Frosting

Hospitals Are Cold

Paris' P.O.V.

I feel so much better. I know at this time school is over, so I can't go back. Even though it's already the afternoon, I decide to change out of my Batman p.j's. I changed into a simple high waisted light blue skirt and tucked in a white tank top. The house is silent because I'm alone. Having nothing better to do, I put on the news on the living room T.V..

"All three victims of the crash have already been sent to the hospital..." says the female voice. The screen shows an upper view of two cars crashed on the highway. One is a white Toyota SUV and the other is a red Chevrolet Sedan. Brooklyn has a red Chevrolet Sedan. Ha, what are the odds? "...The left lane is blocked and..." she keeps talking. My phone then rings. I look at the screen and see the caller ID says Hospital E. Weird. I answer it anyways.

"Hello?"

"Good evening. Is this Paris Cook?" says the voice on the other line. The voice sounds concerned

"Yes. Who is this?"

"This is Nurse Kelly. I'm calling about a friend of yours, Brooklyn West. Her father told me to call you and your friend London Santiago. Brooklyn is here at the hospital. She has gotten into a car crash. If you would come to see her?"

I look at the T.V.. Oh my gosh! That is Brooklyn's car. And her dad can't see her. Ugh! He's probably either working or bailing her mom out of jail again or something. What about Brooklyn's sister? Oh, who am I kidding? Brooklyn's sister left her family. Poor Brooklyn. Her family is complicated.

"We're on our way," I say and then hang up. I call London. As it rings, I quickly get up and run up stairs to put on sandals and grab my wallet.

"Hello?" London says as I run down the stairs.

"Something's happened. I'm heading to your house. Be ready. I'll explain on the way. No questions." I hang up and get in my car. Of course Brooklyn's dad would say to call London and I. London and I are more of a family to her that her real family is. In less than five minutes I arrive at London's house. She's waiting on the drive way and gets in as soon as I arrive.

"What's going on?" London asks as I pull out of the drive way and make my way to the hospital.

"Brooklyn's at the hospital."

"What?" London practically yells.

"She got in a car accident. And as always, her dad told the nurse to call us."

"He needs to be there. We're only her friends. Doesn't her dad have to fill out some papers?"

"I'm sure he'll be there soon. I don't know. All I know is that Brooklyn is in the hospital and we need to be there for her." We arrive at the hospital in around thirty minutes. We practically run up to the front desk. It's really cold.

"Can I help you?" says the nurse at the desk. Her name tag says Kelly

"You're Nurse Kelly?" I ask. She has blonde hair which looks dyed and is slightly chubby.

"Yes and who might you be?" Nurse Kelly asks.

"I'm Paris Cook. You called me earlier. This is London Santiago," I reply.

"Aha. You're here to see Brooklyn West. She's on the second floor, room 235."

"Thanks," London says and we rush to the elevator. As soon as we are on the second floor we run passed the rooms and find room 235. I open the door just as a doctor comes out. Goosebumps run up my arms from nervousness and coldness.

"Are you here for Brooklyn West?" the doctor asks.

"Yes," I'm taking deep breaths because the room was on the other side of the hallway, far from the elevator. London is also taking deep breaths. It was a long hallway.

"Then I have good news and bad news," the doctor says.

"What's the good news?" London asks.

"The good news is that for the most part she is fine. No broken bones, nothing major," the doctor replies.

"And the bad?" I ask.

"The bad news is that she does have a minorly sprained wrist and a minor concussion. She's only going though a minor headache and don't turn on the lights. You are free to go in."

"Thank you," London and I say and we walk in. I see Brooklyn sitting up on her bed with her knees pulled up. She has her arms wrapped around them and she's staring at the wall. She looks at us as we walk in. I see her left wrist wrapped up in a bandage. The only light is coming from the window.

"Hi," Brooklyn says.

"Brooklyn, are you okay?" London takes the words out of my mouth.

"Yeah. For the most part. I have a small headache, but I can barely feel the pain in my wrist. My dad said to call you guys?" Brooklyn replies. We both nod. "That's what I thought." London and I walk up to her. It's cold in here. I should have brought my jacket.

"Brooklyn. What happened?" I ask as I feel the goosbumps on my legs. She starts to cry as she explains to us what happened after school finished. I can't believe those two. I guess it's the end of the world now.

"This is all my fault," London says after Brooklyn explains. "I had no idea."

"What are you talking about?" Brooklyn asks. We both look at her.

"Well, I was talking with Zoe at lunch and she said that she thinks she likes this guy but she doesn't know what to do about it. I asked who the guy is but she wouldn't tell me. So, I just said that she should talk to him and see if he feels the same way. I told her to go for it. I didn't know it was Wyatt. I'm so sorry," London explains.

"It's not your fault, London," Brooklyn says.

"Yeah, you couldn't have known. Besides, Zoe did know and she hates Wyatt and Wyatt hates Zoe. They should have stuck with that and left it alone," I say.

"You're right. I don't know what was going on and I don't want to know. Sometimes it's better to not know. Sometimes it's better to just forget about it," Brooklyn says.

"You're right. This is what makes you so much stronger than Zoe. You need to cry, then suck it up, fix your makeup, and do some shopping. Then, you go to a buffet, eat a lot of food, go to the gym and work out. Then, you do more shopping," I say. We all laugh.

"Well, it's a good thing tomorrow is teacher duty day. So, there's no school," London says.

"Really? I forgot. I don't get why they didn't just do it today?" Brooklyn asks.

"There was something with the principal that they had to reschedule it to today," I reply. I heard about it last Friday.

"Oh," Brooklyn says. Then, the doctor comes in.

"Miss. West, you are free to go. We shall send some papers to your parents," the doctor says then he leaves.

"Cool, but I don't have a car to drive," Brooklyn says as she gets up from the hospital bed.

"I'll drive you home. Come on," I say and we all make our way to the parking garage and find my car. Then, I take each other them home and then go home myself.

"Where were you?" my mom asks when I walk into the living room. I see she and my step-dad there. I explain to them the situation with Brooklyn being in the hospital and her parents not being there. "I see. At least you both were there for her."

"Give us a warning next time, kiddo. You almost have us a heart attack. We were just about to call you," my step-dad says. "You and London are great friends and even better people." He looks at my mom. "We will talk to Brooklyn's parents and make sure they are aware of the situation. Benny is making dinner in the kitchen so food will be ready soon."

"Okay. I'm going to go help him," I say and he smiles. My dad died when I was six. My mom then found Ethan Cook and they both fell for each other. I approved of him because he's a really cool dad. He's awesome. But, of course I really miss my dad and no one can replace him. I walk into the kitchen and help Benny prepare the food. Then, we all eat and I go to sleep early.