Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
MELINDA
Same shit, different day. Just once I’d like the day to be different, not the same work, university, work, university, sleep routine I had going on. That’s what I told myself when I had to deal with working with Cindy. I just hoped she would leave soon.
I looked at Leah as we hid in the kitchen with Dave, Cindy was on a rampage. “How long do you think we can hide here for?” I whispered to Leah.
“How long is left of the shift?” Leah asked, looking around the kitchen for the clock.
“Half an hour,” I mumbled.
“I mean if we stay not busy then yeah we can hide,” Dave said. “Also what are we hiding for?”
I looked at Dave and chuckled a little.
I loved the fact that he had no idea why we were hiding but he was willing to hide with us.
“So, her favourite customer came in. You know, the one she has a crush on and is slightly obsessed with? He didn’t want Cindy to serve him, so we hid him in the booth on the opposite end of the diner where Cindy doesn’t go. ”
“Ah,” Dave said with a nod. “So, that’s what the slam on the counter was for. Poor guy getting her attention.”
“Where are you, dickheads?” I heard Cindy ask as she entered the kitchen. “One of you needs to go and unblock the toilet.”
Dave looked at us and stood up. “Whatever happened to hello?” He asked, pulling out some cans next to us. “As much as I would love to clean and unblock the loos, I’m cooking.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” she said. “Where did the useless girls go?”
“Were they not serving customers?” Dave asked with a frown.
“If I had seen them I’d be talking to them right now and not you,” she said, sounding irritated. “If you see them, tell them Melinda needs to unblock the toilet. It’s all she’s good for.”
I rolled my eyes.
I’d love to know why Cindy hated me so much.
I let out a yawn covering my mouth. I was wilting away.
It was not a good idea to pull an all-nighter.
So for the next half an hour Leah and I stayed hiding under the counter talking quietly until our shift was over.
As soon as it was, Leah and I crawled out underneath and walked to the staff room as we pushed open the door.
Cindy stood there with her hands folded over her chest.
“Where have you been?” She snapped.
“We were sorting the bins out.” Leah lied looking at Cindy. “It looked like some drunk students decided to go dumpster diving. I figured Daisy would prefer to not have to pay for a rat or mouse exterminator.”
“Oh,” Cindy said. “Thank you for that. I didn’t even think of checking outside.”
“You’re welcome. Anyway, we’ve got a class to get to,” Leah said.
We grabbed our stuff together and walked out of Daisy’s and headed up the short path towards the university. “The way you lied was so effortless. I’m impressed.”
“Aw, that’s sweet,” Leah chuckled. “I can’t believe she brought that bullshit.”
I laughed a little. “When are you back on shift?”
“Erm, in two days I think. What about you?” Leah asked.
“Tomorrow,” I said. “I have a twelve-hour shift.”
“Girl, I don’t know how you keep on top of everything. Well, I have to go or I’m going to be late. Again.”
I chuckled a little before I headed to my lecture and went straight into the classroom sitting down.
I rested my head on the desk, dragging myself into work and university on zero to no sleep was not my brightest idea, but alas I didn’t want to fall behind with my work at university because once you fell behind it was like walking up a down escalator when trying to catch up.
I was fighting a losing battle, so I didn’t want to add catching up on university work to my already hectic schedule.
The question was: could I keep my eyes open for the remainder of this lecture?
I felt a tap on my hand lifting my head. I saw Alex and Megan looked at me concerned.
“You don’t look good, are you okay?” Alex asked softly.
“I’m tired,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.
“Mel, you are wearing yourself thin,” Megan said. “You need to slow down and take a break. The world isn’t going to go to hell if you don’t go to work.”
The world might not go to hell but the debt in my name won’t stop gaining interest.
A number flashed onto my phone that I didn’t recognise, reaching for my phone answering it as I left the classroom. “Hello.”
“Is this Melinda Brown?” A woman asked.
“Yes, can I ask who is calling?”
“Ma’am, I’m calling from the hospital. Your mother is here. She passed out hitting her head. You are listed as next of kin,” she said.
My heart dropped. “Is my mother okay?” My finger itched the inside of my thumb as I waited for a response.
“The doctor will update you when you arrive at the hospital, Miss Brown,” she said.
