Nothing Personal

The day had been going fine; when Zooey had woken up that morning she had thought it was going to be a normal day at school. Dorian had been feeling better that day and so their mom had sent him back to school even though she hadn’t thought that it was a good idea. But he went anyway and Colter was able to go back to college after taking two days off to take care of Do.

But then, English class came. She had been in the middle of class when the school nurse came to the door. She hadn’t thought about it at first but then her name was called as she shared a uneasy look with Penny as she packed her things up and followed the nurse out into the hall.

“Zooey, I’m afraid I have some bad news,” the nurse, Janice, had said after the classroom door was closed. Zooey hadn’t said anything finally Janice figured she continued. “I just got a call from your brother, Dorian’s, school and they said that he was taken to the hospital.”

By then Zooey’s heart nearly stopped. She knew it. She knew that Do shouldn’t have gone to school that day. And now she was proven right. She must not have been able to say anything, but she couldn’t really remember anything. It was all a blur. But she did remember that after the nurse had said that, she had continued to say that Do had started coughing and throwing up blood and then passed out in the middle of class.

Now she was driving as fast as she could to the local hospital to find out what was going on with Do while Alex tried to keep her calm. There was too much going on in her mind right then that she could barely hear what Alex was saying. Only when she nearly ran a red light did she snap out of her haze enough to slam on the breaks and pray to God that she didn’t get into an accident. That was all she needed. Ending up in the hospital along with her little brother.

*Zooey, you need to calm down,* Alex was saying as she tried to catch her breath. She had managed to not hit anything when her car finally stopped at the light, but her eyes were wide and her heart was pounding in her chest. *You don’t even know if it’s really that serious.*

*Alex how can that not be serious? He was puking up blood. You know that’s not a good thing to be doing. I can’t believe I let mom take him to school today. Something told me that it was a bad thing to do. Why can’t I ever just follow my instincts?*

The light turned green and she made sure to pay attention this time. Alex was right, she needed to calm down.

*I usually am right you know,*

She couldn’t help but smile, *don’t be getting cocky on me. We don’t need to have your ego getting any bigger than it already is.*

*I don’t have a big ego, what are you talking about?* He tried to make himself sound all innocent but she just rolled her eyes and continued driving. *But everything will be alright,*

*How do you know that?*

He sighed, *I don’t. But I need to try and keep you thinking positive so you don’t almost miss a stop light again.*

*Shut up,* she muttered as she saw the hospital come into view and felt her heartbeat quicken. *Aren’t you supposed to be eating lunch with your posse? They’re probably worried about you disappearing all of a sudden.*

*That’s ok, this is more important now. I’m staying with you until you find Do. Then I’ll go back.*

Which is exactly what he did. She found a parking spot in the emergency room parking and then rushed inside to find out where he was. By the time the woman at the information desk had told her where Do was, Jack had come looking for Alex. He told her to keep him up on what was going on and left her to go check on Do.

She followed the directions the nurse gave her and walked down the bleach smelling white hallway to one of the small rooms that the woman said Do was in. Giving a small knock, she only waited a moment before pushing back the curtain and walking in. Little Do was lying on the bed with a small oxygen mask around his nose and mouth and his eyes shut. Behind his lids, his eyes fluttered a little and his brown hair was messy and matted with sweat.

He had been changed into a hospital gown and already hooked up to a few IV’s and a heart monitor keeping a steady beep as the only noise in the room. She felt tears come to her eyes as she walked in and took a seat next to the bed taking her little brothers hand in hers. He was so small and fragile looking lying there in the bed, and she noticed that there was still some dried blood around his mouth from where he must have coughed up the blood.

Out of the three kids, Zooey and Do looked the most alike. With brown hair and green eyes and soft features, they could have been twins if there wasn’t such a age difference between them. He was seven, and she had just turned 18 and only had a few months left of high school left while he was only in second grade.

Colter was the complete opposite of them, with red hair and blue eyes taking after their mother while the two of them looked more like their father. Zo only had a few memories of him before he left them. She had been eight at the time and the only memory she clearly remembered was the day he had left.

Someone approaching pulled her from her thoughts and she looked up to see her mom coming in. Maggie Peters walked in looking like she always did, in a pair of scrubs, her faded red hair tied back, and her blue eyes looking tired and full of knowledge.

“Mom,” she said as she stood and rushed over to her to hug her. Her mom wrapped her arms around her and gave her a hug before they both went to the bed where Do still lay sleeping. Zooey noticed her mom had tears in her eyes as she reached out to take her youngest child’s hand.

