Chapter 16
Dr. West
Come on people! Step up the reviews! Positive or negative! (But I prefer positive)! I'm not nearly done with this!
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Derek woke up relatively early for a Saturday morning. He went downstairs to find a note from Nora on the stairwell.
Derek, Casey, Anna
Didn't want to bother you guys since I know you don't like this place, but we took the other kids to the water park. Most likely won't get back till late tonight. Plenty of food in the fridge. BEHAVE! Xoxo!
Nora
He could hear faint steps in the kitchen and wandered in to find Casey making scrambled eggs.
"Typical of them just to leave without us, huh?" said Derek sliding into one of the stool seats at the kitchen table.
"Yeah, but we already said before that we are too old to have fun at some dinky waterpark." Replied Casey scooping eggs into a plate.
Derek shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe so, but it's a chance to see Anna in a swimsuit." He smirked.
Casey rolled her eyes, unamused. "You really are a Neanderthal with a one track mind aren't you?"
Derek got up and grabbed a plate then bumping purposely into Casey. Sliding back in his seat he asked. "Where's Anna?"
"I tried to wake her but she had a fever and she said she felt sort of weak and dizzy." Noticing Derek's worried face, she quickly added, "But I'm sure she's just having one of her bad day spells."
Even so, Derek felt his move shift and he started getting up. "I think I'll just go up and check on her." He walked out of the kitchen.
As he approached the stairs, he looked up to see Anna at the top of the stairs in her robe and pajamas.
Before he could say anything, he saw Anna sway slightly and her eyes flutter shut. Collapsing suddenly, she fell down the stairs as Derek stood in a state of shock watching her thunk, bump, and crash right in front of him. At first he was too scared and shocked to move, Then he finally regained his senses and rushed to her, cradling her limp body in his arms.
As much as he tried to awaken her, she laid there unconscious and blood dripping from the top of her head down to her face, and blood staining her pajama bottoms.
Casey came in seconds later and knelt down next to them with her hand covering her mouth.
"Derek, what happened!" she screamed.
"She fell down the stairs, I have no idea why, I don't know what's wrong! Casey call 911!" He frantically pointed towards the phone and Casey followed the directions grabbing the phone and fighting back tears to explain the situation on the phone.
Derek could feel the tears stinging his eyes and his heart pounding in his chest as he brushed Anna's blond hair out of her face and the blood steadily seeped out. Minutes later, the ambulance came and drove all of them to the ER. Derek latched onto Anna's hand, not letting go the entire time. Casey was crying hysterically looking over her unconscious friend. Once there, several doctors and nurses brought Anna to a trauma room. Derek and Casey followed closely behind. In there, the attendants started talking about her stats, pressure, and a lot of other doctor talks. But Derek couldn't hear them. He was numb as he watched them rushing to try to stabilize Anna. He didn't exactly know how he felt. Of course he was scared, but he was also angry, sad, and different mixes of terrible. While in the trauma room, Anna's assigned doctor, Dr. West, approached them with Anna's file. Derek was most surprised with how young and "undoctor-like" he looked. About 27, dark spiked hair and a goatee, and his eyes a piercing green. He wore the typical doctor's white jacket, id, and stethoscope. But he also wore faded jeans, and black leather belt with a rather large buckle, a vintage rolling stones tee, and a chain necklace with a padlock and guitar pick. He looked so much like those rock band front man at those local band nights he'd been to. Casey stood frozen to one spot absolutely taken with Dr. West.
"Hello, you probably know I'm Dr. West and I'm Anna's doctor, may I ask how both of you are acquainted with Anna Scott?" Derek noticed he scratchy, husky voice, typical.
Derek looked over to Casey expecting her to answer, instead, she stared blankly at the doctor gaping.
"I-I, uh, my, um, I, uh…" Casey rambled awkwardly as raised an eyebrow in confusion. Derek rolled his eyes and answered for both of them.
"This is Casey Mcdonald and she's my stepsister and best friends with Anna. I'm Derek Venturi and I'm Anna's boyfriend. Is Anna going to be okay? What is wrong with her?"
Dr. West moved towards the door and held it open. "Why don't you both follow me and I can go over somethings with you."
Derek shook his head and looked over to Anna. "No I have to stay here with her, I can't just leave her alone."
"She's in good hands. I need you 2 to come with me so I can properly explain things to you. And so the doctors have more room to work." He explained.
