Everything from the time I put the phone down until I arrived at the hospital seemed to be a blur. I had no idea what was happening or if Jess was even okay. Rose couldn’t stay on the phone long and so I had to idea of the extent of Jess’s condition. All I knew was that it wasn’t good.
I walked into the hospital when I suddenly realized I had no idea where Jess’s room was and I doubt the front desk would give me any info considering who she is. As I was thinking about panicking I suddenly caught sight of Rose coming out of one of the elevators and sighed with relief.
“Is Jess okay? What’s happened?” I started firing questions. I could feel myself shaking all over in fear of what she might say.
“She’s fine for right now,” she said calmly. “The doctors haven’t told us anything yet and she was awake a while ago. She’s just sleeping now.”
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding. Relief washed over me as I followed Rose up to Jess’s room. She filled me in on what she knew about what happened. Apparently Jess had already been here for two hours.
“Her manager got a hold of me about an hour and a half ago. He said that Jessica had been acting strange all evening and after he made her take a break she admitted that she’d been having chest pain most of the day,” she told me.
“Is that when they drove her to the hospital?” I asked but Rose shook her head.
“She had said she wouldn’t go until they finished what they were working on because of how busy she’s been. She ended up collapsing and well, she started to panic which didn’t help anything. The doctors only just got her stabilized after I called you.”
I frowned and was just about to say something else when Rose spoke up again, whispering now because we were just outside Jess’s room.
“I know you have work now which is why I didn’t call you right away with how late it is. But Jessica wouldn’t stop asking for you. The only reason she calmed down was because I told her you were on your way.”
“No it’s okay,” I assured her. “I don’t have work tomorrow anyway so it’s fine. I was actually still up waiting for her.”
“Well good,” she smiled. “You head inside. I’m going to find something for us to eat since we’ll be here for a while.”
Rose walked off down the hallway so I walked into the room hesitantly, unsure of what I’d actually see when I entered.
I don’t know what I was expecting but it was definitely not this. Jess was laid on top of the bed with wires attached at nearly every point you could put one. She was pale and her face looked sunken. If it wasn’t for the steady beeping coming from her heart monitor….
I changed my thoughts over immediately. I couldn’t let myself think so negatively. She needed me and I needed to stay positive for her. I walked over to her bedside and sat in the chair that was already next to it. Her breathing was slow and steady and that was the sound I focused on the most as I held her hand. As I watched her sleep, I let my mind wander. I knew I needed to fix this. As long as Jess was working like this I knew she wasn’t going to be able to recover. She loves her job and now it’s become a nightmare because of me.
I let my fingers trail up and down her arm absentmindedly when I heard someone walking in behind me. Glancing behind me, I saw Rose coming back in with a few snacks. She smiled kindly at me as she caught sight of me and sat in the other chair in the corner of the room.
“We should know something soon,” she said quietly. “The tests don’t normally take longer than this to come back.”
“Does this happen a lot?” It sounded like it did from the sound of her tone.
