For about 6 months now, I've spent some part of every other day at the hospital. It seemed I was now such a familiar face; the receptionists never even gave me a visitors badge anymore but simply smiled and waved me through. I used to come with my dad, but now that we live in walking distance of the hospital, I always make the trip solo.
I walk past the emergency room, through the glassed-in lobby, and past the gift shops selling teddy-bears and flowers. I buy a newspaper from the stand and walk to the back elevator. My brother's room has always been on the top floor.
Unlike most people, I never found hospitals depressing. At least, not anymore. I have spent too much of my time here. I ate every Sunday brunch in the basement cafeteria with staff and I was on a name-name basis with most of the doctors.
I passed my brother's regular nurse in the hallway.
"It's a good day, Nora" the familiar petite nurse informs me, smiling.
"Oh! Great." I smile back. Greg has been in a coma for a little less than half a year. Most days, he lies placidly on the bed, not moving, barely breathing.
But on "good" days, something happened- a flutter underneath closed eyes, a movement of his toes, a twitch. Once in a while, he even sighed for no reason. They were small, infinitesimal signs of a vibrant man trapped in a cocoon of a living death.
I remembered the doctor's final prognosis, made shortly after the accident. "All of his organs are functioning. He is perfectly healthy, except for one thing. Somehow, his mind is closed to his body. He has normal sleeping patterns, and he is far from brain dead by any means. The neurons are firing. But he remains unconscious. It's a mystery." Surprisingly, the doctors were still convinced there was a chance He could wake up given the right circumstances. "Sometimes, it's a song. Or a voice. Something triggers them, and they wake up. Really he could wake at any time."
Of course, I have to believe it was true; and when I come, I talk or read to him so that he will know my voice and perhaps respond to it.
I said thank you to the nurse and peeked through the small glass window cut in the door.
I walked slowly to the foot of my brother's bed.
He is lying on the bed, his hands folded politely on stomach. His fair, caramel hair, long and thick, is fanned out on the pillow. He would never lie like this and I'm tempted flip him over just to create a sense of normality to this situation. I take his hand instead.
I move to sit in the seat around the side of his bed.
"Hey Grego, how's it going?" I say timidly. I'd been talking to him for a while so the fact that I was talking to someone who wouldn't talk back didn't seem so ridiculous anymore.
"Nothing too exciting is happened to me since last time" I sighed. I felt bad that I never had any good stories to tell, my life wasn't exactly impelling. I pull out the book in my bag and open it. I'm re-reading The Lord of the Flies because it was his favorite.
I read out loud, pausing every so often to glance at his inert face, until I'm interrupted by a groaning in my stomach. I close the book, rolling my eyes, and stand up. Dropping a swift kiss on Joshua's cheek, I walk out of the room and towards the elevator.
When I arrive at the small hospital cafeteria, I'm not surprised to see that there aren't many people there. In fact, there are only two. I walk over to a vending machine and settle on a blueberry muffin. I shove a dollar in the slot and wait.
I jump and throw a hand over my mouth when I feel a breath on my neck. I swing my body around to face the perpetrator and automatically relax when I see who it is.
"Oh, real nice" I say with a laugh. It's Doctor Don. He isn't Grego's doctor but I see him around a lot.
"Boo?" he says with a small shrug. I grab my food and go sit at an empty table. Don pulls out the chair across from me.
"Whassup, Doc?" I joke, popping a piece of muffin in my mouth.
He looks around "Whole lot of nothing"
"Right" I say "Slow day?"
"You could say that" There is silence for a few seconds. "How is your brother today?" His voice is small.
"Fine" I reply shortly and change the subject "Did you know that the average person will spend 7 years of his life waiting in line?"
Don looks at me with sympathy. I look away.
He sighs. "Nope. I didn't know that"
"Yeah, I read that on a Snapple" I raise my eyes back to his face and see him smile.
"Really" he says and I laugh. "Well, I better get back to it. Got lives to save and what-not" He stands up.
"The usual?"
"Yeah, the usual" he grins. "I'll see you around?" He gives me a hard look.
"Sure." As he walks by me I raise my fist "Pound it" Don rolls his eyes and hits my fist with his. He walks away muttering something about "kids"
I snicker to myself and go back to eating.
It doesn't take long to finish and I try to think about anything but where I am and why I'm here.
I'm pulled back to reality by an obnoxious buzzing in my pocket. I pull out my phone and check the number.
"Hello?" I ask, my eyes lowering in confusion. I don't get many calls…
"Hey, Nora" an oddly familiar voice chimes out through the phone.
"Uhmm… who is this?" I switch the phone to my other ear and throw my feet on the empty chair across from me, leaning back in my seat.
"You don't remember me?" the high, vexatious voice says. My eyebrows wrinkle in confusion as I wrack my brain to put the voice with a face.
"Ah, Haley Miller. I would never have guessed. Is this really how you spend your Saturdays?" my voice is tight. Haley Miller went to my old school. She's an absolute cretin.
"Well, I know how you spending yours" I can practically hear the smug smirk on her beastly face.
"Shut up" I say, my tone is calm. The kind of calm that almost always means trouble. The calm before the storm, per say.
She laughs. "Whatever. I just wanted to let you know how everything's going on here" Her voice is sweet. I suppress a groan.
"Oh yeah? Not to brandish me with your absurd impulsivity and inattention to detail?" I grumble.
"Huh… Alright we can play this game. How is your brother, anyways?" she smirks. My hand tightens around the edges of my little phone. I see red.
