The Waiting Room

The clocks tick an unsettling sound as I stare at the plastered white hospital walls. There is an overwhelming scent of lemon disinfectant that's making my nose curl and everyone around me anxiously awaits for their news. Some are sleeping, some are crying, and some dismiss themselves calmly so that they can scream down the hall in peace. No matter the reason, no matter our story, something in all of our lives led us to this hospital waiting room, someone or something happened to shift our entire universe as we know it and suddenly here, we all are sitting here not speaking a worked verbally but sharing millions through our eyes and actions.

It's crazy right, how so many people enter waiting rooms every single day, for themselves or for the ones they love. These rooms hold secrets centuries deep, sorrows nobody could begin to understand and so much love you could bathe in it.

Lives are born here; lives end here too.

I feel my nerves twitch causing my brain to spiral once more, I have been here for 10 hours and still haven't heard a word about my mother, if she is okay, if the surgery is working, and if she will get better. I watch as strangers lose the loves of their lives, I watch as stranger's welcome new members into their family and I watch as people enter the hospital only to never leave it again.

There are dozens of doctors talking with everyone around me, assuring them their loved ones are okay, telling them that some didn't make it past the procedures and letting others know that they are able to go see their loved ones soon; and for 10 hours I haven't heard anything, no updates about my mother at all and every time I ask the front desk, they assure me I'll hear details soon and that I should go sit back down and try reading a magazine.

I grab a small paper cup from the water fountain dispenser and fill it half full as I watch the local news channel talking about our 7-day weather forecast; it's supposed to be 60 and sunny, my mother's favorite kind of weather. I think back to my childhood, all the endless summer days outside in the sun with my mother, running around, screaming with joy and filling up my energy on endless popsicles and pints of ice-cream. I remember the time I turned the hose on her and she yelped at the cold waters impact and how she chased me around the yard and held me in her arms, forcing me to feel the coolness of the water.

"Delilah?" A male doctor says catching my attention and bringing me back to reality.

"Yes?" I ask as worry fills my eyes

"The surgery went well; your mother is doing fine; would you like to go see her now?"

I nod my head, so happy to say anything else as I follow the doctor out of the waiting room, and towards the big brown doors that will soon lead me straight to my beloved mother, my best friend and my entire world.

I glance back once more to all the other strangers in the waiting room, and without saying a word I give them a look telling them everything will work out okay and that everything will be alright.