That Beautiful Thing Called Life

Hospital

Annie

Annie sat in the tower shivering. She wasn't cold, and yet the shaking wouldn't stop. People were talking around her, but all she heard were muffled sounds reverberating around her head. She replayed the incident over and over in her head. I should have told him to bring the ski in earlier. He shouldn't have been out there. It was too big. A tear leaked out, which she swiftly wiped away. A hand fell comfortingly on her shoulder.

"Annie. You're shaking. Come on, let me take you home. Please." Jesse's voice held a tone of genuine concern, for which Annie was grateful. But home was one place she would not go.

"I'm not going anywhere unless it's to the hospital. I need to be there. What if...Jesse, what if he..." she couldn't finish her sentence.

She began to sob uncontrollably, hysterically. Jesse wrapped her in a hug and held her tightly.

"He knows how lucky he is, Annie. If you've got anything to say about it, he won't...you know. I'll drive you to the hospital now. Let's go. There is no point you being here. You can't work like this."

Annie nodded and slowly rose to her feet. Supportive arms hugged her as Jesse escorted her from the tower, but she was struggling to register who they were. 

"She's in shock, mate. Might be a good idea to get her checked out while you're there. Give us an update on Chips when you can. Look after them," said Hoppo quietly. Jesse nodded in reply, and, with a protective arm around Annie, began walking from the tower.

The drive to the hospital was silent and tense. Walking in the double glass doors was even worse. 

"Chris Chapman, please," said Jesse to the lady at the help desk. 

"He's in Intensive Care," said the woman, "he can only have one visitor at a time, and he will be unresponsive. Room 328. Third floor, turn left out of the elevator, go to the end of the corridor, turn right, and he will be in the first room on your left."

Jesse thanked her, and they walked together to the elevator. Annie felt her heart hammering in her chest. Her breathing got faster.

"It's going to be okay, Annie, I promise. I'll wait for you out here."

It took her eyes a second to get adjusted to the dim light in the Intensive Care ward. She walked with heavy legs to his bedside. The sight before her made her cry silent but persistent tears. He looked so...dead. His face had lost all its colour, he lay limp and unmoving, and there were tubes connected to him all over the place. He wasn't even breathing by himself, and the sound of the ventilator was loud and grating. Annie sat on the edge of his bed.

"I'm so sorry, Chris. I should have told you to bring the ski in earlier. It's all my fault," she whispered. Suddenly exhausted, she carefully climbed up onto the bed beside him, and curled into a ball. In seconds, she was asleep, with her head burrowed into his shoulder. This was warm and familiar. Here, she felt safe.

After twenty minutes, Jesse looked in on them. When  he saw Annie curled up and asleep next to Chris, he smiled sadly and walked away. They were a great couple, no one could deny it. He stopped a nurse on his way out. 

"My friend is asleep in there with her boyfriend, who's a patient. Could you do something for me, and not wake her up? She hasn't slept in too long, and it's not healthy. She's harmless. She just...she just wants him back."

The nurse nodded sympathetically. "You got it."

Jesse left to give the boys the update.

Annie slept. 

Tomorrow she would talk to the doctors. But right now, she had her man.