Parting Ways

Parting Ways - Chapter Five

Chapter Five

(Dedicated to LilyWheeler because I can't belive she's still reading my sotry. Thanks a million. You're just awesome!)

The needle pierced into my skin for a second and was out before I could blink my eye. The pain subsided gradually but when Nurse Ana applied a layer of disinfectant, it sent jolts of electricity through my elbow.

       I shut my eyes tightly so as to prevent it from getting to my head. “I’ll compile the results by Tuesday. I should expect a visit from you Emma, clear?” I opened my eyes only to find Dr. Hendrek standing in front of me; his thickly framed glasses perched upon his nose. He was the only person I’d ever met who said clear instead of okay – which made no sense to me whatsoever.

       I smiled up at him. “Can I go now Dr. Hendrek?”

       “By all means, Emma,” he said sending a small smile - which was more like an I-don’t-know-why-I’ve-to-smile-when-I-don’t-even-want-to - my way.

       Jeez. Why does he have to be so formal every damn time?

       I waved and mumbled a goodbye to Ana. The cotton with disinfectant solution was still resting on my elbow; it had to be left there for a good half an hour. Apparently, I was to remove it before I took my medicines. Skidding downstairs, I made my way towards the hospital’s cafeteria where Mom and Carlo were waiting for me.

       “So, how did it go?” Carlo asked making me roll my eyes in return. I know he meant well but seriously, why do they have to ask the same question every freaking time?

       “You do realize that this was a weekly check-up, right? I’ve been having this since past three months!" Was I shouting? In the hospital café with people who were now haunting me with eerie silence and twitchy eyes? God, this just gets tougher and tougher.

       I think Luke was right. I really was PMSing, what with being so friendly with him. I should have never even spent a single amount of time with him after the party. That’s how the plan had to work out, but my stupid self had to ruin everything, like always. And look, even now, when I should be worrying about shouting at my little brother, I was fretting over other illogical things.

       Taking deep breaths, I turned my gaze in his direction. “I’m sorry for behaving like that, Carlo. How about I make it up to you by buying you some gummy bears?”

       His face lit up like Christmas lights and I knew I had gotten him.

      “Er, but there’s a problem, darling; I’ve got to rush to the office, it’s an emergency meeting.” Mom’s pale blue eyes softened an inch.

       “That won’t be a problem. Just drop us at the supermarket and we can walk from there afterwards.”

       ***

       Few minutes later, Carlo and I were sifting through the shelf full of alluring candies. “Okay, so far we have,” I looked down at our cart, “gummy bears, jelly beans, skittles and M&M’s. That should be enough, right?”

       “Yes, for now Em. But what if there’s an apocalypse, where will we get the candies from?”

       I had to bite my lips to stop myself from chuckling. “Oh come on, did you forget about our secret stash?” I said, walking down the aisle and towards the counter.

       Carlo and I bring a bag full of candies every six month and hide it under my bed. So, if any apocalypse was there, we were totally safe in that matter. And when they got near to their expiry dates, we’d just eat them or distribute them among the less fortunate kids.