Drama
Chapter 27: Injured Surprises
Leila’s P.O.V.
Two more hours. Two more hours until Madison comes back home. I know I said I was going to call Niall tonight, but I’m pretty sure he’s in bed now, or should be sleeping. I drag myself to a sitting position and turn on the TV, flipping through the channels until I see something interesting I can watch. Finally, after going through so many programs, I find one of my favorite channels and leave it there.
I’ve done my fair share of crying. I’ve done so much crying over the past few weeks that it feels like I have nothing left. That explains why I haven’t cried as much over this tragic accident. Yes, I want to cry and yes, I feel sadness and pain for Alexa and Max, but I’ve got nothing left to shed. Maybe this is a sign that I’m getting stronger. Or you’ve come to the point where you’re done with everything and you want to move on, my subconscious mind butts in. I let that sink in for a while, but I realize I turned on the TV to get away from my thoughts.
Just as I focus back on the TV, Madison bursts through the door. I check the time and two hours really have passed. Wow, did I really just spend that thinking about this?
“Hey, girl, how’s it going in here?” Madison greets with her cheeky smile. She sets her books in her room, comes back out a few minutes later, and joins me on the couch.
“Not great,” I start.
“Why?” she asks. I grab the remote and turn down the volume.
“Have you heard the news lately?” I question.
“No, I’ve been at school,” she replies. I inhale a deep breath before continuing.
“Well, you know the whole thing about the necklace and security, and I’m starting to think it was a good thing,” I begin. “Alexa and Max went out to eat like usual during lunch, and on their way back…a d-drunk driver hit them.”
As the words leave my mouth, my breath speeds up. It’s as if I’m telling the story for the first time to someone, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve been sharing it so many times.
Madison’s expression falls and she looks at me with glassy eyes.
“They’re in critical condition at the hospital,” I add.
“Thank God,” Madison breathes. She reaches over and hugs me tight.
“So I was wondering…can you drive me to the hospital?” I ask.
“Of course. Are you all ready?” she questions me.
I look down at myself and realize that I didn’t change into pajamas yet (like I usually do when I get home), so I’d say I’m ready.
“Yeah, just let me grab my bag,” I answer, standing up.
Padding into my bedroom, I rush to collect all of my items I bring with me everywhere I go and shove them in my bag, heading back out to meet Madison at our door. We exit together, run down to the lobby, and out into the parking lot, where Madison’s car is stationed. We pile in and drive off.
“Which hospital is it?” she asks me, pulling out of the parking lot.
“St. Nicholas. I’m not sure where it is,” I answer.
“I just know it’s on the North side of LA. Here, use the GPS,” she directs, and hands me a small black screen.
I turn it on and enter in the hospital name. I don’t know the street address, but luckily it’s a well-known hospital that I don’t need an address for. It finds the directions quickly and we head off.
Twenty minutes later, Madison pulls up at a large building, clearly a hospital. She finds a parking spot and positions it in the lines, getting out fast. I follow after her and we enter in the building.
Many people are waiting in the lobby and it takes us ten minutes to reach the front desk. The woman sitting there looks frazzled and very stressed out.
“May I help you?” she asks out of breath.
“More like may we help you,” Madison says understandingly.
“There are just so many patients here today, it’s been crazy all day,” she replies.
“Lucky for you, we’re just here to see people. We’re not hurt,” I tell her.
“Phew, that helps,” the lady responds, giggling a bit.
“Alexa Johnson and Max Fowler,” I recite.
The lady looks through files on her desk and finds the right one.
“Yes, Alexa is in room 251 on the second floor and Max is on 436 on the fourth floor. You’ll have to check with the nurses if it’s okay to see Max since he’s in a coma,” she reads.
I look over at Madison and she has the same expression as me.
“Okay, thank you,” I tell her and we rush to the elevators.
“Alexa first,” I say to Madison and she nods.
We enter in the elevator and take it to the second floor. Once we get off, we are totally lost, so we go down one of the hallways to see where the numbers are going.
“What was the room number?” Madison asks.
“Um, 251,” I remember.
“Okay, 234, 232, 230. These numbers are going down. We have to go the other way,” Madison replies.
She turns around and we head in the other direction. There’s another desk in the middle that we must have missed before and a nurse spots us.
“Hello, ladies, may I help you?” she asks.
“Um, yes, we’re looking for Alexa Johnson,” I repeat.
