Home -Zach Dempsey-

chapter x

-Sophia's POV-

I was sleeping peacefully when my phone rang, waking me up immediately. I answered the call,"Hello?"

"Hey, Sophia. It's Justin." He sounded panicked and scared.

I sat up. "Hey, what's up? Are you okay?"I asked, concerned.

"Zach g-got in a car accident. He's okay, I-I think. I don't know. The doctors haven't told us anything yet,"Justin hurriedly explained.

My heart dropped and I felt like throwing up. Not Zach.. Not my sweet, adorable best friend. Please let him be okay.

"Oh my god. I'm coming to the hospital right now,"I quickly said.

Justin replied,"O-okay. I'll send Monty out front to bring you to the waiting room we're in."

"Yeah, okay. Bye,"I quickly said, hanging up. I didn't bother changing out of my sweats and loose shirt. I just grabbed a jacket and my keys and ran out to my car.

Driving to the hospital, I was so scared. What if he's really hurt? What if- No, I can't think this way. Zach has to be fine. He will be fine.

When I got to the hospital, I spotted Monty waiting by the doors. I immediately ran over to him. He mumbled a "hey" before leading me up to the ICU floor.

In the waiting room sat Justin, Bryce, Jessica, Mrs. Dempsey, May, and a few basketball players I didn't know.

May immediately ran up to me and hugged me. I tried to hold in my tears. I remembered what Zach told me about his sister and how she's been crying so much since their father passed away. But I couldn't hold it in. I started crying uncontrollably. May sniffled and asked,"Can you sit with me?"

I wiped my tears away, nodding. "Of course,"I whispered. We sat beside each other in the chairs and she put her head on my shoulder.

Mrs. Dempsey was sitting on the other side of me, staring straight ahead. Her skin was pale and I could tell she was very afraid. I put my hand on hers, breaking her out of her thoughts.

To the best of my availability, I gave her a small smile. "He'll be okay,"I assured softly. She took a deep breath and nodded.

May quietly cried into my shoulder. I lifted her head and looked into her eyes. "Hey, don't cry. Your brother is going to be fine. Come on, you know how strong he is. And he would never leave you like this,"I whispered, wiping her cheeks. She nodded, blowing her nose in a tissue. I added,"Zach would never want you to cry like this."

I turned and looked at Justin. "What happened?"I asked. His eyes immediately flickered towards Bryce.

I stood up and walked over to them. "Bryce, what the fuck did you do?"I hissed. He immediately looked away. I shoved his chest. "It was your fault? How could you? I-"

Bryce explained,"Look, he was drunk at the party and I showed him the picture of you and Atkins. I said something about you two being together and Zach got mad. He said he had to go talk to you. I tried to stop him but he said he wasn't drunk and he left. And then he got into the accident."

My mouth dropped wide open. "How could you? I get that you're trying to make my life miserable, but how dare you try to play with Zach? He was drunk! Vulnerable! And you made him think something completely ridiculous without even asking me about it. Oh, and you let him drive while he was drunk. How could you? You're a piece of shit!"I yelled, pushing him. I couldn't hold myself back from crying. "How could you?"I sobbed, putting my head in my hands.

Even though I was putting the blame on Bryce, I couldn't help but think about how I was the reason Zach got in the car in the first place. He wanted to talk to me. I'm the reason why he was driving and eventually got in that accident. It was because of a stupid picture of Jeff and I.

Jessica put her arms around me until I calmed down. "He's going to be okay. Don't worry about it,"she whispered.

Bryce spoke,"Sophia, I'm sorry."

"Sorry won't magically make everything okay. My best friend is in the hospital because you decided to be a shitty friend,"I mumbled, turning away.

I sat back down beside May and she hugged me tightly. I kissed the top of her head and sniffled. Mrs. Dempsey gave me a small smile and patted my back.

A doctor came out of the room towards us, and we all stood up. I immediately asked,"Is he okay?"

The doctor answered,"Zach suffered a head injury and dislocated shoulder. He was hit very badly. Right now he's in a coma. We can't tell when he'll wake up, but we're almost positive it will take a few weeks based on his head injuries."

"When he wakes up, is he going to be fine?"Mrs. Dempsey asked. 

"When he first wakes up, he definitely won't be able to do things on his own. He will needs lots of help and a good support group. And there is a fear that he might lose some of his memory. If he did, he would most likely forget recent memories. But there's no telling until he does wake up,"the doctor explained.

My heart sank. What if he doesn't remember me? If all his recent memories go away, he won't know who I am. Tears filled my eyes at the thought.

"Can we go see him?"Justin asked.

The doctor looked around at all of us and said,"Visiting hours are closed right now, but I'll allow family to visit for a few minutes. The rest of you can come tomorrow morning." He gave us a small smile and walked away.

The basketball guys stood up and left. Jessica gave me a hug before following Justin out. Bryce slowly followed behind.

"I want to see him,"I whispered.

Mrs. Dempsey nodded. "Of course, Sophia. Come."

I walked into the room and looked down at Zach. There was a constant beep ringing through the room. I took a deep breath, taking in all the tubes and wires around him. His face was bruised and his arm was in a cast. There were cuts all over his body. I sat beside him and lightly touched his hand.

"Zach, please wake up. I need you here with me. I love you."