The Future isn't Bright

Seven

What happened afterwards was a complete blur. I remember commanding my legs to sprint as fast as I could to the electric car, not tiring me at all, leaving Chloe and Frankie shouting after me. I shut the small door quickly and didn't realize I was shaking until Mother ran to the front seat with my gym bag and shoes.  

"Please hurry," she told Lucas, looking at me with worry, her tone surprisingly urgent and demanding. I looked out the tinted window and tapped my bare foot rapidly with impatience. The nearest hospital was the Turner Medical Center, one of two hospitals in town. The other hospital I didn't know the name of for we only went to Turner's for medical attention. Both hospitals were on the border of Femme and Mascel, making them easily accessible and filled with both male and female doctors.  

Looking out the window, I felt tears building up behind my eyes. Grandmother was the one person in all of Femme that I trusted with all my secrets, wishes, plans, everything. I forced my tears to go away. I try to never cry. Crying is a way of showing weakness, and I certainly did not need that at the moment.  

I thought back to all the times I've seen my sister cry. She was always whiny as a child and frequently cried when she wouldn't get her way. I never remembered being like that. I always accepted things as they were. Although, accepting the death of my grandmother would be something I just could not bring myself to do. I pushed thoughts of Grandmother to the back of my head. They would just trigger more weakness within me.  

Instead, I shifted my thoughts to today's gymnastics meeting. With Chloe on our team, we were sure to win nationals. Grandmother never missed any of mine and my team's performances. I hoped her streak would continue.  

Precisely sixteen minutes later, we arrived at Turner Medical Center. My eyes were glued to the digital clock the entire car ride. I rushed, or rather fell, out of the car, slipping on my ancient sky blue tennis shoes in mid-stride. Mother ditched her stilettos and ran behind me barefooted with them dangling from her fingers the way mine dangled in the Gathering forest.  

We reached the pasty white building in less than a minute. Mother led me to the reception desk, where a lady even more orange than Miss Hennessy herself popped a bubble of hot pink chewing gum. We raced over, only to have her look us up and down. Her eyes stopped on me. She tilted her head sideways, taking in my looks with a pitiful look on her face. Mother seemed to take notice of this and narrowed her eyes furiously, her cheeks flushed.

"Can I help you?" her fuchsia lips smacked.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Mother sneered sarcastically, "My mother is in the Critical wing and we'd like to see her before she dies." My eyes widened at her tone.

"There's the waiting list, hun," she nodded toward an electronic tablet with about twenty different names before the first empty spot. There were a lot of people in the waiting room, all sitting in puffy blue chairs and looking at us strangely. Some were reading eNewspapers. I looked at her with a death stare.

"You know what?" I leaned over the counter and put my face about an inch away from her pitifully orange face.  

"Screw your list" I sneered as I picked up a nearby pen and popped her bubble with it. I dropped my pen dramatically onto the desk and looked up at Mother out of the corner of my eye while crossing my arms. I was afraid for my life: Mother never raised me to behave that way, but I was willing to do just about anything for my grandmother. To my surprise, she bit her lip without saying anything before turning to the orange lady and narrowed her eyes.  

"Who do you think you are?!" Blondie screeched at me. Mother stepped in front of me protectively.  

"You can forget about getting through to see your grandmother," she said as she grabbed the sign-in tablet off of the table and set it somewhere deep in a wooden drawer. Mother was visibly fuming.