I continuously pace back and forth in the waiting room of a lonely dimmed hospital, praying for her to be okay. I notice other people are checking in and sitting down, so I quickly sit down and try to gather myself as I wait for my family to arrive. As I wait, I notice nurses rushing around the empty halls of the hospital, as if they were racing towards their next break. There were so many sounds in the hospital... The beeping of patients' IV pumps, elevators dinging, call lights beeping, and unhealthy coughing and hacking .... All I keep thinking about is when shelby hit the ground...everything has been so anxious and stressed-out...
I begin to feel very impatient about the lack of information about my friend from the staff here. I get up from my seat and walk up toward the front desk for the 2nd time tonight. The lady at the desk looks up in my direction with her glasses slightly tilted down her nose. "May I help you?" She asks. I lose my train of thought while focusing on her glasses, waiting for them to fall off the tip of her nose. "ma'am? Are you alright?" I snap back into reality and quickly gather my thoughts and remember the reason I was up there.
"Um...Hi, I'm Mackenzie Hills, I'm checking in again on Shelby Summers. I'm really worried and I need to know that she'll be okay...she's my best friend...could you please help me.." The nurse adjusts her glasses and looks down at her computer screen. She rapidly types in Shelby's name, at least I think and then she begins to read the screen,
"Your friend is in the ER unresponsive, we'll let you know if anything changes. Okay, ma'am?" She smiles at me.
"Okay, thank you." She smiles and goes back to doing paperwork. I turn around and go to walk back to where I was sitting. Just as I'm about to sit down her parents walk in, along with my mom. They go up to the nice desk lady and check-in. Once the pen left the clipboard, they rush over to comfort me with hugs. We all greet each other with hugs and sit down where I was sitting earlier. Her mother sits down right next to me on a loveseat and turns toward me.
"Kenz, please tell me she's okay..." I looked deeply into her mother's worried, teared-filled eyes and thought to myself that this wouldn't have happened if we weren't so stupid....if I weren't so stupid...
*I sigh* I close my eyes and try to picture the last time I saw Shelby, without curling up into a ball and crying my eyes out on the dirt-filled hospital floor. I clear my throat. " The last time I saw Shelby, was when she was zoning in and out on the stretcher and was bleeding a lot from her head and had a lot of scrapes and cuts. I never saw her stomach... But before the ambulance took her she was still breathing and holding onto her head like she had a really bad headache. " Her mother glances down at the floor to gather her thoughts. A few seconds later she looks up at me again and cups her warm hands around my hands and smiles. Her hands reminded me so much of Shelby, but her mother's hands were so warm and soft and Shelby's were always so cold, just like ice, they were so light, like feathers... I zone out into the distance...
"Honey... you did what you could and it was the right thing to do. If you weren't with her, something more serious could've happened or worse, she could've died. So thank you for being her buddy and staying with her." Shelby and her mom always knew how to get others to smile even when times were rough and dark.
"She's my best friend... we've been through everything together....of course, I'd be with her after a break up like that...I just wish we didn't go out, I should've known he would've broken out of jail to find her!"...god I'm so f*cking stupid...I'm so sorry..." I get cut off by my eyes filling up with tears, I collapse onto her mother's shoulder. She grabs ahold of me and hugs me tight. I feel the pressure build up in my face. "I'm really scared Aunt Michelle, I can't help but feel like we're going to lose her..." I mumble in between sobs. The hug tightens and the warmth grows.
"Honey.." she cups my drenched cheeks in her warm hands. "It's not your fault." She kisses my forehead and hugs me again. Her mother's hugs always felt like heaven. Our hug was interrupted by a doctor with a clipboard in hand.
"May I please see the people who are visiting Ms. Summers?" The doctor announces. We all get up and gather around him. "I'm Dr. Hansen, Shelby's Doctor." He holds up his clipboard and flips through a couple of pages.
"Um.." Shelby's dad interrupted "When can we see my daughter?" The doctor sighs, "That's the thing...you'll be able to see her, just she won't be able to see you. Your daughter is being transferred to the ICU."
"Oh my god!" I shout startling everyone, even the doctor "Shelby's blind!?!?" Everyone gasps and begins to freak out and look concerned at the doctor.
"No no no, listen we believe due to Shelby's severe head injury..... we're afraid she might be in a coma. We're running her to the ICU to run some more tests and then we'll keep her there. She'll leave later tonight. " My mom and my aunt begin to cry and my uncle hugs them both to try and comfort them. I try my best to stay strong and keep it together.
"When will we be able to see her?" My mother mumbles in between sobs.
