Zell paced nervously through the waiting room of St. Mary's Emergency Room, occasionally picking up a magazine, flipping through it, and tossing it aside. Others crowded the waiting room, including Xu and Kyle Damon, waiting for the news-any news. Anything but this cloud of tension that stretched across the room and threatened to snap at any moment.
"Man, relax," Kyle snapped, running his hand through his hair, which was perfectly in place as usual.
Zell gritted his teeth and fell into a chair across from him and stared defiantly back at him. "What are you doing here anyway?" he snapped at the boy who was flipping through a copy of Girl Next Door, eyeing the centerfold blond who was posing atop a motorcycle.
"I want to make sure she's gonna be okay," he replied without taking his eyes from the pages. "How is it any of your business?"
Before Zell could reply, the door opened and a plump, middle aged nurse entered the waiting room, a stethoscope around her neck.
"How is she?" Zell asked, jumping up.
"She's going to be just fine. Just a bit of heat sickness, that's all. That arena really needs to get that air conditioner fixed," she went on, handing the woman at the reception desk a form. "My husband went to the game there last night and he saw more than a few people faint from the heat. They're either gonna get off their cheap asses and fix the blessed thing, or there's gonna be some lawsuits popping up, that's all I can say."
Lydia came into the waiting room appearing weary and slightly embarrassed.
"Am I okay to go?"
"Yeah, just remember what I said about keeping yourself watered in this weather. Don't exert yourself, just take it easy and try and stay in the air conditioning whenever possible."
Kyle got approached Lydia and put his hands on her shoulders. "You okay?" he asked, looking into her eyes.
She nodded wearily. "I'll be okay," she said, forcing a smile.
"Let's get out of here. I'll give you a ride home."
"That'd be great." She turned to Zell, nearly forgetting that he was there.
"Oh....thanks for coming out to see me, Zell. I really fucked things up today," she said, rubbing her forehead as if she was suffering from a headache. "So much for being a SeeD," she said with a little laugh.
"Don't-" Zell started.
"Don't think like that," Kyle interrupted, finishing for him. "It wasn't your fault. There's always next year. What do you say we get out of here and we'll go catch a movie or something, get your mind off things?"
Zell's felt his blood boil as he slipped his arm around her shoulder and led her towards the revolving front doors. He turned and flashed Zell a wink that was anything but friendly.
That evening Zell pulled up outside of Ma Dincht's house, took a moment to listen to the last few notes of his favorite Propagator Posse hit, and killed the ignition. She had invited him over for dinner the day before and was eager for the chance to savor her home cooking. While a hotdog with the works from Al's Dogz always hit the spot, nobody made fried Ochu or butterscotch chicken like Ma Dincht. He unlocked the front door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him and stuffing his keys in his pants pocket.
"Ma, I'm home!" he called, peeking into the kitchen. He quickly noticed something was amiss. The smell of dinner-or lack thereof. And the temperature. The room was absolutely freezing despite the summer heat.
"Ma, where are you?"
He peeked inside the dining room and looked around. Nothing. No plates had been set.
He began to feel worried and entered the den, where the tv was on, playing the evening news.
"Ma? I'm home!"
He ran up the stairs where he found the bathroom and both bedrooms empty. She could have ran to pick up something from the grocery store-if her station wagon hadn't been parked out front. Feeling more worried by the second he hurried to the Mc McClendon's house next door and knocked on the door.
"Who's there?"
"It's Zell!" he called back.
The door opened and a tall, slender woman and her young son standing at the door.
"Zell!" the boy cried, excited.
"Zell, what a pleasant surprise!" the woman said, wiping her hands on the front of her apron. "Visiting your ma?"
"Hey, Rascal. Um, actually, I'm wondering if you've seen her. I was supposed to come home for dinner, but the place is empty. The tv was still on so I dunno what...."
Mrs. McClendon stuck her head outside and looked next door. "Huh. Car still there," she reported, as if Zell were blind.
"You haven't seen her?"
"Not since this morning when I went over to borrow some flour. There's Al, maybe he's seen her."
Zell turned around and saw Al Fagen, the owner of Al'z Dogs passing by on his bike, his little boy pedaling quickly to keep up with him.
"Hey, Al?"
He came to a stop and the little boy ran into his back tire.
"Zell here's wondering if you might have seen Margorie around."
He sat thoughtfully, drumming his fingers on his hand brake. "Not since yesterday, no. Everything alright?"
"We'd better start a search party," Mrs. McClendon said, becoming as worried as Zell.
"You guys seem pretty worried. I'll check around, maybe she walked out to the grocers or somethin'. "Come on Frankie," he ordered the boy behind him. "Watch for cars."