Awright, here we go. The chapter that starts all the madness!
SHOUT OUTS TO MAH FIRST VIEWERS! THANKS SO MUCH!
I'll start posting names up when I get to the 5th chapter.
But for now,
Enjoy ;)
When we pulled onto Cindy's block, the first thing we noticed was the bright blinding lights of the cop cars and the ambulance. Frowning, I pulled over across the street from the house, and Cindy flung herself out the door and sprinted full on towards her home.
Gazzy jogged in after her. Mei and I took our time getting out of the car.
"So many lights…" she said in a daze.
I leaned against the hood of the car, and Mei joined suit.
"What do you think happened?" I asked.
"I don't know, but we should respect family privacy and not ask," she said stubbornly.
I rolled my eyes and stood up on the hood to get a better look.
"Max! Stop being nosy!" Mei hissed pulling on my pant leg.
I swatted her hand away with my leg and walked up the window shield and onto the roof, searching over the ambulance car.
"MAX!" Mei hissed.
Standing on my tiptoes, I looked over at the entrance. I still couldn't see anything from around the stupid ambulance car, so I leaped over to the next car, thankful that no alarm went off.
I cocked my head to the side as I noticed a body being whirled out of the front door on a gurney, with a thick white sheet covering the body. In several places, the sheet stuck to the body with red blotches of….blood.
I sucked in a breath and scanned the yard. 2 Police officers were questioning a bawling Cindy who was clinging on to Gazzy like a chimpanzee. Four men were lifting the gurney up into the back of the ambulance where Cindy's father was waiting.
My eyes widened as I took a better look. That tough snarl he gave off was now a miserable thin line as his soulless eyes were pouring down tear after tear. He was staring hard at the red blood stains with horror and dismay.
I didn't make assumptions to whoever was under those covers, but I could tell the person was very precious to the two.
Gazzy had his arm wrapped around Cindy's waist as he led her over. I jumped down from the car and slowly met them halfway.
"I told her we'd take her to the hospital," Gazzy said looking at me.
"Of course," Mei said opening the door for the two of them.
I just nodded mutely and got in the front seat. I clutched the steering wheel tightly, feeling the skin crack under my force.
"Hey," Mei said loudly.
I turned to face her.
"You want me to drive?" she asked.
I just nodded.
Who knows where we'd end up if I drove?
I placed a steaming hot cup of hot cocoa in front of Cindy and another in front of Gazzy. Cindy smiled weakly up at me before turning her head and burying her face into Gazzy's shoulder.
I walked over to the opposite side of the room where Mei was sitting with her untouched bag of chips and unopened soda can.
"Thought I'd try eating…than I saw the body get wheeled in through the back and I lost my appetite," she said.
I took a better look at her and noticed that she was looking paler around her cheeks and forehead, and her eyes gave off a troubled look. I just shrugged and stole her soda can.
"Who do you think did it?" she asked quietly.
I sighed and popped the top of the can open.
"We don't know if it was a murder. Maybe it was an accidental death," I said taking a sip.
"Or maybe I'm the president in disguise," she said rolling her eyes. "Come on Max, I know you saw those blood stains," she said.
"Doesn't make my previous statement any less false."
"But it doesn't make it true," she insisted.
"Same for you," I shot back.
She just sighed and played with the zipper of her jacket. Both of our gazes flickered over to Cindy who was clutching tightly to Gazzy. Gazzy was just staring straight ahead at the wall behind us, stroking her hair down and rubbing circles into her shoulders.
I sighed and put my feet up on the magazine infested table in front of us, tilting my head up.
"I hate hospitals," I said.
"Ditto. These places are so…clean and creepy," Mei said.
I nodded my agreement and fiddled with the hood of my jacket.
"Cindy must be feeling how we felt…"Mei whispered.
"Like a train ran over her heart," I agreed.
Mei kept silent.
We both knew how it felt to be in Cindy's position, and we both didn't know how to comfort her. You don't just go up and say 'I'm sorry' because it seems like the right thing to say, you actually have to explain to people that you know what it's like.
But I couldn't because I didn't know how to say it.
So instead, I walked over to Gazzy and Cindy and sang her mother's lullaby.
Gazzy looked up at me questioningly, but I just turned to face Cindy.
See the mother bird tenderly singing
Away in the treetop high
Where her cozy nest is gently swinging
In time to her lullaby
Hush-a-bye, rock-a-bye,
In their cradles the babies sing,
Hush-a-bye lullaby,
All the world loves to hear mothers sing.
Cindy stopped crying, and she was looking up at me, hanging on to my every word. Gazzy was just staring down at Cindy, still rubbing her arms.
Hear the goodnight song tenderly falling,
Over cradles where babies sleep,
Where, in love, a prayer is calling,
That angels, their watch will keep,
Hush-a-bye, rock-a-bye
In their cradles the babies sing,
Hush-a-bye lullaby,
All the world loves to hear mothers sing.
Cindy's eyes were closed now, and her tight grip on Gazzy's shirt was loosening.
See the stars their watch steadily keeping
Over birdies and babies far,
All night long, while babies are sleeping
They're safe in fathers care,
Hush-a-bye, rock-a-bye,
In their cradles the babies swing,
Hush-a-bye lullaby,
All the world loves to hear mother sing.
