Belief in Miracles (completed)

Chapter 34: Sebastian

34 Sebastian

I was in an out of tests all morning. I got poked and prodded, injected with dye that made me feel like I was cooking from the inside out, and wheeled under giant magnets and x-rays that I was pretty sure were designed to give me cancer, and all while spreading the gospel to the hospital staff. So, all things considered, it wasn't that bad. If I had to pick at anything, it would be the exhaustive discomfort of it all, even if the doctor had been extremely prompt and gotten it all done right when he said he would.

Nonetheless, by noon I was tested out, and left to lay in bed while the results were put on a stat order. My phone, finally returned to me after being lost to the depths of my backpack for a night, was a Godsend in the process. It kept me out of boredom and allowed me to finally call my mom. She freaked out, as expected, and asked me the same question about my health and well-being at least a dozen times, but at least she knew I was alive, when she'd likely spent the whole night thinking I wouldn't survive.

I'd been off the phone with her barely a minute when Tom and Summer arrived.

"We were told food was allowed." Tom said as he held up a paper Chick Fil-A bag. "My first instinct was Tory's Tacos, but given that it's currently an hour away from us, I didn't think you'd relish them soggy."

"Not particularly." Pushing my hands into the bed, I lifted myself to sit as he set the bag in my lap. Summer sat beside me with a smile, and I leaned in to gently kiss her, then practically drooled as I pulled out a chicken sandwich and mayo packet. "Extra pickles?" I asked, and Tom feigned offense.

"Sebastian Crawford, would I dare to forget your extra pickles?"

Grinning, I opened the wrapper and oozed mayo over the inside of the bun. "You're the best, Tom." I said, then paused with the sandwich halfway to my mouth to look at him. "Did you two not get anything?"

Summer shook her head. "We ate on the way."

"You promise? I'll share. Maybe..."

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head again. "Eat, weirdo."

Well, how could I resist a Chick Fil-A chicken sandwich? Smiling again, I tore through it, finishing it and all the fries in barely ten minutes, then downed a full cup of water from my table.

"Thank you. I was starving."

Tom chuckled. "Had a feeling you were, and I know you hate hospital food."

"We called on the way to make sure they didn't have you on any dietary restrictions." Summer explained, and I lifted a hand to skim her cheek.

"You guys are the best."

"So," Tom began, and I looked back to him. "Is the testing all through or are we waiting on the typical hospital slowness?"

"Nope. I just got out of my last one about an hour before you got here. Just waiting on results now."

Tom nodded. "I expect that'll be a while."

I shrugged and wadded up the fast food bag into a ball, shot for the trashcan across the room, and missed. "Marc put a stat on it."

"Well, putting a stat on it doesn't mean it still won't take the computers forever and a day to choke it out. Just means that when they do, he'll read yours before someone else's."

"Better than nothing." I said, and watched him as he moved to pick up my bag, and threw it away before coming to sit at my feet.

"Has Marc been in here?"