Flowers and Footballs

Part 9-March 9th: The Banquet (pt.2)

"STOP!" Hazel yelled out.

Within a few seconds of confusion, everyone was silent.

"We need an ambulance!" she said, a bit softer. She was sure she was blushing.

Annabeth, who was right next to Hazel, grabbed her phone and dialed the emergency number. The auditorium was silent. From the back, there was a great ruffling sound. Piper raced from the back and came toward Hazel and Frank.

"Hazel! What happened to him?"

"I don't know," Hazel admitted. "He just fainted."

Piper started to check for a pulse on him. More silence.

After a few minutes, the emergency folk came into the auditorium, holding a stretcher.

They came toward the front and grabbed Frank, putting him on the stretcher. One of the people, a woman, took Hazel by the hand and brought her outside as they loaded Frank into the ambulance.

"What happened to him?" she asked, her voice indifferent.

"He just-" Hazel started to reply.

"No, the full story."

"Well, the final award for football was announced, and we were clapping for our friend, as he won, and I glanced over at him. He looked like he was going to puke, but I figured that was because he didn't win the award," Hazel looked at her feet. "I guess not."

"I see," she said, writing something on her notepad. The doors to the ambulance shut.

"Wait!" Hazel said, her voice suddenly urgent. "I need to go with him!"

The woman laughed. "And why is that? Here, he'll be at 31st Street Hospital. Just go there, okay?"

"When? How will I know he'll be alright?" Hazel demanded.

"Child, relax," the woman replied. The ambulance left. "Why don't you head there now?"

**

Hazel called a taxi and got in. She didn't know what was happening at the banquet, and honestly, she didn't care. She needed to make sure that Frank was alright. After fifteen minutes of worry, Hazel was at the hospital. She paid the driver and ran into the hospital, her heels killing her feet. She was about to take the elevator, but there was a huge yellow tape on it that read:

DO NOT USE: OUT OF ORDER

Great, first Piper's building, now the hospital. Was this some sort of elevator disease?

She ran to the staircase, and was halfway through the first one before realizing she didn't know where she was going.

Hazel ran back down the staircase, her feet on fire. She headed to the front desk and asked for Frank Zhang.

"Um, I believe he is in the ER," the man said.

"Can I visit him?" Hazel asked.

"Sure, I'll just have to take you."

He got out of his desk and began to walk ahead of me. Feeling like if she were to walk another second with her heels on she would die, Hazel took them off.

She headed with the man for a few more minutes, my heart barely beating. Finally, we reached the room where Frank was. The man led me inside and left. I was still in the doorway, but the room was packed with people. From what I could see, there were two doctors, a few nurses, and some of the people who came to pick him up from the university. I moved to the side of the bed and touched Frank's arm.

"Frank," I whispered. Apparently the people in the room didn't notice me.

After a few seconds, I felt a small pulse coming from his wrist.