"No, you idiot." Dove shook her head, "We're going to see her and you are going to take us there." she smiled and then succumbed to her thoughts. I'll have to deal with his guilt about the dead boy later. Force him to go to the funeral? No. Talk to him. Help him feel better. Bring comfort and pillows and hot chocolate. Death is…hard to deal with.
Natalie slid down on the floor and leaned her head on the wall. Thank you God for saving her. She rejoiced silently. "Thy will be done." She said softly.
"I have clearance." He mumbled, taking his I.D. badge out of his pocket with shaky hands. He gripped tightly onto Dove's hand, slowly leading the two of them forward towards the room Briar was in. He halted outside the door, unwilling to enter.
Natalie heard something outside the door. She went over and opened it. "Oh hey you too." She said, running her hand over her face.
"H-Hey." Oliver kept his eyes fixed on the floor, afraid to look up.
She sighed. "Would ya just come in already please? Briar's doing a lot better." She didn't want to mention the internal bleeding.
Dove smiled, content in her heart that she was helping someone.
Natalie stood to the side, inviting the two to enter.
Oliver forced himself to walk forward, his eyes glued to the floor. He dragged Dove in behind him as if she was providing some type of moral support he didn't really understand. He stopped once they reached Briar's bedside, but he couldn't quite look up, not yet.
Dove let herself be dragged and she kept her eyes locked onto Dr. Horne's ponytail.
Natalie closed the door, then went back to where she had been sitting. She closed her eyes and tried to get rid of the spitting headache that had formed.
Oliver lifted his head quickly, deciding to quickly rip off the bandaid. Briar looked alright. Tired and pale, but as far as he could tell she was okay. He physically relaxed, some of the tension leaving his shoulders.
"Dr. Horne?" Dove rubbed her arm, "Don’t turn your face away. Once you’ve seen, you can no longer act like you don’t know. Open your eyes to the truth. It’s all around you. Don’t deny what the eyes to your soul have revealed to you. Now that you know, you cannot feign ignorance. Now that you’re aware of the problem, you cannot pretend you don’t care. To be concerned is to be human. To act is to care. ― Vashti Quiroz-Vega."
"She's okay." He mumbled out loud. "How long till she's up on her feet again?" He looked over at Natalie.
Natalie lifted her head up from between her knees. " Hmm? I don't know. A week and a half, at least."
"That's not too bad." Oliver decided, calming a little. "God, I'm so glad she's okay." He took a deep breath and let it out, relieved.
Natalie nodded. Suddenly the events of the day all caught up to her. She ran out of the room and into the girls bathroom and threw up.
Then she sat against the wall and unleashed the torrent of sobs that she'd been holding in.
Oliver didn't need to ask to know where Natalie was going. He'd had the same urge several times today, but the lack of food in his system left him unable to dispel anything.
Dove froze, her training kicking in and she practically flew over to Dr. Tamara, with a box of tissues in her hand.
Oliver felt numb. Not apathetic, but numb. In shock, perhaps. There was only so much he could take in one day and death maxed that out ten times over, let alone one of his close friends being injured. He slumped down in a chair and stared blankly at the wall, unsure of how he should be feeling.
Natalie didn't take any of the tissues. Her whole body shook violently. The first thing she had heard this morning was, You might have a relapse of your brain cancer. Then her cousin had died. Then she had to preform a surgery on one of her friends. And on top of it all, she had been struggling with depression and anxiety. And her parents were fighting again. She sobbed harder, terrified for them.
Dove stood back, then patted Dr. Tamara's shoulder and hugged her, "Plot twist."
She faced Dr. Tamara and went out of the hug, "When life is giving you thousands of reasons to cry, then show life that you actually have million reasons to be happy. If you fall seven times, then make sure that you stand up eight."
Dove stood back, then patted Dr. Tamara's shoulder and hugged her, "Plot twist."
(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THAT'S MY LINE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)