Aquaphobia

Chapter 15

[IAN FISCHER]

Scott swam around the boat for the rest of the day, and it was among the most whimsical and beautiful things I've ever seen. It's so motivational to see such a fearful and unconfident boy be built up by words alone and overcome his fear in a split second.

The rest of the day went just as you'd expect, and the fishing trip was a success. Even Matthew Cayuk had a great time and told us he was waiting for us to have another one soon. Unfortunately, the day took a turn for the worse when we arrived back on land. Scott instantly took off to the Insula Medical Hospital, because he said there was someone he had to visit. Being the encouraging friends we are, we followed him. It took us a while to find where he was in the hospital, because we thought he was in a designated room. After about 30 minutes of searching the directory for inhabited rooms, we find out he's actually visiting somebody in ICU. Wondering who he could possibly be seeing in Intensive Care, Walker and I make our way down to the room. From a distance as we enter, we see his back leaning over a bed, but we can't tell who it he is talking to. Three doctors all stand on the side, and Walker and I decide to approach.

"Who is it you're trying to visit?" a nurse asks. It almost feels like she came out of nowhere, because I never even saw her enter.

"Oh, um we don't exactly know the patient, but our friend is here visiting the patient," Walker answers.

"I'm terribly sorry, but you cannot visit a patient unless their name is specified. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

As the nurse finishes her sentence, I read the nameplate hanging next to Scott's head.

"We're here to visit Felicia Voorhees," I cut in.

"Oh all right. Do you have evidence of kinship?"

"Yes," I lie. "I'm Scott Voorhees, her grandson."

For a quick second, I fear that Walker will ruin my plan and say "What? No! You're Ian Fischer!" because he's dumb. Luckily for me, of all times for him to think about what's happening, he does it now.

"Oh I'm sorry. Right this way please," the nurse responds.

She leads us over to where the real Scott is, and as we get closer I see more clearly who he's talking to. It appears to be an elderly lady, and to be a hundred percent honest, she doesn't look like she has much time left.

When we approach Scott, he turns to face us, his face streaked with tears.

"Hey," I speak up, careful not to say his name until the nurse walks away. "How's she doing?"

Scott turns to the woman and then back to us.

"Grandmother's dying," he says slowly. "She won't talk back to me."

Walker and I watch in silence as he starts to speak to the woman. She looks at him, but she doesn't move a muscle.

"I went swimming today, Grandmother. I pictured swimming with Mom and Dad. It felt just like we were at the beach in Los Angeles again!" Scott says as he cries some more.

Mrs. Voorhees doesn't respond, but her eyes are still looking at Scott.

"Why won't she answer?" Walker asks.

"She can't. She can't even move her head anymore. If her eyes close she could go into a coma and die," he answers.

Walker and I go in for a hug. The three of us all give the mightiest hug we can in that Intensive Care room.

"If she was able to speak, I'm sure she'd be more than proud of you," I say as tears come to my eyes too.

Scott's crying suddenly intensifies. This might be too much for him to handle.

"I'm going to lose her, too. I don't want her to go. She's the last of my family! I don't want to swim alone anymore!" he says loudly.

"You won't be alone ever, Scott! You have Ian and I, and Matthew would love to join now, too!" Walker replies, trying to stay as happy as possible.

A doctor suddenly approaches Mrs. Voorhees's section and speaks to the three of us.

"I'm afraid your visitation period is over, Mr. Voorhees. Please return tomorrow starting at 9AM for your next period," the man says.

"How's she doing?" Scott asks, completely ignoring the man's warning.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss this situation right now,"

"No! Tell me how she is!"

"Mr. Voorhees, I cannot and will not speak of that with you right now."

"NO! TELL ME HOW SHE IS! WHAT'S HER SIGN OF LIFE? TELL ME THAT SHE'S LIVING!"

Walker and I grab Scott's shoulders and wrestle him to the ground. I may not know much about hospitals, but I definitely know that ICU is not the place to shout at the top of your lungs.

With all the strength in our bodies, we drag Scott out of the unit and then out the doors of the hospital. As we all agreed on earlier, Scott is much stronger than he looks, especially when angry or scared. This is a perfect example of how that strength shows itself.

"Let me back in there, guys!" he complains.

"Scott, your visitation period is up! You'll have to wait until tomorrow to go back!" I reply.

"No! I can't wait that long! You saw her condition! What if she dies overnight?!"

"Scott, I promise you she won't-" Walker tries to say.

"She can't even move her mouth!"

"Scott, I said I promise you she won't die."

"Did you even SEE her?! She didn't even recognize her own grandson!"

"SCOTT! SHUT UP! SHE IS NOT GOING TO DIE TONIGHT!"

Without another word, Scott looks at the ground and begins to cry. He then turns and takes off into the distance.

"Maybe I was a little too hard on him," Walker says as he watch him run away.

"No, you were fine. He's just going through a lot. You saw her condition. It wasn't very reminiscent of life now was it?" I ask.

"Well she certainly was still breathing,"

"Yes, but barely. Changing the room temperature could've ended it for her for all we know. The doctor did the right thing in sending Scott home for a number of reasons. He just needs some sleep. He'll be back tomorrow morning ready to talk to her."