"Now if you'd like." I'll escort you guys to her room, but she's in a temporary room so gifts or anything like that will have to wait." We all nod in agreement. We pace through the halls to an elevator. We step into the moving transportation box and the doctor presses 8 on the dial pad and up we go. After some time has passed, a loud ding comes from the elevator as the doors slide open and we make our way to her room. As we pace down the halls, I can't help but notice some of the doors were opened....some of the rooms had people gathered in them... some were smiling and laughing.....some were crying as they said their last goodbye...
We finally come to a halt. The doctor twists the doorknob to her room felt like it was the longest 10 seconds of my life. The doctor scans his key card and the door opens. That's when I see my best friend laying on a bed looking lifeless. I think that's the most still I've ever seen her... the scab on her face makes me disconnect from reality...
(Flashback mode)
12 weeks ago
Shelby climbs into my car "Kenzie... " She says while tears are streaming down her face and cupping her right cheek, she shuts the car door "Thank you so much for picking me up...
"Shelby I love you, but what the hell happened?! It's 4 in the f*cking morning, I have to go to work in 2 hours." I start the car and begin to drive.
She sighs and takes a deep breath in "Logan came home drunk after work again and we got into a huge fight because I was concerned about him being gone for so long, it felt like he was being distant, you know? Recently I felt like he has been seeing someone else lately. After a long rough argument, he pushed me up against a wall and tried to kiss me, after I slapped him hard he grabbed me by my neck and began to choke me. I kneed him in the crotch to get away, but he grabbed me by my hair and threw me against the wall after I hit the floor he punched me in the face and took my car keys. He ended up jabbing me in the cheek with my keys... That's when I locked myself in the bathroom turned on the shower hot for it to steam and I texted you. Now I'm here in the car with you, telling you about me being in the car with you and now describing that I'm in the car with you for the 3rd time now and now mentioning that..."
"Okay okay, I get it!!!" I shout while my anger fades into giggling. "God you know how to take the negative energy out of people." She smiles and laughs.
"I try my best." She smiles while tears still steam down her face. She flinches a bit as saltwater runs through an open cut on her face.
"What's wrong!?"
"It hurts to cry and smile, due to this." She pulls back her hair and tucks it behind her ear to reveal the wound.
"OH MY GOD SHELBY! Let's stop at the dollar store and get you a bandage and some stuff to clean that up, or at least stop the bleeding" I freak out.
She sighs... "You don't have to... use my card at least please!" She asks.
"Okay, okay fine!" I drive up the road and park the car. I run into the store and grab what I can for a cut like that.
Shelby's Perspective in Flashback
Kenzie gets out of the car and runs into the store. I rest my eyes and sit in silence. My eyes shoot open to the sound of pounding on the window. "What the hell!?" I look around in confusion until I find my ex looking into the window of the passenger side of the car.
"SHELBY! Let me in, I need to talk to you!" He screams while he bangs his fists on the window repeatedly. I quickly make sure all the doors are locked and windows are up.
Kenzie's perspective in flashbacks
A few moments later after I had already checked out. As I'm walking out of the store. I spot my car and Logan yelling at Shelby through the window, he begins to get aggressive with my car handle on Shelby's side. I dial 911 on my cell and report him. After the call, I put my phone away and sent my purchased items and purse down next to the store in view distance. I sneak up behind Logan and tackle him from behind and jump on his back. I begin to hit him in the head with the wedge of my shoe. He throws me into the ditch. As I hit the ground I hear a loud crack in the area of my hand. I Push through the pain and manage to stand up. I search for Logan and my eyes lock on my target. He's back in the passenger side of my car, yelling through the window at Shelby. I run again at him and jump on his back again this time with my keys in hand, pointed at his throat. All of a sudden I notice flickering lights and a cop appearing out of his vehicle and running towards us with his hand on his gun holster. Once Logan notices the cops, he sprints off into the open field with me still on his back. It felt like a violent piggyback ride. I glance behind me and see the men in uniforms chasing after us. I try and jump off of Logan's back, but as he's running he's gripping my leg's tightly. I shove my keys into his neck and make a small cut down it. I struggle to get away by kicking my legs free and all of a sudden I'm let free and I tumble away. Once I stopped rolling I sit up slowly looking around me. I notice Logan laying 15ft away from me, I brush myself off and stand up, I stand up and I'm face to face with a police officer. I was questioned about the situation and Logan was taken away in cuffs and sent to jail.
(Reality)
Tears begin to well up in my eyes as I picture my best friend... I didn't even notice that my friend's bed was being rushed out of the room by three nurses and the doctor. The doctor stops and turns around. "You guys should go home and get some rest, it's been a long day for you folks. You can go to the ICU tomorrow and see Shelby there. I'm sure she'd want the same for you guys." He turns back and catches up with the nurses and my friend.