ER

twenty-five

twenty-seven minutes later - May 21, 2020
billies pov

i follow the doctors into the emergency room, watching them continue to press on gwen's chest as they wheel her into a room.

"miss, you're gonna hav to stay out of the room while we try to bring dr. dené back," the short blonde lady i've seen so many times before tells me as i try to push my way passed her.

"i can't just sit here while she's dying!" i shout at her, tears rolling freely down my cheeks.

"billie, we're doing everything possible to save her." she tells me softly, tears filling her own eyes. "she's a food friend of mine - of everyone here - so we will do everything in our power to save her life."

i nod slightly, my eyes never leaving the girls body as i watch through the glass doors of the trauma room. "please don't let her die."

"we won't, and that's a promise." she says, patting my shoulder twice in reassurance before pushing the doors open to work on her friend.

i look into the second trauma room, seeing the boy under the same conditions as gwendolyn - compressions on the chest, a basin near the mouth for fluid, and a tube being inserted into his chest to drain the fluid from his lungs.

i watch between both rooms, watching as they shock both people with the paddle things, the bodies jolting violently every time they shouted, "clear!"

"here," a nurse with strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes says softly, her hand on my shoulder as she holds out a pair of blue scrubs. "i'm sure you're uncomfortable in those wet clothes, so here's some dry ones to change into."

"i wasn't even thinking about my clothes," i say honestly, looking down at my water filled shoes. "thank you - i appreciate it."

putting my mind away from gwen and the boy, i make my way to the restroom. i shove my hand through my hair as i look at myself in the mirror.

"you look like hell," i tell myself, staring into my own blue eyes. "but gwen would tell you to get your shit together and be strong, so that's what you have to do - you have to be strong for her."

i push my way into a stall and pull off my wet clothes, replacing them with the dry scrubs.

they're surprisingly comfortable.

i shove my hands into the pockets of the pants as i walk out of the bathroom, making my way back to where gwen and the boy were being treated in the trauma rooms. only this time, the only thing lying on the bed was a body covered in a white sheet.

my heart broke at the sight.

immediately, tears run freely down my cheeks and i fall to my knees, sobbing into my cold hands.

i feel a comforting body lift my own and set me in a chair, brushing my messy dyed hair out of my face.

"it's okay, sweetheart," the nurse says, holding me close to her chest. "it's gonna be okay."

sadness only hits when i'm alone and i'm really getting tired of it so here's this

i love y'all
stay safe