Murder

Chapter 21- Waiting

I'm not gonna just sit around and wait for Darrel to tell me if he's alive or not. I'm gonna go find out myself. I walk out the door, and try to see where the ambulance went. I hear the loud sirens, and try to pin them down. They sound like they're just past the middle school. I'll never catch up. Maybe if I had somebody to give me a ride. I don't know if anybody would be able to give me a ride on such short notice. Maybe Julia can, her life revolves around last minute plans. I dial her number. One ring, two rings, three rings, and then I hear silence. "Hello?" I ask, hoping for an answer. "Hey. What's up?" "Uh, I need to get to the hospital, you think I can get a ride?" I ask. "Can't Rob take you?" she sounds a little agitated. I put my hand on the back of my neck and tilt my head back. "Uh... he's kinda the one in the hospital." I say, hoping she won't freak out. "Oh my God hotness no!" she screamed into the phone. "I'll be right over, be ready." she said and hung up. Well that could've gone better. It also could've gone worse though. So I guess it wasn't that bad.

Julia lives about five minutes away by car, so I decide to make myself useful and start cleaning up the glass. Agonizing minutes go by extremely slowly. It feels like ten hours before I finally hear the screeching of her tires on the street. "Get in get in hurry!" she yelled from what I'm assuming is the car window. I run out the door and to the car. "Mom step on it!" Julia screamed and we sped away towards the hospital. I watch town go by in a blur, and I can hear Julia and her mom talking, but I'm not listening. I have important thoughts on my mind, screaming at me, demanding attention. What if he dies, and I'm left with no one? What if he dies, and Darrel hates me, and he only put up with me because of Rob? What if he lives, but he blames me for him getting shot? What if he dies, and it's the same person that killed Russ, and he's never found? What will I do if any of these happen? I'll go back to the way it was before Rob took me in, I'll go from house to house on the weekends, and wherever possible on weeknights, I don't know if I could go back to that. That was horrible, I never want to do that again. I know I played it off like it was fine in front of my friends, but that was the most stressed I've ever been. Actually, I think it's a three way tie between then, when Russ was missing, and now.

"Alright, we're here." Mrs. Campbell pulled me back into reality. We're in front of a giant gray stone building. There's gotta be at least 1,000 windows. Behind me is a giant parking lot, and it's actually pretty full. That makes me sad, having the parking lot full. There's so many people here visiting a loved one, or coming for themselves. Everybody here is either sad, hurt or sick. That's a horrible thought. I somehow make my feet move against the smooth black pavement and towards the door. Julia's right next to me, and she shoots me a reassuring smile. I nod, take a deep breath, and walk through the door. It smells like cleaner and death, and my nose is attacked with both smells at once. It makes me want to puke. I look around the waiting room for Darrel, but he's nowhere in sight. Julia nudges my shoulder and points to the woman at the front desk. That's a good idea. I walk over to her. "Hi, I'm here for Rob Mathews, could you tell me where he is?" I ask the woman. She types something into the computer. "He's currently in surgery, but his room number is 217." "Thank you. Wait. 217? That's the critical care unit. Are you sure that's his room?" I asked. I'm a little scared now. Normally after surgery you just go to the regular rooms, unless it's something serious. I know, because I always had family in and out of here for just about anything. You name it, it probably happened. The woman gives me a sympathetic look and nods. I sigh, and head towards the elevators, Julia and Mrs. Campbell trailing behind me.

We walk into the elevators and press the button for the third floor. The elevator ride is completely silent, as is the walk down the hallway towards room 217. "215, 216." I hear Julia counting off the room numbers as we go. We reach room 217 and I open the door to see Darrel sitting in a chair next to the bed with tears in his eyes. The bed is empty, I guess Rob is still in surgery. "How- How is he?" I whisper. He looks up at me. "I thought I told you to stay home. You shouldn't be here." he said. He's got a depressed tone to his voice, though I'm not surprised. "I'm not supposed to do a lot of things, but I do." I say, sitting on the windowsill next to the chair. "If you know what I mean." Julia says, one eyebrow arched. Her mom smacks her upside the head. "This is a serious moment Julia Clare!" she yells. I roll my eyes. Darrel is holding his breath, his face is turning red. I think he's trying not to laugh. A doctor walks in the room. "We have a temporary solution, but he may need a new heart. We've put him on a transplant list. Now all we can do is wait." he said. Darrel nodded, and I saw a tear fall onto his cheek. Rob was brought into the room, unconscious. He looks so peaceful, but so pained at the same time. The nurses hook him up to a life support machine, and then the machines that check his vitals, and then they leave. Now it's just a waiting game, to see if he can beat the race against death.