Three Strikes

I want to wake up. I just want to wake up!
"ROADTRIP!!" We exclaimed in an almost unison chorus as we threw our hands in the air. We whooped and hollered and piled into Madeline's mom's van. It was spring break, and we were heading to the beach. Even though the van only fits seven people legally, all ten of us figured we could fit as long as people sat on laps and on the floor. This was our first strike.
"Roll Call!!" Emily yelled, sliding into the passenger seat. "I'm here. Leslie?"
"Yep!"
"Madeline?"
"I'm right next to you, Doofus."
"Moving on. Zane and Madison?"
"We're both behind you." I kicked her seat.
"Griffin?"
"Here and reporting for duty, Cap!" He faked a salute at Emily and we all laughed. She rolled her eyes.
"Emma and Tanner?"
"We're back here!"
"Lucas? And Sara you're last on my list. You here?"
"I'm here, and Sara is on the floor. I don't know; she looks pretty comfortable," Lucas answered. Luke was one of the people in the van that I was closest to. Besides Zane, whom I'd been dating since sophomore year, he is my closest male friend. We all looked back at Sara, crunched between seats.
"Then we are a go, Pilot," she said turning around to buckle into her seat. We were excited, to say the least. We all knew we would think the water was cold when we got there, but in our shorts and sleeveless shirts, we didn't care. We were ready for the sun on the hot sand. The smell of the salt water wafting in from the waves and permeating the air around us; however, we were most excited for the beach cookouts. About ten minutes into the ride, we'd gotten tired of Madeline's driving. Our deciding to yell at her was strike two.
"Speed UP, Maddy!" I yelled, laughing as I took a bite of a Reese's cup from the gas station that we hit before we piled it in for the trip.
"SHUT up Maddi. My mom loves this van more than she loves me. You know this." I laughed harder, nearly spitting the candy out.
"Madison is right. My grandmother drives faster than this, and she's DEAD!" Tanner yelled through a mouthful of whatever he was eating. Now that I look back, this was ironic. Maddy then rolled her eyes, but gave in, setting her cruise control ten clicks faster. Emily reached up and flipped the radio to some new pop station. I unbuckled my seatbelt and buckled it around Zane, as I was on his lap, and turned it up. Quite a few of us were unbuckled by the time the song came to the chorus, singing at the top of our lungs, dancing, and laughing. Madeleine was joining in as well. This was strike three. Distracting the driver. Though, I don't think it would have made much of a difference. Three strikes, you're out. That's what they say.
I remember how happy we were before we knew what was going on. I also remember the noises. A loud slam, screeching tires and metal, shattering glass as I felt my body along with the bodies of my friends break windows and fly through the blithe spring air.  I remember the loud smack of my body hitting pavement. I also remember the sound of metal crunching as the van rolled end over end. But the thing I remember most: the screaming of my friends. I remember seeing things, too, like the driver of the truck that hit us, stumbling out, bottle of something in his hand, seeing what he'd done before he drove away. I remember standing up, not feeling any pain and not knowing why I kept falling over, never staying up for very long. I remember the scene of the accident. Griffin hanging out of the back window only half way. Madeline, her head hanging down and her eyes open. Emily, lying on the ground a few feet from me, blood soaking into her shirt. Tanner was lying in between the front seats over the center console. Zane was in his spot with his eyes closed, yelling what I think was my name and clutching his side. We were hit on the passenger side. In my mind's eye, Lucas was in his spot moving. He seemed to be looking for people, whomever he could find, and Sara was gone. I remember feeling something warm dropping onto my ear and shoulder. This is my memory. Eventually I gave up trying to stand, lying back on the road. Another car came upon us sometime later. They must have called 911.
The sirens came a little while after the car, and my vision began to get spotty. They said they would assess the scene, taking those of us in worst condition but still alive first, then the rest alive, and the dead last. They loaded me, Griffin, and Emily in the same rig. Zane, Tanner, and Lucas in the second. Then the rest. That means six of the ten were still drawing breath, a rough in and out, in and out, hanging on to thin air.
