Make a Wish || Rhett and Link

Chapter 50 - Why?

The time at the hospital was frantic, and confusing.

We arrived at the emergency room, and they dragged Cooper away to somewhere where I wasn't allowed to see her. The doctors and nurses sat me down in a waiting room, and told me that they'd come and see me when they could give a clear answer to what happened.

I felt sick with worry. Thoughts rushed around in my head like a tornado. After all, Super Cooper had just woken up in the middle of the night screaming for who knows what reason, was rushed to the hospital, and now I wasn't allowed to see her. And I had to sit in the hospital waiting room in my pyjamas.

I called Link straight away, and within half an hour, he was sitting by my side. Same with Randall.

We sat there together for a number of hours. Link chose to pass the time by tapping things away on his phone, and Randy played solitaire. But I couldn't do anything like that. My mind was too much in a flurry. Instead, I stared at the clock from my plastic seat. The hospital waiting room was damp, and it smelled slightly of disinfectant, but I suppose that was to be expected. We were the only people in the room at the time, so nobody was there other than the two men I was with to judge as I paced backwards and forwards in my pyjama pants. I was thankful Link had brought me a pair of shoes.

Finally, at 4am, 3 hours after we'd arrived, Doctor Anderson came out with a nervous look on his face. The three of us stood up and walked over.

"How is she?" I asked.

Dr Anderson sighed. "She's doing okay. Big headache, tumor growth pushing against the grey matter. It's, really, really painful. It's, well, it's like something pushing against the inside of your head. The medication I prescribed her to stop this, it isn't being absorbed properly. But I suppose that's a conversation for another time. We've given her quite a powerful painkiller with a sedative in it, so currently she's sleeping quietly. We'll keep her for two days for observation."

"Can we see her?" Link asked.

Dr Anderson nodded. "This way."

We followed him through the corridors until we arrived at her room. She was sleeping quietly as, with about 4 tubes going into her. One as oxygen, one in the stomach, most likely a feeding tube, and 2 in the arm. Her pyjamas had been placed on the nearby desk in a neat folded pile, and now she was simply dressed in a hospital gown, half covered the thin mint-green sheet. I pulled it up and tucked her in slightly. Her hair was all messed up, and I gently stroked it back into it's place. I sighed.

"This isn't fair. On her, on anyone."

Link looked at me. "I suppose these things just happen Rhett. Some things aren't fair, but the universe made them happen for some horrible reason."

"But why her?" I asked. "Of all the people in the universe, why her?"

Randy sat down. "I don't know."

"I think that's enough existential crisis for today, Rhett." Link said, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Let's focus on the problem at hand."

"Something about medication." Randy muttered. "Has she been taking it?"

"I've been watching her like a hawk." I nodded.

We sat in a moment of silence, the only noise being the beeping of the heart rate monitor. I couldn't bring myself to call it annoying however, because every time the machine let out that irritating beep, it meant that she was still here. It meant that she was still with us. And in no way would I call that annoying.

"I should've, I should've brought her here straight away. I shouldn't have taken her home, I should've taken her here straight away."

"Rhett, this isn't your fault." Randy sighed.

"But there has to be something I could've done!"

"No." Link sighed. "There was nothing. There is no reason for this, for any of this. It's just something that's happened, and now we have to deal with it."

"I hate that." I muttered.

"Well, it's what we've been given." Randy sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Two days for observation, was it?" Link asked.

"Yeah." I nodded. "She's going to hate that when she wakes up. You know how much she hates this place."

"I don't know a single person who likes being in hospital, Rhett." Randy said. "She's bound to hate it."

"I suppose." I mumbled. "But still, for someone who hates the hospital this much, it's horrible how much she's in here."

Link nodded. "Yeah."

I felt a buzzing sensation in my pocket, and I fished my phone out. Jessie's picture came up. I answered it.

"Hey Rhett!" Jessie said in a fake-over enthusiastic tone. "How is she?"

I sighed. "Not well. They're keeping her for two days observation. Apparently some of the medication isn't working."

"Ah, she's doing GREAT!"

It took me a moment for what was happening to sink in.

"Is Shep freaking out?" I asked.

"Yeah." Jessie explained. "He's crying hysterically, and he can't sleep. I figured if I called and if you said that she was okay, then that might help."

"Put him on." I said.

The phone muffled for a bit before I heard my son's voice.

"D-Daddy, is she okay?"

"She's okay. She's gone back to sleep now, but she's okay. She's going to have a sleepover at the hospital for a couple of days, but then she'll be all better."

"Can I come and see her?"

"It's a bit late right now." I said. "But in the morning you can."

"O-Okay." He sniffled.

"Good to hear." I nodded. "Can you go back to sleep so you can come in the morning?"

"Y-yeah, I think so."

"Good boy. I'll see you in the morning bud. I'm going to stay here for a while and wait for her to wake up. But you need to go back to sleep."

"Okay." He whispered.

"Good boy Shep. See you tomorrow."