“I’ll be there soon, thanks,” I said. I ended the call walking back into the classroom. I picked up my books, throwing them into my bag.
“You okay?”
“My mum has been taken to hospital,” I said. I looked around the table making sure I had everything I needed. “I need to go.”I left the classroom hitting the button for the lift, looking up at the floor numbers it seemed to be taking forever.
I hit the button again. “Come on. Come on.”
The doors finally opened. I stepped in hitting the close button a few times, before they shut Alex stepped in just as the door closed behind him. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Shouldn’t you be in the lecture?”
“Do you want a lift to the hospital?” He asked, ignoring my question.
I looked at him hesitantly, it was easier to get a lift to the hospital that was for sure. I bit my lip looking at him and nodded slowly. “Okay. Thank you.”
The doors dung open, and I followed him out the university heading over to a black BMW.
He unlocked the car, opening up the passenger door.
I climbed in and put my seatbelt on, immediately placing my bags on the floor next to my feet.
Alex got into the car putting his belt on and he drove us to the hospital.
I tapped my feet impatiently, as I tapped the side of the passenger door.
It felt like we were driving at 10 miles per hour, not the speed limit which I was pretty sure Alex was pushing right now.
I looked to see Alex watching me out of the corner of my eye. “What?”
“You work too hard,” he said.
“I don’t have a choice,” I admitted.
We pulled up at the hospital.
I climbed out of the car, grabbing my bag. I ducked down to look at Alex again. “Thank you for giving me the lift. It means a lot.”
“You’re welcome, Melinda. Call me if you need me to pick you up.”
“I don’t have your number,” I said.
He held his hand out. I placed my phone in the palm of his hand and he inputted his number, and I heard his phone beep not a moment later and knew he must have texted himself, so he had my number. “There, now you do. Make sure you use it. I hope your mum is okay.”
“Thanks.”
I shut the car door making my way through the hospital to reception, once I got the information for what ward she was on I made my way there. “Excuse me, can you tell me what room my mother, Elena Brown, is in?” I asked the nurse.
“Follow me lovely,” she said.
I followed her into a bay with three other people and my mother in. I walked over to my mum kissing her head, “Oh, mum,” I mumbled. I sat down in the chair next to her just watching as she slept.
“Miss Brown?” I looked up to see the doctor, I stood up looking at him. “My name is Doctor Blaze. I’m your mother’s consultant.”
“What happened? Is she okay?” I tried to take a breath to calm down.
“She was brought in as she passed out at work and hit her head. She has a mild concussion and is very dehydrated.”
“Concussion?”
“Yes, so we would like to keep her overnight to keep an eye on her for the time being. Do you know if your mother is experiencing any stress?” He asked.
I stared at him trying to think of anything she had mentioned. The one thing I could think of was the arguments in the house. I didn’t think that would have anything to do with it. “I don’t think so.”
“I suspect your mother is going to spend a lot of time sleeping. If you want to leave your number with the nurse, we’ll call you with any updates or changes,” he said softly.
I looked at him. “I don’t want to leave her,” I said.
“She’s going to be sleeping,” he said.
I nodded.
I walked over to the bed looking at the machine. All of her stats seemed good. I guess that was one good thing.
I brushed her hair away from her face, she looked so peaceful like this. I bent down pressing a kiss to her head. “I love you.”
I sat in the chair next to her just watching, I know the doctor said I should go, but I needed to see her. She was okay. She was alive.
A metal IV stood next to the bed with saline bags hooked to it as the wire led into her hand. The smell of anti-bacterial filled my nose. All I could hear was the hospital intercom buzzing with doctors and nurses being paged and the beeping of the machines.
I let out a sob as tears fell, closing my eyes as light headedness surged through me. I gasped for air holding my arm. I needed to get out of here.
I rushed out of the hospital sitting on the bench pulling my coat tighter as the cold air hit me. I took a breath, enjoying the coolness and watching the cars go by, it felt peaceful. Far more peaceful than I felt.
“You okay?” I looked to see Alex sitting down next to me.
I looked at him, lowering my eyebrows. “What are you doing here?”
“I never left,” he admitted.
My heart stopped a little when he said he had stayed. nobody had really stayed. I was so used to people walking away.
