Riley and Devin

Chapter Twenty-One

I look at my watch and rub my eyes. It's 4:00 in the morning. Time seems to have gone by really fast. I yawn and then shut my eyes. Then I realize that I should stay awake in case something happens. I gently move Devin's head out of my lap and stand up.

I grab some cash from my phone and walk out of the room. I feel a little bit ridiculous as I walk down to the halls of the hospital barefoot and in a dress. I find my way to the cafeteria. I grab pizza and soda for Devin, he needs to eat. And then I walk over to where the little coffee cart is. The guy working it looks like he's in college. "Hey," I say.

"Hi, can I help you?" he asks.

"Uh, is there anyway I could get the largest cup you have and then have you fill it with straight espresso?" I say. He grins.

"Yeah, no problem. Long night?" he says.

"You have no idea," I say. He starts to work on filling the cup.

"Are you trying to stay awake the entire night?" he asks me. I rub my neck and stretch.

"Yeah, I have the night shift. My friend's mom is in here and he's sleeping so I'm watching his mom to make sure nothing happens to her," I tell him. He hands me the coffee. I hand him money.

"Have a good night," he says.

"You too," I say. I grab Devin's stuff and walk up to the room. He's still sleeping. "Devin," I say as I shake him gently. He sits up and rubs his eyes. "I brought food. You need to eat," I tell him. He nods and I hand him food. Devin eats mechanically, two bites of pizza, a drink of soda, two bites of pizza, a drink of soda. After he finishes eating he goes back to sleep. I drink my coffee and watch both of them. Around five in the morning Doctor Felix comes by for rounds.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Doctor Felix says. She pushes her hair out of her face.

"You didn't," I say. She smiles at me and goes to check on some things. Devin's head is in my lap. Doctor Felix smiles when she sees Devin.

"Are you guys dating?" she asks me. I shake my head.

"No, we're just best friends. We met in Kindergarten," I tell her.

"What are you drinking?" she asks, nodding her head in the direction of my cup.

"Straight espresso," I tell her. She nods in approval.

"Yep, I drank that shi-stuff, I mean't stuff, a lot during med school," she says.

"Oh, God. You aren't a surgical intern are you?" I ask her. She grins at me.

"Nope, I'm a third year resident," she tells me. I grin back at her. "So how'd you know what a subdural hematoma was?"

"I watch a lot of Grey's anatomy and House M.D.," I tell her. She laughs. Devin stirs.

"Well, I should leave," she says. I nod. "I'll be back around seven." She shuts the door behind her. I stroke Devin's hair as I think. And then I realize something.

Devin hasn't called his brother.

I grab his phone and step outside the room. "Hi, is this Nick?" I ask.

"Who is this?" he asks.

"Riley. I'm De-"

"I remember you. What's up? It's five in the morning."

"I hate to be the one telling you this."

"What's happened?"

"It's your mother. She was in an accident. She has a subdural hematoma, that's a brain bleed caused by trauma. She also has a broken wrist and a couple of stitches. She's having brain surgery tomorrow. I just figured that you had a right to know and Devin sure as hell wasn't going to tell you." He doesn't say anything.

"Where are you guys?" he asks me finally.

"North Memorial Hospital," I tell him.

"I'll be there in the late morning," Nick says. I hear him rummaging around packing a bag. "I should be there around maybe nine or ten. Make sure they don't start without me."

"Will you bring Devin some clothes? He's not going to leave her and his clothes are smeared with her blood," I say.

"Yeah, do you need anything?" he asks me.

"No, no, I'm good. I'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Thank you for calling me. You did the right thing," he says. He ends the call.

"I hope so," I murmur. Devin's probably going to feel betrayed. I walk back into the room and polish off the rest of my coffee. I throw my cup into the trash and sit down.

At some point or another I need to sleep, if only for a couple of hours so, now would probably be the best time. Especially because it's going to be a bloodbath when Nick gets here.
I set an alarm in my head for three hours. I lay down on the floor next to Devin and close my eyes. I wake up a little bit after eight. Devin's still sleeping. I yawn and stretch. I walk around the room. I look at the remaining cash that I have. It's five crumpled ones. "Shit," I say. Devin sits up rubbing his eyes.

"What's up?" he says.

"Nothing, go back to sleep," I tell him.

"Did you sleep?" Devin asks me.

"Yeah," I say. He stands up and looks at me.

"How long?" he asks me. I shrug. "I know you know how long you slept."

"Maybe four hours," I say. Devin stares at me.

"You're lying. How long did you really sleep for?" he asks me. I sigh and rub my eyes.

"Two or three hours," I say.

"You need to sleep more than that," he says as he goes over to the trash can and picks up my empty coffee cup. "And caffeine isn't going to help."

"I'm fine. Do you have any money? I have five dollars," I say. Devin stretches. He digs in the pocket of his pants and produces a twenty. "Okay, so we have twenty five dollars. I'm gonna get a coffee," I say.

"I'll come with you. Better yet, I'll go get you one," he says. He probably needs to leave the room.

"Don't get me decaf," I tell him, but he's already left. I move my stuff of of the chair. My back's sore from the floor. My eyes are heavy.