Lara sat down beside me, resting her head against my shoulder. Zach sat down on her other side. She took his hand and threaded her fingers through his.
"I called Christina. They're coming." She said, her voice totally unlike her own. Dull and emotionless. Zach wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his lap. She curled up into a tight ball and buried her face in his chest.
Her muffled breathing quickly turned into sobs. "I-I Don't know what im going to do without her. I've known her my whole life." She whimpered. Zach hugged her tighter, rocking her.
"I know. It's going to be ok." He whispered. Lara pulled back, wiping her eyes.
"How can it? How can it be ok! We're going to lose her! Well never see her again!" She yelled, sobs choking her voice.
She stood up, running her hands through her hair, pacing back and forth. Then she stopped dead.
"Oh, god. Zach, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I'm sorry. I'm just... I'm..." she dissolved back into tears and sunk back onto the chair. Zach and I both put and arm around her and she clung to us tightly.
Lara's phone buzzed. She wiped her eyes and took three deep breaths, then picked it up and turned it on, scanning the screen anxiously.
"They're here. Want me to go get them?" She asked. I nodded, not taking my eyes away from my shoes. Zach left, but I could sense that Lara was still next to me.I knew if I looked at her, I would see it in her eyes. Everything I'd been trying to block out, to convince myself of otherwise. If I saw all that I was feeling reflected back at me, I don't know if I could live through that.
She touched my arm briefly, then her quiet footsteps pattered away.
Everything was quiet.
Except in my head.
This is it.
This is the end.
I vaguely noticed a machine starting to beep.
You just found her and you're going to lose her.
Shut up.
You'll never see her again.
Shut up.
You'll never get to live your lives together.
Shut up shut up shut up.
I hate this stupid place. I hate that I can't save her. I hate this hospital and I hate that stupid machines are the only thing keeping Amelia alive and I hate that stupid beeping sound that-
Wait.
The beeping sound.
I looked up, searching for the source of the sound. My eyes fell on the heart monitor. It couldn't be... I stood up and moved closer.
On the screen was little jagged lines, measuring her heart rate. About halfway along the line, the jagged peaks got bigger and closer together.
I grabbed Amelia's hand as gently as I could, trying to force away the panicky hope. "Amelia? Can you hear me?" I asked, squeezing her hand.
And she squeezed my hand back.
I gasped and cupped her cheek, stroking it gently. "I'll be right back." I promised, then took off running.
I found the others waiting in the lobby. I ran to them and grabbed Lara's arm.
"Lara! The heart monitor- she- I- squeezed my hand- I- come on!" I yelled, tying to form a comprehensible sentence. She took a step back and held up her hands.
