I flung the door of the slow moving car open, scrambling in my haste to make it across the empty street. As quickly as I could, I ran towards my teary friend bundled in a blanket against the cool spring air.
"Sam? What happened? Are you okay?"I asked, searching her face.
I heard Luke's footsteps behind me and turned to find a very confused expression on his face. Before I turned, I noticed him shooting Samantha questioning looks as well.
"W-we were dr-driving home...,"she couldn't even complete her thought without bursting into a fresh round of sobs. Apparently whatever happened was bad, even worse than I imagined.
In stead of shaking her until she spit it out like I so desperately wanted to do, I walked closer a step and took the trembling girl into my arms. She leaned her head on my shoulder, causing tears to run down my bare, chilled skin.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, she pulled away and sniffled.
"We were driving home, you know? Laughing and goofing off like we always do. That was until a car came speeding out of nowhere. Not just any car, it was a massive truck. It practically ran us over!"she hiccuped a little before pulling herself together once more.
"Jared. It was so terrible! The impact was on his side, so he got the brunt of it. It obliterated the driver's side of his car. H-he got taken away in the ambulance. It wasn't good. He was unconscious and he was bleeding. Oh God, Izzy! He was bleeding so bad!"then came more sobs. I was on the verge of crying myself.
She trembled and hiccuped once more,"A-and you wanna know the wo-worst part? The bastard drove away afterwards. It was fucking hit and run!"
This time when the trembling blonde broke down, I broke down with her. We both sat there crying for a while. At some point Luke came up behind me and circled his arms around both of us, cradling us as if we were glass.
Eventually a police officer came over and asked us if we wanted a ride to the hospital.
"No thanks officer,"Luke said politely, a false smile on his face,"My car is just over their so I think I'll drive us over to it."
The officer just nodded before walking off and hopping into his police car. Then, I got into the car and put on my seat belt, my mind and body seeming to go numb. My silence and lack of motion only disrupted by my robotic caressing of Samantha's hair as she cried on me and the nonsense words that spilled out of my mouth, meaning to be soothing and optimistic.
Without me really noticing, we pulled up in the strangely empty parking lot and walked in a group up to the large, intimidating building. The tired lady at the front desk told us to take a seat in the waiting room. Luke must have, at some point, contacted the rest of our group and Jared's parents because minutes later they all came rushing into the hospital.
And, as all of the crying people settled into the hard, plastic chairs, I began to wonder. How had everything gone all wrong? How had such a perfect night flipped in the course of a few seconds?
I jerked when Luke wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. Just like that, the numbness shattered and I began to ball onto his shoulder. My tears soaked through the white dress shirt and I blindly realized that he had taken off his suit jacket and his slim tie.
"Shhh. It's going to be okay,"he cooed, whispering in my ear.
His warm breathe sent a shiver up my spine, but it didn't stop the sobbing. I had just seen Jared dancing and laughing with his girlfriend, talking sports with his guy friends. In every aspect of the word, I still felt him healthy. I felt like I would look over and find him sitting in the chair beside me, sending me that goofy smile of his.
I suddenly was hit with a memory. I saw myself snapping at Jared because I was being so self-centered. A surge of self-loathing went through me and I almost dry-heaved onto the hospital floor. I don't know why I was so broken up about this, I mean he wasn't even my boyfriend. If this is how I respond to something happening to a close friend, then how will I ever cope with something happening to Luke? The truth is, I probably won't.
I looked over at Sam, who was once again trembling with silent tears running down her pale cheeks, still wearing her matted and wrinkled prom dress. I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with pity for the girl. Anybody who saw the way she looked at him would know that she was completely in love with him.
I stood, shaking Luke's arms off as I went. Drying my tears, I walked towards Samantha. I put on a brave face and sat in the empty seat next to her, wrapping my arms around her small frame.
