Bring Me Closer

Closer: Part 8

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The darkness begins to break as my eyes fight to open again. It feels like I've been lying here for ages. My eyes adjust, but it's difficult to move. I squint my eyes open and look down at myself. What room is this? Am I at the Kapur's home still? What happened? My arms are sore and so are my legs. My ears adjust. I hear the constant beeping of computer monitors. I'm in the hospital. There's an IV in my right arm. I fight to fully awake, but sleep pulls me back into a dream.

"Mommy's fine sweetie. We're going on a little trip, okay. And were never going to come back. I want you to forget all that bad stuff that happened. It never happened, okay? Okay? It never happened." She repeats. I'm scared and I don't know why. She's driving really fast, I can barely move. Where are we going? I dare not ask. I slide over to my baby sister. She's sleeping in her seat. I hold her hand and she squeezes mine back. I close my eyes and try to forget everything. But it just won't go away. Mommy's driving faster now and I squeeze the baby's hand even tighter. I close my eyes and then everything turns black. Real black. I forget everything. It never happened. It never happened.

I gasp awake and in panic. What was that? I look all around me. I look at myself. I'm tight under this blanket. On my finger is that ring. The ring Mike's mom gave to him. Why am I wearing it? Mike is beside me in a chair with his head in his hands. With every ounce of strength, I call his name. "Mike," I call. "Mike," I repeat.
He finally hears me. He looks up with tears in his eyes. "Oh, Charlie." He says.
"Why are you crying?" I ask. "What am I doing here? I've got to get out of here. I just had a really bad dream."
He sniffs. "Yeah?"
I look up and see the doctor come in. Mike stands and approaches him. They're both looking at me. "What's going on?" I ask again.
The doctor sighs, looking down at his clipboard. "Ms. Taylor, you've been here for three days." He starts. I squint my eyes trying to predict his point. Oh no, oh no! "I'm afraid to say, you've had a miscarriage and lost your baby. I'm so terribly sorry."
What? What did he just say to me? I'm frozen. I can't react, I can't move. I just stare down at my stomach. The doctor slowly leaves the room and I look up at Mike. My eyes swell into tears, "What?" I ask him.
He's pacing the room. "This is all my fault, it's all my fault." He combs through his hair with his fingers.

I lay back on the bed and suck in my tears. People will probably be stopping by, and I need to be together. I need to get it together. I sit up slowly, my eyes squint in pain as my muscles ache. Mike runs to my rescue. "I'm fine." I mumble, sliding off of the bed. "Do you mind going to get something for me? I really think I could use an iced coffee, not from the cafe." I walk slowly to the bathroom ensuring my IV is still intact.
"Okay, okay I'll get you some Dunk's. I'll be back in a few. Don't do too much, we'll talk about it all when I get back." He kisses my cheek and pulls out a few dollars from his pocket and heads toward the door. I quickly scan the room for my things. When I spot a plastic bag, I slowly disconnect the IV from my arm. The monitors remain quiet. Thank God. I slip on a pair of blue scrubs and a pair of converse. Grabbing my jacket out of the bag I search for my wallet and cellphone. I find my phone but no wallet. I charge over to Mike's chair. In his coat pocket I find a $20 bill and force it into my own pocket.
I peel the ring off of my finger and place it in the middle of the bed. This is all too much.
Leaving the hospital behind and everything else, I finally reach the door. I'm panting as I jog through the doors. I pull out my cell phone and notice I have hundreds of missed calls and text messages. I don't want to deal with it all. Mom, dad, Marilla, Duke, Drew, Chris and a few unknown numbers. The list is endless. As I sprint toward the bus stop I hear someone calling my name. "Charlie?" A car door slams. "Hey! Charlie!" I hear the voice. Don't look, don't look. I command myself.
He's closer, grabbing my arm. "Charlie? What are you doing, did they release you?" It's Louis.
I look up at him and lie. "Yeah, yeah." Noticing his car, "Could you give me a ride?" I ask.
"Where's Mike?" I shrug. "Sure, sure thing. Hop in." I almost run to the passenger seat and shut the door. Louis hops in and were on our way.
"Did they tell you what happened?" He asks.
"Yeah," I sigh. "I lost the baby." My eyes are fixed on the road.
He hesitates his response. "I'm so sorry. You must be distraught." No, I'm not. I just want to get out of here. "So, where are we headed?" He asks.
"I thought I was in a rush, but I think I'd like to get a drink, now that I can." I exhale looking down at my scrubs. Not in these. I open the plastic bag pulling out a pair of jeans. I slide off the scrub bottoms without hesitation. Louis glances at me through the corner of his eye.
I try my best to ignore him. I rip of my jacket and slip on an orange sweater I have in the bag. There.