Page 38 of Come Apart
Chapter Five
The hospital waiting room is sterile and drab—designed to be as unpleasant as possible.
I stop at the plastic reception desk and ask if I can visit Samantha.
The frowning woman in her fifties looks at me like I'm an idiot.
I doubt she'd look at me like this if I was in my suit and tie instead of jeans and a T-shirt, my tattoos on display.
Like that, I'm the dignified professional. Like this, I'm the asshole boyfriend.
But who knows.
Maybe she treats everyone like this. Probably a byproduct of not getting laid for too many years.
"I'll see if Ms. Brooks is accepting visitors." She hands me a form and points to the spaces I need to fill out.
I scrawl my answers quickly, handing it back to her.
"Thanks," I say, my tone cool to match hers.
I sit on one of the ugly green chairs and flip through the faded paperback I keep in my pocket.
It'sMurder on the Orient Express, an Agatha Christie novel I bought at the used bookstore a million years ago. I've still never finished it.
Today isn't looking any better. I can barely read a sentence, much less a chapter.
I lean back in the chair, close my eyes, and accept that this is the best rest I'm going to get today.
It feels like forever before the receptionist finally calls me back to the desk. "Ms. Brooks doesn't want any guests right now." She frowns, surprisingly apologetic now.
Clearly, Samantha doesn't want to see me today. She definitely said something to this woman about how little she wants to see me.
I don't think there is anyone else who would visit her.
My guess would be her parents aren't in the loop at this point.
The receptionist looks at me with pity. I must be the asshole ex-boyfriend now.
"There's a cafeteria in the basement," she offers.
I nod a thank you and I leave the waiting room.
It's cool outside and the sky is a blinding shade of white. It's the kind of white that covers Southern California beaches in the morning, before the sun rises and turns everything a brilliant shade of blue.
My shirt is sweaty, sticking to my chest, and my hair is a mess.
This isn't going to work itself out in the next few hours. Samantha refused to see me. She wouldn't refuse to see me if she was in a car accident or if she fell and broke her leg.
My jaw locks up.
My head is aching and my back is sore.
I'm at a loss about what my game plan should be now.
Okay, first I should make sure Samantha won't see me today.
It's a fucking waste if I got in an argument with Alyssa and drove all this way for nothing.
