Hey Guys! I am so so so sorry I haven't been able to update. This chapter was a pain in the butt for me to write. I had such great ideas from all of your amazing reviews I just didn't know what I wanted to do with it. After a lot of thinking and not just one but TWO different rough drafts I finally came up with this chapter. It's not exactly exciting but since I already have that other draft written up I'll probably take bits of that and expand it to make a new chapter for you guys! I promise there is a lot of excitement to come, and depending on when I finish it I am planning on posting the next chapter very soon to make up for being so late on this one. Without any more rambling here is the long awaited Chapter Twenty Four
"Bee, are you okay?" I faintly hear Hayden's voice. I squint my eyes and look up at him. He lets out a sigh of relief. "Oh my God! Phoebe! What happened?" He asks.
"I-I don't know." I stutter trying to clear my head. "I think I just blacked out for a second."
"Well is that normal?" Hayden demands nervously and I shrug. He gives out almost a frustrated sigh. "Okay, well we are almost back at Ocean Park. You'll just have to make sure you give Nurse Jackson a heads up about what happened. I nod slowly still trying to figure out what actually happened.
In no time we are back at the hospital, where Nurse Jackson is waiting for us out front.
"Where have you two been, you are almost ten minutes late!" She exclaims pointing to her watch.
"Traffic." Hayden waves her off.
"Well then you should've left earlier." Nurse J glares at him and I can sense some underlying tension between them. "Besides, your brother is being discharged today, don't you think you should be off helping him get ready?" She states.
"Yeah, whatever." Hayden rolls his eyes before turning and winking at me. "I'll see you later babe." He smiles before sauntering away. Nurse Jackson shakes her head before placing her hand on the small of my back and leading me inside.
"Don't worry I already got a hold of Dr. Grace to let her know that you are running a little late. Also Dash and Emma wanted me to ask you if you wanted to get together later with them, and-" Nurse Jackson rambles off her list before I cut in.
"Is Hunter really leaving today?" I ask. She quiets down and I can feel her hand become loose on my back.
"I'm afraid so Dear." She replies softly.
"Is he better?" I question. He wouldn't be leaving if he wasn't better.
"No, Bee. He's not better. His parents just believe that he doesn't need to wait out his time until a liver comes along in a hospital when he really could be just staying at home with them." I'm speechless. On one hand I'm jealous that he gets to go home while the rest of us are stuck here. On another I feel extremely bad for Kara, but overall I'm just confused on what the future holds.
"So obviously he's not in critical condition if he gets to go home right?" I continue to interrogate Nurse Jackson.
"The fever he was running the other day has settled itself down but other than that he should be fine. It shouldn't be too awfully long before a liver comes along for him so we think that if Mr. and Mrs. Cole want him to go home there is nothing wrong with the idea." She answers.
"So, he's not going to die?" I state sadly.
"No baby! He's not going to die." Why am I so upset about this? It's not like I wanted him to die in the first place. "It's Hayden isn't it Bee?" Nurse Jackson speaks my thoughts. I am silent for a moment but my answer is obvious just by my body language. Slowly I find the strength to look up at Nurse Jackson.
"Do you think he will still come to visit me?" I say quietly. Nurse Jackson hesitates.
"I don't know honey. I think if he really truly does care about you he will find a way to be with you despite the circumstances." I accept her answer with defeat, to be quite honest I don't know how much faith I truly have in Hayden's feelings for me.
We have reached Dr. Grace's office and she stands up from her desk to come welcome us in. She gives me a hug before gesturing to a seat across from her.
"Good afternoon Bee." She smiles. "How are you doing?"
"Fine." I smile back gently.
"So I heard you just got back from a date with Hayden Cole." She coos while digging around in her desk for something. "How was that?" I chuckle and roll my eyes.
"It was fun," I reply. "There just weren't exactly sparks flying if you know what I mean." Dr. Grace nods.
"Oh trust me, I do." We both laugh before Dr. Grace pulls out her flashlight and checks my eyes. Her face takes on a concerned look as she looks closer. "You're eyes are really dilated." She remarks. "Are you feeling alright." A lightbulb goes off in my head and I quickly answer her.
"Oh yeah, I think I blacked out in the car." I say gaining a shocked expression from her.
"You think?" She questions and I nod. She scruntches her eyebrows before turning to Nurse Jackson. "Dena, will you please check her blood pressure for me?" She asks before returning to my examination. She tests my eyes and my hearing before Nurse Jackson returns with the blood pressure sleeve thingy.
She wraps it around my arm and we all wait quietly until she is done. She looks at Dr. Grace, I can tell she's trying to act casual but the concern is obvious on her face. "Her blood pressure is pretty low." She states and Dr. Grace nods.
"So, what's wrong if I have low blood pressure?" I ask trying to figure out what the big deal is.
"Normally nothing but in your case it's a little more serious." Dr. Grace answers.
"Why's that?" I continue.
"You experienced a Grade 3 Brain Injury meaning that it was a very traumatic blow to your head. Now where the low blood pressure comes in, low blood pressure can often lead to the brain not receiving enough oxygenated blood cells, therefore causing you to faint like you did.." She explains.
