“Possible allergic reaction to Ketorolac. How’s his airway?”
The doctor takes a tube and tries for a few seconds to place it in him.
“Damnit, it’s closed!” The doctor curses, and a cry escapes me.
That thin line is going crazy. That thin line can change everything. That thin line is getting closer to a…Flatline.
“Crash cart! He’s crashing.” The doctor starts doing CPR, and I cover my mouth.
“No!” I shout, my voice hoarse, and my eyes looking at something that they can’t stand. “No!”
“Ma’am, you can’t be in here. Someone take her-”
I feel my dad’s arms around me.
“Maddie-”
“Let me go!” I cry, and he drags me further away while the doctor isstilltrying to bring him back. “Dad, let me…”
I can’t lose him.I can’t.I feel like I can’t breathe. Why can’t I breathe?I’m supposed to be able to breathe without him.I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, letting the tears stain my face, and the pain takes control of me. It’s all falling down. My mom, him…
This can’t be happening.He can’t-
I’m feeling myself get dragged. I don’t want to get dragged. I wantJake. I want to keep calling his name until he comes backto me. What is happening to me? I look up at the bright lights of the hospital.
“Please.” I cry. “Mom, please.” It comes out of my mouth before I can stop it.
My dad stops us in a small, empty hallway. My eyes search for his face.
“Maddie,pleasestop.” He calmly says.
“No! Sheleft me. The least she could do is save him!” I shake my head and close my eyes, trying to focus on her face. I don’t believe in anything, but desperation makes people do desperate things. “D-dad, I think I’m sick. I mean, I feel like I-I can’t breathe.” I let out between sobs.
He holds me closely.
“I don’t think you’re sick, honey. I think you love him.” My dad’s green eyes show nothing but the truth.
The image of his almost lifeless body is printed on my brain, haunting me.
“Dad.” I look at him, on my knees, on the floor, realizing I love the one person who, right now, can absolutely destroy me. “I can’t lose him.” A cry escapes my mouth, and the tears take it from there. My dad kneels next to me and hugs me.
“I know.” He gulps, as if he knew what I was talking about. It’s because he does know. My mother. She didn’t just leave Lindsey and me. She left the man who loved her beyond reason. My dad. And he watched her die.
I close my eyes.
They say that we were originally created with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. Fearing our power, Zeus split us into two separate parts, condemning us to spend our lives in search of our other halves. The cruelty is that I actually thought mine would be him.
46
LOML
“Maddie.” My dad shakes me slightly and- “He’s okay. He was moved to observation.”
My eyes swell up from joy and disbelief.
“Really? You’re not lying?” I cry through my biggest smile, and he smiles back.
“Hey, are you calling me a liar?”
