The Sky Under the Sea

[Jaime]

We came back to find everyone talking to a doctor. Vic noticed my look of panic and rubbed my shoulder.


“She’s awake. You want to go see her?” he asked. I nodded in reply.


“You can only go in two at a time.” The doctor said.


“You and Chloe go, we can come back tomorrow.” Vic nodded reassuringly. My hands went all clammy and I wiped them on my jeans.
 Chloe took my arm and started walking towards the elevator.


“Come on Jaime.” We stepped inside, and soon found ourselves on the fourth floor. Chloe led the way and I followed, my heart pounding in anticipation of what we were about to see. 
The door of her room was open, and we walked in. Bo was lying on the bed, looking pale as ever. She had a drip running out of one arm, and a tube ran from under the blankets and into deep dish half filled with reddish coloured liquid. My stomach dropped.

I hope that isn’t blood.


As we neared the bed, I saw that Bo was only half awake.


“Hey girl. How are you feeling?” Chloe stood at Bo’s shoulder and I stood next to her. She looked so sick. I felt tears sting at the back of my eyes but I blinked them away.


“How do you think I’m feeling? I have bloody tubes coming out of everywhere.” She said, attempting to laugh but coughing instead. More reddish fluid flowed out of the tube and into the dish.
 Bo followed my eyes to where the tube met the blanket.


“Hey Jaime.” She said, finally meeting my eyes.


“Is that..” I couldn’t even finish my sentence. In response, she nodded.


“When they drained the shit out of my lungs, they left this tube in so whenever it starts to build up it comes out there instead. Yes, the other end is in my lung. Yes it fucking hurts, and yes I’m okay.” Chloe rolled her eyes.


“You’re a weird one.” She laughed softly.

“I didn’t know you had another tattoo.” I said, my mind spitting out any random thought that came to mind. My eyes were trained on her left wrist, taking in the detail of an anchor covered in flowers.
Bo nodded. 


“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, Preciado.” She smiled weakly, but it didn’t meet her eyes. I wanted to take her hand and tell her that I would never hurt her like Josh did, and I’d never leaver her alone. I just wanted to tell her everything would be okay.


“I’ll give you guys a minute.” Chloe said, excusing herself from the room.
I sat on the edge of the bed, taking Bo’s hand in mine.


“You didn’t have to come all the way down here to see little old me, you know that.” She said softly. She seemed so drained, so tired.


“I was too worried to stay behind. Besides, I’d go to the ends of the Earth if it meant I could see your beautiful face.”

Wow. Way to go Jaime, nice and subtle.


A blush crept into her cheeks, and I felt mine heat up.


“Jaime, thanks. For coming you know. Means a lot.” I looked up and smiled.


“The other guys are here too, we all came.” Her face lit up.


“Aw, you guys are seriously the best. I-” Bo stopped suddenly, her face contorting in pain.


“Bo? Are you okay?” She squeezed her eyes shut and starting breathing really heavily and coughing. Blood poured out of the tube and into the dish.


“Nurse!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. One soon came rushing in, followed by another moments later.


“She just started coughing and not being able to breathe and-” My voice got higher and higher.


“We’ll take it from here. You need to leave.” The nurse said sternly, laying the bed down so it was flat.


“Bo..” I said softly, the nurse glaring at me when she saw I hadn’t left. 
I turned around and ran out of the room, running into a very worried Chloe.


“What happened?” Her face was full of concern.


“She just.. started coughing and she couldn’t breathe and I yelled for the nurse and-” Chloe put her arm around my shoulder and led me into the elevator.


“Jaime, she’ll be alright. She’s tough. Let’s get some fresh air.” We’d reached the ground floor and as soon as we left the elevator, the guys came rushing over. My breathing was hard and fast as I bolted past them and out into the cold air. I put my hands on my hips, sucking in air like there was no tomorrow. It was no use, my heart was pounding as hard as ever and I still couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen. I heard the hospital door open and close.


“Hey Hime, you okay? Chloe told us what happened- Shit man, are you okay?” Vic asked, worried. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. As my lungs still craved air, I tried to push the image of Bo’s face contorting in pain out of my head.
 Vic put his hand on my back and gently sat me down with my back to the hospital wall.


“Something happened, didn’t it?” He whispered softly. Again I nodded. Crossing my arms over my knees I put my head down.


“Jaime, look at me. Look straight into my eyes and don’t think about anything else. Just look at me.” Vic put one hand either side of my face, looking into my eyes as I continued to breathe heavily.




