CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Understanding
“What? Zac’s awake?” I asked.
“Yup, we just got informed by a nurse on our way up,” explained Jade.
“What’s his room number?”
“518, he just came out from ICU.” Without replying, I quickly rushed out of the hospital room and sprinted down the hallways toward the elevator, with nurses shouting at me to slow down, Jade included.
“Sophie! Slow down!” Jade shouted for the hundredth time, panting.
“No!” I shouted back at her and made it just in time to rush to the closing elevator. I jabbed the button for the fifth floor with my finger. Leaning against the elevator wall, I grabbed both my sides with my hand to stop the stabs of pain from sprinting so fast.
“A loved one admitted in the hospital?” an old, grey haired lady dressed in blue asked.
“Yup,” I replied, not wanting to make conversation with a stranger.
“Well dear, this just shows us how short life is and we should cherish every moment we spend with our loved ones, don’t make the mistake I made when I was your age. Don’t take anyone for granted just because they are by your side now. I’ve known by experienced that we don’t know how important someone is to us until we actually lose them, but then it’ll be too late,” the old lady advised, with a faraway look on her face as though she was reminiscing a memory.
“The more we cherish the time spent with someone, the more it will hurt when they leave,” I countered.
“Why are you so afraid of the pain? Don’t the good memories override the bad ones? What if they aren’t going to leave but you blocked them from your life in order to protect yourself? Look at yourself! Not only is your loved one in the hospital, but you are too! Doesn’t it make perfect sense that in order to live a life happily with your loved ones, you have to pass these life obstacles?” the lady scolded.
“How did you know about me being in the hospital?” I asked. Was she a stalker? Why is she hitting all the right points of my life?
She pointed to my torso and chuckled. I looked down and noticed I was in the hospital gown. Blushing ferociously, I bit my lip and willed myself to keep quiet, waiting for the very, very slow elevator to arrive at the fifth floor.
Once the elevator dinged and opened, I quickly stepped out the elevator with the lady behind me.
“Remember what I said, young one. One day, you’ll regret, like I do now because it keeps coming back to haunt you every single day.” Shaking my head to get the lady’s weird words out of my head, I continued sprinting down the hallways towards the room 518. Again, nurses shouted at me to slow down and not to run in hospitals as it was dangerous but I turned a deaf ear to them.
Twice I nearly banged into patients but with a quick apology I continued sprinting towards the hospital room. Once room 518 came into my view, I slowed down and walked towards to room. I stood outside the room door and took a deep breath before knocking.
After hearing a faint “come in!”, I slowly pushed open the door and walked inside the dark room. Walking closer to the bed, I saw the familiar shade of brown hair above the familiar yet not so familiar face. Familiar because it was the face I was so used to seeing, not so familiar because there were red scratches on his face. Tearing my eyes away from his painful-looking scratches, I assessed Zac’s other injuries. He had his left arm and right leg in a white cast and his stomach was wrapped with layers of bandages. His face looked very pale and it left no trace of his usual grins and smirks. I felt my tears welling up at the sight of him.
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Teen Fiction[Completed] Sophie Meyers isn’t the happiest girl in the block because much to her dismay, her mother got herself remarried just months after her father’s death. Thrown into a world full of wealth and fame and not to mention a new school filled with...
