Words: forbid + kiss + detail + juice + shelf + hearing + signal + high-pitched + sneeze + handsomely
Aiden watched his sleeping girlfriend worriedly as he took in the details of the room. Sleeping, wasn’t really the right term since no one could seem to wake her up. She was one of a handful who were in the same condition, but the fact that she wasn’t alone didn’t do much to comfort him, so it seemed to him like an insignificant detail.
Knowing it was futile, he held the back of the hand he was holding. “Come one, Cerise, wake up,” he murmured with his lips still against skin. This wasn’t a fairy tale and she wasn’t just going to wake up with a kiss from her boyfriend. That didn’t mean he wasn’t determined to sit right here until she woke up.
Normally, Charlotte wouldn’t have been in the ICU since she was a pediatrician but with the extra caseload and the fact that no one had any idea what was wrong with them, she’d agreed to help out. She was passing by when she heard the young man talking to his girlfriend and she stopped for a moment. He wasn’t anyone that she knew but she recognized that look, she’d seen it many times before.
“Hey,” she said to him with a soft smile. “You holding up okay? Can I get you something? Some juice, a pillow, anything at all?” Sometimes the loved ones of the patients needed to be taken care of too, it was something Charlotte had always tried to remember with the parents of sick kids.
Hearing the sound of the doctor’s voice, Aiden was pulled from his thoughts and he looked up to shake his head. “No, I’m okay, thank you,” he managed to say. The only thing he wanted right now was some answers to why Cerise wasn’t waking up. He wanted them to fix it.
“You still don’t know what’s wrong with her, do you?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry, we don’t. Her vitals are stable, so are all the others, they don’t seem to be getting worse but they’re not waking up either.” Walking over she rested a hand on Cerise’s forehead. It was cool, there was no sign of a fever but there hadn’t been at any point since the group had arrived at the hospital. “There has to be a common thread,” she said almost to herself.. “But what is it?” Just then one of the monitor emitted a high-pitched signal and Charlotte looked up. “Oops, I bumped against a cable. Nothing to worry about,” she smiled at Aiden, not wanting him to worry.
Aiden was worried, though. His girlfriend was in a coma, there was nothing but worry to be had in this situation. He just kind of gave the doctor a look when she said there was nothing to worry about. No matter how handsomely anyone dressed up this situation, it was bad.
Charlotte saw his look and realized that her words had probably come off wrong. “I just meant that the alarm didn’t mean anything was wrong, I bumped a cord.” It was hard in situations like this to know what to say. She was about to say something else when she felt a sneeze coming on and grabbing a tissue off the shelf by the sink, she turned her head and sneezed after which she discarded the tissue and carefully washed her hands. “Sorry about that,” she said and turned back to look at him. “I truly wish I had more to tell you. I’ve been in this situation with my husband after he was in a riding accident. It’s hard. Are you sure there’s nothing I get you?”
John nodded. “I’m sure,” he said as he focused on the unconscious form of Cerise Fenn again. The things he wanted didn’t seem to be anything she could get him. A real explanation. A way to wake her up. If he was overly grumpy, it was because the most important person in the world to him - save his little sister - was lying unconscious and there was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t like feeling this helpless.
“Why don’t you go home for a little while,” she said. “I’m sure we have your number and if she wakes up or anything changes, we’ll call you. I’ll be right here, I promise I’ll let you know right away.”
Aiden shook his head. He didn’t want to go home. The absence of Cerise would only remind him of where she was and what was going on. He had to believe she would wake up eventually and he wanted to be right here when she did.
Charlotte sighed. She couldn’t forbid him to stay even if she wanted to because she knew that if was someone she loved, she’d be the same way. “Okay but if you need anything, promise you’ll let me know? I really hope that they all wake up soon.” It was very strange and she had no idea what could have caused this but hopefully things would turn around quickly.
Aiden nodded, offering her a grateful smile. For a minute he thought she might actually kick him out.