HAPPINESS - tobi brown

chapter 13

tobi

my heart is racing while i pace back and forth in the waiting room. after taytum dropped the bomb she fell into a slumber before i could even begin to ask questions.

she was taken into the ambulance with eilise as she would be more help in there than any of us. we all rushed to the hospital once the ambulance took off.

i had told the boys and eilise what she had told me and they were all shocked.

"tobi she will be alright." simon tries to reassure me. i haven't sat down this whole hour we've been here.

"i can't stop worrying about her." i say my voice strained.

the boys all look at me with sympathy. they know how much i like her.

"eilise did you know about her dad?" i ask, not accusingly but just wondering.

she shakes her head. "no i didn't know anything." she looks betrayed that her bestfriend didn't say anything to her about it.

i finally decide to take a seat next to jj. "she'll be okay man." he says smiling slightly at me. i know how close they had gotten.

"yeah i know." i nod trying to keep hopeful but can't help my mind from drifting off to what could happen.

we have now been sitting in the waiting room for another hour when the nurse comes in. "anyone for taytum williams?"

me, the boys and eilise all stand. i walk up to the nurse. she then nods. "follow me." she then takes us up to the ward that taytum got admitted to and leads us to a closed door.

all i can hear is my heart hammering rapidly against my rib cage. "is she alright?" i ask her.

"well taytum has suffered in great pain but thankfully the stab wound didn't hit any organs in the body." we all let out a breath we didn't know we were holding. "although it seems she has a severe concussion and a broken rib. she'll have to stay for the next couple of days so we can make sure nothing changes. if so she is allowed to go home but must be on bed rest and take it easy. if she does not take it easy there is a risk of her wound reopening."

we all take the nurses information in while nodding along to what she says. by what the nurse is saying taytum is okay. thank god. knowing this my heart rate seems to calm.

"can we see her now?" i ask once again. "ofcourse head on in, she's asleep due to the exhaustion her body's been through" she says while gesturing towards the brown door.

i hesitantly open the door and walk into the room first. my eyes start to well up at taytums state. bandage around her head. face badly bruised. i then notice bruises all over her arms that don't look fresh that i haven't noticed. how long has this been going on for?

i slowly walk to her bedside and hold her hand in mine. how did i not realise this was going on? i feel a pang of guilt rush over me.

i then look over to the rest of them and they are all looking at taytum with a guilty expression. i'm not the only one feeling like this.

they then fill up the sofa in the corner of the private hospital room. me and jj find ourselves in the seats next to her bedside. still holding her hand not wanting to let go.