Eli and Dylan sit on the couch together as I perch on the edge of the chair across from them. My hands rest openly over my knees as they bounce up and down. I nearly jump out of my skin when the door opens, and the doctor introduces himself.
“You’re Hayley Sawyer’s family?”
Eli rises. “Yes, we are. I’m her brother, Elijah. This is my wife, Dylan, and Hayley’s boyfriend, Wes.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances. I’m Dr. Miller. I am the physician who first saw your sister when she arrived.”
I quickly interject, “Look, I don’t want to be that guy, but I’m going to be that guy. Cut to it. What’s wrong with Hayley?”
“I understand you have a lot of questions, and I will do my best to answer them. When Hayley was admitted to the ER, she presented with low blood pressure and pulse, accompanied with an irregular heartbeat. We ran several blood tests so we could begin to assess how best to help her. We started her on intravenous fluids and that seemed to help her a great deal. After about an hour, she became awake enough to answer questions for us.”
“I’m sorry. You seem to be telling us something without telling us anything,” Dylan states. “Do you know what caused Hayley to pass out?”
“I’m fairly certain we do. The number of blood tests we ran seem to indicate severe deficits in many areas. She was also moderately dehydrated. Are any of you aware if Hayley has been diagnosed with an eating disorder?” Eli and I lock eyes. One of us has been with her every day of her life. She’d never. I’d have known. I’d have seen it. “I’m going to assume by the silence that would be no.”
“Why would you ask that question?” Eli asks.
“Well, Mr. Sawyer, looking at the blood work and after frank conversation with Hayley, she indicated that in the last few weeks she’s had an enormous amount of stress between work and personal life, and that she couldn’t tell us if she was consistent with her food intake. There are other indicators, but I’m not at liberty to fully discuss those without Miss Sawyer’s consent.”
“When can we see her?” Dylan asks.
“You may go in one or two at a time once our last evaluation is finished. I’d like to admit her, at least overnight, to see if we can regain control over some of her levels and get her to eat a bit. Does she have a strong support system at home?”
It takes a couple of attempts before I’m able to clear the cotton from my throat to answer him. “She lives with me. I haven’t been home as much lately, but she has all of us, her parents, and her friends.”
“She’s going to need all of you. She’s quite frightened right now, as you’d expect. I’m going to have someone from our psychiatric unit come and speak with you as well. They will be better at answering some of your questions than I am. Why don’t you stay here, and I will have one of the nurses come get you as soon as Hayley is ready.”
“Thank you, Dr. Miller.”
I hear Eli and Dylan talking to each other after the doctor leaves, but again I can’t recall a single word if my life depended on it. All I can do is rewind the doctor’s words about the stress on Hayley. She was bubbly, snarky, and generally happy before me. She would spend time with her friends, laugh with her family, be the life of everything.
Following behind the doctor’s words are Dylan’s. I need to be positive to help her, to support my best friend. If I can’t do that, I have no business being here.
I need to sort out my head for a minute, well, for more than a minute. I need to decide if it’s better for Hayley if I stay or go. “While we wait, I’m going to take a walk.”
“Remember my words, Mav. Got it?”
“You mean my words, right? Yeah, Viper, I got it.”
“Keep your phone handy,” Eli says. “I’ll text you the minute we can go in.”
I think I’m still nodding in response as I begin to wander the halls. Every part of my body is in knots, especially my gut. There is a raw burning sensation that’s taking over. I wish I had something to wash it all away. My mindless stroll ends up at the coffee and gift shop at the far end of the hospital. Right outside is the information desk and the other entrance doors. On the other side of that door is an escape. I’d give anything to be able to run away. I know in my heart I wouldn’t get past the parking lot.
Each time the doors open and close is like a gut check. Come on, Wes, you know you want to be out here. Finally, you’re sticking around. Be the man she thinks you are. The next time the door opens, a familiar face greets me. Colton slips his aviators off and hangs them off the neck of his shirt as he calls out to me.
“Shit, Mav. I got here as quickly as I could. How is she?”
I don’t know how to answer his question. Not only will my words not make sense, but I want to protect her privacy. “We got some preliminary stuff back. She’s still being fully evaluated. I needed a minute before I can go in, if I go in.”
“Whoa, wait. What the fuck do you mean if?”
“Just like I said, if I go. I think I’m part of the reason she’s here in the first place.”
Colton rubs across his chin with his hand as he scans our surroundings. His eyes narrow as he pushes my shoulder to turn me around. He points at a bench in front of a wall of windows overlooking a greenspace. “Sit your ass down.” Reluctantly, I follow his directions and plop myself down on the end facing the window. Colton slides on the bench next to me. We sit in silence for a few minutes until he tires of waiting. “Are you ever going to talk about it?”
“I don’t know what to say or where to begin.”
“Try the beginning. One thing I’ve learned from Ryles, don’t censor yourself. That’s a one-way ticket to lies. What’s going on?”
“Well, Wood, you and I are going to have more than just past entanglements in common. I’m going to be a father.”
“Wait, Hayley’s pregnant?”
“Fuck, if it were only that simple,” I reply. I think about that scenario in my head for a minute and it is simple. That would be something amazing. I want that with her. Shit. I want that with her.
“If you think that’s simple, maybe you need a bed upstairs.”
“Fuck you. No. You know what? Fuck me. That’s what this boils down to. The woman I was seeing on and off before I committed to Hayley is pregnant. She’s due in like seven weeks. I found out about two months ago.”
Colton stares out the window into the grass and bushes beyond the glass. His elbows rest on his knees with his hands folded between the gap of his legs. There is no shock, no beratement, not even an ounce of judgment. “It’s a hell of a thing when you hear those words out loud. You speed through every fucking thought imaginable. You’re sure it’s yours?”
“Yeah. Eli helped set up a test first thing. I intended to walk away from Hayley. I even did. She wouldn’t accept it.”
“They never do. They know better than we do. Do this woman and Hayley get along?”