If I Go

Chapter 14

And just as I was about to doze off at six o'clock in the morning, Loretta comes running in as my room is flooded with a blinding light. I squinted to make out Loretta's figure. Once the door closed she immediately flipped on the lights in my bedroom. I groaned as I rubbed my eyes out of their groggy state. 

"Wake up," Loretta said sternly. "I have the MRI results." 

I instantly sat up when I heard those words tumble out of her mouth and into the thin air. "And?" I prompted. 

Loretta cleared her throat. "And. . . Well. . . Let's just say that they weren't what we expected." 

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" 

"It's a little bit of both, actually." Loretta stated. I groaned in response but she acted as if she didn't hear me. "The good thing is that the MRI showed where the GHB was and where it spread to. The bad thing is, it doesn't really help us anyhow because we already knew that. We already know that the GHB in your system is still spreading, but what we don't know is this; we don't know a way to get it out of your system." 

The tension in the room was building with every passing second. I sucked in a nervous breath. My eyelids started to droop again but I tried to keep them open and wide awake. I tried to force my ears to soak up this new information.  

"Okay," I responded slowly. I carefully planned out the words I was going to say. "So... What does that mean for me? For my future? Will I EVER get out of this hospital? Am I ever going to go back to school, catch up on my education, and see my friends?" 

Loretta sighed. "I'm afraid that I don't know when you're going to get out of the ICU. But I know that it's not going to be for a little while." 

Loretta didn't wait for me to respond. "Here, why don't you get some rest? You look like you stayed up a little too late." 

"Okay," I replied. I laid down and slept a peaceful slumber. 

I woke up to the afternoon sun spilling through the blinds. The clock beside me said twelve. I yawned and stretched my limbs. I looked around my room to see no one else except me. Finally, I thought. A whole room without any nurses or doctors. A room without constant movement and noise. A room that is quiet. 

Smiling, I slowly slunk out of bed. To my surprise, nurses didn't flood in my room. I hobbled over to my bedroom door and put my ear on it. 

Silence. 

This is so weird. Are they taking a lunch break? Is it Saturday? Am I in Heaven right now? 

They are probably just taking a day off or something, I thought. (Italics) 

Puzzled, I cautiously creaked my door open. A dimly lit hallway and an empty lobby greeted me. No one was in sight. No emergency lights were going off, no phones were ringing, and the staff disappeared. It's like everything froze in time and wiped away every nurse and doctor there was. All I could hear were other patients snoring fast asleep in their rooms. 

Where is everyone? Why is there no one to greet me at my door? Where's Loretta and where are the other nurses? Why is everybody absent? 

Okay. This is so bizarre. 

I carefully closed my room door shut and tiptoed down the hallway and to the lobby. My eyes widened. No one was in sight. I quickened my pace towards the desk there and saw a folder that read Confidential. 

I glanced around the lobby to see if anyone was looking, which was stupid of me yes, but I just had to be sure. I then picked up the folder and started back to my room. 

But then I heard two people talking in hushed whispers a few ways away from me. I frantically searched for someplace to conceal myself. I then darted to the nearest corner and clutched the folder tightly. My knuckles turned white because I was holding it so strongly. Wedged between the wall and a chair in the waiting room, I waited. I waited for them to pass by. 

As they got closer, I heard a male voice. He whispered with a harsh tone. "Where is she? Do you know what room she's in? We've got to get her out of here." 

That voice sounded so familiar. Too familiar. No, it can't possibly be...... 

"Gaven?" I whispered cautiously.