Vic sang to me softly, just like he did all those years ago when I used to freak out all the time. As I listened to his voice, I felt my heart calm down and my breathing slow. Soon I was back to normal, not sucking down lungfuls of air.


“You’re okay Hime. Come here.” Vic helped me off the ground, pulling me into a warm hug. We stood like that for a few moments, then pulled apart.


“Let’s go inside, hmm?” Vic grabbed my hand and led me back inside.


“What happened? You came flying out of that elevator like the devil was after you.” Mike said, giving me a sideways hug.


“Chloe gave us the gist, but what happened outside?” Taking a deep breath and letting it out, I said,


“Nothing, my heads just a little messed up right now.”
 Tony gave me a weird look but said nothing, and no one else questioned my strange behaviour.
 Chloe shook her head when I looked at her.


“No news.”

She settled into the chair next to me and I drew my knees up to my chest. It was going to be a long night.



~ three days later ~



[Chloe]



Ever since Bo went into cardiac arrest, Jaime hasn’t left the hospital. Not even to eat or change his clothes. 
They haven’t let us back in to see her either, so we’re all worrying like crazy about her. I felt my phone start to ring, so I pulled it out of my pocket and answered it.


“Hey Oscar.” I said, recognizing the voice,


“Hey Chloe! I just got off the plane, I’m taking a cab to the hospital so I should be there within an hour. Is my baby sister okay?” He sounded very frantic. I called him the night Bo was admitted and told him what happened. He got the next earliest flight, which came in this morning.


“She’s fine, nothing new since before. They’re keeping her sedated at the moment.”


“That’s good. I’ll see you soon.”


“Bye Oscar.” I said, hanging up the phone. Walking back across the lobby, I sat back in my chair. I looked over at Jaime and saw that he was asleep. I couldn’t blame him, been a rough few days.


~ One hour later ~

[Jaime]



“Jaime, wake up. Jaime, come on. There’s someone you need to meet.” Chloe was shaking me awake, telling me there was someone I needed to meet. What? Who was so important that I need to meet right now? Surely I could sleep a little longer, even if my neck was cramping. 
I groaned, opening my eyes and staring at her.
 She was standing in front of me with her hands on her hips.


“Finally, I’ve been trying to wake you for ten bloody minutes. Jaime, this is Oscar, Bo’s older brother.” 
Hearing his name, I snapped into full awareness. Pushing a hand through my messed up hair, I held out my hand.


“Jaime.”


“Oscar.” He said, and shook my hand. I took a moment to take him in. He was freakishly tall, towering over both me and Chloe. He had the same red hair and pale skin, but unlike his sister he was completely covered in tattoos. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, a small suitcase at his feet.


“So, you’re the guy that’s been looking after my sister?” Oscar asked.


“Uh, yeah I guess so.” I mumbled to my feet. My god this was awkward.


“Good on you mate, nice to know she’s got someone keeping an eye on her. She staying out of trouble?” He was every bit the overprotective brother Chloe told me he’d be.


“Yeah.” I mumbled again, looking anywhere but at him.


“What, don’t I do a good enough job?” Chloe pouted. Oscar leaned over and ruffled her hair.


“Who was it who decided it would be a good idea to start a band and go gallivanting across the country in the first place?” Chloe made a face at him. She obviously knew him very well.


“Just teasing, kid.” Once again, Chloe pouted.


“Who are you calling kid? You’re only like, five years older than me.”
 This time I looked at him.


“You’re twenty-eight?” My jaw nearly hit the floor.


“Yeah. Why?” Oscar furrowed his brow.


“You just look so much older, you look like thirty something.” I said. Before it could get sufficiently awkward, a doctor came over to us.


“You’re here for Bo Thompson, aren’t you? Are you family?” The doctor asked.


“We aren’t, but that’s her brother.” Chloe pointed at Oscar.


“She’s awake, but only family are allowed in this time. We’ll keep her in overnight for observation, but all of the fluid in her lungs has been drained and she should be okay to go home tomorrow.” Oscar looked relieved.


“I’ll be back soon guys.” He said, turning and walking to the elevators.


“Say hi for us.” Chloe called. The doctor soon left us in peace. I can’t believe I just met Bo’s brother. It’s such a weird feeling, knowing that he’s known her his whole life, and I’ve only known her a few months. He seems nice though, and I can see the resemblance.