Chapter 35 Waiting
Waiting
Oscar and I are sitting in the waiting room of Patricia’s hospital. Across from us are Jo and the two men. (Darin is the Black guy, and Henry is the Asian dude.) All of us are silent, trying to catch our breaths after the flurry of activity this evening.
Earlier, after Patricia cleaned our wounds, Oscar and I went into separate bathrooms to take quick showers.
Jo gave each of us clean boxer shorts that belong to her. (“Men’s boxers are more comfortable than panties,” she said.)
She also gave me a black T-shirt, socks, and sneakers. I’m still wearing my own jeans. (“My hips are huge,” said Jo, “so I don’t have any pants for you.”)
Oscar still has most of his own clothes on, but he did take those boxers from her and also a black T-shirt.
“Damn,” he said to her, “this fabric is nice. You don’t buy shit off the clearance rack like my mom does.”
Jo then drove Patricia, Oscar, and me to the hospital, while Darin and Henry followed us in an Uber.
After Patricia ushered us into an examination room, to the protest of her coworkers, she stitched up the back of Oscar’s head and then proceeded to give us both skeletal x-rays to see if either us broke any bones or have any other internal problems.
We’re sitting here, waiting to see if Patricia can get the x-ray results tonight.
Darin moves his arm over to Henry. They hold hands.
Oscar clocks this and then looks away.
Darin smiles and breaks the silence. “What’s the matter, baby? You never seen two men hold hands before?”
Henry rolls his eyes. “Oh, leave him alone, Darin.”
“I’m just messing with you, baby,” Darin says to Oscar.
“It’s all good,” says Oscar. “You do you. I’m not about that? But you be whatever.”
Darin nods. “How progressive of you.”
“My sister’s a lesbian,” Oscar says.
Darin raises his palms in the air. “Oh, my God, they’re everywhere!”
Jo shakes her head. “Shut up, Darin.”
“Yo, Jo,” says Oscar. “I’m curious about your baby. Can I ask about it?”
“Sure.”
“How’d you, like, get pregnant?”
Henry, the Asian dude, leans forward. “I jerked off into a cup.”
“Jesus, Henry,” Jo says, “watch your mouth. These are teenagers.”
“Oh, honey.” Darin wags his finger. “Kids these days have heard and seen far worse.”
Oscar nods his head up and down, almost comically. “You got that right!”
Jo explains, “When Patricia and I decided we wanted to have a baby, we looked into all the ways it could be done. And we decided we wanted a sperm donor who we actually knew personally. And Henry was our guy.”
Darin keeps wagging his finger. “I’m still offended y’all didn’t ask me.”
“They wanted a half-Asian baby,” says Henry. “Half-Asian babies are the cutest!”
The three adults laugh. Oscar starts laughing too, unsure of what he’s laughing about.
Patricia appears. “We can’t get the x-rays back tonight. It’s too late, and there aren’t enough people, and they’re backed up.”
“Typical.” Jo sighs.
“Yeah,” says Patricia. “They’re trying to take care of these two patients here who came in with really gruesome stab wounds.”
“Wait. What?” I say.
“Yeah. One took a knife to the stomach, and the other one got stabbed in the neck.”
Oscar and I look at each other. The color starts draining from his face.
Patricia couldn’t possibly be talking about Nash and Nikolai, could she? If they survived, why would they drive an hour to come to this hospital instead of going to one close to where they already were?
“Those two guys who got stabbed.” My voice is trembling. “Where did they come from?”
Patricia cocks her head. “What? Why?”
“Please tell me,” I plead.
“They went to the ER at some hospital, and the doctors and nurses got the bleeding under control. But they didn’t get a chance to finish treatment, because the staff got overwhelmed with patients and the two guys got agitated and left.
And then one of the guys drove both of them all the way here because this was a hospital that he was familiar with.
He used to live around here or something, and he wanted to be close to home. ”
“Did you see those guys? What they looked like?”
“No. A coworker told me about them. What’s this all about, Hunter?”
“Nothing.” I stand up. “Since we can’t get the x-rays tonight, we should go. I really need to rest.”
“Okay,” Patricia says, “but let’s stop off at a pharmacy first, so we can get you some ibuprofen for the pain.”
Henry says, “Oh, come on, Patricia, can’t you get these guys something stronger? Prescribe them something?”
Patricia scoffs. “I’m not about to prescribe some kids some OxyContin, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Darin looks at Henry, “That’s right, honey. Don’t you know we’re in the middle of a nationwide epidemic?”
“Ibuprofen is fine!” I say, probably too loudly. “Let’s just go. Sorry. It’s been a lot tonight.”
Darin rolls his neck. “Okay. Let’s get these twinks some ibuprofen.”
We start moving towards the front entrance.
“If you’re up for it, we should file a police report too,” Patricia suggests.
“No!” I yell.
“Okay, okay, we can talk about it tomorrow after you’ve gotten some rest.”
Darin and Henry wait for an Uber to take them home for the night, while the rest of us head for Jo’s car.
I keep looking back at the hospital to see if Nash or Nikolai emerge, but they don’t.
Darin and Henry just think I’m looking at them.
So Darin waves at me with his fingers in the most flamboyant way possible.
When we reach Jo’s car, both Oscar and I notice that it’s parked next to a black SUV. I now think we parked next to it when we first got here, but I didn’t notice it until now.
I grab the back door handle of Jo’s car and pull on it repeatedly, desperately.
“Hold on, Hunter,” says Jo, before clicking her key fob and unlocking the doors.
Oscar and I hurriedly get in the backseat.
“What’s going on, Hunter? They here?” Oscar asks.
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
Jo backs out of the parking spot, and I keep my eyes on the SUV, which appears empty.
As the car heads toward the street, Oscar taps me on my arm. “Yo, Hunter.”
I keep watching the SUV. “What?”
Oscar asks, “Does Alessandra have a twin sister?”
“No. Why?”
“Then who’s that?“ says Oscar.
I turn my head. Oscar is pointing out his window. Walking alongside our car, ignoring us, heading towards the front entrance of the hospital with a quick stride, is a girl who looks exactly like . . .
We pass by the girl, and I twist my neck, causing much pain, to look at her out the back window.
“Holy fuck,” I say. “Is that Alessandra?”
Oscar also looks out the back window. “Dude. That is Alessandra. What the fuck is going on, Hunter?”
“Stop the car!” I scream.
Jo is so startled that she slams on the brakes, and we come to a complete stop.
The screech of the tires against the pavement catches the girl’s attention and causes her to stop walking. She makes direct eye contact with me. She seems surprised to see me, but then her expression turns into what looks like anger. But perhaps more than anger. It’s unbridled rage.
She starts running toward the car. But I can’t move a muscle.