“Motherfuckers!”
“He needs trauma,” One of the medics says to another as they race him to the back of the ambulance.
“Is he,” I hiccup, “gonna be okay?” I sniff, wiping the tears from my cheeks.
Ryder runs a hand through his hair and shouts, “Fuck!”
“We need to go. We need to follow that ambulance,”Jessie says, and we run to Ryder’s car. Ryder kicks it into gear, and we fly through the exit gates.
We’ve been in the hospital waiting room for two hours. They rushed Hayden to trauma and haven’t heard anything from the doctor since.
“What do we do about the Vipers?” Jessie’s the first to speak since we’ve been here.
Ryder is either pacing the halls or he’s outside punching the brick wall. His hand is bleeding and swollen, but he won’t let me look at it. I try to talk to him, and he turns away or goes back outside. I know he’s freaking out, and I want to be there for him, but how can I be if he won’t let me? So I sit here with Jessie in silence instead, while he continues to pace.
The double doors with the words “Authorized Personnel Only” written on them swing open. A doctor walks out and immediately finds us. “Are you the family of Hayden Langley?”
We all answer anxiously, “Yes,” and stand to our feet.
The doctor frowns, taking a deep breath with his eyes closing briefly.Oh no. “Hayden suffered a major accident. Most wouldn’t have been pulled out alive.”
“Get to the point,” Ryder hisses.
The doctor nods, “He’s stable… For now. He’s in a medically induced coma with a ventilator.”
“He’s going to live, right?” Jessie asks.
“He has a long road to recovery if he does. His pelvis was crushed, he has a broken clavicle, radius, and spinal fracture at the base of his skull.”
“When can we see him?” I ask.
“You can see him now, but prepare yourselves.” He gives a tight-lipped smile. “I’ll have the nurse show you to his unit.”
The doctor leaves, and we wait impatiently for the nurse in silence. I’ve resumed biting my nails, and that empty, nauseating feeling in my stomach returns. I can’t remember the last time I’ve eaten anything, not that I’ve been able to stomach anything recently anyway.
“I’m gonna go grab a water. Anyone else want one?” I offer.
“Nah,” Ryder answers.
“I’ll go with you.” Jessie jumps up and grabs her purse.
I stick my two dollars into the machine and punch in the code for the water. I watch it drop down, then grab it from the dispenser. I pop the cap, taking a sip. The water gets lodged in my throat, and I gag. I try to swallow, not wanting to puke in the middle of the emergency waiting room, but I fail miserably. I barely make it to the trashcan in the corner of the room before it all comes back up, making me choke.
Jessie is hot on my heels. She pulls my hair back and pats my back. “Bitch, are you good?”
I gasp, swallowing air, “Uh huh.”
“You’ve been getting sick a lot lately,” She confronts with a knowing look.
I didn’t think she had noticed. I’ve tried being discreet about it, to keep everyone from worrying about me relapsing back into my eating disorder. I’ve been meaningto speak with Doctor Howard about changing my prescription, but I keep forgetting. I haven’t exactly had the chance to do that with everything going on.
“It’s the meds. I need to change them.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” She says.
An older nurse in blue scrubs walks out, “Langley family?” She calls out into the waiting room. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, and we collectively run up to her. “I’ll be taking you to Mr. Langley’s unit.”
The nurse scans her badge and escorts us through a set of wooden double doors to an elevator. We wait for it to descend and open before we all step on, then she presses the button, taking us to the fourth floor.
