Love Sick
Two
Justin’s Point of View
Moshe stops the car at the curb and Fredo hops out, opening the door. I unbuckle myself and Janet and link her arm around my neck. She is now gasping for air. I scoop her up and carefully step out of the vehicle. I rush through the automatic double doors with Fredo following as a few nurses crowd around Janet and me. A man in a white doctor's coat checks her pulse and says something to the nurse to my right as a gurney is placed beneath Janet. "Do you know this girl?" He asks me.
I stop. I had just met her. I know her name, her age and how many siblings she has. I also know that this wasn't her hometown. "A little." I reply. "I need her cell phone to call her dad." I feel like a criminal as I dig through her purse for her wallet and phone. The information she'd given me matched up with the license. She is Janet Maria Michaels. She is seventeen. I put her wallet aside and find an iPhone. The case is a photo of Demi Lovato and said "Keep Calm and Stay Strong". I turn the phone over and click the top button. She'd set a pass code. I run towards the gurney. "I need to know your phone's code." I feel slightly guilty at the insensitivity of the question. I mean, she seems to be fighting for her life and I ask about her phone?
She winces as she takes a gasping breath. "It's your birthday."
"We need to stabilize her." The doctor says, pressing a stethoscope to her chest. Two white doors leading to the operating room burst open. They wheel her away as my hand slips from hers. "Sir, you can't come back with us. I'm sorry." A nurse says before marking something on her clipboard and scurrying down the hall after the gurney. What? I can't be with her? When can I see her again? I sit in a chair beside Fredo. "I called your mom." He informs me as I nod and try to unlock her phone. She said the pass code was my birthday. Okay. 0301. Wrong. Okay, let's try this. 0194. Still wrong. 0394. Nope. In one last attempt, I type 3194. Bingo. The screensaver is Janet with two other girls. Maybe her best friends? I find her contacts and scroll down until I find "Dad".
"Hey, sweetheart." His voice is cheerful.
"Sir, this is, uh, a friend of Janet's. Your daughter has been taken to the emergency room on Parker Street and Ninth."
"What happened?" His voice isn't so optimistic anymore.
"She was, uh, meeting Justin Bieber and she started to have difficulty breathing. Bieber and his security took her to the ER and they're waiting for any news. They just took her back."
"Thank you. I'm on my way." He hangs up without another word.
Twenty minutes later, a man walks in, frantic, as a teenage girl follows him closely. She looks around the bright room and her eyes land on me. "Dad." She says calmly, gently tugging on his dress shirt. "Dad?" She says again.
"What is it, Julia?" He turns, exasperated.
"It's Justin Bieber. He must have been the one who called you." He stops and walks to me as I stand and extend a hand.
"Did you call me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where is my daughter?"
"They took her to the operating room about twenty-five minutes ago." I wait a few seconds to speak again. "I'm Justin."
"Mark Michaels. This is my youngest daughter, Julia."
My mother walks in and I jump up to greet her. "Honey, Fredo said you were in the ER?"
"No, I'm not the patient."
"Then who is?"
"Janet Maria."
"Who?"
"My Belieber."
Her mouth turns into a small, sympathetic smile as she realizes the reason I've stayed. "Then we'll wait for her."
---
A doctor appears and shakes hands with Mr. Michaels. "Follow me." The doctor says to him and her sister. "Can Justin come, too?" Julia asks.
"Yes."
I walk with them to room 146 and see Janet. She smiles as she sees her dad and sister and gasps in delight as she sees me. "You stayed?" She sounds surprised.
"Of course." I hold her hand as it's reached toward me.
The doctor gives them the diagnosis of the problem. I wait and massage her palm as I let her family take the news. "Your daughter has a heart condition called tachycardia."
"Is it serious?" Her father asks.
"Her heart beats abnormally fast and she is at a much higher risk for a stroke or cardiac arrest."
"Is there medication or treatment for this?" Julia wonders.
"Yes, but there is another type of illness we found when testing."
"What kind?" Her father says.
The doctor looks uneasy. "You might want to take a seat for this."
