Page 86 of All Your Tomorrows

“Please wait in the waiting area,” one of the doctors said to Izzy. “We’ll keep you informed.”

“Stay with her, Kyler,” Izzy said, though no one but me paid any attention to her words.

I ran alongside the stretcher as they rushed Nora through the busy emergency room and into a less crowded hallway in the back. The doctors began shouting orders to the nurses. “When we get in there, start a—”

My head whipped around as a stretcher rushed past us in the opposite direction. My parents were hunched over the side of the stretcher. “Mom?”

CHAPTER 21

Kyler

My mother looked up just in time to see Nora in the stretcher going in the opposite direction. “Nora?” My mother looked confused, but her attention was pulled back to the doctor running alongside my stretcher.

I knew the doctors were going to help Nora, so I followed after my parents. I needed to know what the hell was happening. Why was I there? What had happened? And, was Nora’s condition connected to mine?

A doctor and two nurses met my parents and the EMTs who’d been pushing the stretcher.

“His intracranial pressure readings became erratic,” the EMT explained to the doctor.

“How about his heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing?” the doctor asked.

“All normal,” he explained while my mother fought to keep her composure.

“We’re going to have to alleviate the pressure,” the doctor said. “He’s a strong young man. He can pull through this.”

A nurse placed her hand on my mother’s arm. “We’ve got it from here. You can wait in the waiting room. We’ll keep you informed as soon as we know anything.”

With that, they wheeled me into the operating room, leaving my frightened parents standing outside.

My father wrapped his arms around my mother. “He’s going to be okay,” he assured her, though there was little conviction in his words.

“He hasn’t been okay in over a year,” she said as she buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed.

“I’m right here,” I said. “I can hear you. I’m gonna pull through this.”

“Oh my God,” my mother said, pulling away from my father.

“What?” he asked.

“Nora,” she said as if she’d forgotten. “I saw them wheeling her in.”

“What?” he asked.

My mom took off down the hallway, her head whipping from side to side searching the rooms for Nora. But her pursuit was futile given all the doors were markedAuthorized Personnel Only. She eventually stepped into the waiting room. She searched the area. Izzy sat in the corner with her face in her hands. “Nora’s friend Izzy is right there,” I said, hoping beyond hope my mother could hear me.

My mother walked over to an older woman seated in the opposite corner of the waiting room from Izzy. “Are you here with Nora?” my mother asked the woman.

The woman shook her head.

My mother looked around, spotting an older couple along the side wall of the room, closer to Izzy. She approached them. “Are you here with Nora?”

They shook their heads.

Izzy dropped her hands and looked to my mother. “Did you ask about Nora?”

My mom rushed over to her. “Yes. Do you know her?”

“She’s my roommate,” Izzy said.

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