Fight for Me #Wattys2017

Chapter 34

Ow. My head hurts, and so does my leg, and my ribcage. What even happened? My eyelids feel heavy, but I manage to open them. It takes me a moment to realize my neck is stiff and a wailing siren fills the air. "Ma'am, can you hear me?" A paramedic asks me as he shines a light in my eyes.

"Yeah."

"Good." The woman says, putting the light away. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Andy Parker." I tell her simply as questions fill my head. I open my mouth to ask her something, but she cuts me off trying to find an emergency contact number. Apparently, my phone was destroyed. Mason's number is the only one I have memorized, so I give her that one. "What happened?"

"A driver was on his phone and ran a red light. He hit your car, and you were pinned in." She informs me as she calls for an eta from the driver. "We'll be at the hospital in a minute. Don't worry, Andy. You'll be okay."

A few moments later, they're pulling the gurney out of the ambulance and into the hospital where doctors rush around me. I find out that I have a minor concussion, a fractured leg, and a bruised rib. From what I understand, it's not that bad considering the state the van was in. I lay in a sterile, white room. "We called your brother. He's on his way." The nurse tells me grumpily.

"Please, tell me someone let him know I'm not seriously hurt." I ask her, and she just looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "You know what I mean. Obviously, I'm not in critical condition."

"Honey, a concussion and a bruised rib are pretty serious." She sasses me. "I don't know if they told him or not. The receptionist is in charge of calling people--not me." I start to fidget uncomfortable from the itchy gown. "Do I need to have them sedate you? Or are you going to stop wiggling around?"

"I'll stop." I promise her, already wishing I had a less grumpy nurse. Nevertheless, she tells me to get some rest. The heart monitors constant beeps fill the room. Other than that, everything is eerily quiet. My eyelids start growing heavy from the pain medication they have me on, but I keep myself awake.

Shouts wake me up, and I look around confused about where I am for a moment. "Let me see my daughter or I will sue this hospital for everything it's worth." I hear someone shout, the voice sounds familiar, but I doubt he would ever say anything like that. John bursts into the room a moment later, looking rattled. "Thank goodness, you're okay." He sighs when he sees me.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him in surprise. My voice doesn't sound bitter, just tired. Tired from the medication and not wanting to deal with John. "Did you come to tell me I should have been more careful when I was driving?"

"Andy," He sighs, and I realize that's the first time he's ever referred to me as that. "If you must know I was worried about you. Also, they needed a parent to come sign some of the forms."

"You were worried about me?" He looks at me with bags under his eyes.

"Of course, I was worried. All they told me on the phone was that you had been in an accident." John sits down in one of the room's chairs, and for the first time, he looks defeated--broken. "I'm sorry about what I asked you to do."

"Am I hallucinating? Or did you really just apologize?" I wonder, but John just nods. "What made you realize you were wrong?"

"Stacie." He pauses, noticing my expression. "I know you don't like her because I remarried, but she makes me want to be a better person." I bite back a sarcastic comment, not wanting to risk something else happening. "After you stormed out, she grilled me until I told her what happened. She made me realize I was wrong to try to use you like that."

"I-I-I forgive you." I stutter the words out, but there's still a tension in the room. He has something much larger that he still has yet to apologize for. Baby steps, though. I guess it would be selfish to expect him to suddenly apologize for making the past years of my life miserable. Silence continues to linger until it's broken by another round of shouts from the hallway. "That's probably the guys." I sigh and shift around uncomfortably while I wait for them to barge in.