New Advent: Chapter I Preview

Elana shivered as blasts from the car's air conditioner chilled her arms, and the chatter of the early‐morning talk‐shows was giving her a headache.

"Hey, mom, could you turn the A-C down?  And while you're at it, could you turn the radio off?  I don't particularly care to listen to some guy named Larry rant about his ex-wife."

"Oh!  I'm sorry, honey."

The quiet hum of the white sedan returned; and the dry, cool air was replaced by the warmth of the late‐morning Sun.  Elana sighed and looked out the window, through which she could see rays of light fading as streaks from the cloudy sky into the misty horizon.  She was planning to visit a recovering friend at the hospital, and was being driven there by her mother on her way to work.

As they approached the final block, a painful knot began to twist in Elana's chest.  She winced; and was knocked back to three nights prior, a dreadful reality which she began to recall in vivid detail.

It was a clear, peaceful night; with stars bright in the sky and cicadas chirping out by the near mountains.  Elana was still yet fast asleep.  She awoke with a gasp, however, when her mother suddenly called out to her from downstairs.

"Elana!"

Elana quickly got out of bed; stumbled across her floor littered with magazines, papers, and stuffed animals; frantically opened her bedroom door; and dashed to the top of the stairs, where below her mother stood with a cordless telephone in hand.

"Yes, Okay. Okay, thank you."

Elana clung to the wall, heart pounding with uncertainty.  Her mother would not have woken her up in the middle of the night so suddenly unless the circumstances were gravely severe.

She shouted back down the stairwell.  "Mom!  Mom, what happened?"

Her mother put her hand over the transmitter.  "Elana, Thomas was just rushed to the emergency room!"

Dread struck Elana's heart like a hammer on the nails of a coffin.

"They—" her mother stammered.  "They said he attempted suicide!"

Oh God! Elana shouted in her mind.  I knew something was up with him!  She made her way down the steps.

"He's lost a lot of blood, but they say he must have stopped before the cut became too deep–"

Elana stopped before reaching the bottom of the stairs.  "Cut?"  She looked down in disbelief.  "He never told me he was cutting himself—"

Her mother climbed the last step and embraced her.  "I'm so sorry, honey..."

Past flashed back to present as the car slowed down to a stop at the drop-off area in front of the entrance to the hospital.  Elana opened her door and stepped out of the passenger seat onto the wet asphalt and into the hot, humid summer air.  A wisp of wind fluttered Elana's skirt; flipped through her long, straight, auburn hair like a book; and cooled the water that was condensing onto her skin.  She slid open the side door and picked a vase of flowers up from the backseat.

Her mother grabbed her attention with a wave and slid the passenger-side window down.  "Try to be strong, okay, honey?  Not just for his sake; but for yours, as well."

"I'll try.  Thanks, mom."

Elana continued on to the entrance.  When she finally arrived, she took a deep breath, trying to bring back the composure she had worked so hard to gather earlier that morning.  She stepped in through the sliding doors, walked to the front desk, and met with the receptionist sitting behind the counter.

"Hi," greeted the heavier-set black woman clad in pink, polka-dotted scrubs.  She folded her hands together onto the counter.  She pushed her lips together and glanced at the vase of flowers in Elana's arms.  "Who are you visiting, Miss?"

"I'm here to see Thomas Young, ma'am," Elana explained.

"And what is your name, Miss?" asked the woman, raising her brow.

"Oh, my name is Elana Willis."

"Mm..."

The receptionist swiveled her chair to face a computer monitor on her desk.  She started typing on a keyboard, and quickly scanned through the screen's contents.  She turned back around and looked up, smiling at Elana.  "His parents said you would be coming."  She then picked up the transceiver off a telephone on her desk, dialed in a few digits, and spoke to a woman on the other line.  "Patty, a young lady named Elana Willis is here to visit Thomas Young on the third floor.  Could you come pick her up and escort her to his room in the psychiatric ward?"  She paused for a response.  "Mhm, Room two-A.  Mhm, thank you, Patty."  She set the transceiver back down on its base and swiveled back around.  She smiled.  "She'll be here in a minute."

The receptionist looked at Elana's arms, which were shaking from anxiety.  "You can set those down until she gets here."

"Oh, thank you."

The receptionist gave Elana one last, wide smile: the kind which one would normally reserve for a close friend.  "You're welcome, sweety."

Elana set the vase full of flowers on the counter and stood leaning, waiting for the escort.  Though the wait was brief, her heart was given time to slip back into sadness.

The elevator to her right made several beeps, and the young nurse named Patty stepped out of it.  She approached the lobby cheerfully.

"Hello!  Are you Elana?"

Elana looked down in reserved anguish.

Patty frowned.  "Oh, I'm sorry.  This must have all been very devastating for you."  She swept her arm in circular motions, urging Elana to follow her.  "Come along!  I'll take you to your friend."