Chasing Cars

Chapter Twenty Seven

     I woke up to a pounding on my door. Again. For a moment, I wondered why I was on my couch, but the memories of the previous night came back to me before I wondered for too long. The pounding started up again. "It's open!" I groaned, throwing my head back onto a fancy pillow. The front door clicked open and Krystine burst in, taking the stairs two at a time before she stood in front of me. She was already completely dressed and ready for the day.

"Karev," she said, poking me. I groaned again and rolled over to face her. "What?" I mumbled. "Kay! You're a mess! It's eleven o'clock and you're nowhere near ready to go visit Andrew!" It took me a while to process her words, but when I did I fell off the couch, forgetting I was paralyzed until I was face down on the floor.

With a little help from Krystine I managed to get into my wheelchair and went down the hall to my bedroom while Krystine cleaned the living room. I wasted no time trying to look special. My raggedy hair just went up into a messy bun, which made my eyes look even grayer than ever, but I didn't care. Throwing on the first sweatshirt and yoga pants I could find, I hurried to the bathroom to brush my teeth. All together it only took me five minutes to get ready and then I was ready to go. I don't understand how it takes some people hours to do what I had done.

While I helped Krystine clean, I couldn't help but notice how creepy the house was without my mother in it. Sure, she spent most of her time in her room, but it was the fact that she was still there that made a difference. Now it just felt empty. Pushing the weird thoughts out of my mind, I grabbed my board for Andrew and flew down my ramp to get to the door and left with Krystine.

On the drive to the hospital, Krystine told me how Cam had stayed at her house all night, watching Netflix and debating who had the best favorite characters. I smiled every now and again, but for the most part I wasn't even listening. My mind kept replaying the events of last night, over and over again. Once Krystine finished talking, I looked over the board again, just looking at all the pictures and remembering the days we took them. I tried not to think about the fact that the memories on the board could have very well been the last memories I had with Andrew.

"I wonder what happened while he was in the office," Krystine said quietly after a period of silence. I gave her a questioning glance. "You know, like when he was in there alone," she explained, sounding annoyed. I nodded slowly, but said nothing in response. Obviously whatever had happened hadn't been good, and I'd rather not know the details. For the rest of the ride to the hospital, Krystine and I sat in silence, further apart from each other than we'd been since preschool.

"Here we are," My friend said when we entered the waiting room. I stared around, remembering the room from when I'd been there back in January. Seven others occupied the area. A family of four huddled together in the very back, a young man who held a small girl in his arms while two other older girls stood next to him. All four of them looked weary and nervous, but all of their eyes glimmered. Each one of them had dazzling blue eyes, the brightest I'd ever seen. The other three occupants of the room were far apart from each other, obviously without families. One was an elderly man whose hands shook as he turned the pages of a photo album. Another one was a middle aged man in a business suit, who stood stiffly in the corner, screaming at a colleague on the phone. The third person was a tired-looking woman who tried to keep a straight face as a nurse spoke to her. She looked away, and a single tear fell down her cheek.

"Be right back," I said to Krystine, wheeling myself toward the man and his family. "Hello," I greeted them politely. The two older girls looked down at me, mouths open as they took in the sight of me in my chair (not that it was much of a sight) and then looked toward their father. One looked to be about ten years old, while the other was younger, probably around seven years old. The little girl in the man's arms appeared to be around one or two. "Hi," the older girls said quietly. "My name is Karev, and I'm waiting to see a friend, but it looks like you two could use one," I smiled at them in attempts to cheer them up. Up close, their eyes were even prettier and I couldn't help but be a little jealous.