"Drop dead" I spit. I close the phone and aimlessly chuck it into the opposite wall. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down. She doesn't know what she's talking about. She doesn't know.
But she does… everyone in that god-forsaken town knows my families little sob story.
I'm pulled out of my little reverie by a tap on my shoulder. I turn around to look at the person, a thoughtless glare on my face.
"Uh, I think this is yours?" a voice laughs. My eyes set on the boy in front of me. The first thing I noticed was that he was tall, although most people are compared to my 5'4''. He was tan-ish and had a mess of dark brown hair on his head. He had eyes that, at first glance, looked brown but upon further inspection I noticed they were a steely blue.
The next thing I notice is the twisted hunk of metal in his hand. The screen of my small phone is cracked and the top was hanging slightly off the bottom key-pad. Oops.
"Oh, wow. I'm sorry about that" I say. I hold out my hand for the defunct phone.
"Yeah, you really did a number on that" he laughs. My feet drop to the floor with an audible thud as he pulls out the chair in front of me. I quirk up one eyebrow when he plops into the seat. "You okay?" His lips kind of pout out when he talks…
"Fine" I grumble.
"I'm Drew" he says and sticks out his hand for a handshake. Huh, I didn't know people still did that…
I put my hand in his. Mine is too small and it fits weird.
"Nora" I reply, but it sounds like a question. A question that would be along the lines of: Why are you still here, dude? But I can't say that… Ha.
"So, would it be rude to ask what that was all about?" he smiles. "Or would you try to throw me through a wall"
"I might…" I trail off and look him in the eyes, trying to be intimidating so he might leave. Key word being trying. He doesn't look away so I answer his question "Just somebody who couldn't mind their own business" I smirk.
"Right" he laughs. "Well, what's your story Nora" Now he smirks. I feel my eyes get big. Is he trying to get under my skin? Who is this kid?
"Excuse me?" my voice is dark
"I dunno. What school do you go to?" Ah, nice save.
"None right now…" He rolls his eyes as if to say duh and I smile. "I start at Degrassi in the fall"
His smile grows, if that's possible. Oh boy. "Really? I just happen to go to Degrassi" Greaaaat.
"Hmm" I say with a small nod.
"You should come sit with me and my brother. A pretty girl shouldn't have to be alone" Drew says with a smirk. My skin goes cold and I glare at him.
"Oh, so your that guy. The one who gets a girl wrapped around his finger and then snaps them in half like a twig?" I smirk when his eyes turn dark.
"Well I was just thinking we could use the company. I've been looking at nothing but my brothers' face and these four walls for about 2 hours" he sighs. I roll my eyes and stand up because I know where he's coming from...
"Whatever" I sigh.
He smiles and stands up.
"I'm not gonna stay for long. I have to get back to my brother" I say as he walks to a table at the back of the room where another boy sits. I can't see his face because his head is down and the bill of a beanie casts a shadow over his features. He doesn't look up when we sit down.
"Hey, bro" Drew says. The boy still doesn't look up. Jeez, does deficiency run in the family? I laugh out loud at this. "Adam!" Drew shouts, pushing the boys' slim shoulder back.
"What? Andrew, you're a menace" the boy says, finally looking up. The first thing I notice is his eyes. They are a striking blue. The second thing I notice is that he looks absolutely nothing like his brother. His pale skin stands out from his brown hair and freckles pepper his nose and cheeks. His face is soft looking.
His eyes finally shift to me and I raise an eyebrow "Oh. Hey… Who are you?" His voice is high.
I open my mouth to answer.
"This is Nora" Drew says before I can say anything. I give him a look. "Nora, this is my brother Adam"
"You think she couldn't have said that herself?" Adam says, looking back down. Drew glares at him and I laugh. Adam's head shoots up and he smiles.
"Re-do?" I ask, biting my lip.
Adam dramatically clears his throat. "Hello. What is your name?" he says mechanically. His voice sounds funny, but I'm pretty sure that's on purpose.
"Oh, hey! I'm Nora" I say with a huge comic smile.
"That's cool, dude. I'm Adam" his voice is normal again and he smiles. We shake hands.
We both look at Drew, who has a slightly puzzled look on his face, and laugh. Adam and I pound fists.
"Well, okay" Drew sighs. "What brings you to the hospital on this fine day, Nora?" He looks at me and smiles. His teeth are white and in perfect rows. I hide a grimace.
"Uh… just a visit. What about you?" I say awkwardly. Drew's eyebrows knit together and he goes to say something else. I brace myself.
"Actually… uh… were here for our aunt. She's in labor" Adam speaks up. I look at him and try to display the thanks I feel in my eyes.
"That's rough" I laugh.
"Yeah. We've been here since like 5 am" Drew says quickly. He's obviously trying to get the last word. I roll my eyes.
"Well, it's been real" I say, pushing out of my chair to stand up. I want to say goodbye to Grego and I have to be home soon. "But, I gotta run" I smile at them and turn to leave.
"Wait!" It's Adam who speaks. I turn to him with a skeptical look on my face. "Maybe we could… call you sometime. Or… something" he finishes.
I laugh. "Ya know? That'd be cool. If I hadn't just successfully annihilated my phone" I pull the thing out of my pocket. I take out the battery and the memory card, thinking of the junk drawer at home full of old phones. "Hold on" I run to go find a pen and when I get back I write my seven digit number on Adam's hand.
I turn to Drew. He has his lips pursed. I smile at his and slide the dead phone across the table. "A little something to remember me by" I give him one last blinding smile and then leave.
On the elevator ride up to my brother room, I think about the boys sitting downstairs and how it seems I've made my first friends here.