Ian's P.O.V
Everything is so familiar, it's hard not to think back to the last time I was sitting here, waiting for news that could break me.
The sterile smell is the same, the lights are still the same ugly flourescent, the beeping is still everywhere you go, and I'm still sitting in an uncomfortable chair beside a loved one - praying that she'll wake up and be okay.
It's been two days since Annie's surgeries, but she still hasn't woken up. The doctors don't seem to be too concerned about this fact, according to them it's due to the amount pain meds and stress that her body is going through.
For two days she has been in and out of surgeries because the bleeding in her stomach that they thought they had under control just keeps coming back. For two days she has laid in this bed and not made a single movement or even opened her eyes once.
For two days I have sat in this uncomfortable chair, only leaving to give her parents time with her alone. During that time I go home and shower as quickly as possible before changing my clothes and heading right back to the hospital.
Fieldan is here when she's not at school, but she goes home to eat and sleep. Food and sleep never cross my mind until someone brings food to me and forces me to eat it. I haven't slept since the night before everything happened, not a full nights sleep at least. I toss and turn everytime I try, and not from being uncomfortable, but from the fear of Annie not being here when I wake up.
There's a light knock and when I look towards the door I see Drew stepping into the room and quietly closing the door behind him.
He takes a guick look at Annie before looking away - that's what everyone does. I watch him as he makes his way around the bed where she is and sits heavily in the empty chair beside me.
He's wearing his baseball uniform and has dirt smeared all over his pants, "How was practice?"
Drew looks down at his pants like he forgot that he was still in his sweaty, dirt covered practice uniform. "It was okay."
I give him a tight lipped nod, and we sit in silence for a few moments. I notice that Drew is now looking at Annie instead of his hands. Aside from the bandage on her head and the few cuts on her face, she looks the same, but people act as if she's horribly disfigured when the see her.
"Still no changes?" His voice is hoarse as he asks me the question.
I shake my head, "None."
"Do you think she can hear us?"
"The doctors said it's possible."
"What do you think she would say if she woke up right now and saw us sitting here together?" Drew turns towards me and we both start laughing.
When Drew left, Fieldan showed up a few minutes later. In her hand was all the work I'm missing at school. Since we're nearing the end of the year and graduation is right around the corner, it's a large stack of make up work.
While Fieldan agreed to go to school, even though she would rather be here with me, my dad knew better than to even ask me.
"I've only been gone for two days." I say as I take the workload from Fieldan and sit it on the small table behind me.
"A lot can happen in two days." She takes the seat Drew had vacated moments ago and after a quick chat about Annie's lack of progress today, we open our books and do our homework in silence.
I can't focus on the pages in front of me, so instead I turn my eyes to Annie. I watch her face and the slow rising and falling of her chest. Her pulse was faint when the ambulance arrived, but the doctors say it's strong and steady now. I spend a lot of time watching her, hoping that I'll see some kind of movement, even in the smallest form. Based on her charts, the doctors say that she should be waking up within the next day or so.
"Ian, you look like you're about to fall over dead." Fieldan's worried voice drags my eyes away from Annie and over to her.
"I'm fine." I lie, the words just rolling off ny tongue naturally after speaking them time after time for days now.
"You don't look fine. You need to sleep." She closes the text book she had been reading. "I'm worried about her too, but we have to take care of ourselves."
Fieldan and I have become pretty close over the past couple of weeks, which is still bizzare to me. Just last year she thought I was a freak and I thought she was a spoiled brat that wore too much pink. When Annie and I started dating, Fieldan and I spent more time together and formed a small friendship/sibling relationship, but ever since Annie stopped talking to me, and now this, Fieldan and I are like real brother and sister. Neither of us have other siblings, so it's nice to have each other - especially in times like this.
Add my relationship with Fieldan to the list of things I have to thank Annie for.
"I'm fine." I repeat even though I know she doesn't believe me.
With a sigh, she turns around and digs through her purse. A few seconds later she hands me some crumpled up dollar bills. "Then go get us some snacks."
I want to say no because I don't want to leave, but I know she'll keep talking about how not okay I am if I stay, so I take the money and rise to my feet. My legs welcome the opportunity to stretch, and can't comtain the yawn that escapes me as I stretch my arms above my head. Fieldan gives me a pointed look, but I roll my eyes and walk towards the door.
When I turn the corner to head in the direction of the vending machines, I see Annie's parents getting off the elevator. They spend the majority of their days with lawyers and doctors, and then their nights waiting by Annie's side. In the past two days I've gotten to know them both pretty well.
"Ian, how are you?" Annie's mom, Hope, pulls me into a hug, which I retirn before turning and shaking her dad, Tom's, hand.
"I'm doing okay, just going to get some snacks." I gesture towards the direction of the vending machines.
"How is she?" Tom asks, even though I know he called the hospital only an hour ago to ask the same question.
"Same. Nothing has changed." We all frown, even more so than we already were.
"Have you been here all day, Ian?" Hope asks, her voice and face full of sadness. She can tell by the way I look that I have, "Honey, you need to get some rest. You know we'll call you if anything changes."
I know she's telling the truth, but I can't go home when Annie is here. If something happens, it would take me thirty minutes to get here. "I'm fine."
After a couple more minutes of small talk, we part ways and they go to join Fieldan in Annie's room while I go to the vending machines.
I get all of Fieldan's favorites, and then a bag of chips and a drink for myself. As I walk back down the halls towards Annie's room, I hear a lot of commotion. A nurse runs past me and almost causes me to drop everything, she shouts an apology over her shoulder but keeps going.
The closer I get to her room, the more shouting and beeping I hear. I round the last corner and I drop everything.
Fieldan is standing off to the side of Annie's door, her hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide and filled with tears. Tom is holding Hope as she mirrors Fieldan, his own fear evident on his face.
I run towards them, disregarding the armful of food I had just dropped. When I reach Fieldan, Annie is being wheeled out of her room by a team of nurses as one of the shouts, "Page Dr. Clark!" Everyone is in a frenzy and it all happened so fast and they were in the elevator and out of site before anyone noticed I was back.
Fieldan turns and wraps her arms around me, burying her face in my shirt.
"What happened?" I finally manage to ask. My heart is pounding and breaking all at once. It was like I was paralyzed with fear, I had no idea what happened in the few short moments that I was gone.
"I...I saw blood in the catheter bag, so I told a nurse, and then...I don't know, they kicked me out of the room and took her away."