Lance and JC hurried to the receptionist to ask for Julia’s room number but Rey lagged behind and followed them slowly. “Come on Rey, hurry up,” JC urged her as he held the elevator for her. She rolled her eyes dramatically, “I’m sorry I’m moving a little slowly, it’s five a.m. and I am a little tired,” she said in an annoyed voice. JC stepped into the elevator behind her, “You didn’t have to come, you know, you could’ve stayed in New York or flown back home to California,” he replied. “Well I’m sorry if I wanted to spend time with you,” Rey said raising her voice.
Lance quickly stepped between the two of them, “Okay this is stressful enough without you two biting each other’s heads off. Can you please just cool it?” he asked, almost yelling at them. “Yeah, sorry Lance,” JC said backing up and running a hand through his messy hair. “Yeah whatever,” Rey replied rolling her eyes again.
They finally arrived on the seventh floor where Julia’s room was. Lance ran out of the elevator to the waiting room where his parents were. They jumped up and hugged him, “How is she?!” Lance asked quickly. “She’s going to be okay,” his dad replied tiredly, “She had a concussion and she broke her right arm, but other than that she just has alot of bumps and bruises. But she’s going to be fine.” They all sighed a sigh of relief, “Can we see her?” JC asked quietly and Rey shot him a dirty look.
Lance’s mom shook her head, “No, visiting hours are over so you can’t see her now. Why don’t you guys go back to Lance’s and get some rest? They’re going to be doing tests on her all morning so you can come back tomorrow afternoon,” she suggested. “Yeah I could really use some sleep and I feel alot better now knowing she’s going to be okay,” Lance agreed. “Yeah we’ll come back tomorrow,” JC agreed.
“Aren’t you guys gonna go home and get some sleep too?” Lance asked. “Yes we are, we were just waiting for you to get here,” Lance’s mom replied getting her things together. They all walked to the elevators together, “Thanks for coming Lance, I know it will mean alot to Julia,” Lance’s mom said putting an arm around him. He shrugged, “I had to come Mom, you know that.” “What’s he doing here?” she whispered, looking at JC walking ahead of them. Lance sighed tiredly and shook his head, “I have no idea,” he replied.
*********************
Julia woke up early the next morning and looked at her surroundings in confusion. She rubbed her head which was pounding in pain and finally realized she was in the hospital, even though she had no idea why. A few minutes later a perky nurse came into the room and turned on the lights and opened the curtain to reveal a cloudy sky. “Good morning Julia, how are you feeling?” she asked.
“My head hurts,” Julia answered quietly. “Here’s some Tylenol, that should help,” the nurse replied handing her a couple of pills and a glass of water. “Thanks,” Julia said swallowing them down. “Your breakfast should be here in a few minutes and then they’re going to take you to get some tests done.” “Okay,” Julia replied, still not sure what she was doing in the hospital.
**************
“Are you ready to go yet?” JC asked knocking on the bathroom door. “Just give me a few more minutes,” Rey replied. “I gave you a few more minutes an hour ago,” JC said rolling his eyes and walking away. “Why don’t we just leave her here? I doubt she really cares how Julia’s doing,” Lance asked quietly, coming out of his bedroom and meeting JC in the hall. “I wish we could just leave her here. I still can’t figure out why she wanted to come. She must be up to something because I know there’s no way she’s really concerned for Julia,” JC replied.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Rey said finally emerging from the bathroom. She had on tight jeans and a low-cut top with her hair and makeup all done perfectly. JC and Lance both had to fight the urge to roll their eyes at her appearance, “Geez Rey we’re going to the hospital to visit my sister, not to the Miss America pageant,” Lance said heading downstairs and Rey shot him a dirty look in reply.
“Come on, let’s get this over with,” Rey said in a snotty tone, grabbing JC’s hand as they walked downstairs. JC stopped in his tracks, “Rey if you’re going to be rude about this I’m not taking you with me,” he said sternly. “Fine, I’ll be nice,” Rey said in a huff, pulling on JC’s arm.
************************
By the time they got to the hospital it was around one in the afternoon and Julia had been done with her tests for awhile. Lance, JC, and Rey greeted Lance’s parents and grandparents in the waiting room. “How is she?” Lance asked quickly. “She’s going to be fine, all the tests came back okay. She’s still in some pain but she should be able to go home in a day or two,” Lance’s mom answered.
"That's good," Lance said with a sigh of relief. "We were just about to go in and visit her if you wanted to come with us," Lance's grandparents offered. "You guys go ahead, we'll wait here," JC replied, sitting down.
An awkward silence filled the waiting room with only JC, Rey, and Lance’s parents in there but they all tried to ignore it. Rey kept sighing loudly as she read a magazine, Lance’s mom was busy sewing something, and JC and Lance’s dad both tried to focus on the boring news station on the television.
A little while later Lance and his grandparents came back to the waiting room. “You can go in and see her now if you want,” Lance offered, sitting down and grabbing a magazine. JC looked to Rey but she showed no interest in going in to see Julia so he stood up slowly. He started to walk out of the room when Lance stopped him, “Oh yeah, she’s really tired and worn out from all those tests, so she might be asleep when you get in there.” JC nodded, “Okay,” he whispered before walking to Julia’s room slowly.
When he got to her room he stood outside the door for a minute. He hadn’t seen her for almost three months, not since the Christmas party that seemed like so long ago. He thought of that night and when he watched her sing to Jonathan and a smile crept onto his face slowly. Once he snapped out of his daze he shook his head as he opened the door, “I guess it’s now or never,” he whispered.
*Chapter 36*
*Previous*
*Back to Main Page*