Wednesday September 22nd, 2010. Night.
The Hospital
The interior of this hospital looked a whole lot more appealing than that of the exterior. Every single wall had been painted a light, lime green color with a darker green border. The floors were made of pure white stone, and waxed to perfection. Across from the main entranceway was a wide wall, with two doors on each side. Directly in between the doors stood the Secretary's desk. To the right, in the corner was a waiting area complete with two couches, in the front, and four padded chairs across from them. The left side was just the restroom.
Randy approached the woman, who was a tan skinned red headed girl. Her face was very similar to that of a cute mouse. She had a button nose, freckles all over her face and her lips were thin. She smiled at them and asked what every secretary usually asked. Her dark green eyes poured into Randy's own as she began to speak. "What is your business here?" Her voice sounded very light with a hint of a New Jersey accent. "My mother was checked into this hospital a while ago, apparently. I was wondering if you knew where her room is." "Of course, just let me ask a few questions first, okay?" Randy groaned, rolling his eyes in return. Kolleen grabbed his arm and nodded at the girl.
"Okay, what is your name?" She had already withdrawn a clipboard, and crossed her legs. The end of the pen rested on the edge of her lips as she waited for the answer. He didn't catch the slight anger emerging on Kolleen's face, but it was burning a bit. Her hand began to tighten around his, and then he knew. "My name is Randy Rodriguez, her name is Kolleen Sparks. She's a really good friend of mine and the one who told me about my mom being here." The girl jotted this information down on the clipboard and asked another question.
"What is your mother's name?" "Diana Rodriguez; I'm unsure of her maiden name since she rarely spoke about her family." The girl nodded, putting this information down as well. "Alright, I just have one last question." She stood up, allowing her hair to fall down past her shoulders, leaning in to take in all of Randy's features. Kolleen gripped even harder, making him wince a bit. "What's the matter?" The girl asked. Randy read the name tag on her shirt, it said: Kimberly Yasmin. At this point he wanted to test Kolleen to see how jealous she would get. He leaned in towards her making it so they were only a few inches apart.
"That's a nice name, Kimberly," he said. She smiled at him; her teeth were covered with braces. "I see you're getting your teeth…" Randy began. "Yes, I'm getting my teeth straightened. My family couldn't afford a dentist so I had to pay for them on my own." Randy nodded, backing off a bit. "May I ask you something, personal?" Kimberly said. "That depends, what do you want to know?" Kimberly backed off, crossing her arms. She had been chewing on her tongue for a while now, which began to annoy both Randy and Kolleen, who at this point was growing angrier.
"Are you of any relation to Patrick and Robert Rodriguez?" He, at the moment, had been taken aback. "How do you know about them? Are you a wrestling fan?" Kimberly smiled again and nodded. "How long have you been a fan?" She shrugged, "I dunno, it's been a little while since I've seen a live show. I would say ever since I was a little girl; five or six maybe." "Five or six?! Good God, I've been watching wrestling since I was a toddler. It's been in my family for a couple generations." "I can tell! You look just like your father and a tiny bit like your grandfather."
"Right, can we see Mrs. Rodriguez now?!" Kolleen was growing more upset by the second. There was a hint of annoyance in her voice. He turned towards her, quickly noticing the redness on her face. "Come on Kol, you're not jealous are you?" he tried to keep his voice at a whisper. "Of course I'm not! What do you think I am? A possessive freak?" Her eyes were wide open, and mouth agape. He leaned back, crossing his arms now. A tiny smirk formed on his face, which threw her through a ringer. "What on earth are you smiling about?" Her hands were on her hips now. Randy loved when she got this way. "Come with me," he said, pulling her over towards the waiting area. Kimberly stuck her head over her desk and hollered over a bit.
"Your mother is in room 204 B. It's on the second floor. You can visit her momentarily; I'll get the doctor to take you up there." Randy nodded back towards her, waving as he did so. He then sat down on the farthest chair next to the window, and pulled Kolleen over onto his lap. She groaned then did as he asked and sat down. She was very light, gracefully laying on him like a feather. Once she was settled, he held onto both hands then looked at her. She had her head turned, eyes staring at the floor. "Kol, please look at me." He saw a single tear drop off her face, followed with a tiny sniff. "Kol, I only did that to see if you'd get jealous. I would never go to any other girl; you're the only one for me. Don't you see that?"
"H-how is that possible when y-you d-d-do things like that?" Randy's heart ached at the sound of her crying. "God Kolleen, I didn't know you'd get so upset over this… I-I'm sorry." He dropped his head, watching her fingers move in his hands. She was listening, he knew she was anyways. "Please, look at me Kol." He pulled her face towards his by her chin. The wet blue eyes that gazed back was enough to make him upset. "I'm sorry, I really am. I care for you too much to see you like this." He wiped the tears from her eyes. She grabbed a hold of his hand, with her own shaky ones, and then kissed the tips of his fingers.
