Welcome to Paradise Chapter Ten- In the Waiting Room

Derek seemed to be at the end of his rope, and I didn't blame him, for I was feeling the same way. Trey had been taken to the ICU two hours before, and so far there had been no news on how he was doing. Derek kept pacing back and forth in the waiting room, while I sat in a chair, silently watching him. He seemed distracted, and I wasn't so sure he even knew I was on the same planet as him, much less in the same room. When people walked by the door, he would always freeze and stare it, and then continue pacing. I was worried about him, but I knew he'd be just fine when we knew Trey was okay. He had to be okay, as I kept telling myself. If he was dead, surely they would have told us by now. Derek huffed out a breath and slumped down into a chair next to me, bent forward, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. I frowned at him. "Derek?" I asked slowly. "Are you okay?" He didn't answer, which worried me further. Sighing, I returned my attention to the clock. The seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours...it just kept going. "Derek...?" I asked again. "Are you okay? Hey?" he still didn't answer, didn't seem to hear me. I frowned and looked at the door as footsteps echoed in the hall and then faded away in the distance. "Derek seriously...you're freaking me out. What's wrong?" I looked at him, praying that he wouldn't just ignore me. He sighed and slowly shook his head. "What's wrong with you?" I questioned. "Are you okay?" I frowned. "You're not hurt, are you?" he shook his head. "Then...?"

"It's Trey..." he murmured, and I nodded.

"He...he'll be okay..."

"God I hope so..." he mumbled. "You know...it's funny...I never thought he'd go down like this..." he slowly shook his head. "I never thought it would be a couple of bullets that got him...I mean, he's been shot before...never injured this badly, but shot before..." he sighed slowly. "God I hope he's okay..."

"...Never knew you two were so close," I said quietly.

He shrugged. "I've known him for a long time. We've stayed together, made it through the tough things. He's...he's my best friend...a brother to me..." he shook his head again. "If he dies..." he trailed off.

I frowned. "He won't die," I said. "He's Trey." he gave a small laugh.

"Yeah, he is," he said, nodding. "That he is."

"We have to have hope, right?"

"Yeah...we do..." he sighed heavily. "You know, when he went down, I..." he trailed off, chewing on his lower lip. I frowned at him, waiting for him to continue at his own pace. "I was in shock...I didn't know what to do...I thought he was dead...just like that, gone..." he took in a shaky breath. "I couldn't think..."

"Me neither," I said. "It was a shock."

"But he was alive...but why won't those stupid doctors tell us anything? We've been here for two hours! Surely they know something by now..." he swallowed. "Unless he's dead and they just don't want to tell us. I knew I should have gone with him..."

I looked at him. "You couldn't have gone with him," I said. "He went to the ICU; you weren't allowed to be with him."

He sighed. "I know, but I don't trust them. What if they didn't even try to help him? What if they just let him die, and they're trying to make it look like they tried to save him? They don't care what happens to us; we're just monsters. They don't think we have feelings or feel pain or anything...we're just monsters...but that's not true."

I frowned. He was making sense somehow. The doctors hadn't seemed all that worried about Trey's condition; they had just taken him and walked away. They hadn't even walked fast; it was more of a slow walk. Damn it, why had we left him alone with them? I didn't trust them at all. But it was too late to do anything about it now, which completely sucked.

"We feel just like everyone else..." Derek whispered.

"Yeah..." I said.

Derek sighed and shook his head slowly. "I just hope they're actually helping him..."

"Me too," I agreed.

The door to the waiting room suddenly opened, and Derek looked up. I could see the dread in his eyes, though he was trying to hide it. A nurse with long brown hair and light green eyes walked into the room and looked at us. "I'm sorry," she said, and my stomach knotted. "It's past visiting hours," she continued, and I let out a breath. "So you'll have to go home."

"What?!" asked Derek as he jumped to his feet. "But we haven't even done any visiting yet!"

"I'm sorry, but you have to leave now." she began ushering us out of the room.

"But...can't you at least tell me how he is?" Derek asked, his eyes pleading.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't know who you're here for."

"Trey-"

"The monster?" she asked.

I growled. "He's not a monster."

"I don't know anything about him. As far as I know, he's still in surgery. One of the bullets was lodged in his spine, and they're having trouble getting it out. That was an hour ago, though. But right now you have to leave."

"But...but..." said Derek.

"No buts," she said, leading us out of the hospital. "You have to leave now. You can come back tomorrow."

We were forced to leave the hospital, and leave Trey behind.