Right As Rain (Complete)

Chapter 31

Hudson

It's been twenty-four hours. Noah's room has been visited by more doctors and specialists than I can count. So far, no one has been able to figure out what's wrong with him. We are in holding. All of us: Cal, Mum, Jack, Jess, Maelee and Me. Unless absolutely necessary, none of us have left his side. Mum finally got everyone to agree to leave to eat, everyone but Maelee, of course. She insisted she couldn't, saying she had too much work to do. I tried to argue with her but it failed. As much as I want to say it was a compromise when she agreed to let us bring her food, I know she only said it so I would stop trying to convince her and get something to eat myself.

We step out of the elevator and into the bright hall of the hospital floor. Mum puts her arm around my waist and gives me a tight squeeze. Her and I went to dinner on our own. She claimed it was to keep the paparrazi at bay from the group, but really she just knew I needed some time alone.

I'm not proud to admit I lost it the second I was out of everyone's view. Seeing my best friend have a tube shoved down his throat was hard thing to witness, no matter how badass my girlfriend looked when she did it.

I don't like seeing him this way. I don't even recognize him with so many wires and tubes coming off his immobile body. Mum tries to comfort me by saying he's just sleeping, but this isn't sleeping Noah. Sleeping Noah is almost as loud and obnoxious as awake Noah. This isn't that at all; it's his body, but everything that makes Noah, Noah, is gone.

Outside the door, Mum stops me from going inside and presses a finger to her lips, telling me to be quiet. I follow her eyes inside and start to fall apart. Maelee is sitting in a chair beside Noah's bed with her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped together under her chin. Even in her worry, I can't miss how breathtakingly beautiful she is.

"You can't leave me hangin' here Noah," she says, wiping her tears. "I know I'm supposed to be the strong one, but here's the thing, it's a huge secret and you can't tell anyone." Maelee laughs lightly and then sniffs. "Noah, I'm not that strong." Her voice is squeaky and shakes as tears roll down her cheeks. "I act like I am, but I'm not. I cry a lot, like a ridiculous amount of crying. Every day I bust my ass to save people. Every single day. Most of the time I succeed, but sometimes I don't. Please don't let today be one of those days. I need you to pull through, okay?" she pleads. "I need you to wake up so you can tell me I'm a horrible doctor and I need to stop wearing such horrible shoes. I need you to tell me when I'm messing up. I can't do it without you. I didn't know you before, but now I do, and I need you to wake up."

Before she is able to spiral out of control my mum knocks on the door and interrupts her.

Maelee jumps from the chair, wipes under her eyes, and immediately begins apologizing. "Hey! Sorry... I, um... I was just..." she turns her body towards Noah, unsure of what to say.

Anna Timber, mum of the year, reaches out to her in a hug. By the time Maelee is able to get her arms around my mother's back, she breaks into a flow of tears. I shut the door to hide her from the staff in the hall. She works hard to keep up her strong façade and I would never let anyone take it from her.

Noah is different from her other patients. They have bonded over the last few days and though Maelee won't admit it, especially while he is still her, they have become friends. In his comatose, she confessed to him things I can only pray she would want to tell me one day. I would do anything to calm her, to ease her anxiety, take away her pain, or carry some of the load.

I want to tell her. I want to tell her how strong she is. How amazing she is. How perfect she is. Somehow, someway... I want to tell her.

As Maelee cries into my mum's neck my heart breaks a little more with each passing second. I don't want her to feel this way.