Fractured

2-Panic Attack

TW: Mentions of medical details, presence of police, panic attacks
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When I wake, I feel like my entire body is on fire. There are tears running down my face, though I didn't think I had any left. Opening my eyes, I see that I'm in an ambulance.

A paramedic sits next to me, his eyes darting between me and the monitors. When he sees my eyes open, his own get big. I can't seem to figure out what he says when he speaks. The sounds are muddy, almost like words, but they just don't make sense. Frustrated, I slowly turn my head away.

I see there's an IV in my arm connected to a large bag. I focus on the drip. It's so fast the drops sometimes turn into a single stream. Drip, drip, drip.

The paramedic reaches over me with a syringe and puts something into my IV. I hiss in pain as the medicine burns it's way up my arm. Quickly, however, the intense pain becomes dull. My breathing slows down as I feel myself relaxing.

I try to look over and watch the paramedic work, but my head feels heavy and my eyelids begin to droop. Once again, I fall unconscious.

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"I'm serious, you are never ever ever leaving my sight again." Aaron announces, his chest puffing out. I let out a small laugh. Though the motion sends a jolt of pain through my sore ribs, I don't let it show. He was so scared when he first came into the room. The constant noise of the monitors and the sight of all of the different IV pumps and wires is enough to frighten anyone, let alone a 12 year old kid.

"You'd probably get tired of me pretty quickly." My voice is coarse and tired. I wasn't in the emergency room long last night before the blood loss and severity of my injuries caused my body to shut down. There was a tube in my throat from that point, through the surgeries on my broken arm and deep lacerations on my leg. They only took it out late this morning, and my throat is still raw.

"Nah, I can tough it out, besides, I already figured out how we can fit your bed in my room, and we can turn your room into a hang out." Aaron's joyous energy is a much welcome distraction from the sterile gloom of the ICU.

"Well then, excellent, it'll be like an endless sleepover. We'll sing karaoke, do each other's make-up, gossip about boys..." I smirk, watching as his eyes widen.

"Stop, stop, I've changed my mind, you can keep your room. But I'm keeping my eye on you!" He starts making crazy faces that send me into a fit of giggles.

I've been begging to see my brother practically as soon as I could talk after they took out the tube, but only in the last thirty minutes did they finally give in. Jennifer, my favorite orange haired, cringy-joke-telling nurse came to the rescue, sneaking him in despite the visitors under 13 age limit.

A knock on the wall interrupts the silliness. It's our mom, wearing the same solemn look she's had since she stepped into the emergency room last night. I don't remember much of that time, but I don't think I can soon forget the sound of her sobs. Our eyes meet and she gives me a sad smile. "Time to go AJ."

"Seriously Mom, I just got here!"

"Don't be difficult, let's go grab some dinner and get you home to get ready for school tomorrow."

Aaron turns back to me, his eyes wide, silently mouthing, 'do something.'

"C'mon, Mom, he's had an exhausting few days like the rest of us, the school will understand. Tomorrow's Friday anyway, he won't miss much." As tired as I am, I manage to turn on the full charm of puppy dog eyes, though they typically work much better on Dad than her.

With a sigh, she shakes her head. "Fine, but we still need to head home for now. We'll come back tomorrow." As Aaron is putting on his jacket, Mom leans over me and rests her forehead on mine. "There are some police officers coming this evening who want to talk to you about the accident. Dad will be right here with you the whole time, this is just routine, but if at any point you don't feel up to it, you can stop. Okay?"