She hurried out the door.
***
Flynn and his uncle, April, Sandra, and the rest of his family all waited in the family waiting room along with Maven. Never had he seen so many people pace at one time. He wasn’t able to pace, he was plastered to the wall, his heart crashing against his insides to the point he was hurting. He did everything he could not to think about it, because when he did his airway ceased and he felt his legs turning to rubber.
He couldn’t get Henri’s image out of his mind. He wasn’t resting at the bottom of the hill because of his heart, someone had put him there. Someone had purposely hurt him. And he feared he knew who that someone was. Jake Summit.
The speakers echoed the name of some doctor. The television flashed and sent the morning news into the waiting room. Flynn closed his eyes, concentrating on his breathing. His mother’s sobbing was becoming too much.
Maven had shown up and given her support and kind words to all of them and Flynn did his best to talk to her but the stress was too much and his manners went out the window. She understood and he found her sleeping in a chair by the window. He had been kind enough to take off and find a hospital blanket and put it over her.
The doctor walked into the room. All eyes were on him and all pacing slowed or died down altogether.
***
Jake reached into the mailbox pulling out some bills and a sports illustrated magazine. He looked over his shoulder at Arnold approaching.
“Jake. I need to talk to you.”
Jake sighed, tossing the mail on the porch steps. He took a seat, resting his arms against the basketball shorts he was wearing. “What’s up, Arnold?” His voice coming across a bit bored.
“You know my sister Ray-Ann works as a candy striper at the hospital right?” Arnold fidgeted with the sleeve of his gray hoodie. He sat down beside Jake. “She said Henri was brought into the hospital this morning.”
Jake offered no words. So Arnold continued. “You think he will say anything?”
Jake shifted apprehensively “I don’t know.” A sudden flow of anxiety coupled with paranoia overwhelmed him. He hadn’t reported the incident like he promised Arnold he would. He hoped for the worst to happen to Henri before they even found him. He knew it was a sick thing to hope for, but he was left with no alternative.
Arnold shook his bangs from his eyes, he looked at Jake. “This isn’t good for you.”
“What do you mean me, Arnold?” Jake laughed it off. “It was a drunken mistake. I barely hit him.”
“I mean you. If Henri remembers what happened he knows I was trying to help him. You’re in deep shit. Maybe it’s time for you to realize that.”
Jake scoffed.
“You might want to tell someone what you did.” Arnold stood up. “Because the way I see it, even if nobody ever knows what you did, Jake, his family will.”
Jake picked the mail up from the stairs. “You think I’m afraid of Flynn?”
Arnold shrugged. Flynn was older than he was so he didn’t know a whole lot about him, but he was passionate when it came to his family he knew that much. “I’ve got to go.”
***
Flynn interlocked his fingers. Leaning forward in the chair he was offered. They wanted to talk to the entire family. His knee jerked relentlessly as he stared at the doctor.
He thought it was best if they let Maven sleep. He would fill her in later.
“Right now things don’t look as severe as we initially thought. Henri has a small amount of bleeding on the brain, nothing horrendous, some scrapes and contusions.” The foreign gray haired doctor rattled. He moved his gaze from one to the next, never making it personal. “The heart…it’s doing what we expect it to be doing for someone in his stage of failure.” Flynn’s eyes narrowed. Suddenly the man’s language was so foreign he barely made sense. He wasn’t about to admit it wasn’t his language at all that it was his emotions getting the best of him.
“Can you speak English? Dammit, don’t they have any American doctors around here?” Flynn jumped up. The doctor glanced at him and away, he cleared his throat.
“The body is weak. His heart, the pacemaker, it’s doing the best it can. But soon we are going to have to connect Henri to a device that keeps his heart pushing along until we can do something else.”
His mother raised an eyebrow. “But the surgery…it’s on Monday.”
The doctor sanded his hands together, an uptight expression flooding his features. “The body is weak…the injury to the head, the cuts and scrapes, have started an infection. We have to deal with the immune system before we can offer him that option. Right now Henri is not an ideal candidate for treatment.”
Flynn groaned, slapping his hand to his forehead, out of breath. His mother dropped her head. All the hope seemed to sail right out of the room.
“Henri is awake. One visitor at a time.” The doctor stood, he shook Flynn’s fathers hand and Doug’s and quickly exited.
Sandra burst into tears. April’s eyes darted back and forth between her mother and her father and her brother. She was close to losing it. She bit at her nail, barely holding her own tears back. Her mouth was dry, she was sick to her stomach. She didn’t know what to say. She looked at her aunt, Henri’s mother; she was motionless, just staring out the window.
“That’s it?” Flynn said, cutting into everyone’s sadness. “What now?”
“They are going to fight the infection, Flynn. Doctors won’t make another move without an absolute certainty that his body can handle it.”
“He said heart failure… there is no time to wait.” Flynn exhaled, his words catching in his throat. “What happens if the infection doesn’t go away?” He already knew the answer.
Janet stood, coming over to her son, his entire body trembling more than she had ever seen before. He looked like he was ready to run from the room. She wrapped her arms around him, but he was oblivious, his arms stiff and rigid and staying at his sides.
“Let’s take this one step at a time.” She closed her eyes, her face pressed against his chest. “Go see him. Talk to him, let him know you’re here for him.”
***
Henri opened his eyes, staring at the IV in his arm. He was happy to see the hospital for once in his life, but he was so tired and groggy he couldn’t stand to have his eyes open longer than a couple minutes at a time.
The machines continued their racket. Henri closed his eyes again. He could see her, Maven, her smile, her soft blonde hair. He could smell her.
Flynn tapped on the door, interrupting his moment. “Care for a visitor?”
Henri opened his eyes, smiling as best as he could. He tried to speak, but Flynn shushed him. He pulled up the blue chair beside the bed, resting his hands on the side of Henri’s bed.
“You had everyone worried.” Flynn’s eyes hid the misery he felt on the inside. He told himself to hold it together, not to cry in front of him.
Henri cracked an even bigger smile. His eyes dull and lacking that brilliance that once filled them whenever him and Flynn carried on a conversation.
“I had me worried,” he said slowly, his voice gruff and unrecognizable. The machine wheezed, catching Flynn off guard.
“What happened?” Flynn raised an eyebrow, leaning closer. Henri’s eyes shut and he turned away. “I could guess. I always knew what you were thinking when we were kids.” He took a breath. “I know you were on your way home. I am guessing you ran into somebody on the way.”
Henri lifted a hand flashing a thumbs up sign. But he didn’t look at Flynn.
“My guess is Jake Summit.” Flynn crossed his arms, sitting back in the chair. Henri turned his hand downward. Flynn raised his eyebrows confused. He swore it was Jake Summit, who else would hurt Henri in Portwood? But there he sat staring at a thumbs down anyway.