Nodding slightly, he glanced back to Anna before following Casey and Dr. West out the door to a private waiting room down the hall. They each sat down in separate armchairs as Dr. West cleared his throat and took one more glance at the files before looking up and clearing his throat again. Casey twiddled her thumbs and bit her lower lip looking back and forth from Dr. west to the wall opposite her. Tears still streaming down her face. Derek focused mostly on his shoes as each hand gripped the arms of his armchair.
"I'm sure you both already know that Anna has aids right?" Derek and Casey nodded in unison as he continued, "Well, what happened today was a side effect of the virus worsening. When she fell, she got a few random cuts and bruises and a sprained wrist. But thank goodness that was it. And as the virus gets stronger, her health and her body will start worsening. I don't think she has that long left."
At this time, Casey's hands covered her face as she sobbed violently. Derek now gripped the armchair for dear life, trying to steady this spinning world in front of him.
Dr. West cleared his throat once again and went on, "Your parents have been contacted and they are on the way but traffics kind of heavy right now. And Anna's parents have been notified as well. Do you 2 need anything or…" he trailed off seeing as the 2 were not moving and unresponsive.
Just then, Casey stood up and glanced at both Derek and Dr. West, "I need to get out. I, uh, need to clear my head." She ran out of the room leaving the 2 men there.
"I'm just very sorry dude," said Dr. West leaning back in his seat. Derek only nodded his head in response. "You may find this hard to believe but I know what you are going through and I understand."
"How, Dr. West? How do you know anything about how I feel right now?" Said Derek defensively, but he was unfazed.
"First, I hate it when people call me Dr. West, just call me Jake."
Derek nodded, "Noted."
"Second, I was about your age when my girlfriend told me she had cancer."
Noticing his sincerity, Derek gathered himself and looked up. "Did you love her?"
"More than you could know." Was his reply.
"So what happened?" asked Derek.
"I was angry, I don't know how angry, but pretty steamed. At the world, and all the forces that believed we shouldn't be together just because of who we were."
"What were both of you like?" asked Derek.
"Well let's just say I had bad friends. And that's led me to drugs, late parties, alcohol, the whole nine yards. Soon I thought the only thing I had going for me was my music. Then one day, I was on the verge of expulsion. My parents made a deal with the board that if I got my act together, it would save my butt, so they gave me a mentor and tutor, Claire Hollis. The basic good girl. At first, I thought the only reason she was being nice and helpful was her way of downsizing me. But then, I found myself really opening up to her, which I normally don't do. And more amazing was that she made me believe I could do more than what I thought I could do. I found myself thinking about her a lot, how beautiful she was, how nice, and everything. Everyone thought I was crazy. Soon, I thought that too. But when I finally got to kiss her, I knew I loved her. A few days later, she told me she had cancer and my whole world fell apart. She was so beautiful and so young."
Throughout the story, Derek couldn't the many similarities between Jake's story and his.
"What happened in the end?" asked Derek, as if searching for the answers to all of his problems.
"Well, I stuck by her, and loved her with all my heart for the next 6 months. And each time as she grew weaker, her soul still prospered. And I witnessed the greatest strength I had ever seen." He paused for a second to gathered his thoughts, Derek patiently waited for him to continue.
"Then, one day, I sat there with her, and she took my hand, held it against her, and told me she would always love me, protect me, and believe in me. Then, I promised her my love, and that I will always love her and miss her. I kissed her again, and then, she died." He was finished and he exhaled deeply.
Derek took it upon himself to ask, "Wow, and today?"
"I still keep my promise today, because I know I still love her, and I know in my heart that she still loves me. Whenever I'm here, or onstage performing a set, I know she's there watching over me, that keeps me strong."
They sat in silence for a moment, Derek mulling over the information just given to him. It meant a lot to him and, deep down, it really helped him.
"Do you love Anna?" He asked.
Derek looked up and his eyes met his, piercing through him as if reading him like a book, "Of course I do." He answered.
"Does she know that?"
"Yes."
Does she love you too?"
"Yes."
"Then everything will be okay. Like what Claire would tell me, just have faith."
Just then one of the nurses came in, "Dr. West, Anna Scott is stable and vaguely awake, you can run your analysis. Mr. and Mrs. Venturi are still in heavy traffic though." She left as both began to stand up.
"So, you ready to see her?" he asked opening the door.
"Yeah." Replied Derek as he began to walk out. He turned around to face the doctor,
"Thanks for helping me, and sharing you story Dr…. I mean Jake."
Shaking hands, they left and headed towards the trauma room where Anna was recovering.