Chapter 2
A month later….
Haley Mason paced back and forth impatiently in the waiting room of the hospital.
She was waiting for the nurses to call her in so that she could see her parents one last time before they passed on.
She was getting more and more anxious to see how her family was doing the more that she had to wait there by herself.
Haley sighed as she stopped pacing around the room and sat down on one of the empty seats in the lonely, abandoned room.
She was all alone in the waiting room.
No one was waiting there with her.
No one was waiting there with her because she had no other family left.
Her Mother and Father told her and Edward a few years back that she had an Uncle but he died a few years after she was born.
They never knew how or why he had died so Haley didn't worry about it.
They didn't talk much about him.
They didn't even tell them what his name was.
'What's taking them so long? Where are the nurses? Why does this have to happen to my family? Aren't they meant to be telling me something?' She thought as she held back tears that were threatening to come. 'No I need to be strong for them. So I can't cry. Not here. Not now. I refuse to cry here alone in this hospital. I can't be seen crying around here in this stupid hospital. The staff and patients will think that I'm weak if they see me like that and I don't want to feel or look weak around them. We must have bad luck in our family if everyone is dying like this.'
Haley wasn't very good at being patient at times and often lost her focus when she was usually waiting for something to come.
Edward was more patient than she was.
'Why are the nurses taking so long to call me in? Are they doing this on purpose? Are they actually waiting for me to crack under pressure? What's happening to my family? Are they getting better or worse? I hope that there getting better and not the other way around. There's always a chance that they can get better. Isn't there? Why aren't they telling me how there are?'
She looked to the nurses' station to see one of the nurse's glance at her then went back to her work.
She knew that they were talking about her behind her back.
Things were being said behind Haley's back that were starting out as rumors about the reason why she was the only person in her family that wasn't sick.
Haley didn't care about what the rumors was saying about her.
She sighed as she remembered that only last month everything was fine and she was hanging around her family in the comfort of their own home laughing and joking around and then they were all suddenly sick from this disease that was going around her hometown.
She remembered her brother promising her that he'll never get sick and leave her side.
She sighed. 'I guess that things have changed for the worse now. I don't blame Edward for breaking his promise. Even he couldn't have seen this coming. No one could have seen this coming to our family. I blame this stupid disease. I mean how did this happen so quickly? It came out of nowhere.' she thought sadly. 'Why am I the only one that's not sick and dying? Why am I left out while my family is in there dying? Why am I not sick? Is there something else wrong with me? Are the rumors that are surrounding me true?' she shook her head at the thought. 'No I can't think like that. There's no way that the whispers that are spreading are true."
Ever since her family had gotten sick she didn't leave the hospital once even when the nurses and doctors asked her too.
"Haley!" came a voice.
Haley turned to see her friends Renee, Danielle and Rebecca Jones walked over to her.
They all had the same pale skin and glowing crimson red eyes.
They were triplets.
Haley thought that they were the most beautiful people she had ever met.
'They are so beautiful.' She sighed as she stared at her three friends. 'Especially their eyes. Why can't I have eyes like that? There so beautiful. I mean I do like my eyes the way there are but I would love to have red eyes like they do. I've always been jealous of them and of their beauty. They are so different from other people.'
Renee had red straight hair that ran half way down her back, Danielle had short wavy light brown hair and Rebecca had short strawberry blonde hair that ran to her shoulders.
She stood as Danielle reached her first and hugged her tightly.
"We are so sorry for what's happening to your family Haley. Is there anything that we can do for you at this terrible, terrible time?"
"Thanks Danielle but no unfortunately I don't think that there anything you can do for me now. All I want to do is get in there to see my family."
'At least I still have my friends by my side to help me through this. I think I'll need their support when the time comes.'
"Do they know what's wrong with them yet or are you still left in the dark because those nurses aren't telling you anything about what's going on?" Renee asked as she crossed her arms together and shivered as she looked around the room.
Haley knew that Renee always hated hospitals but she knew that Haley needed her right now.
She smiled slightly at Renee.
"Have they found out anything yet?"
Haley nodded and sighed. "Yes they've found out what's wrong with them and its bad news unfortunately. I'm afraid that they've all got Spanish Influenza."
Rebecca gasped.
Danielle looked her over and covered her mouth and nose in disgust with one of her hands.
Renee took a step away from Haley and looked her over as if she was trying to find something.
"Do you think you have it?" Danielle asked through her hand.
Haley shook her head and frowned at them. "No I don't have the Illness. If I did then I'll be in that room along my family. I don't really understand why I don't have it and my family does." She looked at each of them and tilted her head when she saw their expressions. "What's the matter? Why are you acting like that? It's not like I'm going to get sick. I've been here all this time and haven't been sick." She tried to walk over to them but as she did they each took a step away from her.
"No don't Haley." Renee said with wide eyes as she looked to the front door.
"I don't understand." Haley replied confused. "Why are you acting this way? Was it something I said?"
Renee looked to Rebecca and Danielle then back to Haley. "We are sorry Haley but we can't be seen around you Haley."
Haley gasped. "And why not?"
Danielle scoffed and rolled her eyes and took her hand away from her mouth. "Please Haley like you don't already know. You know why. You're so dumb. Isn't it obvious? It's because you're just going to die anyway if your parents and brother have it. There's a slight chance that you might get it from your parents and brother and there was a chance that your uncle might have gotten it before he died and he passed it onto your parents and it was slowly killing them over the years."
"We thought that we might as well tell you before you get weaker and die." Renee said as she looked between her sisters. "This will be the last time that you'll see us. We won't come back and be by your side. I'm sorry that it has to be this way but none of us want to get that illness and die all because of you. My sisters and I don't want to get sick and we don't want to die. Everyone is saying that you're a witch and we don't want anything to do with a filthy witch like you."
Haley flinched. 'That hurt. I thought that they were my friends. It looks like I was all wrong about that. They were never my friends. I have to at least try and ask them not to leave me.'
"Please don't do this. What people are saying about me is wrong. I'm not a witch. I'm just a normal human girl that needs her friends in this time of need. I need you by my side through all this. I don't think that I can get through this by myself. I need someone to help me along the way. Please don't leave me. You are the only friends I have and you are all like family to me. I'll do anything. I'll go to my knees and start begging. Just please don't leave me all alone. You're the only people that I can turn to. I don't want to be alone! Please!"
Rebecca slowly shook her head as she turned to the door.
"I'm sorry."
Renee looked like she was having second thoughts but followed Rebecca.
"We are sorry Haley but we can't be there for you." Rebecca said. "Not this time. This time you're on your own. This is the last time that you'll see us. Good bye Haley Masen. This is the last time that you will see us."
Danielle gave her one last look in disgust before they walked out of the building.
"Trash." Haley heard Danielle mutter.
"Please!" Haley yelled after them. "Please don't leave me alone!"
They walked out of the hospital and Haley ran after them.
"Wait! Come back." She looked around to see that no one was around and fell to her knees. "They're gone. They're gone forever. Danielle…. Rebecca…. Renee…. How did they get away so fast? How could they do this to me?"
After a few minutes Haley walked back inside the hospital and into the waiting room.
A nurse walked from the nurses' station towards her.
Like everyone that worked in the hospital she wore a mask over her mouth and nose so that she wouldn't catch the disease from the patients.
They had wanted her to have the mask but Haley had rejected it.
"Miss Haley I'm sorry to disturb you but your parents will see you now."
Haley nodded as she walked to their room.
