Vibrations

Chapter 5

Re, my pet name for Adrianna, and I rode in my truck on the way to the hospital. It was all the way on the other side of town, so it was a bit of a drive to get there. We lived in one of those towns that was just small enough to only have one hospital, and just big enough for it to take forever to get there when you needed it.

I looked over at Re while she chewed on her thumb nail, her own, private, nervous tick...

She needed to get her mind off of her worries, or at least that was the impression that I got just looking at her. That, in turn, meant I needed to talk to her, get her mind away from her worry...

"Re, why does everyone call Aubrey, Roo?"

She raised an eyebrow at me, her face a mask of shock, "You really don't know?"

I chuckled, "If I knew, I wouldn't ask."

She shook her head at me. "You remember when Roo was born don't you?"

Guilt pounded through me...

Re continued, "Casey was so scared. Mom kept trying to get her to calm down, kept telling her that everything was going to be okay, but she kept freaking out. All she wanted was for you to be there when she had Roo. She just kept on about it and on about it..."

I shook my head sadly. "And I kept telling her I had finals. And promising her that as soon as she went into labor to call me and I would drop everything, finals or no, and I'd come running."

Re smiled at me. "And Casey went into labor, and she called you, and you came running."

I sighed, "And I was too late... A four-hour drive, but still Roo had come before I got there..." Shaking my head I continued, "I thought, stupidly, a four-hour drive is no big deal, who has a baby in four hours?"

Re giggled, "Apparently, Casey managed to pull it off." She shrugged, "And you showed up, her a tired mess, and just beaming that you had finally gotten there. Roo, pillowed on her chest, and in you walk with this giant basket of stuff you had put together for her. Diapers, and baby clothes and stuffed animals for her and the baby. You looked so pitiful. Just running in like you had just ended the world, and ready to throw yourself onto the pyre to appease the gods."

I shook my head, disgusted at how selfish I had been. My friend had just wanted me to be there for her while she went through the scariest moment of her life, and I had come up short... again. I had let her down, again.

"There was one stuffed animal in there, a kangaroo. Casey loved that kangaroo, and she immediately made it Roo's. She used to make sure it was in Roo's crib every night. She used to hold it out to her and parrot, over and over, 'kangaroo!', 'kangaroo!', like she wanted that to be Roo's first word." Re shook her head, "And it was. Freaking crazy Casey, every other mom out there trying to get her kid's first word to be 'mommy', and she's trying to get her kid to say kangaroo..."

I laughed just thinking about it. That just about summed up Casey.

"Turned out it was a giant mistake. Roo carried that goddamn kangaroo everywhere. Only, she couldn't say kangaroo. All she could say was Roo! She would run around and hold that stupid stuffed animal out to everyone and yell, Roo!" She shrugged, "So people started calling her Roo."

I shook my head at her, giving her a quick glance. "How was school this year?"

She shrugged, "Okay, I guess."

I raised my eyebrows at her. "You excited about finally heading to high school?"

She shook her head, "Not really. I mean, I know it will be just school again, but it still feels weird."