Kahoot x Reader

Chapter 21

The red line on the monitor flatlines as a deafening beep fills the room. Hands grasp the unconscious patient in the bed, rumpled bed sheets falling to the ground in a heap of white threaded fabric. At 8:36 pm, the patient is pronounced dead, and those around the bed are shrouded in despair.

In the next room over, Phoenix sits peacefully with Bay knowing that she'll be fine. Despite being confused and a little nauseous (the doctors say it's a concussion) Bay feels alright. She squishes a pillow in her lap and hides her hands inside the pillow case, the stitches she's forbidden to touch itching on her head.

Breathing in the hospital is uncomfortable. The air is thick, stuffy, and the smell of antiseptic is always hanging in the air mixed with what could only be described as sickness. Heat envelopes everybody who steps inside its walls, and Phoenix has already throw off the blanket Bay had so graciously given to him.

"So, what room is Camille in?" asks Bay, breaking the silence.

The clock on the wall ticks as Phoenix fiddles with his hands in his lap, head lowered and avoiding her eyes. "Phoenix?"

"Uh...well...she isn't in a room."

Bay shoulders relax. "Oh, good. She's at home then?"

"She not at home, either," he says, voice hesitant.

Bay removes her hands from the pillow and pushes herself up.

"What do you mean?"

Phoenix takes a deep, shuddering breath. His shadow glides across her face as he walks towards her, and the bed caves in slightly where he sits. Its old rusted springs squeak in disagreement.

"She not in any of those places because she wasn't in the house when the ambulance got there." Phoenix drags a hand down his face. "They think whoever broke in took her with them."

His hand stills and he looks up. "I'm sorry."

The words wash over her like a sheet of ice water. She feels cold, as if ice had replaced all of the blood in her veins and turned her body into a glacier, pieces crystallizing in sharp shards. She swallows.

"Oh."

Outside the room, two chairs are filled with men in blue hats, matching badges adorning their uniforms. One flicks his wrist, checking the watch laying there, and he silently curses the kid who pleaded for them to wait awhile before questioning the victim.

With a huff he pushes his chair back, grinding it against the floor, and goes to gently knock on Bay's door. It effectively ends the looming atmosphere that had settled in there. The police officers ask Phoenix to leave the room, and with a last glance at Bay, he slouches out, hands buried deep inside his pockets.

***

You and Kahoot don't visit at the hospital for long. Bay can't leave until the next morning, so you guys try to get her mind of of things with jokes and poorly executed puns.

It doesn't work.

***

All four of you are at school the next day. Bay only talks when spoken to, mostly answering in monosyllabic words, and the light in her eyes seems far away, as if hidden behind a veil. The class feels empty without Bay's obvious comments that prompt groans all around, or her child-like laughter enchanting those near her.

Your hands can't stop tapping, or pulling, or doing something. You can't think, you can't concentrate, you can't breathe. Being around her, seeing something that you can't help, urges you want to punch a wall or pull your hair out.