Patience

Were it not for Savannah whispering calmly to him, Leonardo most likely would have had a full-on panic attack in the back of that woman's car. Luckily for them, and for Noah's mental stability, the hospital was a mere ten minute drive away.

The arrival was a bit of a hassle, however. Leo seemed to have regained some of his strength, regardless of his composure not at all having been recovered, and so desperately he tried to call out to the medical staff, demanding them to bring Oliver back.

The stares they received from both staff and visitors alike urged Noah and Savannah to try restraining the boy. But it wasn't easy—near impossible, they discovered. At least at first. Because Leonardo had gotten lost in his paranoia once again, but there was a twist now, as someone other than himself had somehow entered that maze.

It wasn't something Noah and Savannah could emotionally comprehend and they both knew it. Having knowledge of Leo's blood, of the boy's fear of it being a sickness, of people wanting to study him for it—and it was abrupt, painfully abrupt, but they also both now had knowledge that Oliver had odd-colored blood as well.

If anyone could truly understand Leonardo, it would be her.

Realizing this, more than likely, was the cause of the boy's change of heart, they thought. No, they knew this as well.

The three had no choice but to sit in the waiting room. The woman offered to stay as well, but Noah insisted it wasn't necessary. She did leave her phone number as well as a business card with him and urged Noah to call as soon as possible concerning Oliver's condition. She also swore to handle the hospital bill.

"At least she was kind," Noah thought aloud after the woman had left. "Some people out there would've been pissed and put all the blame on us and Oliver for not being more responsible. I mean, it was her fault for running out into the street, but still. Be happy for that at least, okay Leonardo?"

"Scared, she's probably so scared, poor Oliver, I shouldn't have yelled at her..."

Evidently, still trapped in that mental maze. His arm around the boy, Noah gazed over Leo's hunched body at Savannah, staring sadly, helplessly at the floor, holding Leo's hand.

"Hey."

"I don't really know what's going on."

"That's fine," Noah said to her, trying to be encouraging. "We don't really know what's going on, either. But I'm not leaving till we figure it all out, so if that helps lessen your stress at all."

Upon receiving no response, Noah put on a soft smile and added:

"I'll be here to help you take care of your boyfriend."

Leo didn't react, as he was still much too distracted by his own thoughts. But Savannah did. She heard that last word loud and clear like a metal pan being dropped on the kitchen floor in the middle of the night. Her cheeks turning red, she turned suddenly towards Noah with wide eyes, then glanced at Leo, relieved somewhat that the boy didn't appear to have heard.

"He's, I mean he never said..."

"Was that not the 'something' Leo planned to tell me?"

Savannah could only hope that was the case. She had a feeling it was, although Leo hadn't directly stated they were dating now. It was implied, however, enough to have made Savannah comfortable in that moment.

"Don't be shy," Noah smiled. "Ask him. Leonardo, can you hear me?"

Leo shook his head.

"He can. Go ahead, Savannah."

"Ah, n-no, I shouldn't, he-"

"-needs something to get his mind off all this," Noah interrupted. "And so do we."

A wise person, this friend of Leonardo's was. Savannah understood now why he meant so much to Leo.

She wished she could have gotten to know Noah better in high school.

"Hey, uh...Leo...?"

The gentle whisper, shockingly, carried through to Leo's brain better than Savannah had expected. It took a moment, but the boy eventually shifted his fixed gaze away from his feet—covered merely in socks due to his reckless rushing out the door earlier—and up to Savannah's eyes.

"Is it okay if I ask you something?"

He didn't speak, but nodded in response, sniffling. Savannah ran her thumb against the back of Leo's hand.

"You didn't spell it out, so I just wanted to make sure...and if now isn't the time, I understand, it's just-"

She stopped once she felt Leo shift closer to her, attaching himself to her arm. Noah took this as his cue to pull back his own arm.

"Annie, if it's not you it's no one, you can't leave me now, okay?"

Heartbreaking as the boy's voice sounded just then, it was at the same time reassuring to Savannah. The urge to cry and break out in smiles quarreled with one another.

She didn't want to push Leo anymore just because she wanted to hear the words directly. What Leo had said spoke volumes of its own—that, along with the way he now clung to Savannah, despite his precious best friend being right beside him. For once Savannah felt she didn't have to compete against Noah or anyone, rather, from that same person's eyes, she gathered approval. A warm, welcoming approval.

"Leo, I'm not leaving."

"Do you think Oliver's okay?"

"She is. She's gonna be okay, Leo, just relax."

"You ran outside without shoes, your feet probably hurt bad, Annie."

"You ran out without shoes, too..."

"Does Noah have shoes?"

"I'm wearing shoes, Leonardo..."

"Did Oliver have shoes?"

"I don't think so, but I doubt that's really something you need to be worrying about."

Even still, Leo thought about it. He did worry. And he would until he could see Oliver before his eyes again, hopefully in one piece, hopefully alive. He couldn't bear the thought of that girl dying, before Leo got the answers to his questions, before he could apologize for reacting the way he did before hearing Oliver out.

