The Night Shift

Chapter Eight: Josh

It was hard to leave Tyler, but Kinsley was right; I hadn't slept in what seemed like forever, and I was definitely feeling that when I was standing under the shower head hours before, especially in my lower back where I was hunched over onto Tyler's bed. I was able to sleep for quiet awhile, my sleeping position hardly changing at all. I glanced at the analog clock that hung above the door, it was a little passed  ten thirty. Kinsley said she would get me when Tyler was ready, but I don't remember her coming in to get me. I reached for my phone that was tethered to the wall by the charging cord. There were five unread messages, and three missed calls. Two of the messages were from Kinsley, as well as one of the calls; the rest were from Mark. I opened the messages from Kinsley first.

5:36 AM: Tyler is all set for the next shift, but he is exhausted and asked that you be the only one to come and see him this morning. Dre is taking over at 8 AM, so you can come and visit after 9.

8:23 AM:  Change of plans. Dre isn't able to come in today. They're trying to find another nurse to fill in for him. I won't leave him with anyone that I don't trust. I will keep you updated as much as I legally can. I hope you've been resting. Don't worry about Tyler. We'll take care of him. 

I let out a long shaky breath that I didn't know I was holding. There weren't any voice mails from her, but there were three voicemails from Mark. I sighed, pulling myself to sit on the side of the bed, and decided to call Mark back instead of listening to his voicemails and reading his text messages. I rubbed my face tiredly with my left hand, while my right continued to work on bringing Mark's number up for me to call.

The dial tone rang through once, before there was a frantic and slightly annoyed tone of voice on the other end of the line, "Josh. Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to get a hold of you all morning." He let out a frustrated sigh, the sound of another person talking could be heard far off in the background.

I rolled my eyes and took a breath to calm down before responding. "I'm at the hospital. Where are you? You were supposed to call me as soon as you got everything situated the other night." There was a slight tone of annoyance in my voice as I crossed my ankles and swung them back and forth while waiting for a reply.

Mark was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, the background noise coming to a halt, leaving the line silent. "You know, I'm going to be nice to you, because you're upset and being moody, but Tyler isn't just your best friend. You aren't the only one who is worried about him, or that loves him. Since you must know, there were a few complications with getting the tour straightened out, but it's fine now. It's really hard to do this all by yourself, Josh, so I'm sorry it took me a little longer than you would have  liked." He sighed a heavy sigh, "I'm sorry... I just didn't want to worry you any more than you already are."

I let out a uncomfortable laugh, "It's okay. I'm sorry, too. Where are you at right now? We can go see Tyler together."

The line was quiet for a while, "I'm assuming you didn't listen to those voicemails I left you, by chance?" I shook my head, even though he couldn't see me, but he continued anyway. "Okay, then. Brad and I went to go get Jenna and Kelly from the airport earlier this morning. We're on our way back, but there's been a severe car pile up in front of us, of like thirty cars, and we're stuck behind it. They're rerouting people to the exit, but the officer we spoke to said she wasn't sure how long it would be for us to get out of this mess. We're past the exit, and the pileup is blocking the next one. Don't worry; we're safe, and if something does go wrong, there's plenty of help around us." He let out a laugh after his last statement. It sounded like he wanted to ask me something else, but he cut the call short, saying someone needed to talk to him, and then he abruptly hung up the phone.