Breathe. Breathe. Come on, Blake, breathe. BREATHE!
I could feel a gallon of water escape my lungs as my body rested on a bed of grass. I coughed loudly and inhaled a large amount of air, which burned my lungs. My vision was cloudy and I could barely hear the sound of my own breathing since the ringing in my ears was unbearable. I turned onto my back to notice Alex leaning over me with fear in his eyes. That fear then turned to relief as I focused my vision on his gaze.
"Alex?" I whispered as Alex stroked my forehead and hair.
"I'm right here. I'm right here. It's okay. It's okay." Alex comforts me.
I cough a little more and then my teeth start to chatter.
"Do you wanna sit up?" Alex asks me as he cradles me.
I nod and Alex lifts me up by holding my back and gripping my arm. I began to shiver and Alex just held me in his arms as tight as he could to keep me warm. I shut my eyes and laid there in his arms. I almost died. I almost died. We almost died. We stare out towards the lake and see Alex's car fully submerged in the water. The only thing I could see was the back windshield.
I take my focus off of the car and onto Alex, who looked just as bad as I did. I checked him up and down to notice that there was blood on his pants. I looked down to see that Alex had broken his right leg so badly that the bone tore the skin and he was bleeding profusely. Along with that, Alex was bleeding from his forehead and he was holding his chest in pain.
"Oh, my God, Alex, you're bleeding!" I exclaim.
"Don't worry about me, Blake. I'm fine!" Alex winced.
"No, you are not! We need to get you to a hospital! Come on, we're right near my house!" I say, getting up slowly.
Alex was hesitant, but he eventually complied. He grabbed onto me and I supported him by propping him up by wrapping his arm around my neck and holding onto his waist. We limped to the diner, where I set him down in a booth. Alex started to groan, which made me feel bad because of how much pain he was in. I went to the back of the restaurant to find something that would make a good makeshift splint and I grabbed a dish rag to hopefully stop the bleeding.
"Oh, man. These were my favorite jeans!" Alex sorrowfully complained.
"We'll buy new ones later! Just hold on!" I say, bringing the stuff to Alex.
As I prepared to set Alex's leg into place, I began to stare at him, who was in immense pain. His lips were starting to lose their bright pink tint and Alex's cheeks had begun to lost the mocha glow that they had. Alex is starting to lose a lot of blood and if I don't help him now...I'm afraid I might have to find a new quarterback.
"Here, Alex," I say handing him the dishrag. Alex was getting lightheaded, I could tell. His focus was leaving mine fast.
"Alex, baby, look at me. I need you to press this on your leg while I make this splint, okay?" I ask him.
He slowly nods in pain and proceeds to press on his injured leg.
"Aah! It hurts Blake, please!" Alex cries.
"I know, hon, I know! Here, I made the splint. Just carefully try to lift your leg up and I'll put your leg in here, okay?" I say.
Again, Alex nods and complies with the instructions. Alex lifts his leg and ever so carefully, I put his leg in the splint. Each time I had made the slightest moment, Alex let out a yell, or he sucked his teeth, or he began to cry, which was something I had never really seen him do. I couldn't feel any more awful than I already did. I had taken my jacket that I was wearing and tried to clean up as much blood as I could, but his leg and forehead just kept bleeding. After I got Alex's leg in the splint and he was somehow stable enough for me to leave for a few seconds, I ran to the diner phone and called 911. I told them my address and the current situation we were in.
Thank the Lord that the ambulance, fire department, and local police were on the scene immediately because Alex was feeling faint and so was I just a bit when he started to lose blood. The paramedics immediately charged into the diner, placing Alex on a stretcher and wheeling into the ambulance. They had secured him down and placed an oxygen mask on him, along with attaching an IV to his hand to deliver him proper fluids.
As he was getting loaded into the ambulance, Charlie had just shown up with her brother on his motorcycle. Jonah was going top speed down the road and they had parked right next to the diner. She got off and came running to my side. She hugged me while Jonah looked on in worry.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my god, Blake!" Charlie exclaims whilst hugging me still.
"I'm fine. I'm okay, I promise." I lie.
"You don't have to explain. Jonah and I heard the sirens and came as soon as we heard them. What happened?" Charlie asks.
Before I could get a word out, I heard the sirens of the ambulance got off. They were about to take Alex away. So, I ran after the paramedics.
"I need to go with him, please." I pleaded with the paramedics.
"Sorry, ma'am, but only close friends and family members can ride in this vehicle." Uttered one of the paramedics.
"But, I am a friend. I'm his best friend, actually." I reply.
The paramedics look at each other in regret then back at me. They finally let me on and we drive to the hospital. The paramedics noticed I was shivering from nearly drowning in the lake, so they gave me a blanket and hooked me an IV as well. Before they shut the doors, I waved to Charlie and Jonah. They told me they would meet me at the hospital, but not before calling my Dad and of course, Will.
