The Bad Boy was Staring at Me

Chapter 25 ~ Not Just a Cold

Tyler's POV

My cough is getting worse every second. I'm sure it's just a cold though. After all, I was running in the rain for a few hours. It's nothing. Cutie sure is worrying about me a lot. I keep telling her not to, but she just won't let it go.

"Tyler, I think you should go see a doctor," she insists.

No, I hate going to the doctors. Just like how she hates getting shots? Yeah, I hate going to the doctors. They're just creepy. They can either give you bad news or good news, and I always pray that it's good news. Especially during my annual checkups. Those are the worst. So, no; I can't go to the doctor. Plus, there's no time. I have practice again today!

"I told you I'm fine, Cutie. It's probably just a cold," I try to reassure her.

She gives me a disapproving look. I smile at her, but then start coughing again. I can tell she isn't buying it. I'm going to have to go to the doctors anyway. Ugh, I'll go just for her. To prove to her that all this is not a big deal. I just have a cough.

"Come on, grab your things. We're going to the doctors," she demands.

I groan in response. I don't want to! I'm going to be late for practice. We are already at school, why do we have to leave?

"But we're already here! I'm gonna be late for practice!" I complain as loud as I can, trying to make my point.

"Nope, you're not winning this one. I already told Nate and Chase to tell Coach that you have a doctor's appointment."

"But-" I try to argue with her.

"Let's go!" She interrupts.

The car ride to the hospital is long and quiet. Cutie looks out the window the whole time.

"I hate going to the doctors, you know?" I break the silence.

She whips her head towards me. Her face is stunned. She starts to look guilty.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. I just want to make sure you're alright," she says, looking at her hands in her lap.

"It's fine, Cutie. You were just worried; I don't blame you. And hey! You got me out of practice," I say as cheerfully as possible.

Honestly, I really did want to go to practice to get ready for the big game coming up in a few weeks, but if I'm really not okay, I can't risk not playing at all. Worse, they tell me that I'm not well enough to play. There is no way I'm not playing in that game! Nothing can stop me, not even this stupid cold.

I pull up in front of the hospital and we take the elevator up to the 3rd floor where it is after hour care. I don't necessarily have an appointment, but the receptionist told us to go to this floor for walk ins.

"I'll be waiting out here for you," Cutie informs me with a half smile on her face. She still looks worried.

A short brunette lady came out of the door holding a clipboard. God, this was the worst part, Waiting for your name to be called.

"Tyler Black?" The lady calls out, reading my name off of her chart.

I stand up from the chair next to Cutie and take one last look at her. She offers me a genuine smile, indicating that I'll be fine. Walking to the lady, she gives me the same smile Elena did.

"Please remove your shoes and step on the scale," she instructs.

She moves the weight to 150. It isn't balanced. She then moves it to 143, at which the scale stands still. There we go.

"143," she announces. Yeah, I know. I saw.

She leads me to the room on the left at the end of the hall. It's room 23. I smiled at the thought of Cutie's favorite number, my jersey number. The idea of not being able to play came back into my mind.

"So, Tyler, what brings you here today?" She asks politely, ripping me away from my thoughts.

"Well, I have been coughing for a while, and it doesn't seem to be getting better." I explain to her in as much detail as I can.

"I see," she replies as she's typing exactly what I said to her into the computer. "The doctor should be in shortly." She tells me, walking out the door. Well then, more waiting for me.

I grab one of the magazines and start to look through it. What do girls read in this anyway? Fashion tips? Makeup tips? What is this? I grabbed a packet in between one of the pages. A lotion sample? Well okay then. I put the magazine back in the holder screwed into the wall. The doctor comes in not too long after. Doctor Theresa doesn't take too long, unlike other doctors normally do.

"So, Tyler, I hear that you have been coughing for a while."

"Yes."

"Okay, I'm going to check your breathing," she pulls off the stethoscope around her neck and puts it on my chest.

"Deep breaths. In and out." I follow her instructions. This isn't going so bad so far. She then moves the stethoscope to my back and instructs my breathing again.

"Okay, from what I heard, your breathing is fast and shallow. You also have a bit of wheezing. I'm going to run more tests, but it seems as if you have pneumonia."

Pneumonia?

"It started out as a cold, but your lungs made it hard to fight the infection, which led to pneumonia," she explains to me.

"Oh, okay." That's all I can manage to say before having another coughing fit.

"Get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids. I'm going to prescribe you antibiotics. You can pick them up downstairs at the pharmacy," she tells me.

"Will I be able to play at my game in a few weeks?" I ask, worried. I have to!

"We'll see. Come back then. Don't stress out too much. It's not good." She gives me another set of instructions.

"Okay, thank you." I say, walking out to Elena. See, this is why I hate the doctors.

I open the door and Elena turns around quickly. She stands up and walks towards me.

"So, what did they say?" Her voice is very impatient.

"I have pneumonia," I say, not looking at her.

~*~

A/N: Hey guys! So what did you think? I actually had to look on WebMD to get my facts straight. Do you think Tyler will be able to play at the big game? How will Elena react? I did some foreshadowing in this chapter, but I'm not sure you guys will figure it out. If you want to take a guess, have a go at it! I would love to hear what you guys think is going to happen. Does this chapter make up for the short one? Haha, I hope so. Thank you for reading! Love you all <3