by B.M. Green
Chapter 34
Holidee opened her eyes to a white room. It was quiet. All she could hear was the beeping of a few machines behind her. She felt wires on and around her. She lifted her hand up and saw a plastic thing on her finger that kept track of her pulse. She felt the pillow beneath her head and sighed. She was so tired. All she wanted to do was sleep. She started to close her eyes, but then she remembered Crix.
Her feet were wearing a hole in the carpet of the waiting room. The double doors finally opened and a man in a white coat came walking out. She stopped pacing and faced him.
“You’re Holidee Galygin’s godmother?” She nodded, waiting for the worst. Mer had been in the city. When she got the phone call about Holidee being in the hospital, she rushed over immediately. When she arrived in the waiting room, she found out that Crix was in the hospital also, along with Zeke and Tom. She had fainted in the middle of the waiting room. “Holidee is going to be just fine. She is very tired. She suffered from exhaustion and a little malnutrition. Other than that, though, she’s healthy.” The doctor paused. “Do you have any idea what she was doing?” Mer shook her head. She could only imagine. The doctor turned to walk away, but Mer stopped him.
“How’s my husband?” The doctor stopped and hesitated. Then he turned around to face her.
“He suffers from malnutrition and exhaustion also.” He paused. “He keeps slipping in and out of consciousness. We are trying to stabilize his condition but…he could slip into a coma at any minute. I’m sorry.” Then he turned and walked out of the waiting room, leaving Mer standing there, in tears.
Holidee had ripped every wire off of her and slipped out of her room unnoticed. It would only be a matter of minutes before the doctors and nurses found out she was gone. She ran down the hallway, avoiding any hospital staff, and quickly located Crix’ room. She shut the door behind her and slowly approached his bed. He had more wires hooked up to him than she did. There were more machines in his room. His skin was still pretty pale. Holidee grabbed his hand and held it tightly in hers. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Then she heard a commotion out in the hallway. The door opened and nurses came rushing in. They were looking for her.
He ran into the waiting room, out of breath. He looked around and was going to go to the information desk, but spotted Mer first. She was sitting in a chair. He walked over to her.
“Mer?” She looked up at him and weakly smiled. “How’re they? Have you seen them?” She shook her head. “Mer?”
“They won’t let me see them until visiting hours.” Tears streaked her cheeks. “They said there’s a good chance that Crix will go into a coma.” She looked into his eyes. “I don’t want to lose him, Rip. Not again.” Rip hugged Mer and held her, listening to her sobs. Then, after several minutes, he leaned back.
“They won’t let you see him?” She shook her head. He let go of her. “We’ll just see about that.” He walked over to the doors that led to the patient’s rooms and walked through them, without permission.
Holidee darted past doctors and nurses. She ran down the hallway, trying to relocate her room. Then she spotted a familiar face.
“Rip!” He turned and saw that doctors and nurses were chasing her. She fell into his arms and cried. “Rip, Crix…he’s not too well. I…Rip, he’s…”
“He’s a tough guy, Holidee. He won’t give up. He’s a fighter.” Holidee looked at him and wiped her eyes. The hospital staff had stopped a few feet from them and watched. Then a nurse ran past them all.
“Cardiac arrest. Room 112. We’d better hurry or else we’re going to lose him.” The hospital staff all ran toward room 112. Rip and Holidee looked at each other. Crix was in room 112.
They ran after the staff and entered Crix’ room as the heart monitor drew a straight line and gave out a continuous beep. One of the nurses had torn away his shirt. She rubbed two paddles together.
“Clear!” She placed them on Crix’ chest, and his body jolted on the bed. The line was still straight. Tears were streaming down Holidee’s cheeks as Rip wrapped his arms around her and held her close. The nurse yelled a few more commands and then said clear again. Crix’ body jolted one more time. This time the heart monitor started up again and lines ran up and down the screen. Crix was breathing again. The hospital staff gave a sigh of relief, but Holidee was still silently crying in Rip’s arms.
Tom woke up and opened his eyes, but didn’t see anything. He tried to open them wider, but still no light came into them. He panicked and felt around the bed. He fell out of bed and scrambled around on the floor. He touched his eyes and felt a thick bandage around his head. He was cowered in the corner of the room when the nurses walked in. They helped him back into bed, but wouldn’t answer any of his questions. He lay back, hoping the darkness wasn’t permanent, and fell asleep.