"I was never insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched."

~ Edgar Allan Poe

A medicinal odor lurked the endless hallways. It was a battlefield--where souls came to ward off the angel of death. Bloody, messy, and scarring.

The tone-deaf receptionist had her nose deep into her mobile phone as I approached the counter.

"Greta Singer." I tapped the front desk impatiently but she didn't budge. "Fuck this," I muttered when she continued to ignore me.

I began rummaging through my bags for my phone. When I couldn't find it, I realized that I must have forgotten it in Tobias' car. I sighed, glancing at the wall clock which read quarter to one. I huffed frustratedly, dragging my feet down the corridor. He was probably already on the highway by now.

"Ariel, is that you?"

My eyes connected with Dad's who immediately engulfed me into an unexpected hug.

"Dad." I breathed.

"Nana just got out of surgery, she's okay."

"Thank God." I heaved a sigh.

He brought me up to speed on her condition as we strolled towards the room. Down the hall, I spotted a stretcher being rolled into room 302 by two nurses. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of the body which lay limp and frail.

Nana.

Though the room was as whitewashed and mundane as any other, in that hospital bed lay a soul that had been etched into my memory for as long as I could remember. A woman who was more of a mother to me than my own.

While Nana was dressed in hospital attire and bandages, her audience carried distraught visages. Swollen eyes, pale faces, and rubbing each other's backs. For once, it seemed like Mom and Stacy cared less about their hair and make-up and more about the people around them. Jonah, Stacy, and Aunt Cherry acknowledged my arrival with nods while Mom just stared at the ground blankly.

"Hey, Grandpa." I leaned down to meet him as he was seated closest to me.

He looked exhausted but managed to crack a smile through his white mustache. "Ah, Ariel. You look good, kiddo," he said.

"You too, Gramps." I lied, planting a kiss on his hairless head.

"She'll be okay," Dad reassured everyone, his eyes glued to Nana's unconscious body.

"I don' doubt it for a second," said Grandpa with a chuckle. "The woman has more lives than a cat. She ain't leavin' me that easy."

His humor definitely lightened the atmosphere, but not enough. After a while, a few doctors strutted in to elaborate on Nana's condition. Meanwhile, the adults directed Stacy, Jonah, and me to wait in the corridor.

"I'm surprised you reached this quickly on the train," Jonah noted, giving me a suspicious look.

My throat instantly tightened, "I, um, actually...I came with a friend."

Right, "a friend".

"Which friend?" Jonah pestered.

"Just someone," I replied awkwardly, trying not to seem so odd.

Great job so far, idiot.

"Where were you all morning, Ariel?" Stacy raised a brow, her face serious.

"With Dan and Emily." A white lie rolled off my tongue like silk. Jonah narrowed his eyes at me, clearly not buying it.

Aunt Cherry saved me before Jonah and Stacy could psychoanalyze me further. Her dangly earrings bouncing as she jogged towards us, arms flailing and eyes wide.

"She's conscious! Come on, hurry, she's awake." With frantic gesticulations, she ushered us back to the room.

If I had to describe Aunt Cherry she would definitely be a cross between Pheobe Buffet and Polly Gray. She kind of lost her head when her husband divorced her and claimed custody of their seven-year-old son, Simon. She moved back in with Grandpa and Nana after that.

"Nana." I enclosed my fingers over her cold and delicate hand within seconds of entering the room.

She murmured incoherently with half-open eyes and ragged breaths. I retreated so the others could meet her too. Her long white locks sat in a messy braid, her head wrapped in a thick white bandage that covered her entire forehead and one eye.

I always believed that hospitals were like dementors; soul-sucking and haunted. Nana's usual buoyant nature had been reduced to a machine, powered by a maze of needles and tubes. She wasn't fully conscious and it was difficult seeing her in such a delirious state.

"I think we should let her rest," I whispered, to which Mom and Grandpa nodded.

Ultimately, we reached the conclusion that the adults deserved to rest too so they left. On the other hand, Stacy, Jonah, and I stayed back at the hospital with Nana, who was still drifting in and out of consciousness.

I slumped onto the couch next to Jonah, turning to face him, "So what even happened? How did she fall?" I asked.

"She woke up around 6 a.m. and went to get water from the kitchen. Apparently on her way back she lost her balance and hit her forehead. I mean, right above her eye, on her eyebrow." He touched his own eyebrow to explain.

"The edge of the table caught her when she fell," Jonah explained slowly. "Wait, let me show you." He unlocked his phone and tilted it towards me.

"Jonah, can you stop it!" Stacy scolded him while getting up to go to the restroom.

He rolled his eyes, "Ariel isn't squirmy when it comes to blood like you and Mom." He pointed to the screen and said, "Look."

My eyes scanned the picture which revealed the floor of Nana's living room. Blood everywhere, dark red dots and smears. I felt my heart thudding, trying to hold back my hot tears. I wasn't squeamish, it simply the thought of losing her.

"Took Aunt Cherry and Grandpa a good twenty minutes just to get her off the floor," Jonah added.

"Fuck," I hissed under my breath.

My eyes darted back and forth between Nana and the picture.
For a split second, I found myself questioning where God was during all of this. Shaking my head, I buried the absurd thought.

