My Next Door Neighbor is WHO?!

Repeats

Chapter 24:

"Hello?," I answered the phone.

"Aurora?," I heard a raspy voice say.

"Yes?" I said.

"I'm in the hospital, sweetheart."

I realized it was Toby's mom. Why did she call me and not Toby?

"I tried calling Toby 5 times, but he didn't answer," she said.

"Toby is sitting in the living room with PJ. I think his phone upstairs. Do you want me to tell him? What's wrong?," I asked.

"No, don't tell him. Just let him spend time with PJ. If you wouldn't mind, could you come visit? I don't want Toby to see me like this," she said, her words just running through my mind.

"Alright, I'll be there in 30 minutes!" I said, then hung up the phone. I got my purse and keys are started walking towards the door.

Toby stopped me in the living room. "Where are you going?,"

I looked at him. "I'm just going to the bank."

"Oh, OK."

I headed out of the door and drove to the hospital. I met Jackie in her room. I opened the door.

I whispered. "Hi,"

"Hi, come here," she motioned at me.

I walked closer. "So, what's wrong?,"

"I had a seizure and it was pretty bad. The doctor's don't know why I had one, they just finished an MRI," she said.

My face dropped and my mind became like a race. "Woah, that's pretty serious. Are you sure you don't want Toby here?," I asked again.

"No, no, no, he would be heartbroken to see me like this. I know he would be!," she said.

My eyes started to tear up. "I love you," I said and hugged her.

"I love you too, honey," she clutched me.

Just then, she passed out. I just looked at her in horror. I started crying and I screamed. Doctors came rushing in. I had my hands covering my mouth, my eyes were wide, and I didn't know what to do.

"What's happening?," I asked, frantic.

A doctor came over to me and pulled me closer. "It's going to be OK."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

He looked at me and nodded. Then, he walked back over to the hospital bed. I still was in shock. I backed up against the walk and slid down onto the floor. Just then, I got a call. I left the room and answered it. It was Toby.

"Hi" I said.

"God damn, where are you? Is the bank busy?" he asked. He sounded mad.

I just sat there in silence for a little while. I didn't know what to say, what to do. Jackie didn't want me to tell him. I wanted to tell him. I couldn't tell him.

"Aurora, where are you?," he asked.

"Um," I paused. "The hospital,"

"What?!," he said.

"I'm not the one in the hospital," I said.

"Well then, who is?," he asked.

I hesitated. "She didn't want me to tell you," I said. "Your mom,"

"Oh my god, why didn't you just tell me? Is she OK?," I could hear the worry in his voice.

"I don't know" I said.

"I'm coming now!" he said, then hung up.

I walked back into the room. Jackie was back to normal and she looked at me.

"I told him," I told her.

"I know," she said.

"How?"

"I heard the last couple seconds of your call. It's OK, the doctors said they don't know how long I'm going to live right now" she said as calm as ever.

I felt my eyes get huge. I just looked at her. Then, the doctors came back in. It was a whole group of about 10-15 doctors. I heard a whole clutter of words and they were surrounding her. I heard one doctor say, "Death" and another said, "I don't know." I was scared. The group of shuffling doctors left, scratching their heads. Were they confused? At this point, I had no clue of what was happening. I heard footsteps behind me. It was Toby. He stopped by me and looked at me, heavily breathing.

"So, anything?" he asked me.

"I'd rather have your mom tell you" I said.

Toby gave PJ to me and walked over to Jackie. He knelt down on one knee beside her bed. He picked us her hand and held it between his. They started talking. I couldn't really hear them, so I occupied PJ. I saw Toby get up and he turned around. His eyes were red. He walked past me and left the room. I turned around and saw him kneeling down on the floor across the hallway with his hands on his face. All I did was look at him. I didn't want to see him like that, but I wanted to give him time for it to sink in. I went back to playing with PJ. Toby came back ten minutes later, wiped his eyes, and smiled at me. I looked up at him and patted his foot because I was sitting down. 

Jackie's heart rate started declining rapidly. A nurse was in the room for the next 5 hours. I could see the tears in Toby's eyes every time he looked at me. His eyes were puffed up from crying. I softly touched his face and he leaned into my hand and gently closed his eyes. I hated seeing him like this. Toby didn't deserve this. At 8 p.m., Toby's dad came and picked up PJ. He kissed Jackie on the forehead and prayed with her. Then, he left. Around midnight, Toby and I fell asleep in a small chair, cramped up in the corner. I was on top of Toby and we were draped over each other and the chair. At 12:17 a.m., I heard a long beep. I heard shuffling in the room and then the light flipped on. Toby twitched and woke up. I got up and he got up. We couldn't see anything for a couple of seconds until I saw a whole group of doctors by the bed. They were surrounding the monitor. Toby walked up to them and tapped one doctor's shoulder. Toby talked to him for a minute, then turned around. Toby turned around. He just stood there. He mouthed the words, "She.....she didn't make it." Toby walked slowly towards me. I wrapped my arms around his neck. I rested my head on his chest and we stood there hugging each other. I could feel Toby pulsing in my arms. I knew he was crying. I cried as well. A doctor came over and touched my shoulder.

"Sorry for your loss" the doctor said.

I didn't say anything. I hugged the doctor. Then, Toby shook the doctors hand and hugged him. I could hear him crying in the doctors arms. The doctor looked at me and I could see his eyes get watery. Now you know, if you can make a doctor cry, it's pretty heart-breaking. I saw a couple tears stream down the doctor's face. Toby and the doctor hugged for a couple of minutes before the doctor left the room. I saw the doctor wipe his face in the hallway when I looked out of the room. Toby went to the bed and fell to his knees. He held Jackie's hand and put his head down. I could hear him saying something, but I didn't know what he was saying. After he was done, I went over to Jackie and kissed his forehead. I whispered to her, "You'll be in a safer place. I know you will protect Toby." I couldn't say much more because my voice was getting shaky. I grabbed a tissue and blew my nose. I saw Toby wiping his eyes and then he started weeping. I heard his shaky breaths and he would calmly breathe out and start crying again. He just sat on the ground crying. I looked out the window and fanned my face. My eyes hurt from crying. Toby got up ten minutes later and walked over the window. I saw him look up at the sky.

"Why?," he asked rhetorically at the sky.

"Why do I deserve this?" he asked rhetorically again.

I looked down at the ground and closed my eyes. I stood there. I felt Toby walk towards me. He wrapped his arms around me. His arms dangled over my chest. I laid my head on his right arm and grabbed his hands. I turned around and faced him. He looked at me, his eyes filled with sorrow. I stroked his face.

At 6 in the morning, Toby and I left the hospital. We held hands and walked down the busy street together. Toby stopped at the crosswalk, turned to me, and kissed me.

"This is why I need you" he whispered to me.