Here's chapter eight! As usual all mistakes are mine and I'm aware the medical information may not be completely accurate but I did my best. Enjoy and thanks for reading :)
Mercedes sat in a small corner table of Starbucks, watching many different kinds of people race around the airport. Business men, families with children, school trips with large groups of students. She couldn't help but think if anyone was in a similar situation to her.
She scrolled through the contacts on her phone, wondering who she could call. She needed to talk to someone. Anyone.
Her mom and dad probably didn't know, and she couldn't bear explaining it all over the phone. She let out a frustrated sigh and pulled her perfectly styled hair out of her face. She could feel her lashes slowly loosing their grip from her crying, until she angrily ripped them off.
She considered calling Sam, but went with Tina instead. Sam may or may not be teaching a class right now.
"Pick up T." she mumbled to herself as she took a large gulp of her coffee. It was extremely bitter, but she was beyond caring at this point.
"Mercedes?" Tina whispered down the phone.
She too was in an airport. Her and Artie were living in London while shooting a short film, but were returning home for a while. Tina whispered down the phone, not wanting to draw any attention to herself. It was 3 am in London, and the airport, while busy was extremely quiet. She didn't know where Artie was, and knew people would begin to stare if she lost it on the phone.
"Yeah, it's me, why are you whispering?"
"We're in the airport. It's the middle of the night here. I've lost Artie so I'm on my own."
Mercedes heart ached for her. She knew Tina's anxiety had become much worse from all the travelling she did while acting. Sometimes it was so bad she couldn't bear to be without Artie for 5 minutes.
"It's alright, I'm sure he hasn't gone far, just stay on the phone."
She could hear Tina try steady her breathing as she whispered a reply.
"How come your calling? Don't you have shows all through this month?"
Mercedes bit her lip in embarrassment. She couldn't get her head around the fact yet she had only just found out. Surely Artie and Tina know.
"I'm flying out to New York. I've um...I've only just found out about Rachel. Long story short there was a mix up with phones and contacts. I just feel so terrible and I.."
"How much do you know? Are you up to date?" Tina cut her off. Mercedes could hear her voice crack down the line.
"Honestly, I don't know anything besides the fact she's pregnant and really sick."
The line went silent for a moment before she heard Tina sobbing down the line.
Oh my god, how bad is it? She thought to herself. Suddenly she heard a shuffling sound in her ear.
"Mercedes?" Arties voice asked down the line. He sounded panicked and out of breath.
"Yeah Artie, it's me. Is everything okay there? Tina was about to fill me in on Rachel and then..."
"Yeah, um she's a little touchy when it comes to her at the moment. She's also a little panicked because I was gone because there was trouble with my passport. I'm all good now, Tina just needs a moment."
"Artie, I'm so sorry I've been so busy lately. I'm flying into New York right now. It's a long story but I only found out about Rachel a few hours ago. Can you tell me everything?"
She heard a sniff down the line from Artie, before he cleared this throat and began.
"It's..um it's gotten bad Mercedes. Really bad."
She closed her eyes for a minute. Before opening them slowly.
"How bad?"
"Well...it's why we're in the airport. We're going to New York. Almost everyone has been flying in to see her over the last few weeks. It's..."
She was left speechless as she listened to Artie bawling down the phone. That's very unlike Artie.
"E-everyone is going t-to say their...to say their g-goodbyes." He gasped between sobs.
Mercedes ran her fingers through her hair as tears began pricking in the corners of her eyes. It hit her like a ton of bricks. All this in one day.
"Goodbyes? Artie what do you mean goodbyes? She's not..."
No. Of course not. I would have known about it if it had gotten that bad.
"We need t-to say our goodbyes to her. Finn asked us to come out as soon as we could." He paused and the two remained silent for what seemed like forever.
"Apparently they didn't tell anyone about how bad it had gotten. It just all went down hill about 3 weeks ago. They thought she might get through it so they didn't tell anyone."
"How long?" She mumbled into the phone. She kept her head down, fully aware she had drawn attention to herself. She could feel eyes burning into her. She was grateful nobody had approached her.
"I was talking to Finn yesterday. We actually didn't know how bad it had gotten until yesterday. He was calling to ask us to come say our goodbyes. He said..."
She could hear Artie softly crying until he attempted to pull himself together.
"Finn said about 2 weeks. That's what the doctor told him. The only chance the baby has of surviving is to deliver her early. Finn said she's not likely to make it through the birth."
"Oh god." She groaned as tears streamed down her face. A random lady walked by her table and placed a packet of tissues on her table and subtly placed a comforting hand on hers before walking back to her own table. She quickly got up and raced to the bathroom in embarrassment.
She didn't realise how much she was crying. Her entire body was shaking and her makeup was smeared down her face. She looked awful.
Mercedes had completely forgotten she was on call with Artie, and held the phone back up by her ear. Her voice continued to crack and shake as she spoke.
"Artie, my flight is in a few minutes so I need to go. What airport are you flying into and when are you due in? I'm JFK."
"We're due into JFK around midnight. You'll get in a couple of hours earlier than us so do you want to wait around for us? We won't be allowed see her until the morning so we could grab food together."
"Ok. Tell T I hope she's feeling better. I gotta go."
Mercedes ended the call and stared at herself in the mirror. She began re applying her lip gloss and brushed her hair in an attempt to make herself look half decent, until she saw the woman that handed her a tissue come into the bathroom.
She recognised Mercedes immediately and walked over to the sink.
"Are you alright my darling?" Her dark brown hair is pulled up in a neat bun, and her green eyes look into Mercedes with care and concern.
Mercedes shook her head slightly. There was no point in saying she was okay when she clearly was a mess.
"Honestly, no, I'm not okay. But thank you for leaving me the tissues earlier. It was very kind of you."
She gave her a sorrowful smile and placed her hand on Mercedes forearm.
"Darling, just remember that everyone has bad days. I have 2 daughters about your age and it would kill me to see them alone and upset."
Mercedes was taken aback by this woman's kindness and bursted into tears again. The woman rubed her arm and handed her another tissue.
"Sorry." She mumbled while wiping her eyes.
"I just found out today a close friend of mine is very sick and doesn't have long to live."
She had no idea why she was telling this stranger why she was upset, but she had such a motherly vibe that reminded Mercedes of her own mother.
She was upset and this stranger was treating her with nothing but care.
"I'm so sorry. That's awful, truly awful. I lost my brother to an illness a few years ago, and it's a terrible thing to be going through. I'll keep you and your friend and all your loved ones in my thoughts and prayers."
"Thank you so much..." Mercedes hesitates, realising she didn't even know this woman's name.
"Jen." The woman finishes with a soft smile.
"Thank you, Jen. I'm Mercedes." She added as Jen reached over and gave her a brief hug, before apologising that she couldn't stay and talk for longer, as she has to catch her flight.
Mercedes too realised she'd lost track of time and should catch her flight.
As Mercedes sat in her seat on the plane, she thought about Jen, and how that small act of kindness is something she'll remember forever, and remembers the saying her mom would always tell her and her brother as kids. Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.