"Tell me about it," he replied, pulling his phone away. "So, where did you go in the middle of the night?"

"What's your freakin problem? Can you drop it already?" It came out harsher than I had intended but I didn't care.

Unbothered by my annoyance, he continued, "I know who you went with and it wasn't Dan or Em. I saw his car--"

At that very moment, Stacy waltzed back into the room. I immediately stiffened, rising to my feet.

"Want anything, Stace? I'm going to find a vending machine," I cut Jonah off.

"I'm good," replied Stacy.

"Pringles, thanks for asking," Jonah added with sass before I darted out the room.

As I maneuvered through corridors in search of a vending machine, I accidentally collided with someone. Typical me. My wallet which was previously in my hands found itself on the hospital floor.

I bent down to pick it up when I heard a voice, "Watch where you're going." I was faced with an arrogant-looking teenager who was staring down at me like I was an inferior species.

"My bad, asshole," I muttered with a scowl.

Suddenly, I heard a growl from behind me, "You watch where you're fucking going."

I recognized that voice far too well to know that it was Tobias. He stepped around me to shove the kid backward. I immediately got to my feet and placed a hand on his chest to tame his anger.

"It's not worth it. I wasn't looking," I reasoned.

Regardless, Tobias' death glare had already altered the kid's demeanor completely. He staggered in his step, before choking out, "I'm sorry," and scurrying away.

"You didn't have to do that." I frowned at Tobias. He shrugged as I continued towards him, peering through my lashes.

"Stop fighting my battles for me," I told him, trying to maintain a straight face and suppress thoughts of how insanely attractive he looked.

Within seconds he grabbed both my shoulders, exchanging positions with me to pin me against the wall. He positioned one arm over my head and the other next to my shoulder, caging me in. My heartbeat began skyrocketing as he inched his face closer to mine. He stared deep into my soul, his eyes flickering to my lips for a millisecond before he slithered his right arm around my waist, causing butterflies to erupt in my belly.

Breathe.

He pressed my body against his and lowered his head, his lips fanning the hair on my neck as he slowly travelled towards my ear. I unconsciously fluttered my eyes close as my lips parted, not knowing what would happen next. My breathing became erratic as goosebumps formed all over me.

He slowly whispered in a low voice, his lips tickling my ear as he spoke, "I can't help it."

A faint whimper escaped my mouth as his lips lingered near my ear until, all of a sudden, someone cleared their throat interrupting our moment. The warmth radiating off of his body disappeared as he created some distance between us. I straightened myself and felt my nerves calm down.

"There you are..." Jonah awkwardly commented.

"Uh, um, I was looking for a vending..." I explained with flushed cheeks, stepping away from the wall. I kept my eyes on the floor, avoiding Tobias' burning gaze.

"Uh-huh." Jonah smirked before saying, "I'm glad that you two are getting along."

Hearing his words, I started choking on my own saliva, coughing and wheezing uncontrollably.

Breathe, woman.

"Good to see you, bro." Jonah greeted Tobias, a boyish grin on his face.

In response, Tobias graced him with a friendly nod, "You too, man."

Weird.

"I'm okay, thanks for asking," I managed to croak with an eye roll. "I'll be right there." I urged Jonah to leave.

"Bring Stacy a coke," he informed me with a wide smile before walking away.

I turned to Tobias, "What are you still doing here?" I could feel his eyes burning every inch of me, making me weak in the knees. Until I realized, "Oh God, your money!" I dug through my wallet, handing him what I owed, "Here." 

"That's not why I'm here." He scowled. "You forgot your phone."

"Oh, right." I pouted. "Did you come all this way--"

He closed the gap between us to tuck my phone and the money inside the back pocket of my sweatpants.

He leaned in to whisper, "You can pay next time."

And just like that, he was gone, leaving me with shudders and goosebumps.

There's going to be a 'next time'?

After buying snacks from the vending machine, I turned a corner into the corridor. Jonah was unsurprisingly stationed outside Nana's room, leaning against the wall with a smug expression.

"What was all of that?" He raised a brow.

"Nothing. He was returning my phone, I left it in his car." I shrugged.

"Wait, so does that mean he drove you here?"

Shit.

"Yeah, so?"

"So? What do you mean, so? First, you sneak off with him in the middle of the night, and then this? Didn't you hate his guts? You were practically gonna castrate him at Andy's party."

I mean, when you say it like that...

"I overreacted and apologized, okay? We're past it. Now, stop being so nosey." I groaned, reaching for the door.

Jonah swiftly blocked my path, not letting me enter. "Oh, I saw exactly how past it the two of you were." Jonah let out a low whistle, forcing my cheeks to redden. "So what? You dating him now?"

"What? No! Are you crazy?" I reacted loudly, gaining unwanted stares from bystanders. Composing myself, I whisper-shouted, "Now if your interrogation is over, can we go back inside?" 

"Not really--" I glared at his reply. "Alright, jeez, fine." He held his hands up in surrender, letting me pass through.

Damn you, Jonah Parker.

————

Sometimes it's more than just pancakes and long drives.

Please don't forget to vote, comment, and share if you enjoyed this chapter.

Love, Ari