Nothing to Lose

Josh surprised himself by how carefully he drove while under the influence. Normally he wouldn’t have done something as dangerous as that, but having a beautiful girl sobbing in the passenger seat of your car insisting on getting to the hospital wasn’t exactly normal, per say. The moment his car was in park, she was out and running towards the sliding glass doors of the main building. It didn’t take him too long to catch up as she weaved through the halls. He was sort of amazed that she knew her way around so well. He had absolutely no idea where he was going as she walked through the maze of different hospital departments.

“Landon, thank God!” She sobbed as she rushed to hug the dark haired boy who was standing in an open doorway, obviously waiting on the poor girl.

“Can I see him?” Eloise asked as she looked up at her brother.

“He’s still sleeping, but you can wait if you’d like. I was waiting here for you to come, but I really have to go. I have work in seven hours and I haven’t slept since sometime last night.

“Yeah, yeah. Go home Landon.” El sniffled as she waved towards the door, motioning for him to leave.

“Are you going to stay here?” He asked as he eyed Josh questionably, just noticing him standing there awkwardly. He didn’t really know what to do in this sort of situation, especially since he had no idea what was going on.

“Yeah, at least for a little while longer. Don’t worry about me though, Landon. I’ll be fine. I can find a way home on my own. You go get some sleep.”

“Alright El, I’ll see you later.” Landon hugged his sister once again before nodding curtly at Josh as he walked away down the hall. As soon as he was out of sight, Eloise slid down to the floor and let out another choked sob. She had managed to remain composed the entire time that Landon was there, but once he had left, her invisible buffer was gone.

“What’s going on love?” Josh whispered as he sat down next to her and rubbed her back soothingly. He could feel his heart breaking as she looked up at him with her glassy green eyes, all red and puffy from crying.

“My father,” She choked out in almost a whisper, “His chemotherapy treatments are supposed to be helping, but he’s only getting worse. He almost died tonight, but they did an immediate surgery that saved him.”

“Wow, I’m so sorry.” Josh exhaled deeply. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously as he watched the girl.

“It’s alright. It’s just hard to watch him suffer like that, yeah?” She sighed and leaned her head back on the wall before she turned and looked at Josh, “You should probably go and get Max and Margot now. Thanks for the ride here.”

“I’m not leaving you here all alone, if that’s what your intending on having me do.” Josh frowned.

“We left them there with no car or anything, Joshua!” She exclaimed, obviously still a little drunk and worked up over her father, “They’re bloody stranded!”

“Fine, fine! I’ll go get them!” Josh huffed, “But only after someone gets here to stay with you.”

“But Landon just left to go sleep, Josh!” She groaned, “You can’t call him back now, he really needs some rest. That’s the only other family my dad and I have got.”

“Fine, then I’ll just have one of my friends come sit with you.” Josh said as he pulled out his phone and dialed one of the only numbers he knew by heart, “Daniel, hey! Listen, I need a huge favour. How fast can you get to the hospital?”



“Eloise, wake up.” Dan shook the sleeping girl gently as her eyes fluttered opened and adjusted to the fluorescent lights of the hospital waiting room, “Your father is awake now love.”

“Thanks Dan.” She smiled weakly as she sat up and stretched. She looked down at her phone to see eight missed calls, two from unknown numbers and the rest from Margot. She has assumed the other two were from Max and Josh, she'd have to ask them later. “How long was I asleep for?”

“Roughly five hours.” Dan shrugged, “A fairly short night's sleep. It's about nine in the morning now.”

“You didn’t have to stay here, you know.” She blushed, “I know we don’t really know each other or anything.”

“It’s alright love," Dan chuckled, "Any friend of Max’s and Josh’s is a friend of mine.” Dan shrugged his shoulders, “Now go see your dad, don’t you worry about me being here!”

“Thank you.” She grinned as she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek before she hurried down the hall to her father’s room. She quite liked Daniel. He was a sweetheart from what she could tell. Not too long after Josh left, he showed up and happily introduced himself to her, not even phased by the eyeliner stains on her cheeks from her tears, or by the fact that it was so late at night. They spent most of the time talking and laughing before she fell asleep, and she enjoyed the fact that he could keep her mind off of her troubles for a while.

“Eloise!” Her father immediately smiled as she walked into the room, “It’s lovely to see you dear.”

“How are you feeling, dad?” She asked as she sat at the foot of his bed. She frowned as she took in his features. He had aged a lot since her last visit a few days ago, but lots of intense medical treatments would do that to a person.

“Better than ever.” He wheezed as he smiled at the girl, "I feel like a young boy again."

“Don’t lie dad, it's bad for you.” She smiled faintly as she watched the man chuckle to himself, “I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t be worried about me, love.” He shrugged, “When my time comes, it will come. That’s how life works.”

“Dad…” Eloise sighed, “I just-“

“So how’s that wonderful boyfriend of yours?” Her father chirped, avoiding all negative topics, unbeknownst to him that this one was a rather sore subject for El, “Has Caleb popped the question yet?”

“Not yet.” She grimaced as she thought about Caleb. Her father absolutely adored the man. Caleb certainly knew how to work people, especially her family. She had even been under his spell for years before she finally realized what was going on- but by that time it was already too late. He has weaved his web of lies into her life so thoroughly that she couldn't even tell what was real and what was fake anymore.

“Well I sure hope he does soon! He’s such a great guy, El.” He father yawned, “Seeing the two of you just makes me the happiest man in the world.”

“Yeah, I know dad.” She smiled, “You should get some more sleep. I’ll come see you again soon, yeah?”

“Goodbye sweetheart.” He said as he wrapped his frail arms around his daughter to give her a light hug, “See you soon.”

Eloise smiled one last time as she exited the room, finding Dan standing there waiting.

“Need a ride somewhere?” He asked as he started to walk with her down the corridor.

“Actually, that would be lovely.” She grinned, “Do you think you could drop me off at The Daily Grind? It’s a small coffee shop in the middle of town.”

“I know exactly where that is!” He exclaimed, “I’ve been meaning to stop in there actually.”

“Well now is the opportune time!” Eloise exclaimed as they walked to Dan’s car. They drove to the small shop in serene silence, and when they parked along the road outside, they could already see a few familiar faces.

“El!” Max and Margot both shouted, startling a few customers who were enjoying their morning tea.

“We heard about your father, is he alright?” Margot asked as she pulled her into a hug.

“He seems to think he is, but you can tell he’s not doing well.” Eloise sighed.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Eloise.” Max frowned as he also pulled the girl in for a hug.

“S’alright.” She shrugged and pointed at Dan, “I’m going to make this wonderful man here a coffee, would you like one?”

“Wait, what?” Dan shook his head confused as he looked around the cafe for someone who looked as if they worked there, “Why are you making it?”

“She owns the place!” Max exclaimed, “Free coffee!”

“Discount coffee, dear.” Margot glared at him, “Not even I get free coffee, and I just became a co-owner.”

“We’ve got to make a profit somehow, Margot.” Eloise winked as she handed Max and Dan coffees, “This one is on the house though just because you two are some proper gentlemen.”

“Cheers then.” Max smiled as he raised his mug.

“Where’s Joshua?” El asked as she finally noticed who was missing from their little group.

Margot frowned and looked over at Max quickly before he spoke up, “He had to go pick up his girlfriend from the airport this morning. She flew in to surprise him.”

“Oh how lovely.” El grinned, not even noticing their annoyed expressions. Her smile only began to falter when she remembered that she kissed him last night. What if Josh told her and the girl came and screamed at her? What she remembered from their phone conversation, she already knew she should stay away. It was only a matter of time before their actions caught up with them.