Lights! Camera - ; Tyrus

Scene 18

TJ

Alcohol poisoning. It's a horrible, gross word even when it doesn't apply to you. It doesn't apply to me. It applies to Amber.

There isn't many people in the hospital room in the afternoon, many, many less after the sun begins to set. Regular patients come and go, I see pregnant women in wheelchairs, somebodies face in a bucket as nurses usher them into a room, somebody with a bloody hand trying not to drip their insides on the floor. It all kind of blurs by.

I put my head in my hands and try to breathe. Breathe. Like normal humans do. But I get the image of Amber again and again in my head. Why wasn't I with her? Why couldn't I protect her? Why? I'm the one good person in her life right now, the one person that didn't abandon her, not when she came out, not when she moved to New York for dancing. So why couldn't I protect her?

I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, are you okay, T?" Cyrus sits down on the plastic chair beside me.

I look to Cyrus, who is giving me an apologetic, calming smile. "No. No. My sister is in hospital, and if we hadn't gotten there just then she could be so much worse, and I should have been there. I should have been there for her. What kind of a brother can't protect his sister?"

Cyrus stays silent, waiting for me to finish, before he speaks, "TJ. I can't imagine the pain you must be feeling right now, and I'm so sorry that you're hurting. Of course you feel upset, and I know that you carry a lot of stress making sure that Amber is okay. I'm not going to tell you to cheer up, because you have a right to express your emotions. But she's going to be okay. It's a good thing you love her so much. And you did the right thing getting help." He takes my hand and squeezes it. "I'm here for you, okay? But I can give you some space if you want."

I don't give him space. Instead I fall into his arms (sideways, but still falling) and he wraps me in a hug.

"Thank you." I whisper. I feel Cyrus kiss the top of my head.

"Of course."

Cyrus was the one to call 911, he was the one to make sure Amber was lying in the correct position. I watched over my sister as he spoke to the paramedics, I knew that she was choking and administrated CPR while the ambulance was on their way. I stayed by her side on our way to the hospital, with Cyrus in the passenger seat.

Cyrus doesn't let me go while we wait, I don't let him. After a little while longer he goes to get us some coffee from the machine in the waiting room. I use the bathroom and wash my face. We watch half of the Matrix on his phone before the battery dies. I fall asleep on his shoulder while he plays with my hand.

And I get this overwhelming amount of appreciation for Cyrus Goodman. And I know that we're going to be okay.

I wake up about half an hour later to an empty chair. There is barely anyone else left in the room. The secretary we had before, Linda, has been replaced with a dark haired, bearded man. I read "Tom" on his badge.

Cyrus comes back a little while later while I'm texting Jonah about what happened. He also seems to be the only good friend I have left. I click my phone off once the text is sent

Barely anyone is left in the lobby. Cy passes me a ham and cheese sandwich and sits back down. "Feeling any better?" He asks.

"A little," I unwrap the box and bite down on the food. At this point, I'm so hungry I would eat pretty much anything. I look at my boyfriend positioned with his knee against mine. The way his dark eyes watch over anything and the light bounces around, like it's giving him a magical point of view. "Thank you. For everything, Cy. I really can't say it enough."

"And I really can't say how many times I would do it again for you." He smiles, then yawns. I notice how dark the circles around his eyes have gotten, his posture seems to have dropped like his energy levels.

"I think it's your time to rest now." I say to him once we finish our makeshift meals.

"You know I'm used to staying up this late, writing and all." He replies.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." I toss the torn boxes in the trash a few feet away. Then tug on Cyrus's sleeve, "C'mere."

"I am here." He says. But stretches his legs out across the chairs, resting his head on my lap. I throw my jacket over him as a blanket. "This is so stupid."

"I know," I bend down to him and kiss his forehead. "But there is nobody I would rather be spending time in a hospital lobby with while waiting for my sister to get her stomach pumped."

"I'm always here for you. I don't think I ever really left." He closes his eyes, unknowing of how fast my heart beats for him.

🎬

"Mr Kippen." A red haired nurse appears from the hallway leading to the rest of the hospitals. I shift Cyrus off of me as I stand up to meet her.

"That's me." I say gruffly.

"Your sister will be fine." She reads from her clipboard, "her stomach did need to be pumped, unfortunately. This also means she will not be able to leave for another day, just to let us make sure her vitals are stable. Thank you for your patience. We can let you see her now."

Cyrus appears from behind me. The Nurse frowns. "Unluckily, we can only allow family to enter sir."

"Cyrus is family." I blurt out, "I mean, Mr Goodman is family."

"Alright then, if you will follow me, sirs."

We fall behind the Nurse as she leads us down a hallway lit by only a few lights. Cyrus is family? It sounds desperate and way too soon in my head now. We haven't even said "love" yet.

But I feel like he is part of our family. And I feel like he's a lot closer to me than I am to him. And that's okay.

It's okay because I might nearly love him. I might have never stopped.

We enter into Amber's room. She's propped up on a pillow, her short hair framed around her face messily. All of the colour seems to have left her face, all except her lips, which have become a dry pink, yet glistening with sweat.

As the Nurse leaves, Cyrus takes my hand and I steady on him. Leaning all of my weight that I can't hold.

"Hey." Amber rasps. She smiles despite the pain.

I walk towards her and touch the top of my head. Before tears fall from my face.

"I should have been there." I say between small breaks where salt fills my words too much to speak.

She takes my hand. "It's not your fault, okay? And I'm going to be fine. I promise you. I'm going to be more careful. So you don't have to feel this much pain." She brushes my tears away.

"I'm going to leave you guys alone for a little while, I'll head back to your place to grab you anything you need, food, clothing, phone chargers." Cyrus says behind us, he stands at the door, his eyes glassy but firm.

"Hi, Cyrus." Amber stifles a laugh, looking behind me, "I'm so sorry we had to meet again under such terrible circumstances. I'm sure I look dreadful."

He winks, "As beautiful as ever." He says truthfully, "I'll be back soon." Cyrus walks forward, kisses my cheek as if to take the tear stains away, and makes a show of bringing his lips to Amber's hand before exiting the room. I wave to him as he leaves.

"I'm sure you have quite a story to tell, Mr Kippen." Amber smirks. 

I sit down on the hospital bed, facing my sister. "As you do, Mrs Kippen. So let's talk."

A/N Amber is going to be alright folks. I really do feel all the fuzzy emotions as I write this, and get them again at every comment. So thank you to all the people that do vote and comment on my story. I love you guys.