Christina-
It was Monday. My mom had said she was going to pick me up since Joe had school and practice. The nurse had put me in a wheelchair so I didn't have to wait in my room.
"Hey kiddo how are you? Need anything?", my nurse asked.
"No, thank you", I said.
She nodded. Checking the clock again, she was two hours late.
"I'll call your mom. Maybe she got stuck in traffic", she said from behind her desk.
I nodded. I knew where my mom was and she wasn't stuck in traffic. I could hear her leaving a message for my mom. It was a waste of time. I saw her on the phone again.
Joe-
I was getting ready for practice when my phone went off.
"Hello", I said.
"Hi, Joe, this is nurse Elsa. You gave me your number just in case", she said.
I closed my locker door, nervous.
"Is everything ok with Chris?", I asked worried.
"She's fine, ready to go home. I can't seem to get a hold of her mom and her dad's office said he went out to the work site. I didn't know who else to call and you said if Chris needed you to call", she said.
"Ok, give me a few minutes and I'll be there to pick her up", I said.
"Ok", she said.
I put my phone away and got dressed. Danny looked at me.
"What are you doing?", he asked.
"I gotta go pick up Chris at the hospital", I said.
"Dude, what about practice? You can't blow this off for some chick", he said.
"She needs me", I said.
"Your team needs you more", he said angry.
I looked at him.
"I'm sorry", I said leaving.
"Joe", he called after me.
Christina-
My nurse came back over to me. Another hour passed. Nurse Elsa got off the phone and walked over to me. She handed me a juice box. She started to take me out of the hospital, parking me by the curb.
"Need anything else let me know", she said.
"Thanks, I will", I said.
I drank my juice box and watched Joe's car pull up in front of me. He smiled getting off his car.
"Sorry I'm late babe", he said.
"What are you doing here?", I asked.
"I gave your nurse my number just in case. Its a good thing I did too", he said.
"Joe", I said, feeling really bad that he had to skip out on practice.
"Don't. Your mom should have been here. Where the fuck is she?", he asked angry.
"I don't know", I said softly.
"Are you hungry?", he asked.
I nodded lightly.
"Lets get you something to eat than", he said smiling.
He helped me up. Setting me in his car, my nurse came up to him. He turned to her.
"Thank you for calling me", he said.
"Of course. I hope her mom's ok", she said.
He sighed.
"Me too", he said.
She waved goodbye to me and we drove home. My mom's car wasn't out front and Cora was on our front porch.
"Where's mom?", she asked.
I shrugged.
"Why are you outside?", I asked.
"I gave mom my key. She lost hers", she said.
We were locked out. Joe tugged on me.
"Come on, both of you are coming to mine", he said.
Getting to his house, he took me to his room and let me lay down in his bed.
"I'll be right back", he said.
I nodded, falling asleep in his bed.
Joe-
I asked Cora for her dad's work number. I called him.
"Hello", he answered.
"Mr. Mathews, this is Joe. There's something you should know", I said.
I told him everything. He sighed.
"Thank you for picking her up Joe. You shouldn't have to put everything on hold, doing our job. I'm sorry son. I'll be home soon", he said.
"They're safe here, no worries and I would drop what I'm doing for Chris anytime, no matter what", I said.
"I need to find her", he sighed.
He told me he was going to look for their mom before the call ended. Cora was in the living room with my mom. I went back to my room with Chris. I pulled her close. It was dark outside when my mom woke me up.
"Their dad is here", she said.
I nodded and got up. Lifting Chris in my arms. She didn't weigh much these days, it felt like I would break her. I handed her to her dad.
"Thank you again Joe, really", he said sadly.
"Anytime", I said.
They left and I watched, noticing her mom still wasn't home yet. My mom looked at me.
"I know I missed practice, but I wasn't about to leave Chris there alone", I said.
"I know", my mom said.
"I was going to ask you too, but I was so angry and I just wanted to make sure Chris was safe", I said.
"Its ok, I mean I would have liked it if you would have called me. I would have done it, but I get where you're coming from too", she said.
I nodded.
"I'll write a note to your couch for missing practice", she said.
"No need, I told him what was going on and he understood, with Chris's permission of course", I said.
Christina-
I woke up to screaming, really loud screaming. Realizing I was in my bed, I got up and pressed my ear to my door. My dad was yelling at my mom for not picking me up and going to the bar. The front door slammed and I went back to my bed. My door opened and my mom came closer to me.
"I'm so sorry baby. I didn't mean to forget you, really", she said., words slurred.
"I know mom", I said.
"I love you", she hugged me and kissed my forehead.
"I love you too", I said.