Heat rushed through his arm, filling his body with instant warmth. Kimberly stuck her head out from behind the desk again, breaking their moment into tiny pieces. "Doctor Farber will be out momentarily to bring you up to your mother's room." "Umm, thanks," Randy said. His voice was very shaky now; Kolleen caught this and giggled., jarring his attention back towards her, noticing the bright smile. "That's the happy Kolleen that I've come to know," He whispered to her. Just then the closest door near them opened and an average sized man entered the waiting room.
His skin was dark brown and he had dark brown eyes. His hair was made into cornrows and was as black as coal with a goatee as well. Doctor Farber's cheeks were thick, and he had average sized lips and his nose was very wide at the end. He was wearing a doctor's coat, along with a filtering mask and a stethoscope around his neck. "Hello, are you Randy Rodriguez?" Randy allowed Kolleen to stand up, and then held her hand. He greeted Dr. Farber with a smile. "Yes sir, that's me and this is my girl… good friend, Kolleen Sparks." "It is very nice to finally meet you sir." "Please, call me Randy." He did not realize that Kolleen had a mixture of confusion and happiness etched into her face. Did he just call me his girlfriend? she thought. She sneaked a quick grin at her feet before turning her attention back to the doctor.
"Right then, call me Anthony," Doctor Farber replied. "Okay Anthony… Where's my mom?" This time he didn't see any light in the man's eyes. In fact, he saw sorrow. "What's the matter?" "Come with me, there's much to explain. Miss Sparks can come too." He held the door open for the two to enter. The hall was relatively peaceful; it was painted the same colors as the waiting room. At the very end of the hall it split into two pathways. "I'm going to take you two to the elevator, and I'll point you to the room. I'll be with you in a few moments; there's something I have to address first," Anthony stated.
Randy nodded at him, giving him the go to continue. The entire time, Anthony was silent, only muttering to himself. Kolleen reached out for her man's hand again. He felt it touching his so immediately, he grasped tightly onto hers. Not too tight to hurt her, he just did it to tell her that he was scared. "Step inside please," Anthony said, extending his arm to stop the elevator doors. They both entered as instructed.
Anthony stepped inside afterwards and punched the second floor button. Randy's heart was beating so hard that he felt it in his throat. He continued to look at his feet. "You'll be okay," Kolleen assured him, whispering in his ear. He looked over slightly, slowly twitching the left side of his mouth to a painful smile.
She squeezed his hand and shook his arm, making him look even more at her. He couldn't stay depressed when her bright smile met his eyes. "You're so amazing," he told her. "You are too!" The elevator clanged to a hard stop and then the doors slid open. The upstairs mimicked that of the downstairs, right down to the walls, floors and door spacing. The only major difference was the fact that there was a nurse's station set up directly in the center. A circular arrangement of counter tops, made up this section. There were three nurses on duty at the moment, all of which were sitting and staring at their computers.
Anthony walked up to the counter and cleared his throat. The nearest nurse, a white woman with black hair, green eyes and shallow cheeks stood up. She was very tall for a woman, easily towering over the doctor. "What is it Doctor Farber?" Her voice sounded so familiar to Randy. "Mr. Rodriguez and his friend Miss Sparks are here to see his mother. What is her room again?" "She's staying at room 204B." "Thank you very much Penny." She nodded back then turned her attention towards Randy. He gave her a return glance, and for a split second their eyes locked onto each other.
Their gaze was shattered once Anthony walked between them to lead them down the hall. They took a right from the desk and then an immediate left. When the receptionist desk was out of sight, Anthony spoke up. "Nurse Penny has been a very good asset to this hospital. It's a shame that she and I are being transferred soon." Almost every door was open on this hall, and again they were spaced five feet apart. "Where are you two being shipped off to?" Randy asked. Anthony continued to walk in silence for a couple seconds; clearly he was thinking of the new hospital. They passed rooms 198A, 199A and then 200A. "Where's room 204B?" Kolleen inquired.
"First off, to answer Randy's question. Nurse Penny and I are being shipped off to the hospital about ten miles downtown from here. It's a very big building and it is a promotion to say the least. The name of the hospital is the, UC San Diego Medical Center. As to your question, Miss Sparks, It is the last room on the left here." Sure enough, resting at the very end of the hall, near a window was room: 204B. "I'll be back in a little while with the details of your mother's health. Just relax and spend some time with her." Anthony left them at the door, still holding hands. "Well, we better get to it then," he muttered. Kolleen nodded, and both of them waited apprehensively as he opened the door.