“Let’s see,” the nurse delivers, looking down at the mounds of paper on the desk. “Ah, yes, Alexa Johnson, Room 251. They are allowing visitors, so allow me to escort you to her room.”
The nurse walks around the side of the desk and leads us down the hallway, stopping in front of room 251. She gently knocks on the door and peers her head in.
“Alexa? You have visitors,” she announces, and opens the door to let us in.
The minute I step in, I breathe a sigh of relief. She doesn’t look as bad as I was expecting her to be. Her right arm is tied up in a sling with a cast and so is her left foot, resting on a sling hanging from the ceiling.
“Hey, girl, how are you feeling?” I gently ask.
“Better now that the doctors have given me medicine for this,” she answers. “I have a broken arm and a broken foot.”
Madison and I sat down on the couch provided by the hospital as the nurse left the room.
“That’s awful,” Madison comments.
“It was scary,” Alexa starts. “One minute, Max and I are laughing our heads off and the next, boom! I’m on the ground in pain.”
“I can imagine,” I say.
“How is Max, by the way?” she asks.
“I don’t know, we haven’t seen him yet. The lady by the front desk told us he was…in a coma,” I explain.
“Oh, my God,” Alexa shouts, her eyes opening up wide. “Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God.”
“Hey, calm down, he’ll be okay, I know it,” I comfort her.
“I just can’t believe it,” she says. “Why us?”
“I don’t know, but just think. You’re going to be a much stronger girl when you get out of here,” I reply.
“I know, I just…it’s hard to think on the bright side when everything around you is crumbling down,” she states. Wow, deep.
“Not everything is falling apart. There’s so much more to look forward to,” I respond, keeping her hopes up.
“Like what, Leila? Like what?” she demands.
“I…”
“Exactly,” she ends.
“Your time is up, ladies. Alexa, your parents are here,” the nurse butts in.
“Thanks for stopping by,” Alexa says, softening up quickly. Madison and I stand up and exit the room, waving goodbye to her.
“Well, that was interesting,” Madison comments.
“Yeah,” I reply.
“Do you want to go find Max?” Madison asks me.
“I probably should, but considering he’s in a coma…”
“Let’s go,” she replies, and pulls me into the elevator.
We reach the fourth floor and approach the nurses’ desk cautiously. This floor feels more secure than the second floor, and I think it’s because this floor is for the more injured patients.
“We’re here to visit Max Fowler,” I tell the nurse sitting behind the desk. She looks up at me with sad eyes.
“He still hasn’t woken up, but I can let you in for a few minutes,” she replies, getting up. I exchange glances with Madison and follow the nurse to his room.
The guy lying down doesn’t even look like Max. His head is shaved, he has cuts and bruises all over, and many chords and tubes are connecting every part of his body. He’s alive, but he’s still unconscious.
I can’t handle this. My eyes well up with tears as my heart sinks at the sight of Max. How did he get hurt this bad?
The doctor comes in to check on him and I figure this is my chance to ask him questions.
“Doc, how is he?” I quietly ask.
“He’s doing well. Once he wakes up, it’ll be an easier process, hopefully,” he answers. “Oh, and I’m Doctor Martin.”
“I’m Leila, and this is my friend, Madison,” I introduce, shaking his hand. “We’re good friends with Max.”
“Isn’t he an actor?” Dr. Martin questions.
“Yeah, we’re actually on the same show right now,” I answer. “He, uh, got hurt coming back from lunch, actually.”
“I heard about that. I talked to Alexa about this and she told me the story,” Dr. Martin adds.
“So how come Max is worse than Alexa?” Madison asks.
“Well, Alexa’s lucky. The car only hit Max, but the momentum of the car hitting Max led him to fall into Alexa. The sudden turn from walking forward to being pushed sideways caught her ankle and broke her foot, and then as she landed on the ground, she braced herself with her arm, but since Max fell on top of her, her arm shattered underneath her. As for Max, he didn’t fall directly on top of her, but more like half and half. Half of his body landed on her and the other half on the concrete. The car hit him right in the back, causing him to break his back. His head hit the concrete hard, knocking him out, and obviously concrete has many ridges, which explains the cuts and bruises. Same with Alexa, he broke his foot, too.”
“Oh, my God,” I breathe.
“Very unfortunate to happen to this poor boy. I was looking forward to seeing him on your new show, but now I’m not sure,” Dr. Martin says.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Most people don’t come out of comas the same.”
