She fidgeted with the edge of her sleeve, reminding me of a small child who was about to get a telling off. I chuckled. She was obviously several years older than me, and smart enough to be a nurse. Even in such horrible circumstances, there was humour in the proof that, no matter what age a person is, they can be brought to their knees by someone they admire.
“Natalie. If someone has to take care of my best friend, I couldn’t have asked for anyone better than a fan. I know you’ll make sure he gets everything he needs.” I gave her hand a quick squeeze. “If you could please find someone who can tell us what’s going on, we’d appreciate it.”
Natalie nodded. “I’ll do that right now.” She smiled again, a little more brightly. “Thank you, Ellie.”
My eyes widened in surprise. How does she...? Oh right. A fan. It would be a long time before I got used to strangers knowing my name.
“I’d better get back to Drew,” I said. “Thanks for your help.”
Slightly less nauseous and wobbly, I headed through the doors, to Drew and Michael. Michael still sat in the chair where I left him, but Drew was furiously pacing, and on seeing me he charged, gripping the tops of my arms. Not hard enough to hurt me, but with desperation for a diagnosis.
“What did she say?”
“Nothing yet. She’s going to find someone who can talk to us.”
Drew threw out a string of curse words, turning away from me, but I pulled him back.
“Hey!” I placed my hands on his shoulders. “Stop shouting or you’ll get thrown out.”
“Ellie-”
“Drew.” I linked my fingers behind his neck, giving him no choice but to look at me. I didn’t need to speak, I needed him to focus on me, and I waited for him to stop throwing out venomous vibes. “Let the doctors do their job. If nobody’s been out in another ten minutes, we’ll go back and find someone to ask. Right now, the doctors need to be with Jason.”
Eventually he nodded. “Okay. Okay. I’ll go get us some coffee, can you stay with Dad?”
“Of course.”
He pressed his lips against my forehead before walking away.
Once Drew was out of sight, I sighed, and sat down beside Michael. Trying to keep my own emotions in check was draining me of the little energy I had, without the added stress of stopping Drew from having a meltdown too. My long, unbrushed hair fell around me like a curtain, blocking out the world.
“You’re really good for him, you know? Nobody else can keep his temper under control the way you can,” Michael said. “Nobody ever could. You’ve always been special to him, Ellie. I’m afraid he’s like his old man, though. Takes him a long time to say how he feels. I’m glad he got around to it.” He patted my hand.
The sickness in my stomach returned. Painful, torturing. Instead of making a dash for the door like I wanted to, I turned my hand over in his and linked our fingers together.
“Thank you. That means a lot.”
I only hope he feels the same way when I tell him I kept Jason’s secret.
I took in a sharp intake of breath. I hadn’t realised I had any intention of telling anyone I saw Jason with cocaine. I wanted to sweep it out of my mind. The guilt was already eating away at me though.
When Drew returned with the coffees, he sat beside me looking a little less ready to kill someone. He rested his hand on my leg, and again, silence fell.
Barely a few minutes passed before the double doors opened, and a dishevelled doctor, roughly in his mid-fifties, gave us a warm smile as he approached. We all got to our feet, the tension building with every step he took.
“Hello, I’m Doctor Vaughan,” he said, in a tone that wasn’t as comforting as the smile he flashed us. I stepped closer to Drew, resting my head on his shoulder and bracing myself for what was about to come.
“I’m Michael, Jason’s dad. How is he?”
Doctor Vaughan’s lips pulled into a straight line before he spoke. “Lucky. He’s lucky. Jason’s cocaine use triggered ventricular tachycardia, which in turn, led to ventricular fibrillation just as we got him into intensive care.”
He may as well have been talking a foreign language.
“I’m sorry,” Michael said. “What does that mean?”
“Ventricular tachycardia is a speeding up of the heart rate, and ventricular fibrillation occurs when the heart beats become irregular, and stop the heart functioning correctly. There’s only a short time to stop ventricular fibrillation from being fatal.”
Again, my body sagged against Drew’s at the doctor’s words.