Bad Luck or Fate?

Chapter 24

I ran out of the airport and into the parking lot. Jake was in Breckyns truck. I threw my bag in the back and jumped in. I looked at him. He had tears in his eyes. His eyes were swollen. His face was red, he had water streaks down his face from where the tears had fallen.  

"How did this happen, Jake?" I asked quietly. Jake sniffled. "I don't know Jimmy. One second we are celebrating the win. She turned around and hugged mom and dad and then turns toward me. Mike flipped out and ran toward the guard by the judge, I guess he grabbed his gun. The next thing I know, Breckyn falls into my arms, limp. I catch her and that's when I feel the blood pouring all over me. She stopped breathing. I had to give her CPR until life flight showed up. Every time I got her breathing again, blood poured out of her mouth." His lip quivered and he lost it.

"They got her revived on the way to the hospital, but I just want to warn you, it's not good. It's not pretty. She is on a ventilator to her breathe. They did the first surgery to remove the bullet, and now they are letting her body heal until they can finish repairing her body. They are scared that with the wounds she already has, if they don't let her heal in between surgeries, she might not make it." 

"If she dies..." I started  "I will NEVER forgive myself.." I put my head between my legs the rest of the way to the hospital. Jake pulled into the parking lot and waited on me to get out of the truck. I slowly got out and walked over to Jake. Jake wrapped his arm around my shoulder and walked into the hospital with me. As we walked to the elevator, Jake pushed the button and walked in with me. He pushed the button to the Intensive Care Unit and stood in one corner while I stood in the other. The bell dinged with each floor. Jake and I watched the numbers light up. I felt my eyes start to water. I cleared my throat. It wasn't helping. Jake looked at me and pulled the STOP button out on the elevator. I couldn't do it anymore. I walked back to the back of the elevator and sobbed in the corner while Jake just stood there for a minute. I wiped my face off and cleared my throat and walked back next to Jake.

"You okay?" he asked, looking over at me. I took a deep breath and let it out. "Yeah." I said. Jake pushed the button back in and we made it to Breckyns floor. He led me to the door and pulled me to the side. "Before you go in there, there's something I need to tell you. She doesn't look that good. She has tubes and ivs and needles poking in and out of her. She's not breathing on her own right now, its just not good Jimmy. She wont be awake, for quite a while. Prepare yourself for that. She needs all of us right now. She needs you. She needs you to be as strong as you can be. For as long as you can be." Jake had his arms on either side of my arms. "Ok, man?" 

I took a shaky breath in and nodded. "Okay. Got it." Jake put his arm around my shoulder again. "Let's go." He opened the door and I heard several machines beeping. I looked into the room and the first person I made eye contact with was Karen. She jumped up and ran to me, sobbing. She threw her arms around my neck and cried into my shoulder. "I'm so glad you are here. She needs you now more than ever." John was sitting in a chair next to a closed curtain. He stood up and walked over to me. He shook my hand. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to protect her, I'm sorry I broke my promise." John looked exhausted "Breckyn told us everything. I have to say, I was on your side. I would have reacted the same way, Jimmy. You didn't break your promise. You were trying to protect her. There was no way anyone could see this happening. There was no way to stop it either. We cant spend all of our time trying to change the past, we just need to be here for her now." 

I nodded. Karen lifted her head from my shoulder. "Do you want to see her?" she asked quietly. "Of course." She motioned for Jake and John to follow her out of the room. "Let's give them some privacy." she said. Jake walked out with his mother and John patted me on the back before he left the room. "We're going to go make some calls. We'll be back soon." He closed the door behind him. I turned around and looked around the room. I could hear a breathing machine pumping air every few seconds. I could hear an IV machine dripping and beeping. I walked up to the closed curtain. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. I brought my hand up to the curtain and let the breath out, and with my eyes still closed, I slowly pulled the curtain aside. I stood there for a second and then slowly opened my eyes.