"Everything is going to be all right,"I said, surprised to hear such honesty in my voice,"Jared is a good guy and God knows that. He will help him through it. He'll help us all through it. We just have to believe and pray."
Sam looked up at me with wide, wet eyes surrounded by smudged make-up,"You really think so?"
"Sure. You don't deserve this and neither does he. This whole mess is going to turn out for the better later. God works in mysterious ways,"I winked at her and then without another word I walked back to my previous seat.
Luke sent me a proud smile,"That was nice of you."
"Her and Jared are both good friends of mine. It wasn't a problem. It actually made me feel better,"I leaned my head against his shoulder, both of us falling silent.
The silence was disrupted when a doctor, white coat and all, entered the waiting room. His face oozed calm, the exact opposite of everyone in the small, cramped room. Everyone leaned forward, wondering which family in the packed waiting room he was going to address.
"Parents of Jared Elliot?"he asked, searching the faces with his eyes.
Mr. and Mrs. Elliot stood up so fast my eyes barely caught,"That's us,"his dad said.
The doctor just nodded,"Follow me unless you want your whole group to know."
Mrs. Elliot's clear green eyes searched our expressions, as if looking to us for the answer. Finally, she spoke,"We all care about him a great deal. I think we should all know what is happening."
"Very well, but let's at least move somewhere a little more private,"he glanced around at the other grief stricken families and friends.
We all followed him to a smaller room with only one window, looking out onto the slightly busy road, lights flashing and blinding me if I looked too close.
"Jared is currently stabalized, though we don't know how long it'll last. He has internal bleeding and a slight puncture in his left lung, along with a few broken bones which are minor compared to his other problems. He also has a few cuts and bruises, the bigger cuts already sewn up and cleaned. We are going to have to go in and perform surgery on his lung to patch it up. That wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that, with the internal bleeding, this can unstabalize his condition and he might not make it out of the operation alive. I know this is a lot to take in, but we will need you to sign some papers before we do the surgery. The other option is that we could wait and see if we can somehow solve the internal bleeding, then go in and heal the lung, but he might not make it that long."
I took the time to glance around at all of the horrified expressions of the people around me, my face probably looking similar.
The doctor continued with a sigh,"I'll give you some time to think it through, but keep in mind the longer you wait, the less likely for your son to recover."
He walked off, leaving our little, shaken group alone in the room that now seemed too small.
Abruptly, Jared's mom turned towards her husband,"I think we should wait."
My mind instantly went blank. Why would she want to prolong the wait and risk her son's life like that? What could possibly be going through her mind right now?
"Do you think that would be best?"he returned, his words muffled by the hand he was sliding over his face.
"Yes. I feel like the chances will be better if we just let the doctors try to eliminate the bleeding first."
At that point, all I felt was red-hot rage. I went to take a step forward, but Luke instantly grabbed my arm and brought me back. I turned to look at him, seeing him shake his head 'no'.
I just sent him a pointed glare and spun back around, ripping my arm out of his grasp. That was when Sam stepped forward, looking just as furious as me, if not more.
"You're really willing to do that?"she practically screamed,"You're willing to risk your son's life on a whim? You are such a heartless bitch! You just heard the fucking doctor say that it was less likely to make it if we waited, yet here you are! God!"she pulled at her hair, tears streaming off her face,"I can't even stand to be in the same room as you!"
Sam stormed out, slamming the door behind her. I shared a look with Jess, causing her to nod. Then she was running after Sam.
I turned to Mrs. Elliot, trying to calm my racing heart,"Mrs. Elliot?"
She spun around to face me, red-shot eyes focusing on my face,"Yes?"
I took a deep breath,"I know this has been a hard couple of hours for you, it's been that way for all of us. And I respect your decision, I really do. I just think that all of this stress is getting to you. Maybe you should step away for a minute, maybe talk it through with your husband. Then, if your choice still hasn't changed, then I can completely respect that. I just ask that you think it out."
