Mature

My feet sprinted me through the hospital doors, where I was met with multiple nurses, patients and doctors. Their eyes fell on me, as if studying my demeanor. I had no time to waste as I rushed into the waiting room, finding Brian, Matt and Angela in a few empty seats. The waiting room was silent, as if it were dooming us.

I ran toward the group, watching as their eyes traveled up and onto me. Matt quickly rose from his seat, where I fell into his open arms. I pulled him into a tight hug and began to cry, knowing very well that Jimmy could be in serious trouble this time. Matt brushed my hair back softly and watched as Amy and my mom came into the room.

“Hillari,”He said softly.

“Matt, what happened?!”I wailed into his chest and stained his shirt with my tears.

Amy had quickly gotten on the phone with Devin, who could be heard slightly from the other end. Matt wrapped his large arms over my shoulders and sighed quietly. He was apprehensive on telling me what happened, so I knew it wouldn’t be good. I pulled away from him and looked up, finding that his eyes were red and swollen from crying.

I wiped at my eyes and whispered, “What happened, Matt?”

“Why don’t you sit down, Hillari?”Brian asked sweetly.

“Just tell me what happened, please!”I cried.

“Devin is on his way.”I could hear Amy talking to my mom.

Angela gently took hold of my hand and sat me down in her seat. She brushed the few strands of hair from my eyes and whispered, “It’s not good, sweetheart. All we know is what the medics told us before shipping him off.”

I swallowed hard and placed a hand over my mouth. Through my fingers, I asked, “And what did they say?”

“Well,”Angela knelt in front of me and took my hands in hers.”we went to his house to see if he wanted to go out for a while. We couldn’t find him. Matt went to his bedroom and he was asleep in bed. He went to wake him, but he wouldn’t wake up, Hillari.”

“H - He’s de -”I felt my chest tighten up, but Angela quickly shook her head.

“No, no, no, Hillari!”She quickly said.”Jimmy isn’t dead. He was breathing. He was just in a very deep sleep, sweetheart.”

I looked up at my mom, who’s eyes had welled significantly in tears. Angela pulled me into her chest to comfort me, but I angrily pushed her away. I stood quickly, but Brian placed his hands on my shoulders.

“How long has he been here?”I whispered.

“Hillari, sit down before,”Brian began softly.

“No!”I shoved him away from me and tried to catch my breath.”How long has he been here? They have to know something!”

“Hillari.”Matt’s deep and threatening tone forced me to turn toward him.”Calm down. Don’t panic, remember?”

I nodded my head in agreement. I had gotten worked up the last time Jimmy went into the hospital and got myself nowhere. I sat down on one of the seats and took in a few, deep breaths. Jimmy was in good hands now, whether he was awake or not. We were in a hospital, where they had multiple medications.

The doors to the emergency room opened and revealed a man clad in all white with a pair of thick rimmed glasses. He looked down at his clip board before making his way toward us. I stood from my seat, knowing very well this was Jimmy’s cardiologist. He could recognize our fearful faces already.

“Sullivan family?”He asked.

“Right here.”I breathed.

“I’ve managed to get very few responses in Jimmy.”His features quickly fell, as if he were truly upset.”I flushed his system with a detox drug, which will take everything out of his body. The Methadone I prescribed to him slowly built up over time. The more he took, the more it built in his system. It didn’t flush out as quick as we thought.”

“So?”I was beginning to get confused, but most of all, worried.

“It’s a downer, miss. It makes him sleep. It built up so much that it put him to sleep and kept him asleep. Jimmy’s heart couldn’t handle the downers and it forced his heart to stop twice.”I cupped a hand over my mouth and began to cry.”I’m so sorry. There‘s no other way I can say this, but Jimmy has fallen into a coma.”

“No, no, no.”I whimpered quietly.

“I can’t say much about coma patients. They’re too unpredictable. I’m willing to let you all see him, because,”He stopped for a moment and I watched his features drop even more.”because we don‘t know for sure what can happen.”

I clutched a hand to my chest as I felt it tighten in response to his comment. I choked lightly on my breath and watched as Dr. Ryvne’s eyes looked in my direction. Brian placed a warm hand on my shoulder and asked, “Hillari, are you okay?”

“Oh my god, Hillari?!”Angela’s voice seemed to echo in my head.

I felt like someone was choking me from the inside out. My eyes welled up in tears as Dr. Ryven placed his hands on my shoulders. He called out to the nurses, but all the voices began to twirl into one big, jumbled mess. My knees began to buckle and before I could answer their scared calls, I collapsed.