The instance I felt the car stop, I bounded into the hospital and towards the secretary, who was watching me oddly. “What room is Chad in?”

She scrunched her eyebrows and pulled out a clipboard with a list of names and their room numbers on it. “Chad who?”

“Chad Whosyourmomma.” I said out of repitition. That’s the name he would always refer to himself as. “Chad Trenta.”

“Room 665.”

My mom was taking her good old time coming in, so she can ask for the number herself, I’m not going to wait for her. I headed over to the elevator and checked the sheet they had posted – he was on the third floor.

I pressed the up button and waited for it to come. Floor 7.. 6.. 5.. 4.. 3!! 2.. 1. It was finally here. The doors slid open, I walked in, pressed 3 and every number above it, and leaned against the walls. Minutes felt like hours as I watched the first floor disappear between the elevator doors going in slow motion.