When you're gone
The pieces of my heart are missin' you
-Avril Lavigne, "When You're Gone"
Miles
I parked Rachel's Camaro and ran inside, following her directions to come through the Emergency Room into the ICU, room 10.
When I rounded the corner by room 10, I felt my heart leap into my throat. I didn't know what to expect, and I knew if Brooke was in bad shape, Rachel would be hysterical. I stopped, took a deep breath, and opened the curtain.
I swallowed when I saw Brooke lying there, Rachel standing at the end of the bed and Luke sitting next to her holding her hand. Her face was bruised and cut, her arm was in a sling, and she was intubated.
Rachel immediately stepped to me, burying her face in my chest as I wrapped my arms around her. "Shhh," I cooed as she wept onto my baseball jersey.
Luke looked over at me, and his eyes were dull and lifeless. "She's in a coma, Miles."
I closed my eyes, feeling Rachel's body tense as her sobs intensified.
"What happened?" I asked.
"She was driving high... she was about to cross the bridge from Panama City proper to the beach, and she lost control...flew off the embankment, almost went into the bay," he said, his voice sounding numb.
"Jesus Christ," I breathed. "How did they know she was high if she's in a coma?"
"They did a blood test at the scene because it was suspicious. She definitely had heroin in her system. She'll likely get a DUI."
"Shit," I said. I didn't know what else to say.
"Shit is right," Rachel mumbled. "Her life is fucked."
"Wait, though," I said, a thought coming to me. "Yeah, a DUI will screw you up for a while, but you know what else?"
"What?" Rachel and Luke asked together.
"Maybe as part of her sentence, they'll send her to court-ordered rehab," I pointed out.
Rachel looked up at me, her grey eyes showing some semblance of hope. "You're right," she said. "That's a silver lining, right?"
I nodded, and we both looked at Luke, whose eyes never left Brooke's face
"That's if she wakes up at all," he whispered.
"Don't say that, Lucas," Rachel chastised. "She can hear you."
He scoffed. "Bullshit."
"Luke!" I said sharply.
He glared at me and shoved past me, flinging the curtain open and disappearing into the hallway.
Rachel turned into me again, fresh sobs leaving her throat.
I backed up until my knees were against the loveseat behind us. We sat down, and I pulled Rachel as close to me as possible, letting her cry until she fell asleep.
Brooke
I'm trapped.
I can't move.
What's happening to me?
I hear voices, but I don't know who they belong to...
Wait. Is that...
Luke? Rachel? And Miles?
What are they doing here? They said they weren't going to speak to me again until I got clean – and I certainly wasn't clean right now.
I don't even know what happened. I don't remember anything after kicking Jordan in the balls and driving away.
Driving.
Oh. Oh shit.
What have I done?
Is it too late?
"That's if she wakes up at all."
Luke.
Please, please don't give up on me.
"Don't say that, Lucas. She can hear you."
Yes, Rachel. I can.
"Bullshit."
"Luke!"
Miles... stop him, please.
But all I hear now are sobs. Rachel's sobs.
Luke left.
But why wouldn't he?
After all, I left him.
Rachel
I woke up what seemed like just minutes later, but Miles informed me I'd been asleep for two hours.
"God," I said, sitting up fast. "Did she..."
He shook his head. "Luke's still gone, too."
"He can't have gone far – he has no car," I pointed out.
"He may have called Ma and Pop," Miles said, and I considered this.
"Text them and ask."
He did, but they responded and said they hadn't heard from him.
"Shit," I breathed. "We have to find him."
"I'll go. Stay with her," Miles said. I nodded and got up to sit next to Brooke's bed.
Miles opened the curtain and ran right into Luke.
"Damnit," Miles muttered. "What were you doing, sitting outside?"
Luke looked sheepish. "Yeah. I couldn't go far... I wanted to be here if she... if she woke up."
I stood up and crossed the room to him. "Now you think she's going to wake up?" I asked venomously.
"Rachel, don't," Miles cautioned.
I held up my hands. "Fine. I'll shut up. But Luke, if you're going to come back in here, I need you to be positive."
"Okay. I'm sorry, Rachel," he said, holding out his hand, offering a surrender handshake.
I took it and pulled him in for a hug. "We have to stick together now, Luke," I murmured.
"I know," he responded, hugging me back briefly.
"Has anyone heard from Katherine?" Miles asked as we all sat back down.
"This is actually where she works now," I said. "She's on call right now, and had to go up to the cath lab. She'll be back down as soon as she can."
"Oh, okay." Miles looked at his phone. "Do you guys think we should email our Monday professors and let them know what happened? Just in case we don't get home in time?"
I nodded. "That's a good idea," I said, pulling out my iPhone. "Luke, I'll email Professor Fairchild for both of us."
"Okay. Thanks," he said, pulling out his phone to send his messages.
We were silent for a few minutes, sending messages to our respective professors. Within minutes, we got responses from all of them, offering their support, thoughts, or prayers.
Over the next few minutes, we all started yawning, realizing how late it had gotten.
"I think one of us needs to stay with her at all times," I said. "Miles, maybe you and I can go to my parents' house and get some sleep, then we can come back and relieve Luke. You can take my car to your parents'," I told him.
They both nodded, and after a few minutes of saying goodbye to Brooke's unconscious body, Miles and I were on our way to Seahorse Lane.
Luke
After Miles and Rachel left, I pulled my chair as close to Brooke as I could, never letting go of her hand.
I watched TV until infomercials were all that was playing, and after I turned it off, I started talking.
"Brooke... Rachel said you could hear me. I don't know if that's true, but I really, really want to believe that it is. So, I'm going to talk to you." I took a deep breath, and just let it all out.
"Brooke, you hurt me. You hurt me worse than anyone ever has, even when Miles was in his heyday. Breaking up with me was bad enough, but breaking up with me for drugs? And then sleeping with some drug dealer?" I scoffed. "You broke me, Brooke. And goddamnit if I don't still love you." I wiped a tear from my eyes and stood up. I felt a sudden need to be next to her.
I climbed in the bed beside her, resting my head on her shoulder, careful to avoid her IV and tubes.
"Brooke, baby, if you can actually hear me, hear this: I'm here when you wake up. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. We'll get through this – together. Please." I felt tears falling from my eyes onto her hospital gown. "Don't leave me again, B," I whispered.
Brooke
I'm trying, Luke. I'm trying to hang on. But I don't know how much longer I can last.