They Could Care Less

37: Flatline

Damon and Christina both looked pleadingly at Thea, and depserately tried to get her to look one of them in the eyes, but she refused. She heard the door close, but only a minute or two later it opened up again. Thea looked up, ready to scream her lungs out at them, but it was Heather that stood by the door.

"Hey," she greeted everyone in the room slowly and quietly. She gave Jackson an extra long stare before she walked forward to Thea. "Why are Damon and Christina standing outside? I mean, I know you've had some problems-" she whispered, but was interrupted by Thea.

"Heather," whispered Thea with a warning voice.

"Sorry," Heather continued in a whisper and an innocent smile. "How is Virgin Mary then?" Heather asked and smiled kindly and sympathetically.

"My mom's name is Maria," Thea said without looking away from her mom's sleeping face. "Not Mary."

"It was the closest thing I could think of in the moment, I'm not good with pressure," Heather mumbled.

"Becca said she has been up all night puking and felt thirsty before she fell asleep," Thea said despite the hole in her stomach that made her feel sick just thinking about it. "But she's asleep now, so it should be alright." Suddenly Thea's mom began to cough and woke up.

"Mom!" Thea exclaimed and she couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. "I've been worried sick," Thea said and awaited a weak response from her mom. But before she could even open her mouth a face of agonizing pain and a scream came out from her that paralyzed Thea to her core. Becca was the first one to react and quickly pressed the button that paged the nurses and doctors, and a few seconds later the nurses ran in with their latex gloves and injections ready.

"Please step aside," one of the nurses said and gently pushed Thea out of the way before she started to examine Maria quickly. Thea's mom was twisting and turning in pain and let out scream after scream, but none as loud and shocking as the first one. Thea heard her mom's scream ring in her ears and it wouldn't stop. Everyone looked on in shock and fear.

"Get Dr. Derryck now!" one of the nurses called out loudly to someone else before she tried to talk to Maria. One of the other nurses kept looking towards the door, and when no doctor had yet showed up she pulled what almost looked like a phone. She pressed a few buttons before she put it back down into her pocket.

"All of you need to leave the room now," the third nurse said without remorse, and began to guide them all out in a hurry. Thea stood completely still, even if she had wanted to move, she had lost control of her legs and arms. Someone placed their arm around Thea's shoulder and used a lot of force to get her out. When Thea had slowly drifted back to reality she realized it was Jackson and he pushed her down on a chair right outside. The screams echoed in Thea's head, and they haunted her until she could barely breathe. Thea looked to the side when she heard someone running towards them and she saw a man with a doctor's coat before he ran into the room where Maria was still screaming in pain.

"Thea! You need to listen to me, okay?" Jackson said and forced her to look into his eyes by simply and gently turning her head to him. He looked her in the eyes with worry buried deep beneath his brown pupils. "Look at me," he said louder, and knelt down in front of her. He placed his hands on her shoulders as Thea looked blankly at him and nodded with short quick nods.

"She's going to be okay," Jackson said and gave Thea a weak but hopeful smile.

"Can you promise that?" Thea said quietly as a single tear ran down her cheek. A long silence came after that which made Thea doubt his words, but eventually he broke it and gave Thea the tiniest bit of hope.

"I promise," he whispered and pulled Thea into a comforting hug. Thea felt someone give her shoulder a squeeze and realized it was Heather when she looked up. Heather gave her a reassuring smile and a light pat on the shoulder before she walked to stand next to the door. After a few minutes the doctor came out of the room and quickly viewed all the people around him.