Scars of the Past

Chapter Seventeen: Spot Conlon

                      I felt a sudden rush of happiness plow over me. I was going to see Anthony, for sure. This was something for certain. Something was finally concrete. 

                      Melissa was ahead of us all and ran to the front desk. I'm honestly pretty grateful she made it there first though, I don't know if Beverley or I would be strong enough to ask for him. Melissa leaned against the counter as we approached. 

                     Of course, they wanted to know if any of us were family and Hipaa blah blah blah. Eventually, the woman gave us a room number.  Beverley grabbed Albert's hand and we quickly began heading down to the hall when we crashed into Corey. Of course. 

                     "How is he doing?" I asked.

                      Beverley clung to Albert's arm. 

                      "He's um," Corey started then cleared his throat, "better now..."

                       "What?" Melissa asked, narrowing her eyebrows and crossing her arms. She is really pulling along this conversation and thank goodness for that. 

                        "He had a flatline scare," Corey started before adjusting a stack of papers in his hands, "Now if you excuse me I-I have to deliver some stats."

                        "What?!"

                        "My brother d-died?" Beverley said shakily, her eyes watering again. 

                         "He's okay now," Corey replied, looking at the ground. "Look, I really need to go..."

                          "Well, thank you, Corey," Albert replied, before walking with Beverley and Melissa towards the elevator. 

                           "Aren't you coming, Sean?" Melissa asked, turning around to face me. 

                           "I'll meet you there," I replied then turned to Corey. "Are you lying?"

                           "Why the heck would I lie about someone's health? This is literally my job, Sean" Corey asked, shaking his head as he began walking again. 

                           "Because you didn't want me here in the first place."

                            Corey scoffed and stopped dead in his tracks before turning to me. "What are you talking about?"

                           "You wouldn't let me in before!"

                           "Because it was illegal! I couldn't let you in or tell you anything before because I would get arrested and then I couldn't make money to support my son, and my wife, and pay for my brother's funeral!" He replied, his voice shaking. "So I'm sorry but now you can see him so go." He turned around stiffly and began walking at a much faster pace. 

                          "F-Funeral?"

                          "Go Sean."

                         "Corey," I quickly rushed to grab his shoulder. 

                          "Go," he said through his teeth. 

                           I sighed and turned around before heading back to the elevator. I let out a heavy breath as I turned in the elevator and pressed the button to Anthony's floor. I can't believe any of the things I just heard. My head was suddenly off into another spiral again and I couldn't stop it. Eventually, the elevator landed on Anthony's floor and I ran out to go see him. This had to get me out of my spiral. 

                          I rushed down the hallway to his room and quickly walked in.

                          He was pale as he laid in the bed. His eyes were still shut and his hair droopily laid on his forehead.                   

                          "Thank goodness he's okay," Beverley smiled brightly, her eyes watering a bit. 

                           "Yeah," I nodded, my head spiraling again. I took a seat in the corner of the room next to Melissa as Beverley and Albert stayed by Anthony's side. I wanted to stay next to him as well but every second I stood there made me feel sicker to the stomach. 

                          "You alright, Spot?" Melissa asked, sitting forward in her chair. 

                         "Yeah, Yeah. I'm great," I nodded. 

                        "Seriously. What's up?"

                        "I don't know. I feel guilty. If I hadn't set up that date, he would never be here. He'd be happy and no one would be scared he could die," I muffled, my eyes watering. 

                         She sighed and gave me a hug before standing up. "You don't need to feel guilty. You can't predict the future. You never could have guessed this would happen. It's not your fault he's here. Come on, let's go walk around and clear your head, mkay?"

                        "Mel, you don't need to lie to me."

                        "I don't lie, Sean," she replied. "Now come."

                         I sighed and got up. There was no convincing her. Once she's said she's going to do something, she does it. 

                         "We're gonna go down to the cafeteria for some coffee. Would you like some?" Mel asked. 

                       "Sure, thanks Mel," Beverley smiled softly before looking back over at Anthony. 

                        Mel walked ahead of me and heavily pushed the door back so it didn't shut on me. She began walking towards the elevator, her hair bouncing on her shoulder. I tried to quickly speed up. People who are tall don't realize how much more energy it takes for us short people to catch up when they're walking. 

                      We walked in silence for a little while till Mel pressed the down button for the elevator. 

                    "Stop beating yourself up over this. He's fine now. You can't control the future but hey, if you secretly can, a few million dollars would be nice," She grinned as the doors opened. I laughed and followed her into the elevator then hit the button for the bottom floor. 

                   "I'll see what I can do," I chuckled. 

                   She smiled, "So what have you been up to, besides trying to get Anthony back?"

                    "Actively ignoring my divorce papers," I replied, sighing. "I don't know how people can live through a divorce. There are millions of papers to fill out and it's just so hard to say goodbye."

                     "Well, most people divorce because it's for the better. They know they want it no matter how hard it may be," Mel explained, leaning against the wall. 

                    "I guess your right," I nodded as the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Mel and I walked out and straight to the cafeteria. We walked up to the counter and ordered our coffees. 

                  We waited patiently when Mel's phone buzzed. She quickly pulled it out and smiled, reading it out loud, "Guys, hurry up. Anthony woke up!"

                 We smiled brightly and grabbed the coffees the worker quickly placed down on the counter before rushing to the room to see him.