-1I paced back and forth, ignoring the many stares from the other people sitting in the waiting room with me. "Relax." I kept repeating to myself, even though I knew that it was useless. I wasn't going to relax until I knew what was going on, until I knew that she was okay. A few doctors walked in the room, and I held my breath hoping one of them was there to talk with me, to tell me she was fine but each one walked right past me and headed to talk to the family behind me.
"Ellie!" I heard someone yell my name. I turned around to see Sean practically running toward me, obviously not caring that he was disturbing the others in the room. He hurried up to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly, squeezing me so hard that I couldn't breath. Part of me wished he wouldn't let go, he'd just squeeze me until I passed out and escaped the world for awhile. No such luck; he let me go and grabbed me by my shoulders. "Are you okay? What happened? You're okay, right?" He asked, talking so quickly I couldn't hardly understand him. I stood there, unable to answer him partly because I didn't know how to answer him. The truth was, I didn't know if I was okay and I didn't know what had happened. "Ellie, answer me!" He yelled, shaking me by my shoulders.
"Sean-" I whimpered, tears rolling down my cheeks again. I looked around the room, seeing a few people pretending not to watch us over the top of their magazines and newspapers. Sean obviously noticed we were causing a scene too because he grabbed me by my arm and led me out the door and into the lobby of the hospital. He was more calm this time, he took my hands in his and squeezed them gently.
"What's going on?" He asked softly. A few people walked in and out of the lobby, most were in groups of twos or threes. Some happy and others obviously were emotionally drained. I shook my head, trying to concentrate on Sean. He had said something else but I couldn't understand it. "You're scaring the hell out of me."
"Something happened, my mom-" I said, images of my unresponsive mother lying on the floor flashing before my eyes. I shook my head, trying to make them disappear. "She was just lying there and then-" I said, backing against the wall behind me. Sean let out a heavy sigh and took a step toward me, trying to pull me into another embrace but I pulled away from him, shaking my head. "She's going to be okay though, right?" My voice was becoming panicked and I could feel my heart start to speed up again. What if she wasn't? What if it was too late? How would I tell my father? So many questions ran through my mind at the same time, I couldn't even hear myself thinking anymore.
"Just calm down, okay? We'll figure this out, I'm sure-" He started, resting a hand on my shoulder. I pulled away from him a second time and looked at him angrily.
"No, how can you be sure of anything? I've got to get back in there." I said, hurrying back through the doors. My body trembled when a doctor met me at the doors of the waiting room. He looked at me sympathetically and motioned for me to sit down. I blinked back tears and started toward the row of chairs set up in the waiting room.
"Eleanor Nash, right?" He asked, giving me a small smile. I nodded as Sean sat down next to me, cautiously taking my hand in his. I squeezed his hand, waiting for some kind of news. "Your mother, she consumed a large amount of alcohol in a short amount of time. You said you heard her fall and then she had a seizure, it's very common for people with alcohol poisoning to experience seizures. We had to pump her stomach for precautionary measures, since you were unsure if she had taken any pills of any kind. You did the right thing, getting help though. She should be fine, but the effects of alcohol poisoning on the organs could have serious-" I stopped listening to him talking, I'd heard what I'd needed to hear. She should be fine.
"Can I see her? Is she awake?" I said quickly, not realizing I was interrupting him. He cleared his throat and shook his head slowly.
"Actually, she's asleep right now. The body will take awhile to recover from the stress of the high amounts of alcohol. We've got to keep her overnight and run some tests and such but tomorrow you should be able to visit her." He said, standing. "Do you have any other questions right now?" I thought for a second and shook my head, looking at Sean. "You might have saved her life, you know. Her blood alcohol level was dangerously high…" The doctor touched my arm reassuringly and nodded at me before leaving.
"Do you need anything? Are you hungry? I could get you something to eat, or maybe some coffee?" Sean asked standing up. Our eyes met for a few seconds and I shook my head quickly. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him towards me. He sat back down next to me and rubbed my back soothingly. "Ellie, you heard him. You might have saved her life." He said softly.
"Then why do I feel so awful? Why didn't I realize there was something wrong? I mean, the signs were there and I just ignored them." I said softly into Sean's chest. He shook his head, grabbing me by the shoulders again and looking me in the eyes.
"It's not you're fault. You know it's not." He said, pulling me back into him. I curled up on the chair next to him in the waiting room and laid my head on his lap, letting him try to comfort me. Within minutes, I felt sleep closing in on me and I allowed myself to fall into a world far from the hell that I was currently in.