Guacamole

“Sam, you should go home and get some rest.”

It was about midnight at the hospital. Ashley’s parents had arrived shortly after Sam had heard the news and they sat in silence for a while. Eventually one of the nurses brought in a CD player. The classical music eased the tension in the room and quiet conversations began.

Ashley’s siblings, Michelle and Ben, arrived at the hospital with their parents but had been driven to their grandparents’ house about an hour ago. The only people left in the room were Sam and Mrs. Abbott.

“I… I can’t…”

“Sam, I promise to call you if anything happens.” Mrs. Abbott’s eyes were red and swollen from crying, but she tried to look happy as she was speaking to Sam.

“No… I think I’ll… I’ll stay here,” Sam replied firmly. Mrs. Abbott sighed heavily but didn’t say anything else.

It was silent for a few minutes, the classical CD having played its last track. Mrs. Abbott switched on the TV for background noise.

Sam sat in his chair thinking deeply and observed the comatose body of Ashley in front of him. The IV connected to her arm was still dripping fluids, her chest was slowly but barely rising and falling, and a little monitor next to the bed was still beeping with her heartbeat – all good signs.

A sudden gasp from Mrs. Abbott made him jump. “What’s wrong?!” Sam said frantically glancing around the room.

Mrs. Abbott turned the volume up on the TV just in time to hear the announcer.

“…and this just in from Hollywood: The newest Jonas Brothers’ crush goes missing! This story and more after the break.”

Sam jumped up from his seat and began pacing the room. I know Jenny said something about a date… Was it with a Jonas brother? He contemplated these ideas all through the commercial break, still pacing the small hospital room. After what seemed like an hour, the news show finally came back and continued the story. Sam sat back down and leaned in toward the TV.

“…and an intern for the label company Hollywood Records was pronounced missing today after last being seen with Nick Jonas. The young couple had been taking a walk this afternoon when they were suddenly surrounded by paparazzi. When the street cleared, Mr. Jonas’ date, Jennifer Okicki, was nowhere to be found.”

The TV then played a video of Los Angeles from that afternoon. The picture showed a mob of people all crowding around two heads that bobbed in and out of view.

As Sam studied the screen, he identified his short, curly haired little sister as the girl Nick Jonas was with. His eyes stayed glued to her head as the camera swayed and her head got lost in the crowd.

The reporter’s face filled the screen again, “No suspects have been identified yet, but the search continues.”

Suddenly, Sam stood and began pacing again. His hands pressed against his face as he searched for an answer.

What did I do?! My almost girlfriend gets hit by a car and my little sister is kidnapped all in one day? I wonder if Maggie knows… I wonder if she’s okay…

Just as suddenly as he had stood up, Sam whipped out his cell phone and began searching through the numbers to find the one for Maggie’s cell phone. She had given it to him in case of extreme emergency since they weren’t supposed to have phones at camp. This was definitely an emergency.