Life With The Uries (The Urie's Daughter Adopted By Brendon Urie) Book 3

Amnesia (I)

Zack
It was about seven in the morning when I got the call. I was about to go on my morning sprint. We had an off week so I was at the house shared between the guys and I in Baltimore. Ryleigh was on tour again. I had wanted to Skype her more often but some days there were barely times for short calls so we texted a lot. I hadn't heard back from her, though. I think they were in Oregon the last I heard.

I was turning my earbuds up when my phone rang. Joshua Dun was calling me. My stomach sank at the thought that something was obviously very wrong. Otherwise, why would he be calling? We had all exchanged numbers before tour. I had heard the stories of Ryleigh on the tours prior and I was ready to fly to her despite our own tour.

"Hello?"I asked. "Hey, Zack?"he asked. "Yeah, what's wrong?"I choked out as I tried to seem calm. "I hate to do this over the phone, man. Are you sitting down?"he asked. I found a bench and sat. "Am now. What's wrong, though? You're starting to scare me,"I replied. "Zack, there isn't an easy way to say this. There was an accident,"he said. I didn't hear anything after. My heartbeat was in my ears, making it all sound muffled. "Where are you?"I choked out once I could speak again. "Oregon. I'll text you the directions,"he said. I hung up, ran to the house, and started booking a last minute flight to Oregon.

"Zack, what are you doing?"Alex asked tiredly. He had just woken up. I didn't reply as I continued scrolling on my laptop to find a ticket. "Why are you looking for a flight to Oregon? What's wrong?"he asked. "Their tour bus had an accident. It rolled a few times and Ryleigh was thrown from the bus. I have to go now,"I said and I booked a flight and ran upstairs to pack a bag. "We're coming with you,"he said and ran to get the guys and their own things. I ran back downstairs. The Uber was just pulling up at I grabbed my laptop and threw on a hoodie. The guys followed me outside. We stayed silent throughout the ride.

My knee bounced up and down. I was so nervous. What if she died? That would kill me. "Cut that out. She's gonna be fine,"Alex said and put a hand on my knee. It stilled momentarily then I began to fiddle with my fingers. We made it just in time to board and then we were on our way.

I took the window seat, Rian was sitting next to me now. It was going to be a six hour plus flight. Jack was watching Home Alone in the seat behind me. Alex was on his phone probably typing up new lyrics. Rian was asleep. I stared out the window, watching the ground grow smaller as a flight attendant roamed the aisle offering drinks and snacks. As much as I could've used a drink, I stayed sober for her. If this was the last time I saw her, I wanted to know that I would know her as her and remember her right.

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I must've dozed off. I woke up as the plane landed to Rian shaking me awake. As soon as we hit the ground, I saw Josh's text with the directions. We grabbed our bags from luggage claim and went outside. We had rented a car and I shared the directions. Alex drove, Rian and Jack sat in the backseat.

I stared out the window blankly. This was all so screwed up. How could this happen? I sighed. The hospital came into view. Alex had barely stopped before I took off sprinting inside. I asked a nurse for directions to everyone else and was told about the waiting room upstairs. I didn't bother with an elevator. I, instead, took the stairwell. I came sprinting in as everyone glanced up at me.

"Where is she?"I asked with tears trailing down my cheeks. Brendon hugged me. "Still in surgery,"he whispered and we stood there, hugging, for forever. "Do you know how she is?"I whispered. He shook his head no. "Her injuries were extensive. That's all I've been told,"he whispered back and I released him from our hug. The others embraced me. Rian, Jack, and Alex came running up from the elevator area, winded. "Zack, dude, you disappeared. Parking was crazy,"Jack said between breaths.

I was spaced out now. I wasn't too late. I took a seat. Rian, Jack, and Alex kept trying to get me to eat. I wasn't hungry. If anything I felt like I was gonna be sick. My knee kept bouncing up and down. I heard a clock ticking. I spotted a doctor and a nurse coming towards us. Brendon stood and I quickly followed suit. "Urie?"the doctor called. He didn't know us after all. We walked closer.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Robert Anderson. I'm Ryleigh's assigned doctor,"the doctor said and offered his hand to Brendon who shook it. "Brendon Urie,"he said. "Zack Merrick, sir,"I said and shook his hand. "We aren't currently sure the extent of her brain damage, if there was any. She had definitely hit it very hard. We had to try to lessen the pressure. She fractured some ribs and we aren't sure about the extent of her nerve damage in her back. She may never walk again. A broken collarbone. She also broke her wrist in the landing. We put some pins in, it should heal just fine,"he informed us.

"H--how is she now?"I asked after my voice broke at the beginning. "She's in a medically induced coma. We decided that was our best course of action while her body heals so the stress doesn't slow it down,"Dr. Anderson said. "When can she go home?"Brendon finally spoke up. "Preferably when she wakes up and definitely once she's stable,"Dr. Anderson said. "Can we see her?"I asked. The doctor nodded. "If you'll excuse me,"he said as his pager went off and he went running in a new direction. "I'll take you then fill the others in if you'd like,"the nurse said with a downcast gaze.

She led us down the hallway. I went in first. I was already sitting at her side and holding her hand, the one with the unbroken wrist. I was about to start crying again. Tubes were running out all over her body. Her wrist in a cast, her shoulder and collarbone area wrapped , a tube in her mouth. Her head was covered with a bandage that sported fresh blood.

She looked more dead than alive. She was ghostly pale with deep dark circles under her eyes. Her hands were still her hands, only slightly scratched up. Her hair, what was left of it after the surgery, had been rinsed clean of blood. Brendon took a seat across from me. Seeing her like this hurt. For a monent, I wished I had been there. That it was me or at the very least that I could forget this happened and I saw her like that just now. I stayed for a minute and then I ran.