"Well, I didn't have this problem before, why is it coming up now?" I say.
"There are multiple factors that could play into it including stress, dehydration, and malnutrition. Have you been eating alright since the last time we talked?" She asks me. I bit my lip and look away.
"I mean, I just haven't been that hungry. I've still been eating but just not a lot." I lie. Dr. Grace stares right at me and I feel my cheeks begin to redden, damn for once I just wish I could get away with something. I hear as Dr. Grace sighs before addressing me again.
"Bee, this isn't something we can take lightly here. You need to eat and to drink fluids. Again I understand that given your circumstances your lack of appetite is not out of the ordinary but especially right now you need to be taking care of yourself. I hope that your fainting was a wake up call to be more careful." She clicks her pen absently a few times before continuing. "Do you remember how you were feeling leading up to your loss of consciousness?" She asks.
"Um, I remember breathing really fast and all these dots coming over my vision." I answer.
"Did you feel a sense of anxiety or uneasiness leading up to the event?" She scribbles something down on her notepad
"Yeah." I hesitate. "I was a little scared, you know, being in a car again. We were late and I thought we would be speeding and all these images just flashed over me from that night. I-I panicked." Dr Grace nods before offering me a gentle smile.
"That explains it then. You were just putting your body under a lot of stress and most likely started hyperventilating therefore causing an even smaller amount of oxygen to flow to your brain. I want you to just take things easy for the rest of the day alright?' I nod and she continues with my check up.
Turns out my concussion hasn't really healed much and I got busted with being on my phone and that one drink I from Kara a few days back. Dr. Grace has decided to further cut back on my activities (which I didn't even know was possible) and she scheduled another appointment for the end of the week. After saying goodbye Nurse Jackson escorts me back to my room.
"I thought you said Emma and Dash wanted to meet up." I argue not wanting to go die alone in my own boredom for the rest of the day.
"I'll send them to come find you but you heard Dr. Grace. You need to rest up." I groan. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I see a familiar shade of pink. I turn to see Hayden standing outside of Hunter's room arguing with him. Nurse Jackson shakes her head. "Guess I better go deal with this." We both make our way over to where the two boys are shouting.
"What makes you think you are well enough to come home?" Hayden shouts at Hunter.
"Like I wanted to go back and have to see you everyday!" Hunter shoots right back.
"I go to a fucking private school! The only time we ever saw each other was in the evening and even then I was sure to lock myself in my room away from your sorry ass." Hayden snarls.
"Well then I bet my entire time in this hospital has been like paradise for you." Hunter replies sarcastically.
"It really has." Hayden snaps.
"Boys what is going on here?" Nurse Jackson steps up separating the two. They both quiet immediately and lower their gazes in sync, it's a twin thing I wouldn't expect you to understand. Nurse J eyes them suspiciously before continuing. "I don't understand what all this screaming and hollering is about. Hayden your brother is going home today, you should be happy and supportive of him!"
"How is it that I should be happy that he gets to come home and drive the crap out of mom and dad complaining all the time. Tell me, how is it easy to be supportive of someone who causes so much trouble it makes our family miserable? How am I supposed to put on a smile when he gets anything he wants at everyone else's expense. We have to walk on eggshells with him at home because no one wants to put him in a bad mood! Heaven forbid the world not revolve around Hunter for one fucking minute! Him being here has been the best thing that's ever happened for our family. The whole reason mom and dad want him back is because they are afraid of him dying here, they'd rather him die in our house so he can haunt or family with his god-awful behavior for the rest of his damn life!" His voice raises at Nurse Jackson. I'm so taken aback by his intensity I'm shocked into silence. Nurse Jackson is temporarily stunned but her badass personality snaps her back into reality.
"Hunter is not going to die Hayden. Have a little faith." She remarks scornfully. Hayden rolls his eyes and shoves his way past her out of the room.
"Whatever, you wouldn't understand anyway." He mumbles sliding past me also and storming off down the hallway.
"Hayden wait!" I shout taking off after him.
"Phoebe what are you doing?" Nurse Jackson hisses grabbing my arm. I plead with her with my eyes.
"Please, trust me. I need to do this." Her grip loosens just slightly but that's all I need. I slip out of her grasp and race after Hayden.
I want to thank you all for all of your reviews, I cannot believe it we are only one away from 50 which means I will also be posting Bee's journal very soon. I already have most of this typed up but still this is your LAST CHANCE to send in any questions you guys would like Bee to answer in her journal. Again these could be anything from what her favorite movie is to where she would like to be in a couple years, or even who her celebrity crush is! I want to hear what you guys have to say! Once again so sorry for the delayed post but I promise I will make it up to you guys.
Special shout outs to xoElle23 , Guest , Allie Shimoni , To lazy to login , .7 and Guest for your reviews! Love you guys.
And finally today's QOTC is: What do you guys think about Dash and Mae's relationship on the show? I personally was so upset that they introduced their relationship at the very end of the show when its such a cliffhanger! Ugh well anyway thanks again for all of the love you guys give me, I'll see you all soon.
Lots of Love - Britt