the new year

fifty-two

"Shh it's okay sweetie, he'll be okay," The black-haired woman reassured the broken girl that was wrapped around her, seeing her so down was so out of character and it was heartbreaking.

"What if he's not?" She strained even more, it was like all of the tears she hadn't let fall throughout the year were all flying out of her tear-ducts right now even though she tried her best to keep them all concealed in front of Tammy.

"Don't think like that. He will be because you Rivers' lot are a bunch of hard uns," She told the truth, doing the best Mancunian accent she could muster up, which did make Oak feel a little better. Tammy was right, the Rivers' clan were all strong, except maybe her but they always pulled through, together.

"Oak Rivers?" A voice called out and Oak could've sworn her heart stopped beating, it was the doctor to tell her how Tom was.

Tammy and Oak both said goodbye to each other, Tammy had to get back to work and Oak had to listen to what the doctor had to say and with every step she took towards the tall greying man her heart squeezed together. The doctor looked down at her sorrowfully, which just made her mind race with a million different thoughts that didn't end in a good way, that look in his eyes screamed that there was something wrong or so she thought.

"How are you feeling?" The doctor asked concerned, he could see how much tonight's events had wrecked her and he felt very sympathetic towards her.

"As good as I can be, I guess, how are you?" She replied hoarsely then cleared her throat "Is he okay?" She added, her worry taking over her.

The man took a deep breath in, these sorts of things were always so hard to find the right words for and to try and put the family's mind at ease when someone they love does something to hurt themselves like this, was very, very hard. "We found cocaine and heroin in his system, it's looking like the overdose was caused by the latter," He stated as softly as he could to try and not worry her but he didn't think it worked considering the look on the young lady's face drained in colour. "He's doing better than we thought he would be with the amount of substance he put into himself," He explained further as Oak just nodded, taking in every word he said as intently as possible so she didn't miss anything.

"Obviously, because of how much he put in himself we're going to have to monitor his state closely and judging by the amount, this wasn't an accident. Your brother?-" He told her and stopped to make sure he got it correct and the girl nodded in response willing him to carry on "However is in a light coma so he's awake, he just doesn't know it but I promise you we will do everything we can for him," Doctor Rhibb reassured the lady in front of him to the best of his ability, this part of the job was by far the worst, seeing family members of patients so anguished was very difficult to shake.

"Okay. . ." She smiled fighting back the flood again "Thank you," She breathed out the truth, she was very grateful for all the work the NHS did to help people, thank you didn't even cut it, they needed way more than a thank you but she had no other coherent words.

Dr. Rhibb eventually left her side with a sad smile and a gentle arm of reassurance on her shoulder. When the words had sunk in, he was in a coma. He was in a coma unconscious to the point where he could potentially not be awakened, he was laying there, hearing, feeling but not seeing or touching, he was practically dead but very much alive in the eyes of everyone else except maybe himself.

Her heart was welling with the sort of pain you only feel when you want nobody to hear you cry, her full body radiated in agony but nothing compared to what Tom's agony was. Her mind piled with words and thoughts that were only felt when you had no words to express the way you felt, but nothing compared to the thoughts that Tom had. Her hands were quivering at the fact that he did what he did but not as much as Tom's were when he did it.