Chapter
40
Ashalyn paced the waiting room of the local hospital,
anxiously waiting for any word on Elyssa.
Jenna sat in a chair, leaned up against Nick, who sat beside her. Serena and Howie sat next to each other on
the other side of the room. Kevin sat
between Brian and AJ.
“Ash?” Brian asked.
Ashalyn stopped pacing to look at him.
“Come sit down, honey.”
Ashalyn sighed, but came and sat on the other side of
Brian. The room was silent, as the eight
of them just looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
It was AJ who broke the silence by murmuring, “This is all
my fault.”
“What, Bone? Of
course it isn’t,” Kevin said quickly.
“Yes it is,” AJ replied.
“We were in a fight. She was sick,
and I got mad at her anyway. Why
couldn’t I have been a little more understanding? I’m a horrible boyfriend. “
“No you’re not, AJ,” Jenna spoke up. “This isn’t your fault. Lyssa will get over it.”
AJ sighed, burying his head in his hands. Kevin rested his hand on AJ’s back, but said
nothing.
Finally, the door to the waiting room opened, and in came a
tall, young doctor. “Hi. Are you guys with Elyssa Adams?” he
asked. They all nodded anxiously.
“Is she gonna be okay?” AJ asked right away.
“I’ll get to that,” the doctor said. “First, let me introduce myself. I’m Dr. Luke Sanford, and I was called in to
examine Elyssa. She’s conscious now,
just tired, but I need to admit her.”
“Why?” Jenna asked.
“She’s just got the flu. She’ll
be okay. She just pushed herself too
hard.”
“Well, I don’t want to scare you, but she could have
something more than a touch of flu. She
told me she’s been sick for a few weeks, and that it’s just been getting
worse. That doesn’t sound like your
average flu,” Dr. Sanford explained.
Ashalyn felt cold all over.
“So, what do you think is wrong with her?” she asked, her voice catching
in her throat. “Something serious?”
“Well, it could be a number of things. I need to keep her in the hospital for at
least a few days to run tests,” the doctor said.
“But, Elyssa’s touring with all of us now,” spoke up Don,
their manager, who was seated in one corner.
“Can’t this wait?”
Dr. Sanford’s eyes narrowed at Don. “No, this cannot wait. We need to find out what’s wrong with
Elyssa. I think her life is more
important than a few concerts.”
That shut Don up.
“Don, we can reschedule the concerts if we need to,” Brian
said, his voice tinged with annoyance at the nerve of JADE’s manager.
Don nodded, not saying anything.
“Can we see her now?” Serena asked the doctor.
“Yes, you can. I’ll
show you to her room,” Dr. Sanford said.
“But you can’t stay for long.
She’s exhausted and really needs some rest.”
They nodded, following Dr. Sanford out of the waiting room
and down a hallway to Elyssa’s room.
***
Ashalyn took a deep breath outside the door and cautiously
entered the room. She had always hated
hospitals; they made her nervous. This
one was no different.
“Come on, guys,” she whispered, turning back to make sure
Jenna and Serena were behind her.
Together, the three of them walked in the room.
“AJ? You coming?”
Jenna asked, turning back to look at AJ, who was pressed up against the wall
outside the room.
He shook his head furiously. Jenna shot him an annoyed look.
“We’ll be in later, Jen,” Nick said quickly, trying to ease
the sudden tension between his girlfriend and AJ.
She nodded, heading into the room behind her two friends
and shutting the door behind her.
***
