Don't You Dare || Richie Tozier

I Promise

richie had been in the waiting room for five hours before he stopped crying.  everything happened so fast.  it was overwhelming.  he remembered addison lying on the pavement, he remembered the ambulance roll away, he remembered her mom's face when he told her that her daughter was in the hospital, and he remembered seeing addison being rolled away on a stretcher.  

the first thing addison felt when she woke up was pain.  her chest ached, her head pounded, and her leg was burning.

"addison," she heard a voice say.  she turned her head and saw her mother sitting in a chair.  her face was streaked with tear marks and her makeup was smudged.

"mom.  what's going on?" she asked.  her mom walked towards her and stroked her hair.

"I'm going to let the doctors know that you're awake," she said.  her mom left the room and a few minutes later she came back with a doctor .

"hello, addison," the doctor said.  she was a short woman with light skin and short, brown hair.  "i'm dr. wesley, I'm going to be your doctor for a little while.  how are you feeling?" 

"what's wrong with me?" addison asked, completely ignoring the question.  the doctor let her file hang from her hand and her face became solemn.

"um, you have a tumor in your lungs.  we suspect that it's cancerous but we're running more tests to make sure," the doctor explained.  "we want to keep you for a few days, until the results come back and then we'll take it from there."

addison couldn't hear anything after the word tumor.  her mind when blank and her body went numb.

"for now, is there anything i can get you to help?" dr. wesley asked.  addison didn't respond.  

"addison?" her mom asked, snapping her out of her daze.  the girl shook her head and the doctor left the room.  addison felt her eyes welling with tears but she knew she couldn't cry.  not in front of her mom.  

"i'm gonna be okay, mom.  i promise.  it'll be okay," she tried to convince herself as well as her mother.  they sat in silence, the only noise came from the humming of the lights and her mom's occasional sniffle.

"who was that boy?" her mom asked.

"richie tozier," addison said.  

"I'm going to get some food, I'll send him over if he's there," her mom said as she wiped away her tears.  she was about to step out when addison stopped her.

"don't tell him," was all the girl said.  her mom nodded and left.  addison was alone with her thoughts.  the numbness was suddenly gone and addison started to sob.

richie was walking to the receptionist's desk when he heard someone call his name.  he turned around and saw mrs. mannings calling him.  the boy ran towards her, almost tripping five times.

"addison's awake," the woman said to him.  "she's in room 227."  

richie thanked her and ran up to her room.  he knocked on the door and heard someone say come in.

he walked in and saw addison lying on the bed with and IV in her arm.  tears fell from his eyes as he walked towards her.  the boy pulled up a chair and sat down beside her.

"i'm sorry," was all he could say.  he held her hand and his head was resting on the edge of the bed as he cried.  

"look at me, richie," she said as she lifted his chin with her hand.  "this is no one's fault, okay?  there is nothing for you to be sorry about.  I'm going to get through this.  we are going to get through this.  i promise."

she wiped his tears away and smiled.  "it'll be okay," she said.  he nodded and smiled.

"do they know what happened?" he asked.

"no," she lied," they're running tests right now.  i'm gonna to stay here for a few days but then i'm free."

"well, i'll be here everyday.  we'll watch TV and play games and I'll call everyone and they can visit," he planned.  the girl laughed and nodded.

"you know, this bed is really uncomfortable," she joked.

"not as uncomfortable as being in eddie's mom!" he joked.  she pushed him away as he laughed and started to run his fingers through his hair.

"your an idiot, tozier."

song of the chapter: the long way home by catherine maclellan

WORD COUNT: 735

sorry for such a short chapter, the next one will be longer! thank for reading my story and i'll see ya next time!