What Do I Do Now?

Chapter 2: Just Visiting

Mark's POV. (Point of View)

Once we pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, I was already out of the car the second we parked. I ran in through the entrance and up to the desk, talking so fast I'm sure the woman behind the computer desk couldn't understand a word I was saying to her if her life depended on it. But that's the thing about it: someone's life does depend on it. Andrea's.

"I need Andrea Parker. Where is she, I have to see her. I have to know where she is right now," I spoke at the speed of light.

"Sir," the woman said calmly. "if you were able to calm down for a second, I could understand who you were looking for. Can you repeat the name please?"

"I'm Mark Fischbach, I'm looking for Andrea Parker. I have to know where she is. Can you please tell me?"

"Oh, are you family?"

"Well, no, but-"

"I hate to have to tell you this, but we aren't allowing non-family members in the gray corridor to see patients."

"No, you don't understand! I have to see her! There's no time to have this conversation with you! I have to see Andrea before she's gone! I can't let her be in there all alone! I have to see her! Please, this isn't up for debate!"

"Sir, her last visiting hours for anyone ended at eight this morning. It's almost eleven."

"What do you mean 'last visiting hours'?"

"Mr Fischbach, Andrea is scheduled to be unhooked soon. You should probably go home..."

"No! No, you can't do that! No! You can't do that to her!"

"We hate to have to do such things, but there's no one who is willing to accept the hospital bills," the woman told me as my friends walked in through the doors.

"Connect the payments to my account then! If you've ever cared about the purpose of your job, helping people, saving lives, you'll connect this to my account. Are we clear?"

"Are you okay, Mark?" Bob asked. I ignored him, keeping my attention towards the girl behind the desk.

"Even if I were able to, I still can't grant you the right to visit without you being family or her spouse."

"Well, if you would've let me finish talking when you asked me earlier, I was going to tell you I wasn't family, but I am her fiancé."

"Are you?" she asked, very skeptical.

I pulled a gold band out of my front pocket in my jeans, holding it up to show her. "I am. Believable enough to you?" I asked, putting the ring on.

The woman simply pushed a button on her desk and told me where Andrea's room was. "Down the gray corridor and to the left. Room 422b. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, sir."

I spun on my heel, walking through the doors through the gray corridor, my friends struggling to keep up with my running. I darted through the halls, following the directions the woman had told me while looking at the numbers about the rooms. 419b, 420b, 421b, 422b. Finally! I skid to a stop, my sneakers squeaking against the polished tile flooring. I turned to one of the nurses behind the island of desks across from Andrea's room, pointing to her door. She nodded and I walked in, my three musketeers directly behind me.

"Hold on, I've gotta stop you before we go in. Fiancé?" Wade asked, confused. "Where'd you get the ring, Mark?"

"Andrea's last name isn't Fischbach, so I can't be her husband. No way I'd say I was her brother, they can pull up records that say otherwise. Fiancé, however, they can't prove nor disprove."

"Smart. What about the ring?"

"Saying we're engaged is kind of a 'get out of jail free card'. She gets in trouble with a guy or anyone, I'm around, bam, rings and a story to go along with it. I bought them after we figured out that scenario a couple years ago. Used them about four times. Now five."

"Are they real?" Molly asked me.

"Of course. I'd be stupid to get fake gold and diamond rings."

"Diamond? Is that Andrea's?" I nodded. "That's so sweet. I can't believe you'd do that for her."

"It's because I care. Couple thousand dollars in a fair trade to protect Andrea. I'll spend whatever I have to if it's to help her. In this case, tens of thousands..."

"Did you accept the bills, Mark..?" Bob asked me.

"Why wouldn't I? There's this thing I do, called charity streams. I will fund this hospital for this month's. I'll use my own money mostly. I'm not going to deprive myself of the initiative to help Andrea, and others here. Plain and simple."

"Okay, I'll respect that. I don't know about Wade and Molly, but I'll leave you alone with Andrea. As much as I love hanging around, I'll wait out here."

"Yeah, we will too," Wade added, gesturing to Molly and himself.

I nodded to them and walked inside Andrea's room, closing the door softly behind me. I pulled back the curtain surrounding her bed and pulled them closed as I sat in a chair next to her. The first thing I saw was the dried blood trailing vertically up her arms, showing through the thick bandages. This would be the only situation I'd thank anything I've ever believed in for her attempts ending futile. There was an oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose, connected to a pump on the left side of her bed. Since it'd be impossible to hook up IVs in her arms, the needles were stuck in her hands, giving her whatever fluids she needed to stay alive. Even if it was just the bare minimum required. Andrea's words kept running through my head, giving me a migraine. 'I couldn't stay around and have your arms around me in a tight hug forever. I think that's what made it worse'.

I leaned forward in my seat, resting my elbows on my knees, holding my glasses in my hands. I couldn't believe Andrea was capable of something even close to this. I couldn't understand. It flustered me how someone who's never appeared to have a care in the world, who smiled all time, laughed and joked no matter what was going on, could just go off and try to blow the candle out on themselves. I guess you never know who's hurting until they shove their pain in your face.

"You know," I said in a small voice, twirling Andrea's ring I found on the counter near her stuff in my hands. "if you really needed that forever hug, I wouldn't have hesitated to give it to you. I wish you knew that. I don't hate you for this, I just wish there was some way, somehow, I could've helped you. You said I couldn't, but, y'know, I would just be there for you. And if you thought of some way that I could help, I'd try. For you. Because, well, if you trusted me enough to help and to talk to me, of course I'd be there for you."