The waiting room was more unpleasant than I could have imagined. It seemed like every face I knew was there, staring at me. Charlie rushed to my side; I put up my hands.
"There's nothing wrong with me," I assured him sullenly. I was still aggravated and definitely not in the mood for chitchat, which was probably what he was in the mood for.
"What did the doctor say?"
"Dr. Cullen saw me, and he said I was fine and I could go home." I sighed. Mike and Jessica and Chessclub Eric were all there, beginning to converge on us. "Let's go," I urged, eager to avoid the claustrophobia I felt every time the Forks High School students smothered me with questions, affections, or admirations.
Charlie put one arm behind my back, not quite touching me, and led me into the glass doors of the exist.97 I waved sheepishly at my friends, hoping to convey that they didn't need to worry anymore. It was a huge relief to get into the cruiser.
We drove in silence. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I barely knew Charlie was there. I was positive that Fredward's defensive behavior in the hall was a confirmation of the bizarre things I still could hardly believe I'd witnessed.
When we got to the house, Charlie finally spoke.
"Um... you need to call Reneé." He hung his head, guilty.98
I was appalled. "You told Mom!"
"Sorry," was all he could say.
I slammed the cruiser's door a little harder than necessary on my way out. I couldn't believe that Charlie had told Mom that I had narrowly escaped death earlier that day. Now she was going to squeal and cry and ask me a ton of questions I had already been asked by multiple other people.
My mom was in hysterics, of course. I had to tell her I felt fine at least thirty times before she would calm down. She begged me to come home to her—forgetting the fact that home was empty at the moment—but her pleas were
97. A portmanteau of "exit" and "exist." In this case, it means that the exit exists.
98. That is, with the feeling that stems from becoming such a doormat, constantly having to respond to the demands and needs of his ex-wife and tormented daughter, even though both refused to love him after he'd cut his own arm off.