Amy sat down in the waiting room and text her mom what's going on. Then she text Lauren and, Shane and Liam, and Felix. does my phone do 5-way texting? 4 people? How do I have 4 people who would care to know I'm sitting in the hospital waiting room with my used-to-be-bff-but-we're-not-really-anymore person? Having 4 people to text during a crisis, hashtag squad goals, is that still a thing? We could get t-shirts, like the ones with the names and ampersands… Gah… Karma's dad is in the hospital, and I'm thinking about t shirts and hashtags?
Amy chased random thoughts around her brain for a few more moments, until the sound of multiple texts arriving drew her back out of the rabbit hole.
Amy: Karma's dad had a heart attack, I'm at the hospital with her. He's still in with the Drs.
Liam: How's Karma taking it? Is she okay? Should I drive down? Do you need a ride anywhere?
Lauren: Did they give him an ECG? Have they catheterized him? What doctor is he seeing? Is he admitted yet?
Felix: Should I bring you guys some food?
Shane: Fuck. Do you need some backup?
Backup. They may not be popular (whatever that means…), but she and Karma have backup now.
Amy: You know all I know. Probably should stay away for a little while, don't want to overwhelm Karma and her mom. Standby.
Amy's mind started racing again, and she knew if she didn't DO something soon, her thoughts would go to a place they shouldn't. So she got up and walked to the nurses' station, they couldn't tell her anything, she's not family. She walked over to the vending machines. Some refined sugar would distract her; patted her pockets for change, no luck. Her stomach growled. Maybe she should take Felix up on the offer of food. She did another lap of the waiting room. Fuck. What does this mean? Are we going to forget everything that's happened? How do I support Karma without getting my heart stomped on? Would I even know if my dad was in the ER with a heart attack? How can I think of myself in a time like this? She did another lap; her phone beeped.
Lauren: I'm coming down. You can't do this alone.
Lauren would be the most helpful. She knows how to handle this kind of shit. No know-it-all doctor will intimidate her.
Amy: Ok, thanks.
Lauren showed up a few minutes later. Amy had done 6 laps by then. "Hey, sit down." Amy obediently followed her command. Lauren was pecking away on her phone, apparently another group text excluding Amy had been created. Backup.
"Felix is bringing food. I called doctor Cohen, he's golfs with daddy. He says the guys on ER duty tonight are good. Liam and Shane went to Karma's to pick up some clothes for her and her mom and dad." The image of Liam looking through Karma's underwear drawer passed through her mind, hopefully Shane takes the lead on that front.
"Are you sure we should have that many people, teenagers, here?" Amy nodded at the butch nurse behind the desk, the name Ratched came to mind. Does that make her Murphy? Or Chief? Seriously, Raudenfeld, focus.
"They're not going to stay. Farrah said everyone can camp out at our house." Amy nodded, and sat in silence for a second, surprised and glad that Lauren didn't fill it, "thank you, Lauren."
Lauren smiled, she'd done the right thing, she thought. If there's one thing a lifetime of doctor visits for her own medical bullshit, plus her mom's cancer, and her grandpa's heart attack had taught her, it was how to be with a friend in the ER.
The sliding doors swooshed, it was Felix. "Okay, I brought half a dozen krispy kremes, two cups of coffee: red eye for you, latte for Karma. A couple sandwiches and two huge bags of waffle fries. They emptied the thing for me." How Felix was holding all that, Amy wasn't sure, but those donuts were going to die a horrible death on this shitty hospital carpet if she didn't help him. They got the food safely to the coffee table, which Lauren had cleared 20 issues of People magazine from.
Amy and Felix exchanged a thank you glance. He was like Karma in that way, Amy didn't have to say anything for him to know how much she appreciated his food delivery.
"This is great Felix, thanks." Lauren said, with total sincerity.
He had never gotten a genuine thanks from Lauren before, Felix realized. "No big deal. I think Liam and Shane are right behind me. I've got a bunch more sandwiches and stuff I'll take back to your place." He hesitated, "Let me get out of the way. See you back there. Pass this hug along to Karma." Felix hugged Amy tightly, in a way she imagined a big brother would. He awkwardly patted Lauren's shoulder. Lauren rolled her eyes, sensitive types were always scared of her.
"Don't worry, I didn't let Liam pick out Karma's underwear." Shane said to announce their arrival. He plopped down next to Amy, "But let me tell you, that hemp crap her parents wear must fucking itch." Amy rolled her eyes and chuckled. Shane looked very pleased with himself.
"Shane." Lauren glared at him.
"What? I'm being supportive, Amy almost laughed."
Lauren and Liam exchanged would-you-get-him-out-of-here! I'm-working-on-it-chill-out! glares. Liam pulled Shane out of the chair. "We'll be back at your place," he said as he steered Shane and Felix out the sliding door.