“Did you hear anything from the doctors?” Zooey asked as she took her seat again. Her mom looked to her with a distant look on her face before shaking her head no. Zooey felt her heart sink again and then went back to watching Do and waiting for him to wake up.

“No, I only was paged a few moments ago from the school telling me what happened. I came right down here. I didn’t take time to go check. But a doctor should be here soon. Have you heard from your brother?”

“Yeah, I called him on my way. He should be here soon.” All her mother did was nod as they fell back into silence and waited for anything to happen.

They stayed like that for a half hour, each of them holding Do’s hand. Then suddenly a knock pulled them out of their thoughts and they both looked up to see a doctor there. Zo’s mom stood and smiled, obviously knowing the doctor and they excused themselves out into the hall to talk leaving Zo with Do. As she looked back to Do, she saw that he had moved and that his eye lids were slowly opening.

“Do!” She said as she stood and leaned over to him and brushed his hair away from his face. “Oh Do, I was so worried. It’s ok, you’re in the hospital. Do you remember anything?”

He paused a moment before shaking his head and opening his mouth to speak. She noticed that he was reaching to try and take the oxygen mask away from his face but she placed a hand on his and shook her head.

“No sweetie, you need to keep that on, it’s there to help you. Don’t worry; you’re going to be just fine.” She could feel tears building up but she quickly forced them away trying to stay strong for him.

*He’s awake!* Alex said excitedly as she tried to give her baby brother a encouraging smile. *Give him love for me,*

“Alex says hi Do, he’s been freaking out all day about you. Between you and me, he’s been acting like a big baby.” Zo said as Do laughed.

*I hate you,*

*Shut up, at least he’s laughing. It’s a good thing,* Zo smiled down to him. “There’s my Do, I knew he was in there somewhere. Now listen to me, I want to tell you that you have nothing to worry about, ok? The doctors are going to take good care of you and make sure you’re all better.”

As she was saying this, she really didn’t know if it was to reassure him or herself at this point. He took a moment before nodding slowly and giving her a small smile. She couldn’t help but sniffle when she saw how brave her little brother was, he was so young yet so strong and amazing at the same time.

There was noises coming from the door and Zo looked up and saw her mom and the doctor come in with Colter behind them. She smiled as she went to hug her older brother and then turned as the doctor began to speak.

“It’s good to see you awake Dorian,” the doctor started with a forced smile.

Zo instantly noticed that it seemed that the doctor was concerned but was trying to hide it. She looked to Do to see that he hadn’t noticed it but when she turned to Colter, she knew that he had seen it to. Something bad was going on.

“Now, we would like to keep you here for a few days. We have to run some test to make sure you’re ok. Then you can go home. How does that sound?”

Even though he couldn’t speak because of the oxygen mask, Zo noticed that he had a big smile grow on his face at the mention of home. The doctor mentioned something about getting the mask off and getting one of the nurses in admitting to come down to get him set up in a room in the actual hospital so he didn’t have to stay in the ER anymore.

The doctor left and soon a nurse came in the take the oxygen away so Do could speak. Once he could, he didn’t seem to stop asking questions about what was going on. Out of all of them, their mom was the best suited to answer so they left her to it while Zo and Colter sat next to each other in their own thoughts.

*How’s everything going?* Alex asked as Zo felt her stomach grumble. She stood and told her mom that she was going to get some food and to text her if anything happened. Colter tried to come with her but she got rid of him wanting a little time alone.

*As good as it can be right now. He’s awake, but they’re admitting him for tests. But there’s something the doctor isn’t telling us. Well, at least Colter and I. He talked to mom and she hasn’t been able to tell us what’s going on yet. She’s still with the boys. I needed a moment alone.* She replied as she went to the elevators and started to head to the cafeteria down in the basement of the hospital.

*He’ll be fine Zo, don’t worry. He’s a strong little guy,*

*Yeah,* she sighed as she began to scan through the selves of food but not really looking. What she really needed was a distraction. *So did you cover up your little bathroom incident from earlier?*

*Uh, yeah. Jack came in the bathroom and I had to pretend I was sick to my stomach, dry heaves and all. It wasn’t pretty, but it was good.*

*Ha, nice cover. You must love all the attention you’re getting by pretending you’re sick* She replied as he snorted.

*Right of course I am, because being babied is the best thing in the world.* He said as she grabbed a bag of chips and an energy drink and then headed toward line. She probably wasn’t going to even eat them but got them anyway.

She felt her phone buzz in her pocket and pulled it out finding that she had at least ten texts and calls from Penny. Sighing, she began to go through them, finding that they all basically said the same thing wondering what was going on. She paid for her things and then made her way back up to Do’s room texting Penny back and talking to Alex, while waiting to find out what was going on with her baby brother.