Effortless

The ride to the hospital was surreal. They let me ride in the ambulance with him while the others drove behind us. I was panicking, so I kept asking the paramedics questions. One of them had me sit on the bench and spoke to me calmly while the other one attended to Eli. She told me that they were handling it but could not do what they needed to do if I was in their way.

I listened. They needed to focus on Eli and make sure that he was okay. I watched as one put an oxygen mask on his face while the other wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his arm. They were speaking in medical terms, so I had no clue what was going on and whether it was a good or a bad thing.

Then she hastily but carefully stuck an IV into his arm and I flinched at the sight. The other paramedic was asking him all types of basic questions. He was talking to Eli as if he was able to speak coherently, but he wasn't. Though, he did react faintly to his words. They told me that was a good thing.

He vomited and I assumed it was a good thing. That meant that his body was trying to get rid of the toxins. However, it did not seem to give the paramedics as much hope as it gave me so I could have been completely wrong.

The paramedic faced me and in a calming tone she said, "He's stable for now."

I felt my chest tighten. "For now?"

"We're monitoring him closely, but don't worry. He's in good hands."

They told me I could try talking to him too, that it could be good for him to know I was there. I did talk to him. I told him that everything would be okay and that I wouldn't leave his side. I thought he wasn't listening to me at first. So much was going on so speaking to him felt a bit pointless. I was about to stop, but then his head turned toward me slightly and his arm attempted to reach for his neck. He did not end up touching it, but it looked like he was trying to reach for the necklace I gave him. Seeing that helped me relax some because it was proof that he was still there.

When we finally arrived at the hospital they rushed him out and took me into the waiting area. Ricky and Kailey got there five minutes after I did and I was bombarded with questions. There were so many questions that I didn't have the answers to. He was stable in the ambulance and that was the last thing I knew.

The hospital was incredibly busy for whatever reason so I knew that would play a factor in how long we had to wait. It had only been an hour but it felt like it had been ten. Me, Ricky, and Kailey had been waiting impatiently. The doctors hadn't given an update and I wasn't sure that they would since none of us are related to Eli.

I felt like I was losing my mind and I could not sit still any longer. I spotted a water dispenser down the hallway and that was where my legs were taking me. My throat had felt dry for the past hour from the nerves. I took one of the paper cups and filled it up with water and then shakily put it to my lips.

When I turned around I found Ricky behind me. He gave a weak smile before he reached for the paper cups and filled one up for himself. We stood there simultaneously sipping from our cups of water.

Ricky let out a shaky breath. "You know he's gonna be just fine, right? We can't get immediate updates because we aren't his family."

I nodded even though the little voice in the back of my head was thinking the worst.

Ricky downed the rest of the water and then filled it back up like he hadn't drunk anything in days. The fear in his eyes was obvious when he looked at me.

"You have no idea how thankful I am for you, dude." His laugh was sad and his grip on his cup tightened. "Seriously, you have no idea how much good your literal presence does for him. You genuinely care about him and everyone can see it. Including Eli, even though he acts oblivious sometimes."