On the way to the hospital, Alex held my hand the entire time. His eyes were closed and his breathing was slow. I never took my eyes off of him. This moment felt exactly like the time I broke my leg, except now it's reversed. I held on tight and never let go of his hand until we were split up. I was sent to my hospital room and was hooked up to several different machines: an EKG, a breathing machine, and I was doped up on IV fluids as well. Alex was wheeled to his room, which was a few rooms away from mine. He was still unconscious from the blood loss, so I was a bit worried. As I rested in my bed, I heard a tiny knock. It was none other than my two friends, Will and Charlie.
Will had stumbled into the room with flowers and Charlie carried balloons.
"I didn't know what kind of flowers you preferred, so I kinda sprung for all of them," Will says awkwardly as he sets them down on the nightstand to the left of me.
"Thank you. That's very sweet." I reply.
Will then reached over to give me a hug. I hugged back and kissed him on the cheek. Charlie then came towards my bed with tears in her eyes.
"I'm so glad you're alright. I was thinking the worst, to be honest." Charlie responded, wiping a tear away.
"Me too," I say, adjusting myself so I sat up in the bed. "So, where's my dad?"
"He's waiting in the lobby. He's gonna come in as soon as we come out." Will says.
"Okay, well, we don't want to keep him waiting, so we'll head out. Get well soon, Coach." Charlie says, giving me one last hug.
Wil then kisses my hand before he leaves and exits along with Charlie. No less than a few seconds later, my dad comes into my room with a very strong expression of concern. He had tears in his eyes as well and he looked as if he hadn't slept in days.
"Daddy," I say, reaching out for a hug. He hugs me back and sits right beside me on the edge of my bed.
"My baby girl! You're alright! I thought I lost you! I had heard the traffic report when I was coming home from the grocery store and realized what happened. So I rushed here as soon as Charlie told me." My dad explains.
"Well, I'm just glad me and Alex are okay. Speaking of which, how is he?" I ask.
My dad looks at me, then takes in a large breath, holding it for a few seconds before exhaling.
"Dad, what is it? Come on, you can tell me." I persist.
"Honey, I don't know how to tell you this, but the doctors said it's not looking so good. " My dad replies sorrowfully.
I started to get anxious. "W-What do y-you mean?" I stutter.
"The doctors say the injuries he sustained are much greater than they thought." My dad continues.
"Injuries? But from what I saw, it was just a broken leg and a cut forehead. It can't be that bad! He's fine! I-I k-know t-that!" I begin to doubt.
"Honey, Alex took on more than just a broken leg. It was much worse." My dad says grabbing my hand.
"How much worse? HOW MUCH WORSE?!?" I say, expressing my deep worry and complete concern by raising my voice a little.
"Well, the impact of the crash not only broke his leg, it damaged about 75% of his body. The airbag failed to deploy when you guys hit the water, so his face smashed right into the steering wheel, causing a severe fracture in his skull. He also suffered a concussion, which resulted in him receiving blunt force trauma and a few broken ribs." My dad finally finished horrifying me.
"Oh, my God! But...but he'll be alright, right? Tell me he'll be okay!" I begin to lose my mind.
"The doctors said they aren't sure yet, but right now, I'm sure they are doing everything that they can to make sure Alex makes a full recovery." My dad tries to comfort me, but I wasn't having it.
"No! NO! NO! NO! NO!" I scream.
"Blake, calm down, baby. I am sure he'll be okay. We just have to pray and be patient." My dad says.
My father trying to calm me down was raising my blood pressure. I wasn't calm enough to take a breath because those were the exact same words my father said to me when my mother was first diagnosed with her pancreatic cancer. And look at how that turned out for us. As soon as I started to break down into a complete mess, a doctor comes into my room. My father gets up and greets the young lady.
"Hello, I am Dr. Hemmingway. I have the results of the condition of your daughter, Mr. August." The doctor says.
"Screw that! How's Alex? Please, I have to know!" I ask frantically.
"Well to reassure you Ms. August, the medical staff, along wth myself are doing everything that we can. But..." Dr. Hemmingway trails off.
"But what?" I ask.
"Alexander's injuries from the crash are, I'm afraid, much too severe. His recovery may be prolonged due to his condition," Dr. Hemmingway continues.
"So what does that mean?" I ask anxiously.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid your friend...he's in a coma." Dr. Hemmingway finished.
I just stared on in shock. My entire body went numb as soon as I heard those words.
He's in a coma.
My heart dropped into my stomach. My eyes began to well up to the point where I couldn't even see. I could hear the EKG beep faster and faster and I was starting to hyperventilate once more as I immediately began to suffer from another panic attack. Then, that blurred vision turned to blackness as I could feel my entire body burn like a thousand Suns.
*Author's Note: Oh no! Alex is in a coma and Blake had yet ANOTHER panic attack! What is gonna happen next, I wonder? Well, tune in for the next chapter, which is coming real soon and leave a comment and a vote if you'd like. Alright, bye-bye, Lovebugs!*