Ria Lockhart
Flowers? Check. Box of chocolates? Check. Card? Check. One could be forgiven for thinking The Anglo Luchador was on his way to a date. They’d be mistaken. He’s happily married, thank you. No, instead, he was visiting a friend. TAL walked into the sterile environment of a hospital, striding up to the receptionist desk.
“How can I help you?” The nicely dressed older woman sitting behind the desk asked. TAL stupid proudly.
“I’m here to visit a friend.” He stated confidently. Yes, the circumstances behind seeing his friend weren’t good. He hoped to bring a bit of cheer to someone who most likely needed it.
“That’s nice! Name, please?” The receptionist politely asked.
“Ria Lockhart.” TAL responded.
“Okay, one moment…” She said as she started clicking away at her keyboard. As she stared at her monitor, her face grew grim. “Oh boy…”
“What? What is it?!” TAL panicked. Had something gone wrong? Were there complications from surgery? He didn’t want to think the worst, but Tom’s mind had been dwelling there quite a lot lately.
“Well… It says your friend checked out AMA recently.” She sadly informed the luchador.
“AMA?” He asked. He didn’t figure she was answering random questions on the street corner, so there had to be another meaning he wasn’t familiar with.
“Against medical advice…” The receptionist informed him, almost wincing as she did.
“Xipe Totec!” TAL exclaimed. “Okay, thank you.”
He rushed over to the seating area, hastily putting his gifts down on a table next to the chair he plopped into. He dug into his pocket, pulling out his phone. After a few taps, he held it up to his mask covered ear. After only moments of listening, he began to speak.
“Uh, hi Ria.” TAL started awkwardly. “Your phone went straight to voicemail. I feel like that’s not a good sign. Please call me back. I don’t care what time it is, just let me know you’re okay. Thanks…”
Tom pushed the screen to end the call. His gaze lingered on the phone, almost as if he expected his call to be returned in short order. After a minute or so, he sighed dejectedly and shoved the phone back into his pocket.