Moshe stops the car at the curb and Fredo hops out, opening the door. I unbuckle myself and Janet and link her arm around my neck. She is now gasping for air. I scoop her up and carefully step out of the vehicle. I rush through the automatic double doors with Fredo following as a few nurses crowd around Janet and me. A man in a white doctor's coat checks her pulse and says something to the nurse to my right as a gurney is placed beneath Janet. "Do you know this girl?" He asks me.
I stop. I had just met her. I know her name, her age and how many siblings she has. I also know that this wasn't her hometown. "A little." I reply. "I need her cell phone to call her dad." I feel like a criminal as I dig through her purse for her wallet and phone. The information she'd given me matched up with the license. She is Janet Maria Michaels. She is seventeen. I put her wallet aside and find an iPhone. The case is a photo of Demi Lovato and said "Keep Calm and Stay Strong". I turn the phone over and click the top button. She'd set a pass code. I run towards the gurney. "I need to know your phone's code." I feel slightly guilty at the insensitivity of the question. I mean, she seems to be fighting for her life and I ask about her phone?
She winces as she takes a gasping breath. "It's your birthday."
"We need to stabilize her." The doctor says, pressing a stethoscope to her chest. Two white doors leading to the operating room burst open. They wheel her away as my hand slips from hers. "Sir, you can't come back with us. I'm sorry." A nurse says before marking something on her clipboard and scurrying down the hall after the gurney. What? I can't be with her? When can I see her again? I sit in a chair beside Fredo. "I called your mom." He informs me as I nod and try to unlock her phone. She said the pass code was my birthday. Okay. 0301. Wrong. Okay, let's try this. 0194. Still wrong. 0394. Nope. In one last attempt, I type 3194. Bingo. The screensaver is Janet with two other girls. Maybe her best friends? I find her contacts and scroll down until I find "Dad".
"Hey, sweetheart." His voice is cheerful.
"Sir, this is, uh, a friend of Janet's. Your daughter has been taken to the emergency room on Parker Street and Ninth."
"What happened?" His voice isn't so optimistic anymore.
"She was, uh, meeting Justin Bieber and she started to have difficulty breathing. Bieber and his security took her to the ER and they're waiting for any news. They just took her back."
"Thank you. I'm on my way." He hangs up without another word.
Twenty minutes later, a man walks in, frantic, as a teenage girl follows him closely. She looks around the bright room and her eyes land on me. "Dad." She says calmly, gently tugging on his dress shirt. "Dad?" She says again.
"What is it, Julia?" He turns, exasperated.
"It's Justin Bieber. He must have been the one who called you." He stops and walks to me as I stand and extend a hand.
"Did you call me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Where is my daughter?"
"They took her to the operating room about twenty-five minutes ago." I wait a few seconds to speak again. "I'm Justin."
"Mark Michaels. This is my youngest daughter, Julia."
My mother walks in and I jump up to greet her. "Honey, Fredo said you were in the ER?"
"No, I'm not the patient."
"Then who is?"
"Janet Maria."
"Who?"
"My Belieber."
Her mouth turns into a small, sympathetic smile as she realizes the reason I've stayed. "Then we'll wait for her."
---
A doctor appears and shakes hands with Mr. Michaels. "Follow me." The doctor says to him and her sister. "Can Justin come, too?" Julia asks.
"Yes."
I walk with them to room 146 and see Janet. She smiles as she sees her dad and sister and gasps in delight as she sees me. "You stayed?" She sounds surprised.
"Of course." I hold her hand as it's reached toward me.
The doctor gives them the diagnosis of the problem. I wait and massage her palm as I let her family take the news. "Your daughter has a heart condition called tachycardia."
"Is it serious?" Her father asks.
"Her heart beats abnormally fast and she is at a much higher risk for a stroke or cardiac arrest."
"Is there medication or treatment for this?" Julia wonders.
"Yes, but there is another type of illness we found when testing."
"What kind?" Her father says.
The doctor looks uneasy. "You might want to take a seat for this."