“I was worried about you. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
I pressed my lips together and shook my head trying to keep my tears from falling. “I’m not okay,” I whispered.
He reached over, squeezing my hand and I felt a tear slide down my cheek.
I hated crying. It made me feel weak that I couldn’t control my emotions. “You weren’t in the hospital very long. Is she okay? Is she—”
“Alive? Yeah.” I nodded. “They said she has a concussion so they want to keep her overnight.”
“That’s good, though. The hospital is the best place for your mum.”
I nodded. I knew that. A blast of cold air caused a shiver.
“Let’s get you out of the cold. Let me take you home.”
“I need to give the receptionist my number, so they can update me when she’s awake,” I said.
“I’ll go,” he said softly. He left me on the bench, and I continued to watch the cars drive past. Something about it was calming.
“Let’s get you home,” he said.
I took his hand, and he led me to his car. I noticed he had parked in a loading zone.
I stared at him. “You’re going to get fined for parking here.”
He shook his head. “No, I won’t.”
He opened the passenger door.
I got in, putting my seatbelt on and placing my bag at my feet.
He got in the car putting his belt on and began to drive. “Where’s home?”
I reeled off my address, and he inputted it into the satnav. I reached for the seatbelt, clipping myself in. And the drive began. My hand found my hair and began to twist it out of nervousness.
She would be okay. She had to be right? The doctors didn’t sound too concerned. That meant it was good, right?
“Melinda.”
I shook my head snapping out of my thoughts turning to look at Alex. “She is in the best place for her health.”
“I know,” I mumbled.
“Connect your phone to the car,” he said.
I tilted my head to the side as my eyebrows scrunched together. “Why?”
“You need a distraction, and I want to see what your music taste is like,” he said with a shrug.
I nodded and went to work on connecting my phone to the car, almost immediately Kelsea Ballerini blared through the speakers. I reached over, turning the volume down. “How loud?”
He laughed. “It’s a two-person karaoke party. So, country music is your favourite?”
I shook my head. “Nope. It’s basically whatever pickles my fancy at the time. I have a mixture of Disney, pop, rap, R&B, anything really. My music is on shuffle, so you will get a wide variety of randomness.”
“What’s your favourite song?”
I bit my lip. “Okay, so, it has to be What Dreams Are Made of by Hilary Duff, what’s yours?”
“Not Afraid by Eminem,” he said. “Death row meal.”
“Death row?” I raised an eyebrow. “What crime did I commit?”
“I don’t know. Whatever you want to have committed.” He laughed.
“Wait, we don’t even have death row in this country, so unless I’m going home, well back to America,” I said. “I think I’d like to have gone on a robbery spree.”
“So, banks?”
“No. Bingo halls.”
“Huh?”
“Bingo halls have a lot of money in them. Think about how much people pay, and how much the bingo halls pay out. You have the little tabletop games, they probably bring in so much money too,” I said pointedly. “So, I’d rob bingo halls. They don’t have a lot of security”
“You’ve thought about it a lot. I guess I know who I will be keeping an eye on if there are any reports of bingo hall theft.”
I laughed. “Death row meal would be samosas, chicken curry and rice, with a side of mashed potatoes. Ugh, I love mashed potatoes. Oh, and stuffing!”
“What a mix.”
“Yours?”
“McDonald’s, just something about that Big Mac sauce.” He laughed.
I smiled. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“This. I mean, I don’t even know you that well, and you’re helping me,” I said.
“My parents always told me that if you can help people then you should. It’s our duty to help people,” he said.
“You’re helping me out of duty?”
“No. I’m doing it because I like you.”
“Your mum sounds like a smart woman,” I said, finally putting him out of his misery instead of slightly teasing him.
“Many say so.” He smiled. “Did I say how sorry I am for the way I treated you?”
“Nobody has ever scolded you, have they?” I couldn’t keep the grin off my face.
“Do my parents count?”
“No, everyone gets scolded by their parents,” I rolled my eyes.
I looked out the window, the roads weren’t terribly busy although I guess it wasn’t too bad when it was mid afternoon.
I wasn’t sure if I would like to drive. For the rest of the drive we spent playing a version of twenty questions and for once I was glad Alex was there because it was the perfect distraction from worrying about my mum.