Page 185 of Choosing You

Ryan met Garret the night I arrived at Moorhurst. Ever since then, he’s called him “pretty boy” because Garret has somewhat of a preppy, male-model look going. This is the first time Ryan’s actually used Garret’s real name.

“I was glad I could help.” Garret puts his arm around me. “She needed to be here.”

“I can’t believe you got her on a plane,” Ryan says to him. “She’s scared to death of those things.”

“Hey. I wasn’t scared,” I insist.

Garret gives Ryan a look that says otherwise.

“Can I go see Frank now?” I ask Ryan.

“In about a half hour. They’re running some tests on him.”

“So you’re just hanging out here by yourself? Where’s Chloe?”

“She went home. She was here all night and I wanted her to get a few hours of sleep before work. We can go wait in the cafeteria if you want.”

We go down there and get a drink. I don’t feel like eating. Hospitals freak me out with all the people walking around with tubes coming out of them, hooked up to beeping machines. And the horrible smell. Why do hospitals have to smell so bad?

Despite my dislike of hospitals, I’ve actually been considering going to med school, like Ryan plans to do. Seeing Frank struggle all these years makes me want to help people like him. I haven’t told anyone this yet because I’m not at all sure that’s what I want to do. And being in this hospital is making me rethink the whole idea.

Ryan makes small talk for a while, asking us about the flight and how finals went. I told him on the phone last night not to talk about what happened with Blake, including how I’m doing or anything like that. We have enough to deal with.

As he talks, I feel like Ryan’s delaying bad news. I hate it when he does that. He knows I just want to be told. On the phone, he said he’d give me an update when I arrived, but now I’m here and he’s not saying anything.

I finally just ask him. “So what did the doctor say? Is he getting any better?”

“He’s better than he was when I brought him here. They’ve stopped the bleeding in his brain and the swelling is going down.”

“What exactly did they do in the surgery?” I probably shouldn’t ask but I have this image of Frank’s skull being sawed open and I need to know if that’s what really happened.

“They drilled a small hole in his skull so they could suction the blood out,” Ryan explains. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. For some people they actually have to cut the skull open.”

I’m relieved they didn’t have to do that to Frank but the hole in the skull still freaks me out.

Ryan looks at his watch. “We can probably go in there now.”

As we walk to intensive care, I start to get nervous. I’m not sure I can handle seeing Frank in such bad shape. And he isn’t even my father. I don’t know how Ryan is holding up so well.

“You have to wash up first over here.” Ryan takes us to a sink to wash our hands with soap that smells almost as bad as the hospital.

“Is it okay if I go in, too?” Garret asks Ryan.

“Yeah, but let me go in first and tell him you’re both here.”

“I’m feeling really sick right now,” I say to Garret. “I don’t know if it’s the hospital smell or because I’m nervous about seeing Frank or what.”

He puts his hand on my back and leans down to talk softly. “Just relax. I’m right here. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

I nod several times.

“Okay. Come on in.” Ryan holds the door for us.

I take a deep breath and walk in with Garret behind me. As soon as I see Frank lying there in his bed I almost run back out because I can’t stand to see him this way. He’s hooked up to all kinds of machines. His head is shaved and wrapped in bandages. And he’s very pale and very thin.

What’s with him and Ryan losing all this weight? Did they stop eating when I left?

A lump forms in my throat as I fight back tears. I’ve never seen Frank look so weak and helpless.

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