Glad You're Here

Chapter 4: "Why didn't I see the signs?"

    

        I walked in and sat on the bed by Mark. He was on his side, dozing. I stroked his hair gently. As I brushed past his forehead, I noticed the heat immediately. I stopped and put my hand directly on his forehead. It was burning. Alarmed, I gently nudged Mark.

"Mark?" I said. He didn't move. I nudged him again, harder. "Mark?" He still didn't move. I nudged him so hard I practically pushed him off the bed. He opened his eyes and looked up at me, vaguely confused. "Oh, thank God. " I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"What..."He started to say before he spasmed and pushed me off of the bed. I stood and turned around to see him doubled over in pain, his mouth open but not screaming, tears running down his face.

"Oh my god, MARK!" I screamed, grabbing his hand, my other hand on his forehead, feeling the burning skin. "Mark, baby, talk to me. Mark? MARK!" I screamed. He couldn't do anything but cry, his entire body tense, obviously in terrible pain. Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god. I couldn't think. I had no idea what to do. I just screamed. "HELP! DEE! TOM! HELP ME!" I yelled, not wanting to leave Mark's side. Dee was the first to arrive, but Tom wasn't far behind, both of them looking completely terrified and even more terrified when they saw Mark, his longish black hair soaked with sweat, his face red and twisted with pain.

"Mark!" Dee cried, racing to my side. She put a hand on his forehead, saw his face, and looked at me, helplessly. I felt numb. Vaguely, I heard Tom talking on his phone.

"911, my brother is lying on his bed and he's in obvious pain, I don't know what's wrong. We need an ambulance...Symptoms are..."

"His stomach is as hard as a rock." Dee said, her voice cracking, she and Tom shared a look as if they knew exactly what that meant. Tom nodded and began speaking into the phone again with increased urgency. Dee looked at me, tears streaming down her face, but looking calm, like a nurse in a hospital right next to a dying patient.

"We need to get him downstairs," she said. Mark had caught his breath and he was crying hard, almost screaming in agony. I nodded to Dee, trying to shut off all emotion in me, which sort of worked. I felt numb, calm, controlled, the terrified part of me hidden deep down, but still very noticeable. I knew I needed to get my boyfriend downstairs. I didn't know what the consequences might be if I didn't, but I did not want find out. Dee and I each grabbed one of his arms, trying to lift him into a sitting position. Dee talked to him while we did it.

"Mark, honey, we need to get you downstairs. It's going to be ok, but you have to help us. You only have to deal with this for a little bit longer, just help us get you downstairs." I couldn't tell if he nodded or not, but he managed to help us get him standing. He collapsed as soon as he was off the bed and Dee and I were forced to carry him. I staggered like a drunk, but I was determined and my determination and fear gave me strength. Tom clicked off of the phone and helped us so that we could get him down the stairs and into the living room, onto the brown coaches that, just a few hours ago, a perfectly happy, healthy Mark had been sitting on, talking to his family. Well, maybe not completely healthy...

We set him down and he curled up, his head by me, his feet by Dee, the only half of his face that was visible contorted in agony. Dee cried, quietly, her hand on his side, Tom paced back in forth, looking at his brother every two seconds only too look away as if every time he saw the pain Mark was going through was a punch in the face, which it probably was. I stroked Mark's hair, trying to give him some form of comfort through his pain. There wasn't much we could do. Mark had gone silent again, only half conscious, and the only sound was Dee's crying and Tom's shoes hitting the ground as he paced.

We only waited a few minutes for the ambulance, but it felt like hours. We heard the sirens and Dee quickly got up and opened the door. Both dogs ran toward it, barking, but Dee quickly led them away into a side room. Then the paramedics entered, carrying a stretcher, and Tom and I lifted Mark onto it. The paramedics wheeled him out, the three of us following behind, practically jogging to keep up. Tom pulled out his keys and unlocked the car, climbing into the front seat and starting the engine. I reached for a door, but Dee grabbed my hand.

"Caitlyn, I need you to stay here."

"I...I..." I said, unable to form words. The ambulance pulled out of the driveway, sirens blaring.

"I know, you want to come, but you have to stay here. Please don't argue with me. I'll call you in the morning or if anything changes, but please stay here." She was dead serious, more serious than I'd ever seen her, and she obviously knew exactly what she was doing.

"O-Ok." I stammered, my eyes wide. Dee squeezed my hand and climbed into the car with Tom. They pulled out of the driveway and left, following the lights of the ambulance. I stood on the empty driveway as the lights faded away. I don't know how long I stood there, staring down the dark road, before I turned around and walked back into the house, closing and locking the door. I made sure my phone was on and fully charged before I numbly got ready for bed, thinking about what had happened. His burning fever. The look of absolute pain and agony on his face. God, my heart was torn to pieces every time I relived the memory, but I couldn't stop myself. I glanced at my watch. 12:57.

I walked into the bedroom and climbed between the sheets. I tried to avoid looking at the empty bed next to me. I just sat and stared at the wall and thought. I thought about the moment I'd found him, but mostly about the moments leading up to that. Mark not eating on the plane. His lack of energy at the party. How he needed to go upstairs because he wasn't feeling good. "Don't worry, I just need to rest. I'm not feeling the best, but just give me a few minutes to recover." Why didn't I see the signs!  Mark tried so hard to protect us from his pain that he forgot to protect himself. I hadn't cried at all during the whole ordeal tonight, but now I let my tears run free. How could I let him do this to himself? How could I not have noticed? How?

I intended to stay up all night waiting for Dee or Tom to call, but I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to my watch reading 8:32 AM. It took me a second to realize that it wasn't my watch that had woken me, but my phone. Immediately, I picked it up, not even looking at the number.

"Hello?"

"Caitlyn, its Dee. Mark's ok. How fast can you get to the hospital on Main?"