Chapter 18
Look Around You, Drake Part Three
…An hour and a half later
Megan ripped a magazine subscription card in little pieces cutting through the silence
of the cold and sterile beige painted waiting room at Sharp Memorial Hospital. Audrey
rested her head on Walter's shoulder and just when she felt her body want to collapse
from exhaustion she vowed to stay awake for her son. Why wasn't anyone coming
through the door to tell them something about Drake?
Josh was back at the house on Audrey's insistence to pick up a few magazines,
underwear, some PJ's, and her notebook computer for Drake so he would have
something to do when he woke up.
"Why hasn't anyone come in here, yet?" She carelessly picked strands off her pink
blouse like you would from a shedding pet. Then she realized this was Drake's hair.
"I'd like to believe that no news, is good news, honey." Walter replied hoping that his
suggestion would comfort his wife.
He wasn't sure if he believed his own advice though. When he and Audrey got married
Drake wasn't exactly doing cartwheels about the situation and he certainly didn't treat
Walter like a real father until almost a year after he had the title of stepfather. Walter
loved that young man like he was his own and underneath the "cool unaffected rock and
roll guy" persona Drake really was a good kid. It was only just a few days ago when he
asked Walter when he brought him upstairs a cup of bland chicken broth if he
remembered that time he suggested they go golfing together? And that when he was
up to it, he wanted to go to the Fletcher Hills Driving Range after all Drake added that,
"Alice Cooper does it."
It made Walter feel great that Drake actually wanted to talk to him, on purpose and not
out of a politeness to his Mother. The teenager who would actually hug him because he
was his son just as much as Josh was. And he meant the embrace and it was not a
device as to fool Audrey to make her satisfied that her husband and biological son
were bonding.
Walter Nichols was old-fashioned and wanted to be strong for his wife and the kids. It
wouldn't do anyone a world of good, especially Drake, if they all carried on crying and
letting their negativity win. He loved him so much that there was just no way he could
die. God blessed him with two sons and one smart little daughter and they weren't
supposed to leave first. He almost started to cry thinking about that, but dismissed it
away as a simple clearing his throat cough.
Audrey nearly jumped up out of her skin like those miniature popping spring toys five
minutes later when a Doctor, who looked like those M.D.'s you see on prime time
television, an older gentleman of forty-five who was keeping the wrinkles at bay by
getting the latest and greatest injections and who had unmovable news anchor hair.
Audrey didn't wait for the doctor to speak first she wanted answers and was worried
sick to be bothered with hospital protocol.
"Doctor, how is Drake?"
Josh couldn't leave the house in the condition on which his family and the paramedics
left it. After he put the computer and some back issues of Q and Uncut in his backpack
he went to the sink to get a bucket and opened up a bottle of Pine-Sol.
"Aww, Jeez! I should've filled this upstairs!" But Josh felt he didn't have a right to do
anything other than do what was correct and expected of him so he made do and
carried the filled bucket upstairs. He'd have to make a second trip to get the mop that
was in the laundry room, but that was okay.
Besides, he liked to do house cleaning. He didn't want his mother to come home to an
untidy house and he certainly didn't want to return to the hospital. Not yet. The knots in
his stomach had finally subsided for the time being and he just couldn't think of the
worst news that was a reality at the moment and that was of a life without Drake.
The chance of a life without his brother was not something that Josh wanted to process
right now.
Josh wanted Drake to be upstairs on his bed playing his red Fender Stratocaster at all
hours of the night giving him that "What? I'm not doing anything look." It must be what all
of the girls adored.
Girls!
Emme!
Josh stopped in a mid-mop position as he was cleaning the bathroom wondering if he
should stop what he was doing and pick up the phone and call Emme or at least give a
message to Mrs. Watson?
No. Drake was going to be all right and he could make that call himself.
Josh did let the mop fall out of his hands and onto the floor when he thought of the one
call that he did have to make. He decided to use the phone in his parent's room so he
could sit on his Father's dark green recliner chair that everyone chipped in for Father's
Day last year.
"H-Hello?" asked a sleepy raspy voice
Cell phones were a great invention as Josh had no desire or will left in him to bargain
with the uptight Crenshaw's that they put their daughter on the phone line.
"Mindy, I have some---"
She cut him off. "Oh, Josh, I'm so sorry." She felt her eyes tear up.
Over him?
Yeah, really.
"No, Drake's not dead. But he's bad Mindy, he's really bad."
"What happened?"
"I found a trail of puke in the bedroom that led to the bathroom and Drake was on the
floor in pain—and he has a fever---and he kept throwing up, he couldn't stop---then he
fell asleep—at least I hope he fell asleep and is not unconscious because his last
words to me were 'bye.'---I don't know what we're going to do." Josh sighed
"Oh my. I hope Drake is going to be okay."
And surprisingly enough she did mean that. He was her verbal sparring partner and she
did secretly think that Drake was a good guy in spite of how he used every single girl
that he dated.
"Me too."
"Where are you calling from?"
"Home. Mom asked me to pick up some things for Drake and I'm cleaning the
bathroom and I have to clean our room before going back to the hospital."
"I'm coming over."
"No. That's not necessary."
"Ssh, Josh. I'll be there in ten minutes and then we can go to the hospital together."
"Thanks. I love you, Mindy, I'm sorry about our little fight before."
"Don't worry about that. I love you too, Josh."
Josh hung up the phone and went back to his house cleaning, he could easily finish this
before Mindy came over, otherwise, she'd want to help and although that was sweet
and everything he just wanted to do the work himself.
Josh dumped the dirty water from the bucket into the bathtub and turned on the faucet to
help the drain along. He figured it'd be okay to let the mop dry in the tub. There was only
one thing left to do before meeting Mindy to go back to the hospital and that was to
march to their room and get the lavender envelope. Which upon inspection Drake
STILL did not open. Josh had to give his brother some slack there he might have been
on the verge of opening it and that's when he got sick. Infact it looked like there was an
itty-bitty rip on the top left corner of the envelope and that is the spot where most people
open their letters.
"You're his key." Josh said out loud to himself putting the envelope in his backpack with
the other odds and ends for Drake.
Things to make him feel better, because after all he was going to be all right.
The doorbell rang and he could see Mindy's outline through the frosted glass windows
on the double front doors and smiled the first hopeful smile of the night, "Just like Mindy
is mine."
Author's Note: To be continued…