Inseparable

5. Seeing Jackie

We walked into the hospital together. JC spoke to the nurses since he had talked to them on the phone. I was completely zoned out, scared out of my mind to know how bad she was. Ricky put his arm around me and ripped me out of my train of thought. He half smiled and led me down a hallway.  After a thousand hallways and elevators, we reached a waiting room. "Where is she?" I looked around the room for any doctors, none. "I have to see her" I said desperately. 

JC sat me down on a chiar and then sat next to me. "Connor," he hesitated, "she's pretty bad. They said she has a lot of wires and tubes and don't panic, they're there to help her." I thought that was an obvious thing, but I understood why he said it as I rustled in my seat, not being able to sit still. "They're gonna send a doctor out here when you can go in. They said only one visitor right now." his voice broke as he said visitor, was he holding back tears too?

"Well...how much longer?" I choked out as calmly as possible. Everyone looked at everyone else, but not at me. None of them knew how long we would be waiting.

"When you go in there," Ricky spoke up, "We'll all be right here for you. We aren't going anywhere, Con." I just nodded and tried to force a smile. 

What seemed like an eternity later, a doctor walked into the waiting room and all of us sat up a little straighter. "Connor?" 

"That's me" I said slowly, unsure if he wanted me to stand up and follow him or shake his hand or stay sitting. How are you supposed to greet a doctor?

"Come with me?" It was almost a question, but also a statement. I stood up and the boys gave me thumbs up as I left with the man. As we walked down a hallway, he told me that she had tubes and wires to help her. He also told me I had to be extremely careful touching her. I nodded as he said all of this, searching the tags outside of the room doors for hers. "Here ya go. Can you find your way back to the waiting room?" I nodded and took a deep breath as I opened the door.

I opened the door to see a large white room, vacant of any sort of decoration or flowers or color. After taking in the dull room, my eyes went straight to the bed. Jackie. She was laying there, asleep, with a tube down her throat and wires all over her chest. She had an IV in her right hand too. I walked closer to her, then I was right beside the bed. She had little scratches all over her face, and one big bandage on her forehead. I noticed the scratches were on her arms too, then I saw the bandages completely wrapping over her left hand and wrist. 

I pulled a chiar right by her side and sat. What had I done? Why didn't I call her? Why did I text her? I laid my face into the blankets by her side as tears began to erupt. I couldn't help but feel guilty for this. She has never texted while driving before and she did it for me. "I'm sorry" I wept as I gently grabbed her hand with the IV in it. "I'm so sorry" was all I could say as I stroked her delicate fingers, too afraid to touch any other part of her.