The Thing About Flip Flops

Chapter Thirty Four - Visitations

I look up as the automatic doors open and the bells chime, and Jack bursts through the door looking disheveled and upset, clutching his phone in his hand.

When he spots me in the corner of the room, his shoulders sink in visible relief, but the look on his face remains unchanged.

His comforting arms are surrounding me in no time at all, his intoxicating smell enveloping me as I bury my face in his shoulder. I grip him so hard it probably hurts, but he doesn't say anything if it does. I hold onto Jack as if he's the only thing keeping me together, and he holds onto me even tighter.

Eventually my sobs calm down and he pulls back from me just enough to gaze into my eyes. The look on his face is so heartbreaking that I try to smile to cheer him up, but it probably just looks like a painful grimace.

"God, Audrey..." He whispers so quietly I can barley hear him. "I'm so, so sorry about Henry. How is...I mean, what happened?"

The question steadies me because it's one I can actually answer truthfully, so I'm grateful to Jack for allowing me the chance to repeat the full story that I've managed to piece together from my dad and the doctors.

"He was driving at around two in the morning and we don't know exactly why yet but... it was rainy and dark and his car veered off the road. They found him because there was a police car patrolling the street, and we didn't even get a call until this morning. No one's seen him yet, because he's still out of it and the doctor said he had a broken wrist and..." My voice cracks as I finish what I'm saying, "He said that Henry's spinal cord...it's damaged and he will probably be paralyzed in the legs when he's awake."

Another deep sob wracks through my body and I shiver, choking down the bile that rises in my throat.

Jack squeezes my hand tight but doesn't say anything except, "Shit."

His hands rise up to cup my face and bring up my head gently to look at him. My eyes rise from where they're fixed on his shoes and he brushes the hair away from my face.

I stare into his eyes, letting him wipe the tears that keep spilling from my own with his warm, gentle fingers. Each brush of his fingers feels like a soothing coolness on a blistering hot wound.

But suddenly a voice says, "He's up."

I leap to my feet so fast my head actually spins, and Jack stands up along with me.

"Can I see him?" I ask desperately. "Please, I need..."

The doctor nods. "He's already talked to your father. He asked for you, but we're only allowing one visitor at a time, so your boyfriend will have to stay here if you want to see Henry."

I don't even bother correcting the doctor about the boyfriend thing, because I'm too busy glaring daggers at him. I grip Jack's hand even tighter and snap forcefully, "Jack is coming with me. He has to be there with me. Please."

I guess it's surprising to the doctor because it's the first coherent thing I've said all day that's not clouded by sadness or worry. He looks surprised enough at my outburst that he just nods, relenting.

I turn up to look at Jack, pleadingly. "Please come with me, Jack... I want, no I need you to stay with me..."

He squeezes my hand three times in response with a sad smile, a promise that he isn't going to leave my side unless I tell him to, and we follow the doctor to the elevator.

The doctor presses the button for the fourth floor, and we wait for an agonizing thirty seconds as the elevator rises.

When we step out of the elevator and across the hall to the door of Room 409, the doctor turns to Jack and I and says, "I'll leave you to talk to him, but if something happens, press zero on the telephone keypad and it'll connect you to the front desk."