Stargazing: Changing Our Stars

Chapter Twelve

As I rushed out of the police station, there had been only one thing on my mind. Please be okay.
Paige rushed after, immediately summing up the situation far beyond what I have and dragged Ethan along with us, realizing that I had no way of getting to the hospital. I was unfamiliar with the layout of the station but managed to get out the front door without too much of trouble.

“Wait!!” Ethan yelled, “What is this about?” I didn’t stop to explain, I wanted to get there as fast as I could. At the moment, I didn’t care if I had to run the whole way. I needed to be there.

“Waiter boy, if you do that, you won’t get there in time.” This stopped me. I couldn’t argue but I couldn’t think of anything else I could do. I didn’t turn around to face her, I couldn’t. “Paige. What else do you expect me to do?”

“Paige?” Ethan began putting together our little story but decided not to take it further.

“Ethan. We have somewhere to be right now. Incarcerate us now and it will weigh you down for the rest of your life but I’ll let you choose. Keeping the one person who can influence a life or death situation or close the case so that you can turn in and have an early night.”

Ethan remained silent. So did Paige along with the entirety of London. “That explains it. The Irish accent.” He spoke in thought. “Well?” Paige asked, for the first time unsure of herself. I realized it, she took a gamble.
“Get in.”

The drive to the hospital had gone faster then I had expected, the wailing of the sirens and flashing blue lights of Ethan patrol car did wonders in traffic, fulfilling it’s purpose perfectly. We sped through the wet roads, turning hard on every corner, and sliding so far each time that even Paige willingly clung onto her safety belt like her life depended on it.

When we got there, I bolted with Paige immediately behind me and Ethan shortly after. I let memory take over and ran up the stairs, avoiding the elevator completely and ran down the corridor to the large room I’ve seen my grandmother in last. I panicked when I saw her bed, the sheets freshly layer and cold. She wasn’t there.

“Mrs Castelo went to the other room, last door down the corridor.” One of the nurses who worked with the younger children of the ward said to me. I rushed out again, bolting past Paige who had been slowing down now, clearly out of breath.

I sprinted down the corridor until I reached the last door. I couldn’t open it. Too anxious. Too out of breath. Too tired. Too scared.

Paige quickly caught up to me, looking just as afraid as I was. The door was simple. A double door without handles and hinges that swung either way. Paige nodded to me and placed her hand on the one door. I placed mine on the other and we pressed though together.

The room on the other end of the door had been like the one Paige had been kept it. Simple, small and white. This time it hadn’t been the constricting feeling of the walls that sunk my heart. It had been what I’ve seen. The room was occupied by a few nurses, going about their business quietly.

But, no one else. The bed had been made up. All the equipment, from the heart rate monitor to the drip hanger had been slid back neatly into its storage places. There had been only one thought that had plagued my mind.

I’m too late.

One of the nurses walked past me and out through the doorway without lifting her head once, never allowing her eyes to meet mine.
I am too late.

“Daiman... “ I stayed quiet until I felt Gordon slide his hand onto my shoulder. “Why didn’t you do anything to help her?” I asked in discontent. I couldn’t put my thoughts or feelings into patterns I could understand. I felt lost.

Paige had been a no better position. She fell against the corridor wall with her hood hanging low on her face – her lips trembling. “There was nothing that could have been done.” Paige whispered.
Gordon nodded in agreement. “Her cancer had been too far advanced.”

“What do you mean? It was in stage one... “ my confusion took over and I turned to Paige who still haven’t looked up. She shook her head. “If you knew the truth, you wouldn’t have left. She wanted you to find a reason to live.”

“I don’t understand.. “

“She knew she wouldn’t last much longer. She also realized that you have been living without reason. Waiting for the moment that you’d find your purpose. The day you’d find yourself. Yet, never bothered venturing out and creating yourself. Finding your purchase.” She paused and slipped a piece of paper out of her pocket. It had been folded neatly, not a single tear in. I remembered this. It had been the same note she fiddled with earlier tonight. “I was hoping I could keep this on me for a while longer, but it’s time. She said you’d know what to do with this.”

I took from her, hesitating to open it. It was a square sheet of paper folded simply into small squares. Inside was a short hand written note. A string of numbers that I instantly recognized.

17:12:79