Under My Skin

35 | i do, ria

Chapter Thirty-Five:

"Indiya, you need to calm down!" Ria replied, "I can't understand what you're saying. Take a deep breath and speak slower!" Ria clutched the phone against her ear, desperately attempting to calm the sobbing cries of the older girl. "Tell me, what's happened to Blaine?"

"Blaine, he's in the hospital. He's... he's had a seizure." Indiya clamoured the words through ragged breaths as she struggled to stabilise her breathing. She felt like the air was suddenly too viscous to swallow, and she was drowning- not only in the rivulets of tears that were determined to continue flowing but also in the guilt that engulfed her. "It wasn't just a simple seizure. It was a prolonged seizure...we call it status epilepticus. If they couldn't terminate it on time, he could've had permanent brain damage from the lack of oxygen."

Ria allowed her body to hit the wall as she soaked in Indiya's words. Her body was too heavy to hold, as though the blood had been drained and substituted with thick concrete. "What...what do you mean, a seizure? He can't have had a seizure! He's not got epilepsy, has he?" But when Indiya didn't reply immediately, she continued, "answer me, Indiya!"

"No, I don't think so," she bawled out, "it wasn't epilepsy. It was because of drugs. Blaine took drugs about an hour ago. They think it wasn't a clean sample - it was a powdered form of cocaine and heroin. It can be lethal in that combination. He could've died, Ria."

"I'm coming. I'm coming to the hospital. Where is he? What ward?" She dashed to the door, ignoring her mother's concerned calls as she hurriedly jumped into her car, jamming her key into the ignition—the unsolved lies and mysteries of the day forgotten in her haste.

"Acorn B ward," Indiya answered.

Ria's hand scrambled to her mouth as she stabilised her breathing alongside Indiya's. She seated her hand on the steering wheel and watched as it shook like a leaf in the wind. "Why, Indiya? Why would he do that to himself?"

"I don't know." Indiya whimpered, "I really don't know. I wasn't part of the team taking care of him, so I don't know all the details. I'm sorry."

Ria sniffled, willing her tears to remain situated within her eye sockets. "You didn't quit med school then?"

The line remained silent for a few seconds, and Ria wondered if Indiya had hung up, "No. I didn't."

Ria moistened her lips with her tongue, grateful for the minor distraction. "Does that mean you've given some thought to counselling?" But this time, the line went dead before Ria had concluded her sentence.

She sighed as she finally turned on the ignition and drove to Heathfield's regional hospital.

She dashed through the hospital halls, surrounded by pacified cream walls. The sterile smell of alcohol rubbing gel felt ameliorating amid the sounds of patients retching and coughing on gurneys outside the emergency department. She shoved past hospital staff, all dressed identically and robotic in their countenances and movements. She wondered if Indiya had been within the weary bodies she'd pushed past. She wondered if she would have even recognised her within the doppelgangers of healthcare staff pacing the hallways.

She came across the intercom outside Acorn B word and pressed her index finger against the buzzer. Her infuriation at the lack of an instantaneous response made her continuously hold down the buzzer until the green light shined and the automatic door swung open. She all but raced to the receptionist, "Blaine Huerta. I'm here to see Blaine Huerta."

"Ria! He's here." The familiar young boy's voice declared from behind her, desolate of the excitement it had exhibited earlier at the football trial. Instead, replaced with anguish and despair. She felt his arms swing around her waist like an infant to its mother. "Blaine...he...he..." He stammered the words out reluctantly.