Away

"Sapphire"

Carissa sits in the abandoned corner of the waiting room. Her knee is jittering and she doesn't know how to stop it. She's nervous. There's heavy tension in the air all around her and she hates it. It makes her want to jump up and run away from the waiting room. But she's afraid that if she does, the doctor will come and she won't be there. She grits her teeth and waits a few more minutes before standing up and pacing the around the waiting room.

A hand grabs her arm and she jumps.

"Hey," the soft voice travels throughout the empty room. Landon had stood up to get her to stop walking. Carissa honestly forgot that he was here. "Go get something to drink or eat, OK? You're driving me crazy walkin' around like that."

"But, what if the doc-"

"The doctor will wait here for you if you don't come back in time. Just. Go," He runs his free hand in his hair. Right, his hand is still holding Carissa's arm. "You need to burn some energy anyway."

She nods and walks away.

Later, walking back to the elevator with an armful of snack and drinks, she shivers. Silently cursing herself for not bringing a jacket to keep her warm, she pushes the level 4 button repeatedly until the doors close.

"Going somewhere in a hurry?" a wispy voice travels in the air.

"Shit," Carissa jumps and drops some her snacks on to the elevator floor. She turns to face the voice intruder and sees and elderly couple behind her. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. You just scared me because I didn't notice y'all standing there. I totally didn't mean to say that-"

"Honestly, dear, you're acting like we've never heard curse words in our life," the frail woman waves her hand around while she talks. Carissa smiles. She likes this woman. "My name's Patricia, darling. And this lovely husband of mine right here is George."

Patricia bends down to pick up the snacks. (despite Carissa's attempts to stop her. "Stop it, I'm not that old."

"But, m'am-"

"Excuse you. It's Patricia to you. None of this 'm'am' nonsense.") Carissa and the elderly couple chat for the rest of the short ride in the elevator. Once Carissa leaves, she feels a tiny bit more refreshed and relaxed. They never talked about why they're here or what happened. They just talked. It was nice. She liked it.

She walks into the waiting room and finds Landon sitting in the seat she left him in. They don't talk about anything. They just eat the snacks Carissa bought and cuddle up into the blankets that Landon brought with him.

Carissa didn't realize that she fell asleep while playing her phone. She doesn't know what Landon is going on about. He keeps trying to shake her awake, telling her about some doctor and the room number and something about sapphires and-

Sapphires.

Sapphire.

Oh. Oh.

Right. They're in the hospital, waiting for some news about Sapphire.

Carissa jerks up and looks at Landon. "Yea?" she rasps. Damn. How long was she out for? She wipes her chin with the sleeve of her jacket to check for drool. "Is the doctor here or what?"

Landon shoots her a look, but nods anyway. He whispers c'mon, helps her up, and leads her over to where the doctor is standing.

Once they get to the doctor, he looks at them with this look on his face and Carissa knows that everything is shit.

***

They aren't allowed to see her body until the day of the funeral. It is an open casket funeral.