Chapter 2: Wake-up Call
15 minutes after Jimmy and Cindy fainted, Jimmy woke up. He looked around, and found that he was in a hospital bed. He looked to his left, where he saw his parents, Carl, Sheen, and Libby. He looked to his right, and saw Cindy sleeping peacefully.
He looked at his parents and friends and asked, "Where am I? What happened? And why do I feel like I've been ran over by a bulldozer, an 18-wheeler, a bus, a school bus, and a truck all at once?"
His friends and family looked at each other, and then at him. A few moments of silence passed. Suddenly, Jimmy clenched his head in extreme pain and agony. As quickly as it started, the pain and agony stopped. Everyone looked at Jimmy, awaiting his reaction. Jimmy looked at his friends and family and was about to react when he heard a light groan. He looked to his right and saw that Cindy was awake. As with Jimmy, after a few moments, Cindy clenched her head in extreme pain. Moments later, Cindy's head was pain-free. Cindy and Jimmy looked at each other, and with realization at what they heard not 20 minutes ago, they screamed. Their screams were so loud that the windows in their hospital room, along with three other rooms, broke. The birds that were on the hospital flew away in fear, and the people in their room, along with ¾ of the ward that they were staying in had to cover their ears with their hands or risk going deaf. After a minute or two, Jimmy and Cindy stopped screaming due to lack of oxygen. When they regained their breath, they started asking question.
"Why didn't you tell me we were moving sooner?" asked Jimmy.
"Why does he have to move?" asked Cindy.
"And most of all, WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME!?!" asked Cindy and Jimmy, simultaneously.
They all understood why Jimmy and Cindy asked the last question, although they didn't know how to answer the question. In fact, they didn't know how to answer any of the questions in a way that would both satisfy and not piss off Jimmy and Cindy.
Jimmy's mom answers the questions to the best of her ability.
"Jimmy we have to move. We don't have any other choice."
"What do you mean we don't have any other choice? Can't dad just keep the job he has now or get another job that's closer to home, so we wouldn't have to move?" asked Jimmy.
"It's more complicated than that. We're up to our necks in credit card debt and were behind on our mortgage. We're about to be foreclosed on. We literally don't have any other choice. Either your father takes the promotion or we go bankrupt." said Jimmy's mom.
That information made Jimmy's brain go numb. He couldn't speak. He couldn't think. He couldn't move. His eyes, that were normally filled with happiness or, as the case was just a few minutes ago, anger, were now empty and void of any emotions. Everyone in the room saw those eyes and it scared them. Jimmy parents, along with Sheen, Carl, and Libby, left the room. When they left, a single tear rolled down Jimmy eye.
"Jimmy, I'm so sorry." said Cindy.
Jimmy raised a hand to her comment and said, "Cindy, as kind as those words are, I don't want to hear it. I would like to be left alone, to analyze this new information and to think."
Cindy nods and slowly closes the curtain between them, getting one last look at Jimmy.
Poor kid! Thinks Cindy as the curtain between them comes to a close.