Now, I have learned some things. You learn a lot when they have a hospital intern hook you up to monitors, wrongly, then they think you're brain dead. What I have found out, there aren't many of us left. There's me, with my broken leg, skull, ribs, and coma, Griffin,  just as bad, but with his heart stopping more than mine. They say neither of us can breathe on our own, and that's why I have this tube in my throat. It took them six hours to find Sara. She was trapped under the car, completely concealed by the wreckage. The wait killed her. Madeline, Emily, and Emma were DOA, an acronym I wish I hadn't learned in this condition.  Zane and Tanner died that night in the hospital. Lucas, though, is okay. He has a dislocated shoulder and many bruises, but he's been discharged. He walks the halls between Griffin and me, keeping us company. The doctors say if they can get Griffin's heart under control,  he will wake up soon after. However, they say I have no brain activity, but that must be false. If I had no brain activity, how could I have been able to feel hear and know all of this? How would I have been able to think of and explain all of this to you? How would I have even been able to think you up? Lucas is in the room with me now, squeezing my hand. I want so badly to squeeze  back. I want him to know that I'm still in here, to tell them they're wrong, but I can't. I can't move. They say I have spinal damage, too much to ever walk again. They also say my liver is starting to fail, along with my kidneys. My lungs won't work on their own, and my heart keeps stopping. Even though all of these organs are failing me, my brain is not. I can FEEL Luke here. I can FEEL him squeezing my hand. I can HEAR him crying, begging for me to just wake up, open my eyes, move, make a noise--anything to prove I'm in here. I gladly would. I would LOVE to, but I can't figure out HOW to make my body listen to my brain.
"She's a fighter," a doctor says walking in, my mom and dad following. They haven't been able to be in the same room together since the divorce. I'm surprised.
"She always has been--for anything she believes in," Lucas says. "I'm sorry. I'll leave if you want. I just came to check on her and keep her company."
"No, Lucas, you can stay. We're discussing some really dark stuff in here, though, so you have to be ready if you plan to stay," my mother warns.
"I'd like to stay if that's alright with you," he answers, and she nods. The doctor steps forward to be able to be seen by both my parents AND Lucas before he speaks.
"Madison hit her head when she was thrown from the van, and then multiple times when she was trying to walk to help. She has no brain activity. She will not wake up, not with no activity,"
No. No you can't do this to me!
"So, we can continue this course of treatment and her organs will continue to fail,..."
Yes! Mom, Dad I'm here! Lucas, don't let them kill me! I try as hard as I can to squeeze his hand.
"or, we can stop all life sustaining treatment and let her go now," he finishes.
I am here! Do not do this! Don't kill me!! I'm here, I'M HERE!!
"Let's do that. Stop the treatment. I don't want her to suffer anymore," Mom says, looking to my dad who nods.
Lucas, please!
"Are you sure there's not been a mistake guys? Are you sure she's not going to wake up?" Lucas asks.
"Yes. We're sure. Now I'll send in the nurse, and she'll begin. She will begin by..." he trails off explaining my execution. I am still in here. I'm here, and they're giving up. They don't know it, but they're going to kill me. I'll never get to squeeze Luke's hand back. I'll never get to hug Griffin once he wakes up. I can hear the machines alarming as she turns them off.
Please. No. I'm here, I'm here. Please. I beg and beg until suddenly it feels as if I'm under water. I gasp for breath. I'm here. I'm here! Please! "I'm here!" I hear myself yell out loud as my eyes open. In a split second I see Luke, Mom, Dad, and the nurse. They all go pale. Lucas looks into my eyes, and that is the last thing I see. Life isn't a fairy tale. It would be pleasing for me to have woken up and been okay. Alas, I couldn't breathe. So, as I gasped, tears ran down my face from my now open eyes before the only monitor left on let out one steady high pitched screech, and my eyes closed for their last time.
Three strikes. Three mistakes; that was all it took to end my life.