Drawings on the Pavement

Chapter Twenty-Three

~Rose~
Nothing seems real.
But the blearing lights and high pitched screams tell me otherwise.
I don't know what's happening.

Everything is a blur in front of my eyes.

Someone's pulling me from my bed.

My mum.

I don't believe what I'm seeing.
A part of me refuses to believe it. But here I am.

Dad is ushering mum and I into the back of the car.
I notice someone sitting in the front.

Logan's mother was taking huge raspy breaths, with her hair mangled and her eyes sunken, like he hadn't slept all night.

I looked at the clock in the car.

1:46am.

Then reality set in.

For the first time I clearly heard the ambulance sirens wailing in my ears.

It made my head throb.

Not the noise.

But the sinking feeling of knowing who was in there.

Dad was following the ambulance but we soon got dragged behind as the ambulance sped through red lights, leaving us to wait.

Logan's mum was telling us what happened, but her voice turned more into a desperate sob as she choked for air.
Dad was spoke in a calming voice, telling her it was going to be alright.

All I did was sit in the back, frozen in shock.
-----
White was what I could recall.
The strong smell of disinfectant and bleach.
People rushing, frantically around me.
---
Logan laid unconscious in his bed. His body was ridged and the only thing that kept him alive was the oxygen mask on his face.
Machines received information, but I couldn't understand any of it.

Logan's mother knelt next to his bed and she quietly sobbed. I was only a shadow against the wall.
The doctors soon asked me to leave.
But my heart twisted at the thought. Nothing mattered anymore. All I wanted was to hear Logan's voice. To see the smile I fall for every day.
A nurse ushered me out of the room.
I struggled.
But I felt weak.
Powerless.
The door to Logan's room slammed shut.
I slid down against the wall, burying my head deep in my sleeve.
I couldn't think.
Tears swelled in my eyes and streaked down my face. They were warm and salty.
And I cried.
I screamed.
I surrendered.
---
Logan's mother shivered as she came out of his room.
Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy.
She composed herself quickly when she thought I wasn't looking.
Then she gently spoke to me, in a voice that had hope and light.
It would've convinced me if it wasn't for the look in her eyes.
"Logan has to undergo critical surgery to the brain. Something happened. Even the doctors aren't entirely sure. But from what they can tell, something triggered inside him". Her voice wavered for a moment then continued.
"The operation is happening as we speak. Rose... Thank you for being here with me. The surgery could take several hours, so you should sleep and get some rest"
"I'm staying right here" I cried.
"I thought so" she said.
She handed me a small, woven blanket and started to leave.

"Wait" I called.
Logan's mother turned, facing me.
"Is he going to-" I was ashamed but I couldn't bring myself to say that...
"40% chance he lives". She said it so calmly, it left me taken aback.
I managed a woeful nod, as she swiftly left the corridor.
---
It was now the early hours of morning.
My eyelids felt like concrete as they sagged to the ground.
My face was still tear stricken.

All night I thought and prayed for Logan.
I offered words of comfort, not knowing if he could hear.
But then again it was more to comfort myself.