Linger

E I G H T Y - F I V E

My mind reeled with all sorts of questions about Daniel's parents. I wouldn't even know where to start. 

I looked up at Daniel, noticing his stern expression as we walked into Brandon's room. 

Fortunately, now wasn't the best time or place to ask anyway. 

I shifted my attention to the room and much to my surprise, Brandon was sitting up in his bed. Bennie and Jenny sat on either side of him, holding up different game pieces from the board game. 

However, Brandon's glassy gaze was focused on the doorway.

My heart sunk in my chest as I looked at them. 

Daniel was right. It never did get easier seeing Brandon like this. Even though I've already seen him before, my heart still broke at the fact that we were here with him, yet it didn't really feel like he was he here. Of course, we could see him and talk to him but . . . he couldn't speak a single word to us.  

Various gift baskets and colorful balloons now filled the room, livening up the morbid atmosphere of the small hospital room. A few plush toy animals were neatly placed on his bed as a couple soccer trophies stood tall next to his bed. 

I stepped next to Daniel, sneaking a glance at Jade. 

However, she was busy unpacking the breakfast we brought. "Pumpkin, would you like pancakes or waffles?" She turned to Brandon on the bed next to her. "Or both?" She laughed. 

"Knock, knock!!!" a new voice suddenly exclaimed as a nurse wheeled a medical cart into the room with a warm smile. "We're just going to check on Brandon and run some tests really quickly!" 

"What kind of tests?" Daniel asked as we stepped aside and she hauled the cart past us. 

"Just a blood test for now." She nodded, shuffling through her tools. "The doctor wants to see how the treatment has been affecting him, how severe the brain injury is, and if there's any internal bleeding in result from the trauma to his neck." 

"They're going to do a few tests on you, pumpkin," Jade told Brandon as she helped Bennie and Jenny off the bed. 

Brandon simply looked up at her with a blank expression. 

"Hi Brandon." The nurse gave Brandon a warm smile as she tugged her gloves on beside his bed. "I'm just going to take your hand here, okay?" 

Brandon, however, averted his gaze to Jade and pressed his lips in a tight line. 

"We'll make this quick so you can get back to Candyland, okay?" The nurse took his left hand in her glove-covered one. "I promise." 

Brandon's green eyes looked up at her before landing on Daniel and me. He then lowered his eyebrows into a flat expression, as if annoyed by all of this.  

I bit back my giggle. 

Daniel squeezed my hand. 

I looked up to see if Daniel had noticed Brandon's irritated expression. But his eyes were focused on the nurse as she took Brandon's pointer finger and pressed a needle to the tip.

Intense concentration was written clearly on Brandon's face as he focused on the nurse's every move.

"It's okay, Brandon. You're almost done." Jade rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

The nurse pulled back, removing the needle. "Alright. You're all done Brandon!"

Brandon looked up at Jade before looking his finger and widening his eyes. He then turned to Bennie and Jenny and scrunched his nose up in disgust.