Two more hours. Two more hours until Madison comes back home. I know I said I was going to call Niall tonight, but I’m pretty sure he’s in bed now, or should be sleeping. I drag myself to a sitting position and turn on the TV, flipping through the channels until I see something interesting I can watch. Finally, after going through so many programs, I find one of my favorite channels and leave it there.
I’ve done my fair share of crying. I’ve done so much crying over the past few weeks that it feels like I have nothing left. That explains why I haven’t cried as much over this tragic accident. Yes, I want to cry and yes, I feel sadness and pain for Alexa and Max, but I’ve got nothing left to shed. Maybe this is a sign that I’m getting stronger. Or you’ve come to the point where you’re done with everything and you want to move on, my subconscious mind butts in. I let that sink in for a while, but I realize I turned on the TV to get away from my thoughts.
Just as I focus back on the TV, Madison bursts through the door. I check the time and two hours really have passed. Wow, did I really just spend that thinking about this?
“Hey, girl, how’s it going in here?” Madison greets with her cheeky smile. She sets her books in her room, comes back out a few minutes later, and joins me on the couch.
“Not great,” I start.
“Why?” she asks. I grab the remote and turn down the volume.
“Have you heard the news lately?” I question.
“No, I’ve been at school,” she replies. I inhale a deep breath before continuing.
“Well, you know the whole thing about the necklace and security, and I’m starting to think it was a good thing,” I begin. “Alexa and Max went out to eat like usual during lunch, and on their way back…a d-drunk driver hit them.”
As the words leave my mouth, my breath speeds up. It’s as if I’m telling the story for the first time to someone, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve been sharing it so many times.
Madison’s expression falls and she looks at me with glassy eyes.
“They’re in critical condition at the hospital,” I add.
“Thank God,” Madison breathes. She reaches over and hugs me tight.
“So I was wondering…can you drive me to the hospital?” I ask.
“Of course. Are you all ready?” she questions me.
I look down at myself and realize that I didn’t change into pajamas yet (like I usually do when I get home), so I’d say I’m ready.
“Yeah, just let me grab my bag,” I answer, standing up.
Padding into my bedroom, I rush to collect all of my items I bring with me everywhere I go and shove them in my bag, heading back out to meet Madison at our door. We exit together, run down to the lobby, and out into the parking lot, where Madison’s car is stationed. We pile in and drive off.
“Which hospital is it?” she asks me, pulling out of the parking lot.
“St. Nicholas. I’m not sure where it is,” I answer.
“I just know it’s on the North side of LA. Here, use the GPS,” she directs, and hands me a small black screen.
I turn it on and enter in the hospital name. I don’t know the street address, but luckily it’s a well-known hospital that I don’t need an address for. It finds the directions quickly and we head off.
Twenty minutes later, Madison pulls up at a large building, clearly a hospital. She finds a parking spot and positions it in the lines, getting out fast. I follow after her and we enter in the building.
Many people are waiting in the lobby and it takes us ten minutes to reach the front desk. The woman sitting there looks frazzled and very stressed out.
“May I help you?” she asks out of breath.
“More like may we help you,” Madison says understandingly.
“There are just so many patients here today, it’s been crazy all day,” she replies.
“Lucky for you, we’re just here to see people. We’re not hurt,” I tell her.
“Phew, that helps,” the lady responds, giggling a bit.
“Alexa Johnson and Max Fowler,” I recite.
The lady looks through files on her desk and finds the right one.
“Yes, Alexa is in room 251 on the second floor and Max is on 436 on the fourth floor. You’ll have to check with the nurses if it’s okay to see Max since he’s in a coma,” she reads.
I look over at Madison and she has the same expression as me.
“Okay, thank you,” I tell her and we rush to the elevators.
“Alexa first,” I say to Madison and she nods.
We enter in the elevator and take it to the second floor. Once we get off, we are totally lost, so we go down one of the hallways to see where the numbers are going.
“What was the room number?” Madison asks.
“Um, 251,” I remember.
“Okay, 234, 232, 230. These numbers are going down. We have to go the other way,” Madison replies.
She turns around and we head in the other direction. There’s another desk in the middle that we must have missed before and a nurse spots us.
“Hello, ladies, may I help you?” she asks.
“Um, yes, we’re looking for Alexa Johnson,” I repeat.
“Let’s see,” the nurse delivers, looking down at the mounds of paper on the desk. “Ah, yes, Alexa Johnson, Room 251. They are allowing visitors, so allow me to escort you to her room.”
