Friendship Has Its Limits
Disclaimer: I own nothing, other than the characters you don't recognize from the Harry Potter series, OK? Those things happen to belong to J.K. Rowling, and as far as I know, my name isn't J.K. Rowling, so therefore I must not own them.
"Are you sure you're in a fit state to drive?" James asked Lily again as she rode up on a curb for the third time as they skidded around yet another corner. Her driving scared him, and that wasn't just because he wasn't used to being in a car.
"No," she answered honestly, not looking at him as she righted the car on the road again. "But I don't trust you with a car, either, so I suppose we're even."
"I never said I didn't trust you," James protested, looking at her through the corner of his eye. "I just asked if you were in a fit state to operate this…thing. Isn't there some other way of getting there?"
"If you're referring to a magical way of getting there, no," she replied rather tersely. "I really don't think MOM would be too happy if I used floo powder to get to a Muggle hospital, so Apparating is also out of the question in that case, and I really don't want to sit around and wait for a bus, either."
From then on James decided to keep his mouth closed about Lily's state of being/ability to drive. It was strange to see her like this, frightened and helpless, but most importantly she was in that river in Egypt---denial. And the worst part about that was that he was pretty sure this was one thing he might not be able to help her with no matter how hard he tried.
"There's the hospital, right there," she said, nodding her head toward a large brick building with a lot of windows. The parking lot was fairly empty, so she didn't have to really decide where to park her father's car. She pulled sharply into a parking space beside a red sports car and quickly shut off the engine. She didn't speak to James as they both half-jogged to the hospital entrance. "I need to see my dad," she told the receptionist. "He probably just got here with the paramedics. He has red hair like mine, last name Evans."
"You'll have to wait in the lobby," the receptionist responded, stapling a stack of papers together. "The doctors need to have some space while they work on your father. You can see him when they're done."
"What room is he in, can you tell me?" At the look of doubt on the woman's face, she added hastily, "I promise not to go in there. I just want to be there for him when they get done. Please, please just tell me the room he's in. He's my dad."
The woman chewed her bottom lip for a moment, and then reluctantly told Lily the operating room her dad was in. The redhead thanked the woman profusely before following her directions of where to go, James quick on her heels. But just as she promised she would not do, Lily went barging into the room before James could stop her. He hesitated for a moment outside of the operating doors, where he could see Lily's father surrounded by people. A blonde-haired man was trying to get Lily out of the room, and through the door James could hear her protesting loudly.
"I just want to be with my dad! Is that too much to ask? He's my father! Just let me stay with him, please!" The blonde man was now physically trying to push Lily out of the room, because she seemed to have rooted her legs to the spot and wouldn't move. James pushed through the doors in time to hear the man saying, "Miss, please. You need to let the doctors work!"
"C'mon, Lily." James gently tugged at Lily's hand. "They'll let you see your dad when they're done working on him. The longer you're in here the more you're distract these people from saving your dad. Come on, Lily, please. Let's just go right out here by the doors."
He was about to pick her up and carry her out of the room when she glanced over at her dad laying on the hospital bed, and finally nodded her head, letting James lead her out of the room. He sat her down in the waiting room on a chair and sat beside her. Silence settled between the two teenagers like a blanket. Ten minutes passed before either of them said a word, and it was James who first broke the silence.
"I'm sure he's going to be fine, Lils. It'll just take some time." He looked over at her; she just stared straight ahead not moving except for the occasional blink.
He wasn't sure she was going to answer him, so instead he looked at his lap. He was surprised when, after another long minute of silence, she responded. "Do you really think he's going to be okay?"
She sounded small and helpless, like a little girl who had just dropped her ice cream cone on the ground. He looked at her again, and this time she turned to look at him, too. Her green eyes were open wide and shining with unshed tears, and all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and promise her that everything was going to be fine, that her dad was going to get better, and that her world would keep turning, but he knew he couldn't promise anything like that. Instead he took her hand in his and didn't say anything, just looked at her knowing that all she wanted to hear was reassurance, not necessarily the truth.
A few minutes later a man in a white smock came into the waiting room, looking grim. Lily looked at him expectantly, hoping he had good news. "You can see him now," he told her, sticking his hands in his pockets. Lily shot up out of the chair and went running for the doors that separated her from her dad. The man stopped James before he followed her into the room. "I'm afraid he's not in good condition. I don't think he's going to make it through the night."
All the breath in James's lungs left his body the second the doctor said what he had. Lily's dad was going to die before the night ended, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. For a moment all he could do was gawk at the doctor, but finally he nodded and headed for the room mutely.
Lily was leaning over her dad and talking to him in a whisper. James wasn't sure that he would be able to stand being in there with her for long. He stood in the doorway awkwardly for a few minutes before leaving the room in search of a phone to call Alexa with. Lily had suggested that he call his mum when they got to the hospital, but she'd forgotten that James's parents were magical and didn't own a phone, so he decided to call Alexa to tell Sirius to go home and tell his mum where he was. Alexa had taught James how to use the phone two summers ago, which at the time he thought had been stupid and pointless, but now he was glad that she had.
"Hello, Peters residence, this is Ben speaking."
"Ben, this is James, get Alexa and tell her to hurry because it's really important, okay?" He prayed that Alexa's bratty brother would just once listen to him. "It's about Lily, if that makes you hurry any more."
There was a muffled silence on the other end before Alexa's voice came on. "James? What's going on? Ben said it was about Lily. What happened?"
James explained everything that had happened from when he found Lily at the park to when her house blew up. Alexa didn't say anything while he was telling her, just gasped in horror when he told her that Lily's dad probably wasn't going to make it through the night. She quickly agreed to tell Sirius to go home and tell his mum where he was. She also told him to be sure to take care of Lily until she could get there.
Just as he was hanging up the phone, James heard Lily shriek. He ran down the hall, almost skidding right past the room, and pushed through the doors. A high-pitched ringing filled his ears, and it wasn't coming from Lily. A machine next to the bed Mr. Evans was on was showing a picture of a straight bright green line on its screen and was making a terrible ringing sound. He looked to the bed and saw Mr. Evans, his face pale as ash, just lying there with his eyes closed, not moving. He realized in horror that not even his chest was rising and falling.
A/N: Wow, long chapter, huh? 1461 words, not including the disclaimer and author's note. You'll all be happy to know that I've already started chapter 13, so hopefully it won't take me so long to update again. Please review!