“Yeah, Josh, I’ll be there in an hour . . . yeah, I love you, too. Bye.” Hanging up my cell phone, I got into the limo. It took us a few hours, but Claire, Brian, and I had finally arrived at the Philadelphia airport. When on the phone with Chris, I had made him promise that no one would be there except for him (since my father was like the one he never had). I couldn’t handle facing them all again and seeing my father in a hospital bed again all at once. It would just be too overwhelming.
“Abington Hospital,” I told the driver. He nodded and drove off. I watched the planes take off in the disance as we drove away. I felt someone put their hand ontop of mine and turned to see Brian smiling comfortingly at me.
"Do you want me to come with you to the hospital or do you want to frop me off at a hotel first?" he asked, squeezing my hand slightly. I shook my head.
"I want you and Claire to come with," I said. "I want you to meet my dad." Brian smiled and I turned back to the window. Sighing, I closed my eyes, willing the limo to go as fast as possible.
"Can't I go meet her there or something?" JC whined, sitting on the dresser to his bed room. I shook my head and sighed.
"We promised her that no one would be there," I said. "She needs time with her father and brother."
"But she's not just with her father and brother," JC argued. "Brian and that other girl are with her." I put a hand on my friend shoulder.
"Listen, we have to respect her wishes." He glared at me, probably willing to hit the next eprson who said that to him. "I know you're worried about her. She'll come to you when this is all over, okay? I know she will."
"How do you know?" I shrugged and leaned back against the dresser.
"Because I'm psychic," I said. "Trust me."
"Yeah right," JC said, rolling his eyes. I threw a pillow at him, making him sprawl on the bed with laughter.
"C'mon, let's go bowling or something. It's getting boring just sitting around here." JC shook his head.
"What if Alex calls when we're out?" I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"Take your cell phone," I suggested. He shrugged.
"I dunno . . ." I looked over at the door to the bedroom.
"Elis!" I called. A few seconds later, Elis and Roxie waltzed in, carrying themselves like they were bodyguards. Grabbing JC's arms they yanked him up and dragged him out of the room. I just laughed and followed behind them.
Stopping, I looked at my watch. Alex should have been here by now. Sighing frusteratedly, I began pacing the waiting room again.
"You look like a caged tiger." I looked up and saw Alex walking down the hallway, followed closely behind by Brian and Claire. Smiling sympathetically, I ran over and scooped her up in a hug.
"It's so good to see you," I said, putting her down and kissing her cheek. She smield softly at me.
"I missed you, too," she said, her voice thick with emotion. She looked around. "Where's Josh?"
"In the room with your dad," I said. 'He asked me to come out here and wait for you." I looked at the others. "Hey Brian, hey Claire. Long time, no see!" Claire giggled slightly and I gave her a quick hug. I looked at all three of them. "C'mon, I'll take you to him." Nodding, Alex took my hand as we walked down the hall. I squeezed it supportingly when we reached the hospital room. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door. Josh looked up from his position next to his dad and smiled at me. When he saw Alex, he jumped up and wrapped her in a comforting hug.
"Hey, sis," Josh said, kissing my cheek.
"Hey," I said, quietly. "How's dad doing?"
"I'm write here, Bozo. Come and ask me yourself." I smiled and looked down at my dad, who's eyes were open and alert, but tired.
"Don't Bozo me," I said, playfully, sitting down next to him and kissing his cheek. "You're the one who wore the clown costume at my birthday party." My dad laughed, causing him to go into a coughing fit. When his coughing died down, he smiled at me, then looked over my shoulder at the others.
"Claire!" he said, smiling at her. "It's so good to see you again."
"You, too, Mr. Emerichian," Claire said, moving over to my side. My dad chuckled.
"How many times have I asked you to call me Dave?" he said, scoldingly. Claire smiled and sat down next to me. My dad looked over my shoulder again at Brian. "I'm sorry. I recognize you, but I'm not sure I remember your name."
"We've never met before, but you might have seen me on tv or something," Brian said. "My name's Brian." He held out his hand to my dad, who reached up weakly and shook it. Then, my dad smiled at me
"Aah, now I remember you," he said to Brian, though he was still looking at me. "You're the face that was plastered all over Alex's walls when she was little." Brian smiled.
"Rats." I smiled. An awkward silence overcame the room. "So, Alex, where have you been?" I looked frantically at Chris for help.
"We gave her a few vacation days off," he said, coming up behind me and putting his hand son my shoulders. "She wasn't feeling well so she went to visit Claire in Texas."
"That was more than a few days," my father commented. I sighed.
"How are you doing dad?" Josh asked, changing the subject. "What did the doctors say when they kicked me out earlier?"