Being with Michael: Part 1 (Book Two)

Chapter Fifty Eight

Janet and Wissam ride to the hospital in the town car they rented from the limousine company at the airport. Wissam holds Janet's hand in his as she rests her head against his shoulder.

"I'm so nervous," she whispers.

Wissam usually comforts her and tells her how everything's going to be okay, but this time he's unsure. "Me too," he whispers back. He's only seen Paige once, and that was when he met her at the wedding. He can picture seeing her in her wedding dress smiling and laughing along with the other guests. He can picture Michael standing with his arm wrapped around her and his face as he looks at Paige when she's laughing. There's only three other people that seem to make Michael as happy as he looked then, and those are his kids.

Janet asks the driver, "How long until we get to the hospital?"

"We're just fifteen minutes away," The driver answers politely, taking a short look at her through the rearview mirror.

Janet closes her eyes and manages to take a nap for the remaining fifteen minutes, knowing full well this may be the only chance she gets.

When they get to the hospital, the driver passes the main entrance with all the news vans in front and drives to a side entrance. Wissam nudges Janet awake, "We're here."

Janet stretches as the car comes to a stop. Wissam takes out his wallet and pays the driver, giving him a generous tip. He gets out and holds his hand to Janet as she gets out behind him. The car pulls away and they walk hand in hand up to the hospital door.

Inside, they come into an empty corridor. They walk down and pass closed doors on both sides. Then a nurse steps out into the corridor a couple doors down. She quickly looks to the right at Janet and Wissam and then continues to the left. She stops as she realizes who they are and turns back around. She points out a finger, "Are you looking for Michael?"

Janet and Wissam finish walking up to her and he says, "Uh, yes, we are. Do you know where he is?"

The nurse nods, "Follow me, I'll show you the way." She takes them down to the end of the corrider and onto an elevator. The elevator leads them up to the third floor and stops. They all step out into a huge room that serves as a hub for the Intensive Care Unit with a nurse's station located in the middle. One of the nurses at the desk looks up when she hears the elevator beep. She points in front of her and says, "Michael should be down the hall and in the waiting room to the right."

"Thank you," Wissam says, giving her a small wave.

The nurse smiles, "It's nice to see you here."

The nurse that came up with them walks over to the station and begins talking to the others about paperwork needing to be done. Wissam and Janet walk down the hall still hand in hand. Janet looks inside the rooms as they pass and frowns at all the machines connected to the patients, beeping to represent their heartbeats. They see an opening up on the right and round the corner into the waiting room. There's only one man there sitting in a chair reading a magazine. They recognize Jonas from the pictures on the news.

Wissam clears his throat and Jonas looks up from the magazine. He looks at Wissam first and then at Janet, the confusion fading from his face. "Oh, uh, Michael's down the hall. He went to answer a phone call."

"Okay, thanks," Janet says. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

Jonas stands up and puts the magazine down. "Oh, I'm Jonas. I'm an old friend of Paige's. I was with them when it happened and drove them here."

Janet nods and whispers in Wissam's ear. Then she pats him on the shoulder and turns to go find Michael.

Wissam stands in the waiting room and then moves to sit in a chair near Jonas. "I'm Wissam, Janet's husband," he introduces himself.