Can't Help Falling in Love

Trapdoor

  "Everyone gather around for a show, 

    Watch as this woman disappears as we know,

    Do me a favor and try to ignore,

    When you watch her fall through a blatant trapdoor, 

    Cause nobody knows her life"   

Erin was beyond shocked hearing the words, " Help me," come from Jillian's mouth. The visual Jillian presented Erin made her deeply confused. She saw bruises, scratch marks, paleness, and blood. "How could this be?" Erin thought to herself. "This can't be self inflicted. Can it?" All questions of concern ran through Erin's mind, but all at once. 

" Erin, please, please help me!" Shouted the crying and pain stricken Holtzmann. After Jillian managed to yell that demand at Erin, she coughed up more blood from her mouth. 

Without saying a word, Erin ran to Jillian's aid. Erin herself has never had a lot of upper body strength, but she hoisted Jillian into her arms and carried her out of her apartment. As Erin ran through the apartment complex's hallway, she noticed many of Jillian's neighbors were staring at the two with looks of confusion, horror, and remorse in their eyes. 

As Erin neared the steps, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that the elevator no longer had the "out of order" sign on it. Erin, still carrying Jillian, made her way towards the elevator. Luckily for Erin, someone else had already hit the "down button" so the elevator doors opened right when Erin approached it. The kind man who had first called for the elevator, let Erin and Jillian go in instead. He gave Erin a tip of his hat and smiled at her. That gave Erin a little bit of hope. 

When the elevator made its way down to the ground floor, Holtzmann muttered, " Take me out and finish this waste of a life." 

Those ten words broke Erin's heart. Erin had said back to Jillian, " No, no, don't say that. You are strong. You are not going to walk into a trapdoor of depression, regret, and sorrow. Jillian, you are going to be fine. Trust me." When Erin was done expressing her hopefully motivational thoughts, she noticed Jillian was sobbing. Erin wiped Jillian's tears away. Then, the elevator doors opened. 

As they walked out of the elevator, they ran out of the complex to Erin's parked car. Erin unlocked the car and put Holtzmann in the passenger seat. Once Jillian was buckled in, Erin ran to the driver's side and got in the car. Erin shoved her keys into the ignition and wasted no time going to the hospital. 

- 

It took Erin and Jillian approximately 23 minutes to get to the hospital. When Erin was taking Jillian, she called Abby, wakening her from her nap, and Patty about what was happening. Abby said she would be on her way and Patty said she couldn't get there till later. 

Erin pulled her car up to the curb of the ER and ran to the front desk saying she needed help with getting her friend from the car into the ER. Two nurses and one doctor ran to her assistance. When they opened the passenger door, the doctor's facial expression changed from determined to awestruck. He stared at Erin for a brief second, but then back to Hotlzmann to help her out of the car. The doctor and two nurses took Holtzmann into the ER while Erin parked the car. Once Erin reentered the ER, she asked where they had taken Holtzmann. The lady at the front desk said she was taken to "room 798". Erin thanked the woman and ran into the visitors hallway. She saw room "798" down the hallway. She ran towards it and stared at the shut, locked door. There was a registered nurse right by the door. Erin stared at her. 

" Do you know when I will be able to go in?" Erin asked the registered nurse. 

" Right now they are hooking her up to an IV. They can't do anything until medical questions are answered, though. Entry isn't allowed, " the nurse went silent but started to talk again," Were you there when her medical emergency occurred? " Asked the nurse. 

" Yes." Replied Erin. 

" Good. So, can you tell me why she has all these scratch marks and bruises on her? Do you know if she in an abusive relationship of some kind?" The nurse asked. 

" I do not know why, and no, she is not in a relationship. She lives by herself. " Said Erin. 

"Okay, do you know how these could have possibly been caused? Could they be self inflicted?" 

Erin pondered for a moment, but once she thought of something to say, the words flowed from her mouth." You see, she and I had previously split from a long time relationship. She was fine at first, but now she has fallen into a hole. She is talking about how she wants to finish her life in some way. I would have never considered herself capable of doing such things to herself, until last night. I had stopped by to talk to her, and it had to have been after I left, she started to drink. She sent some concerning text to my fellow colleague, which resulted her going over to her apartment early morning. Once she got there, she called for me to come over to Jillian's apartment. When I walked into her apartment, there were many empty beer cans in her living room, obviously all from Jillian because Abby does not drink. At the time, Jillian was fast asleep, so my colleague Abby and I decided to leave her to sleep. I later went in to check on her and I noticed her facial expression looked hurt. I, at the time was not aware of the scratches and bruises, so I left her alone. I sat there for about an hour, and during that time, Abby had left. The fact that Jillian was still fast asleep, I decided to leave her room. I cleaned her apartment, which took about an hour. There were no sounds of movement coming from her bedroom. Once I was done with my cleaning spree, I went back to her room to check on her. I noticed her lights were on. I walked in and that's when I saw all the scratch marks, bruises, and blood." 

" Was she bruised the night before?" Asked the nurse. 

" Not that I could tell. " Erin replied. 

" Okay, thank you." The nurse then walked into the room and handed the report to the doctor. Erin made her way to the small window that peered into the room, and she noticed that the doctor's expression was 100% concern. He looked to Jillian and patted her leg. He then turned to the nurses in the room and gave them commands. Erin, of course, could  not hear because the barrier between her and them, but she knew that they were going to take care of Jillian. 

When the nurses walked out of the room, the same nurse that asked Erin a couple of questions, told her that they were going to pull the blinds. Erin took this as a settle way of saying, " You should go the waiting room." So, Erin looked to Jillian once more and made her way to the ER waiting room. 

When she sat down, she looked to her phone to see that Abby was there. Abby ran into the waiting room towards Erin. They hugged and Abby began to ask her questions about Jillian's condition. Once Erin was done explaining everything, Abby put her hand to her mouth and gasped. 

" Poor Jillian. " Said Abby.  

" Yeah. " Sighed Erin. 

Erin and Abby both turned in their chairs so that they no longer faced each other. Erin thought back to her dream of Jillian being in the hospital and sadly not making it. She could only fear the worse, but she knew Jillian was strong. She knew, deep down, that Jillian would be going home.