Itty Bitty Stories

Hating Hospitals - Until Now

I hated hospitals.

Not only were they cold, but they carried sickness as well. They were not a place of fun, nor were they a place of food. Upset faces shuffled past me as I walked – they would stare at me, as if begging to get them out. It always made me shiver. I couldn't name one single person who actually enjoyed being at a hospital besides the people that worked there. Even then, who enjoys working? It was a pure, simple fact: everyone hates hospitals.

But Wesley was in one.

"Um...excuse me, but would you happen to know what room Wesley is in?"

The three excuses for balloons drifted around my head. I attempted to gently push them out of my vision with the young nurse sitting behind the counter, but they refused to stay in one place. I ignored them to the best of my capability. However, the nurse saw them as a distraction, because her eyes dully crossed over each one. Finally, she met my eyes. "What's the last name?"

Right. Last name. Simply giving them the first name of a male wasn't going to get me anywhere. "Jordans."

She moved slowly as she typed – I almost wanted to do it for her. As she searched through the hundreds of names, I took a quick glance around the small area. There were two other nurses behind the counter, chatting about something that probably had nothing to do with their job. Everything was a chilly white. That's another thing I hated about hospitals. You couldn't tell if it was day or night because of the shiny white that was everywhere. It made it seem like daytime twenty-four seven. Oddly enough, I didn't see any of the elderly walking around in their sickening blue gowns. It was so quiet in this area of the hospital that it made me feel uncomfortable.

"Miss?"

My eyes jumped back to the nurse's. " - What?"

Annoyance was visible on her face. I didn't blame her – here was an annoying eighteen year old girl carrying around even more annoying balloons. "He's in room 416. Are you family?"

"...Yes..."

The girl swatted in the left direction, obviously not believing I was family for a split-second. "He's in that direction."

I thanked the girl nervously and then took off in the direction she showed me. The balloons bumbled behind me. I realized why I didn't see any of the elderly about once I passed a sign that read, "NEUROLOGY DEPARTMENT". I forgot I was in the ward that dealt with head trauma, and not in the emergency ward, where every crazy sickness is allowed.

Room 416 was all the way down the hallway, near two gigantic windows that showcased the hospital's parking lot from three stories up. I made note of where my car was – rather, my dad's car. He has his own, but he gave this one to me for school and whatnot. I was that type of person to get lost in parking lots, which is why I made sure to remember where I parked.

I entered the room and expected the coldness to go away. It didn't. The room wasn't very big – that I wasn't expecting. There were two chairs against the window. A bathroom was to the right of the bed where Wesley laid. He was asleep with the table over him. Judging from the small carton of apple juice, he had just finished lunch and most likely fell asleep.

I tied the balloons to the railing of his bed without a sound. I didn't want to wake him – he was probably exhausted. I took note that there wasn't any other gifts around. None of his teammates, from his girlfriend, or even of his parents. Just three lousy balloons that were deflating slowly.

Before I sat down in one of the chairs, I took a moment to examine his face up close. Around his tan cheeks there was a bit of swelling. Dancing around the left eyelid were patches of black and blue, which would definitely cause contrast of the beautiful brown they normally were. The rounded nose was almost left out of the battle, if it weren't for the deep red scratches that hindered it. His full and flowered lips were the only part of him that were left unscathed. They twitched every few seconds or so.