She stood there silent the entire time, but by the end she just hung her head and began sobbing. I stood there awkwardly, watching as her husband stepped forward to calm her.
"I think that might be best, Isabelle,"she said after she had composed herself, sending me a nod before exiting the room.
I collapsed back into Luke's arms, tears finally spilling over my lids,"I just hope they make the right decision for Jared."
"Me, too,"he whispered, hugging me closer to his chest.
We all followed suit after that and exited the room, going back to the larger waiting room in the front of the large building. It was silent, except for the occasional nurse and the whispers of Jared's parents, all of the other families gone.
I just remained nestled into Luke's warm, comforting arms for what felt like hours. Finally, Jared's parents stood up and exited hand-in-hand, walking up to the front desk and requesting the doctor. My air got stuck in my throat. This was the moment. The moment where Jared's treatment is decided.
The doctor showed up a few minutes later, clipboard in hand.
"Have you made your decision?"he asked them, that calm facade never slipping.
They nodded and he handed over some papers,"What did you decided?"
"We decided that the surgery would be best? When will you be able to do it?"the father replied, settling his gaze on the doctor's face intently.
The doctor gave them a small smile, the only emotion I've seen him show so-far,"We can continue as soon as you sign the papers."
The man and woman nodded, eagerly scribbling on the official looking documents, sometimes signing, sometimes writing. It seemed painstakingly long as they flipped through the billions of papers. When they finally neatly had all the papers back together again, they handed them to the doctor.
"Okay. We are going to go prep Jared and the surgery room. We'll notify you so you can see him before we start,"then the doctor was gone, back down the hallway again.
By then Jessica and Samtha had returned, both of them being filled in on what had happened. A relieved look passed across Sam's distressed face, but was quickly replaced with grief as reality returned. Her boyfriend's life was still on the line.
She turned her gaze to me and stood, walking over."Thank you for going about it rationally and convincing his mom to rethink it. I really owe you one."
I gave her a small smile,"It was the least I could do."
Sam gave me a one-armed hug before returning to her seat. Silence. The beeps of machines. The ringing of a telephone. It all surrounded me as we waited for the moment where we would be allowed to see him. The last time any of us might ever see him alive.
I flash of white caught my eye and I turned to see that the doctor had returned.
"We're ready,"was all he said befor leading us down the hall. They had wheeled Jared out of his room, tubes dangling everywhere, trying to keep him stabalized.
I hung back, just taking it all in. I just wanted to let Sam and his parents get a moment alone with him. Everyone else seemed to have the same thoughts as me because we all kept our distance.
I watched solemnly as Sam picked up his limp hand and held it in hers, letting her tears stain his pale face. She seemed to say a few words before giving him a peck on the cheek and returning to stand next to me. And when the sobs racked her body, I wrapped an arm aroun dher and pulled her close.
Too soon it seemed, they were wheeling one of my close friends into a room that he may or may not make it out of. It was in God's hands now and all that was left for us to do was pray.
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Sorry for the cliffhanger.. This is the last chapter but I promise that everything will be answered in the Epilogue which I will post as soon as this chapter gets atleast 7 votes!!! I can't ever communicate what it means to be for all of ya'll's support. It kills me to end this book, but......there is info for the spin-off in the next chapter :) This is my gift to you, for being so amazing!
Also, Last night a boy my age that goes to my school died. He was in the car with two other teenage boys. He was sitting in the passenger's seat. All three boys had Marijuana in there system at the time of the accident. He also wasn't wearing a seat belt. One of the other two boys was life flighted to Vanderbuilt, while the other had less severe injuries and is now safe and at home. The driver was going 90 mph and swerved into the other lane, hitting another car head on. Both cars were practically destroyed. The seventeen-year-old driver is being charged with second-degree manslaughter. My point here is, driving accidents are serious and they happen all of the time. Please, wear your seat belt and drive responsibly. Because next time, it could be you or someone that you love.