CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“Ooh sounds good, I think I’ll have pancakes with whip cream and blueberries with a cup of coffee,” She says looking over the menu.

Once the waiter came over we repeated our orders as he placed two glasses of water down before he walked off again.




About fifteen minutes later the waiter comes back with our food the smell was making me more hungry, I smiled and says my thank you as I pulled my plate closer to me and he walked away.




I took a bite of my eggs and I felt like I haven't eaten for days, I tried to pace myself as I ate to not look like a slob, for a girl who has been stuck in a basement all her life I tried to have a bit of discipline in my eating habits.




I pulled my milkshake closer putting the straw between my lips watching the shake slowly go up the straw and tasted the sweetness of cream and strawberries.




"How are you feeling now?" Hayley asked as she stabbed her pancakes with her fork.

"I feel okay still a bit queasy and I feel like I'm starving," I says taking another bite of my own food.




"Well you haven't been keeping much down, so I guess that's expected, just don't eat too fast or you might puke again," She explained stuffing her face.




I nodded in agreement, casually looking over her shoulder, I noticed that the guy Colby and I helped the other day was sitting in the booth a few tables over from us, I couldn't remember his name but that's the least of my problems.




"Shit," I mumbled sliding down my seat so I don't get caught, he was sitting with a girl who had bright purple hair and ear piercings around her ear and a lip ring.

"Someone else here?" Hayley asked casually looking behind her and looking straight at him and the girl.




I nodded as she looked back at me, the look on her face turned into annoyance.




"Okay let's finish our food and get out of here, we will go to the walk-in and head home and you can rest," she says seriously. 




I agreed and we sat and finished our breakfast, she placed the money onto the table and she picked up her keys again, then walked back out to her car.




We got in and she leaned against her seat for a moment before getting ready to drive off.




"Feels like most of the townspeople are all gang members," she says with annoyance. 

"Gang members?" I repeated.

"A gang is a group of people, but in this sense a group of people who do illegal and bad things," Hayley explained. 

"Oh," I says deep in thought, she put the keys in the ignition and started the car, driving off.

"How do I get one?" I asked.

"A gang, I don't know, maybe make one," she says keeping an eye on the road.

"Would you be in my gang?" I questioned.

"I would be in your corner no matter what," Hayley says seriously as she turned on the turning signal.

“Really?” I tested giving her a side glance.

“Of course, really. We are friends aren’t we?” She questioned looking back for a moment before putting her attention back to the road.




Hayley has a point, she’s been here for me ever since I called her from the hospital; in fact, she is my only friend.




“Yes,” I answered quietly, putting my focus out the window watching the scenery pass by.




Hayley drove us onto a gravel road winding up a hill covered in trees, it seemed like a strange place for a walk-in clinic but I don’t know much about these kinds of things so I kept quiet.




Suddenly a small red brick building came into our view straight ahead, the sign read: ‘Walk in clinic’, I took a deep breath, the sign made me feel a bit nauseous and nervous.

“I never been to a doctor before,” I muttered accidentally under my breath.

“Yeah I figured that is the case,” Hayley nodded parking us in front of the building.




We got out of the car and I followed her up the front steps and with a ring of chimes the door opened with it and we went inside.




It was a quaint room with chairs and a few coffee tables lining the room and the smell of disinfectant burned my nostrils.




A woman who looked in her late thirties or early forties sat behind a glass window at a desk, she looked up at us from a stack of papers over her glasses.




She had brunette hair and green eyes with a small build, and she did not look happy to see us, bitter almost.




“May I help you?” She called over to us.

“I’m here to see my father,” Hayley says standing taller than usual, the lady’s face turned into shock as Hayley spoke, she picked up the phone and dialed a few numbers.




“Doctor Crowel, your daughter is here to see you,” She says over the receiver mumbling came from the other end of the line.

“Okay, I’ll send her right in,” She placed the phone down and looked back at us.

“He is waiting for you in his office,” She says looking back at her papers and nodding towards the door.

“Thank you, Rose,” She says walking towards the door with me trailing behind.

“Your father works here?” I asked bewildered looking at all the healthy inspirational posters on the walls on our way to his office.

“Yeah, he worked here ever since I was little,” Hayley explained as we got to her dad’s office door, it read; ‘Doctor Crowel’. 




The door suddenly opened by a man wearing a white lab coat and a pair of glasses and had a great smile on his face.




“What a wonderful surprise to see my daughter after three long years,” He his smile not wavering.

“Yeah I need a favor,” Hayley says crossing her arms and changing her always happy tone to a serious one.

“Of course anything for you darling, what do you need?”He asked still with a smile on his face.

“My friend needs a doctor, but it's a little complicated,” Hayley explained.




 For once the man looked at me as if he didn’t even realize I was here in the first place, I awkwardly smiled put my attention to Hayley.




Doctor Crowel sat on a stool beside his desk, his smile turned into a scowl and I started to feel more awkward.