Cindy was knocked out against Gazzy's shoulder, her arms limp at her side. Gazzy looked at me gratefully before leaning his head on hers.
"I don't know what to say…"Gazzy said.
I shook my head and crossed my legs.
"You don't have to say anything. Just be there for her." I said.
He nodded and flipped his phone out from his pocket.
"Mind calling my mom? Tell her I'm gonna stay the night here," he said.
"You're so whipped dude." I said chuckling.
"At least it's to the right girl," he whispered looking down at Cindy.
I stood up and walked back over to Mei and started dialing Marian's number. She picked up on the third ring.
"Gazzy?" she asked.
"Max." I said.
"Oh, so what's up?" she asked.
"Uhm…Cindy's family is having a major crisis right now, and we're all at the hospital." I said.
"Oh dear what happened?" she cried.
I coughed uncomfortably and dug my other hand into my pocket.
"Someone died tonight,"
Marian was silent on the other line. I sighed, knowing she was comparing Cindy to Mei and I. If the next words that come out of her mouth are an apology, I'm hanging up.
"What will you guys do now?" she asked.
I mentally sighed a breath a relief before answering again.
"If anything, I'll take the kids to my place so they can rest. And don't worry, I'll put em in separate bedrooms," I said rolling my eyes at the last part.
"Alright, call us on any updates," she said.
"Will do," I said hanging up.
The waiting room was deserted except for the four of us. Mei was staring hard at the ER doors, like she was itching to sneak in and take a look. For some strange reason, although I did absolutely nothing tonight, I was exhausted. I leaned back in my hair, tilted my head back and drifted off to sleep.
Mei's POV-
It's been about 4 hours. No one has come out, and no one has gone in of the ER. The others are all sleeping, even Max. But something about that body is giving me weird vibes.
When I first saw the gurney being wheeled in from the cafeteria windows, I also saw the nurses that rode with the body. Their outfits were totally drenched in blood, and I don't think Max recognized that before.
But how could a dead boy squirt out blood if it's already dead?
And better yet, what kind of 'accidental death' makes a person spill that much blood?
Okay maybe theres the possibility of tripping over a couple of knives….or a glass window shattering on her…or falling down hard steps.
Point is, it'd make more sense that this would be a murder.
But then of course, damn logic tends to let me know that natural accidents could also be the cause of it.
I was so lost in thought that the doctor had to pinch my shoulder. I yelped and lashed my hand out instinctively, knocking his clipboard to the floor.
I looked up at the doctor and automatically regretted it.
This doctor was young. Like…22 young. He was also handsome. He stood at a tall 6 feet and his hazel eyes bore into mine with intense curiosity and amusement. His straight chestnut hair fell around his forehead and his smirk…god his smirk was hot.
Okay, enough soap operas for me.
I stood up and waited as he bent down to pick up his clip board.
"Do you always attack doctors?" he asked smugly.
"Do you always abuse your patients?" I shot back.
He laughed and just shook his head.
"Perhaps we've gotten off on the wrong foot, My names Dylan," he said extending his right hand.
I nodded and shook his hand. "Mei," I replied.
"Nice name," he smiled.
"I know right?" I laughed.
He smiled one last time before taking a look at Cindy. Seriousness took over and he flipped a page on his clipboard.
"What's your relationship to the Heart family?" he asked.
"Our friend Gazzy invited her over to a bar-b-q tonight, but other than that we have no blood relationship," I said in a business like tone.
He nodded his head and continued looking over at the papers.
"Well their family ties have been cut. No aunts or uncles or cousins to call. So I suppose it'd be alright to tell you the state of Cindy's mother," he said.
"Wait. State?" I asked confusedly. "I thought she-"
"Yes we thought she had passed away too. But it wasn't until we got her into the ambulance that her heart beat started to pick up again," he said looking troubled.
"That's…."
"Highly unusual, I know," he finished for me.
"What about her vitals? Organic reactions?" I asked.
Dylan looked at me weirdly before crossing his arms over his chest.
"Are you a doctor?" he asked.
"No, I'm a chemistry professor," I said.
His brow furrowed. "But you look so-"
"Young?" I laugh. "So are you." I shot back.
He nods and smirks. "Touché."
"Why do you ask?" I asked.
"Well…we have reason to believe that Mrs. Heart was food poisoned," he said frowning.
"What?" I stumbled. "How could a poisoning extract that much blood from a person?" I asked incredulously.
"It's actually very possible. When the poison hit her stomach, it caused her to convulse and her stomach acid shot up her windpipe. Her brain seemed to register what was happening, and tried to make her barf it up, but the thing is, the chemicals already made it into her blood stream." He said looking sick.
I sank back down to my chair, scratching the back of my neck.
"Do you think you could come in the back and take a look at the poison? I think I'd feel better if I had an expert looking at it," he said.
I nodded my head, barely thinking over his compliment. I let him lead me to the back lab where he gave me a white lab coat and latex gloves. On the metal tables lay a series of test tubes, open text books and a couple of other medical use.
He shows me the sample of the bile and another of the poison that they extracted from her body, and I immediately head for the burner.
Whatever this poison is, I hope it's not air contagious.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHATCHA TINK?
R&R please guys!
-Shift