I heard him moan again and he squeezed my hand extremely hard. “Your OK” I whispered “calm down.” He looked at me for a moment then closed his eyes and moaned again. I sighed and closed my eyes, trying the best I could to not cry. I waited a while until the doctor stopped what he was doing and the nurse carefully rolled Ross back over. I heard the doctor sigh and I looked up at him.

“I think you should leave” he said looking at me. I stared at him for a moment unable to move. “Do you have somewhere you can go?” he asked and I slowly nodded my head.

“What’s wrong with him?” I finally managed to ask.

“He’s got an extremely high fever” the doctor answered “and I think it’s best you go home.” I looked down at Ross and realized he had already fallin’ asleep again. I sighed then slowly pulled my hand away from his and stepped back.

“Come on” the nurse gently said as she put her hands on my shoulders and guided me toward the door. She took me outside the room then turned, reentered and closed the door behind. I stood there for a moment, unable to move then slowly, I started to walk down the hallway, away from the room. I decided I had better call Rydel so I pulled out my cell phone and dialed in her number. I rang a few times before she finally answered with a sleepy ‘hello’.

“Hey Rydel, it’s Alex” I said into the phone.

“Alex! Why are you calling so late? Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yea I’m fine” I paused for a moment before continuing “it’s Ross. He’s sick and the doctor sent me away.” There was a long pause and for a moment I thought she had hung up on me. “Can someone come pick me us?” I continued.

“Umm... yea we’ll be there in a bit” she answered then she hung up. I continued walking until I got to the waiting room. There I sat in a chair and closed my eyes and listened to the noises in the hospital. Soon I heard the door opened and I directed my attention over to it. I saw a man pushing a woman into the building. She was screaming in pain and it didn’t take me long to figure out she was in labor. I smiled at the gift of life and thats when I realized how precious it can be. How easily it could be taken. I felt a tear run down my cheek, what if Ross never gets better I thought in horror. The man wheeled the woman away and all was quiet again.

It wasn’t long until I heard the door again and I saw Rydel walk in with Riker and Stormie behind her. She looked around the room and it didn’t take long for her to spot me. She left Riker and Stormie, who had started down the hallway toward Ross’ room, and came over to me. I stood up and gave her a big hug.

“Are you ready to go?” she asked once we pulled apart and I nodded.

“Where did Riker and Stormie go?” I asked her.

“Stormie wanted to see if she could stay with Ross” she responded.  Rydel and I waited for a few minutes before I saw Riker walking toward us.

“The doctor allowed her to stay” he said turning his head to look back down the hallway. “Are we ready to go?” he asked turning back to us. I nodded then followed him and Rydel out of the hospital to their van. Riker got in the drivers side and Rydel sat in the back.

“You can sit here” she said while patting the seat beside her. I smiled and climbed in.  I buckled my seatbelt then sat quietly in the van. The motor started and we pulled away from the curb. I sighed. Will I ever see Ross again  I thought. Will I ever get to tell him how I feel?