One Hundred Sleepless Nights

I spent the next three weeks hanging out with Tony at the hospital. He would bring me food and sneak in a few drinks for me whenever Kristin couldn’t. I had introduced them both to each other; of course he and Kristin hit it off right away. Kristin didn’t come to see me as often as she used to, she was facing her final thesis paper and she had been spending a lot of time in the library.

Tony introduced me to Casey, the day he got discharged from the hospital, but other than that, it was just Tony and I. He came 3 times a week to check up on Avela and me, there’s even a time where he spent the night in the hospital because we were up until 3 AM just talking and watching movies.

It’s surprising how amazing Tony is, a few weeks ago I thought of him as a total douche for wearing hats indoors but now I can’t ask for a better friend to keep me company. He knew how to calm me down whenever I have my breakdowns; he knew when to shut up and listen or when I needed his opinion. I feel like we’ve been friends for ages.

Avela’s condition is getting a lot better, her bruises are gone and her cast had been removed. I kept praying and praying that she’d wake up soon, I don’t care anymore about the stupid shit she did to herself; I’m not even going to yell at her. I just want her to wake up.

“Cass, you okay?” I turned around and saw Tony standing in the doorway

“I’m fine,” I smiled walking towards the door, “what are you doing here? I thought you and the band are practicing?” I said as I leaned on the wall

“We finished early, I thought I’d come and check up on you again”

“Well thank you, but I’m just going to bore you again with my rants. I’m fine Tone, you can go back to the studio if you want to”

“Nope! Let’s go to the cafeteria, I have someone I want you to meet” He grabbed my hand and started to drag me towards the cafeteria.

Ugh seriously, I’m so not in the mood to be all rainbows and smiles. We got to the cafeteria and I saw three guys sitting together laughing and talking to each other.

“Hey guys, shut it.” Tony waved his hand to get their attention, “this is Cassie, Cass these are my friends”

The guys all stood up and smiled widely at me.

“I’m Vic, we’re all in the band with Tony” said the first guy, he is the shortest, he has brown curly hair and (just like Tony) he had a baseball cap rested on his head.

The second guy, the one with the crazy spiky hair, was all smiles and he kept shifting his weight on his legs. “I’m Jaime and I’m Tony’s best friend”

“Hey! No you’re not, I’m Tony’s best friend!” said the last guy; he was tall, and really skinny. He has tattoos covering up his arms and up to his neck, like Tony. “I’m Mike, Vic is my older brother and Tony is ALSO my best friend!” He said glaring at Jaime.

I laughed, “It’s nice to meet you all, so you guys are in a band together?” I took a seat across them three.

“Yep, I sing, Mike plays the drums, Jaime plays the bass and Tony kills it with his guitar” Vic piped up

“That’s cool, I would love to see you guys play sometimes–“

Suddenly I heard people running and nurses shouting, “CAN WE GET A DOCTOR HERE NOW?”

I looked around to the commotion in the nurses’ lounge, they were rushing and one of the nurses hurried towards me.

“Ms. Hayes? Your sister is awake” She smiled and did the walk-run thing towards Avela’s room. My eyes went big and I started to freak out.

“Hey, hey it’s alright calm down Cass. Go to Avela, we’ll talk later” Tony put his hand on my shoulder and smiled.

“So sorry guys, I gotta go” I said to the guys and sprinted towards Avela’s room. She was struggling in her bed, trying to get off the IV drops and nearly punching a nurse in the face.

“Avela? Calm down honey, please” I can feel tears starting to stream down my face, it’s my baby sister right there.

She was flailing her arms around, trying to let loose of the nurse’s grip.

“Avela calm down! They’re trying to get the tube out of your mouth so you can breathe! STOP MOVING DAMN IT!” I shouted and she stilled, she stopped moving around and finally the doctor can pull out her oxygen tube.

She was coughing and spitting, her eyes were red she gripped the bed railing hard.

“Avela, you’re in the hospital honey, how are you feeling right now?” I hurried to her side and hold her hand; she was looking at me confusedly, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I’m so sorry Cassie, I’m so, so sorry” She croaked.

“Ms. Hayes, may I speak with you for a moment?” The doctor tapped my arm softly, I nodded and we both went out from the room.

“Ms. Hayes, what you need to know is even though she is awake now, she might be and most likely still emotionally unstable” He flipped the clip chart he was holding, “but, looking from her progress, she will be able to go home in the next two days”

“Thank you so much doctor,” I said running my fingers through my hair

“There is one more thing, after she is discharged from the hospital, I highly suggest that Avela is taken into a rehabilitation program for her substance abuse”

“Of course”

Damn, I hadn’t thought of that before. Rehabs are fucking expensive, how am I going to afford a rehab with my pay?

“I’ll have a nurse send you over some brochures, have a good evening Ms. Hayes” The doctor left and I walked back into the room.

She was staring at the ceiling, still crying silently.

“Cassie?”

I hurried next to her, “I’m here Ave, I’m here” I held her hand

“I’m so sorry Cass, I wanted to stop but… I just can’t” She broke out crying, I stroked her hair and repeatedly telling her that it’s going to be all right.

“I want you to be better Ave, I’m not losing you again” I said to her, she turned her head to me.

“Okay, I promise I’ll do anything”

“I don’t want to lose you again” I kissed her temple

Not again