The nurse walks around the side of the desk and leads us down the hallway, stopping in front of room 251. She gently knocks on the door and peers her head in.
“Alexa? You have visitors,” she announces, and opens the door to let us in.
The minute I step in, I breathe a sigh of relief. She doesn’t look as bad as I was expecting her to be. Her right arm is tied up in a sling with a cast and so is her left foot, resting on a sling hanging from the ceiling.
“Hey, girl, how are you feeling?” I gently ask.
“Better now that the doctors have given me medicine for this,” she answers. “I have a broken arm and a broken foot.”
Madison and I sat down on the couch provided by the hospital as the nurse left the room.
“That’s awful,” Madison comments.
“It was scary,” Alexa starts. “One minute, Max and I are laughing our heads off and the next, boom! I’m on the ground in pain.”
“I can imagine,” I say.
“How is Max, by the way?” she asks.
“I don’t know, we haven’t seen him yet. The lady by the front desk told us he was…in a coma,” I explain.
“Oh, my God,” Alexa shouts, her eyes opening up wide. “Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God.”
“Hey, calm down, he’ll be okay, I know it,” I comfort her.
“I just can’t believe it,” she says. “Why us?”
“I don’t know, but just think. You’re going to be a much stronger girl when you get out of here,” I reply.
“I know, I just…it’s hard to think on the bright side when everything around you is crumbling down,” she states. Wow, deep.
“Not everything is falling apart. There’s so much more to look forward to,” I respond, keeping her hopes up.
“Like what, Leila? Like what?” she demands.
“I…”
“Exactly,” she ends.
“Your time is up, ladies. Alexa, your parents are here,” the nurse butts in.
“Thanks for stopping by,” Alexa says, softening up quickly. Madison and I stand up and exit the room, waving goodbye to her.
“Well, that was interesting,” Madison comments.
“Yeah,” I reply.
“Do you want to go find Max?” Madison asks me.
“I probably should, but considering he’s in a coma…”
“Let’s go,” she replies, and pulls me into the elevator.
We reach the fourth floor and approach the nurses’ desk cautiously. This floor feels more secure than the second floor, and I think it’s because this floor is for the more injured patients.
“We’re here to visit Max Fowler,” I tell the nurse sitting behind the desk. She looks up at me with sad eyes.
“He still hasn’t woken up, but I can let you in for a few minutes,” she replies, getting up. I exchange glances with Madison and follow the nurse to his room.
The guy lying down doesn’t even look like Max. His head is shaved, he has cuts and bruises all over, and many chords and tubes are connecting every part of his body. He’s alive, but he’s still unconscious.
I can’t handle this. My eyes well up with tears as my heart sinks at the sight of Max. How did he get hurt this bad?
The doctor comes in to check on him and I figure this is my chance to ask him questions.
“Doc, how is he?” I quietly ask.
“He’s doing well. Once he wakes up, it’ll be an easier process, hopefully,” he answers. “Oh, and I’m Doctor Martin.”
“I’m Leila, and this is my friend, Madison,” I introduce, shaking his hand. “We’re good friends with Max.”
“Isn’t he an actor?” Dr. Martin questions.
“Yeah, we’re actually on the same show right now,” I answer. “He, uh, got hurt coming back from lunch, actually.”
“I heard about that. I talked to Alexa about this and she told me the story,” Dr. Martin adds.
“So how come Max is worse than Alexa?” Madison asks.
“Well, Alexa’s lucky. The car only hit Max, but the momentum of the car hitting Max led him to fall into Alexa. The sudden turn from walking forward to being pushed sideways caught her ankle and broke her foot, and then as she landed on the ground, she braced herself with her arm, but since Max fell on top of her, her arm shattered underneath her. As for Max, he didn’t fall directly on top of her, but more like half and half. Half of his body landed on her and the other half on the concrete. The car hit him right in the back, causing him to break his back. His head hit the concrete hard, knocking him out, and obviously concrete has many ridges, which explains the cuts and bruises. Same with Alexa, he broke his foot, too.”
“Oh, my God,” I breathe.
“Very unfortunate to happen to this poor boy. I was looking forward to seeing him on your new show, but now I’m not sure,” Dr. Martin says.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Most people don’t come out of comas the same.”
Notes
Cliffhanger! Eeeep!How do you like the story? Please share this and recommend it to people!
Rachel :)
Make a Sequel please.
9/13/14