Page 78 of Georgia: Britain's Story: Part 1
“Any chance I could get a pair of scrubs or something else to wear? Umm, just some bad memories.”
“Yeah, let me go grab some for you. Be right back, okay?”
“Great, thank you.”
Alex pops in as Jen leaves. “If you could eat anything in the world right now, what would it be?”
“In-N-Out,” I say.
“Done. I’ll be right out here if you need me, okay? I’m going to send ‘you know who’ in.”
“Okay.”Shit.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Matthias
I’ve been in the hospital waiting room for seven hours now. I keep hoping it’ll be my turn next, and even though I was the first person here this morning, it hasn’t happened yet. I was here last night, too, but since she didn’t have a room yet, I wasn’t allowed in. It’s also not like I’m next of kin or anything, just some ex-boyfriend from her youth. She probably barely remembers me, or if she does, she probably wouldn’t want to see me. But here I am anyway, desperate, hoping to see her.
Alex walks out of her room, coming back down the hall, giving me the nod. I’m on my feet instantly, heading the direction he just came.Finally. I pause when Alex calls out to someone behind me.
“Hey, man. Glad you could make it,” Alex says.
“Where is she?” the new guy asks.
“Room 304.” Alex turns back to me. “Matthias, think you could give him a minute to go first?”Who the fuck is this guy?
“Uh, sure. Why not?” What’s another hour?Just 17 years, plus another hour.Britain’s nurse rounds the corner as she’s getting ready to enter the room.
“Hold your horses, buddy,” she says to the new guy. “I need to get her changed. No visitors right now, okay?”
New guy is flustered by this. “I need to see my wife,right now.”Oh. The nurse's eyes go wide, same as mine. She just takes a step back and motions with her hand for him to enter, then heads back to her station to wait. So that’s Damian Scott, huh? Lucky bastard, should’ve been me.
By the time I finally tracked Britain down, she was married, with her second child on the way. It was hard to stomach the thought of some faceless man with her, but seeing him now only makes my blood boil. I’m still jealous.Pathetic.
I sit back down and Alex silently joins me, again.
“You know I wanted to kill you back then? For what you did to her.” This is the first time he’s spoken to me all day.
“You weren’t the only one. I wasn’t too big a fan of myself either. I’ve spent a lot of years regretting it, hating myself. Whatever you felt towards me, I bet I’ve already felt it towards myself. Ten fold.” Alex seems like the type to understand self-loathing. He just nods in consensus.
Damian’s already back out of her room, looking distraught. He runs a hand through his reddish hair before coming over to Alex and myself.
“I think I’m just gonna take her straight to the airport from here, take her home. The jet’s waiting. There’s no sense in prolonging this disaster any more.” Alex doesn’t immediately respond, just sits there thinking.
“I wouldn’t exactly call what she has back there ‘home,’ would you?” Alex finally responds.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Damian asks.
Alex just scoffs. “Why the fuck do you think it’d be a good idea to take her back to an empty, 6,000-square-foot house and leave her all alone? She’s just experienced a couple pretty traumatic events. She needs a couple nights sleep and a couple decent meals, surrounded by people who love her before I’ll feel comfortable sending her back there. What? Are you and your assistant going to come do a sleepover with her?”
“Fuck you, Alex. You haven’t even been around the last decade. Don’t try and pretend like you care. I’m still her husband, and I think she should come home with me.”
“And I’d say you fucking surrendered that title when you left her for your EA. So, no,” Alex says. This is quickly escalating. I was trying to stay out of it, but I’m not smart enough to just keep my mouth shut.
“Okay, okay. Let’s just take a pause, and think about what’s best for her,” I say.
Damian immediately turns to me. “And who the fuck are you?”
