Experiment 1.0

Thursday, June 7th, 2018 3:48 pm

        "Are we sick?" Arty questions discombobulated by her cryptic message.  "No" she passes searching for the right words. "Your-the-it's-" she pauses again and releases an unstable sigh showing she'd given in. "Your mother will explain after we arrive." It was so exasperating. How there were so many things I wanted to say or ask, yet I couldn't. My mouth continued to disobey me and trap anything to be said inside. The words were unconditionally lost somewhere along the path from my mind to my mouth and out into the air. Since my dad's brother was a registered pediatrician we only went to the hospital during serve medical emergencies. I try to shout "What happened," but the words dissolve and disappear into oblivion. 

        Afterwards, the car is soaked in agonizing silence. Excluding the faint hum of the engine and swoosh of wind gliding over the car, as we race down the freeway, there was nothing. Partway through the drive, Mrs. Cooper attempts to spark small talk. Simples things like "How was your last day of school?" and "Are you excited for summer?" I remained silent, however with each question Mrs. Cooper presented Arty provided a quirky answer of his own. I stare at the radiant sun high in the sky. Challenging it.

        He didn't seem to recognize the gravity of what could be happening. My mind begins to skip around to half-baked ideas. What if mom was in a car accident? What if one of them had a heart attack? God, what if it's cancer? Since I don't wanna focus on the "what ifs" and I can understand the danger in feeding into those possibilities, instead I pull my attention to the street signs lining the road. STOP, ONE WAY, SPEED LIMIT 55, and YIELD are the first to catch my attention.

        "We're here." The car seemed to be moving both too fast and too slow.  Mrs. Cooper holds the door open for us to step through. I thank her, which sounds more like I have something trapped in my throat. Mrs. Cooper strides ahead of us and asks the lady sitting at the front desk a question I can't hear. I can only understand the lady say "C4" and "Have a great day". When the lady's eyes land on me her smile dips down into an unnerving frown.

        "Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine. We have top-notch doctors here to help." She flashes a fake grin and returns to her work. It felt slightly strange to feel her sympathy, it's was a similar statement to one I would say to Arty. It felt backwards to having someone else comfort me. I don't answer since I don't think I can. I just turn tail and follow Mrs. Cooper and Arty like a lost puppy. Another man is already standing in the elevator an anxious look plastered on his face. I reach my hand over to the key-pad and attempt to hit "C", but I somehow miss and click "B".

        Arty snickers at me, I turn to face him and he cuts his laughter short. Honestly, I would rather have Arty laugh at me. Maybe it would become contagious and lift this dreadful storm cloud suspended above us. The upcoming minutes seem to disappear and the next thing I see is Mrs. Cooper knocking on the door. A doctor greets us at the door and leads us into the room. I spot my mom standing in front of us. The two of us rush toward her and squeeze her a group hug.

        Yet she doesn't hug back. Her arms just hang loosely over us like a doll's limbs. I pull away and spin around. Lying unconscious on the hospital bed in the corner is my dad. Hooked up to countless wires spilling unnamed substances through his body. Still the dark chocolate brown hair with disobedient gray strands and face with an arrangement of freckles, but now he was different. His face is blank- not the cheerful and optimist character I've always known and remembered.

        Arty observes the scene as well with a mortified expression.  He walks over to our father and pokes him in the side. Arty starts asking our dad what's wrong and why he's attached to all these "thingymabobbers".

"Mommy, why won't dad answer me?"