For all he knew, it could be the same situation as Savannah—it could turn out to be something innocent, something that would turn around just to slap Leo in the face with guilt for having acted so cold.

But he didn't know. He couldn't know, until he spoke with Oliver again.

And so he was forced to wait out the agonizing stretch of time that lay before one of the hospital's nurses came to greet them in the waiting room.

"You three are here for the girl who was hit by a car this morning, correct?" She asked, almost shamefully. "No one provided a name-"

"It's Oliver," Leo blurted and stood up. "Where is she?? She's okay, right? Tell me she's okay."

"The injuries aren't life-threatening, you don't need to worry about that, sir," she said in as calm a manner as she could. But still anyone could hear the unsettled tone of her voice. "She got away with a fractured rib and a sprained arm, and some cuts and scrapes but those'll heal in no time, however the doctors do want to keep her for a bit longer for further examination for other reasons."

Other reasons. Leo didn't have to ask to know what that meant.

His fear. He didn't want to be right.

"No, no, she doesn't need further examination, she doesn't need it, she's fine-!"

"Sir, we just want to make sure nothing's wrong," the nurse quickly assured him. "They're concerned it could be an illness that needs to be treated-"

"No! Tell them to leave her alone!!"

"Leo, don't shout," Noah grabbed his friend's hand and stood up as well. "Listen, Leonardo-"

"She's not a freak!! She's fine, just give her back to us-!"

"Ma'am, I'm sorry," Noah said, facing the nurse, "he's just really upset."

"Completely understandable, no apology necessary," she said. "You'll be notified as soon as they're through with the examination. Do you plan on staying here at the hospital? Or would you like to leave a phone number at the desk?"

"That's alright," Noah replied. He gave Leo's hand a tug which caused the boy to fall back to his chair. "We'll be here."

With that, the nurse gave a nod and left the waiting room, most likely to return to her station prior to meeting them. And Leonardo was soon back to clinging to Savannah's arm, wanting to hold his head in his hands and cry but he needed someone to hold onto.

"Savannah."

It took a moment for Savannah to push aside the sounds of Leo's whimpering and register her name being mentioned. She glanced at Noah.

"Call a taxi or catch a bus back to the apartment and take Leo with you."

"Noah-"

"Leonardo, don't argue with me," he cut him off. "Being here isn't helping you, it's not only making you feel worse. If you get yourself sick from stress and worrying, they'll examine you, too. I'll wait here for Oliver until her examination's done. After they've confirmed it's nothing contagious, she can't legally be kept here against her will."

Leo had nothing more to say. He didn't want to leave. But he was too tired to raise his voice anymore. Besides, as he always did, Noah had a point.

Leonardo shut his mouth and allowed Savannah to lead him away, but not before Noah placed in the latter's hand some money for fare.

And Noah stayed.

Alone in the waiting room—that is, without anyone he knew around, and that was lonelier than having no one around at all.

His second day in Indianapolis, on his vacation, which he had hoped to spend carefree with Leonardo, was being spent in the waiting room of a hospital.

Not what he had expected. Certainly not ideal. But he cared enough about Leo to hold out.

Except this wasn't even all about Leonardo anymore. Noah had been in one of those pictures. He wanted to know just as much as Leo did.

Who exactly Oliver was.

Where those pictures had come from.

Anxiously, Noah sat with his back hunched over, elbows resting on his thighs and his fingers intertwined. He had no idea how long the examination would take. What the outcome would be. The nurse hadn't given him any sort of estimate, but then again it was impossible for her to have known.

Noah didn't know anything about it, either. He wished he did. Though he felt mostly certain it was nothing contagious, there was no telling anything else. For all he knew it could be a sickness.

He hoped with all his being it wasn't. Especially if it shared the same properties with Leo's blood as he assumed it did.

He didn't need that hanging over his head. Knowing his best friend, his only friend outside his family, was sick.

He was starting to feel sick.

Noah lost track of how long he had been sitting in that waiting room. With negative thoughts and feelings swirling about in his mind, the concept of time escaped him. However he snapped back into focus at the sight of the nurse who had spoken to them earlier approaching again.

"Is it over? Is she okay?"

"It's hard to say," the nurse said, visibly perplexed even though she tried to speak with confidence. "They found out it's nothing contagious, but..."

"...but?"

"That's it. That's all they were able to figure out. It's bizarre, they said nothing's checking out, our technology doesn't seem to be recognizing any similar patterns in her blood. Nothing's showing up at all, in fact. So now it's a matter of deciding whether or not to continue with examination-"

"No, it's fine," Noah answered quickly. "If it's not necessary, we don't want it."

"Are you a family member?"

"No, does that matter?"

"No," the nurse said. "The decision is up to the patient so long as she's of age."

"Is she allowed visitors?"

"Yes, I came to inform you of that as well. The doctors wouldn't allow it until they figured out if it were contagious. But if you'd like to visit her now, that's perfectly fine. Did the other two who were with you leave? Did you want to call them?"

"No, just show me to Oliver's hospital room, please."