Tails, I Fall

Chapter 2

"Can you hear me?" The voice was soft but almost had a sense of urgency with it. She didn't recognise it but for some reason it brought her comfort. She wanted to open her eyes, to get up and run but she didn't seem to be in control of her body anymore. Nothing was working as it should have been. "Can you tell me your name?" She listened carefully, trying to take in as many sounds as she could hoping that in some way something would be familiar enough to her to help piece things together. 'What happened? Where am I? Who are these people?' Her thoughts raced. She could hear sirens in the distance and people talking although she couldn't make out what they were saying. A loud high pitched tone rang through her ears as she could vaguely hear what was happening close to her. 'Why can't I move?' she thought, trying to open her eyes.

But then she felt it. The pain that seared through her entire body, almost like what she imagined burning flesh would feel like. Every inch of her body throbbed and ached and then she remembered. 'I jumped.. I'm alive?' She tried to take in everything she could remember but her head was too sore, she couldn't concentrate on anything other than the pain. She tried to open her mouth, to make a sound so that whoever it was standing over her wouldn't leave her alone. "We're going to give you some morphine for the pain, alright?" The voice rang through her ears and within minutes she felt the muscles of her body begin to relax and the pain starts to weaken. She could breathe again. 'I'm okay.. I'm okay..' she thought to herself. She tried again to open her eyes, this time succeeding. One eye opened slightly, enough to make her want to close it as the brightness that she didn't expect hit her. It was the same blue sky that she remembered had brought her peace not long ago. Taking a moment to adjust to the light she opened her eyes fully before everything goes black.

The sound of the ventilator was the only thing filling the otherwise silent room. Her chest rose up and down in time with the machine, almost like it was dancing with the noise of the oxygen rattling through the chambers and through the tube that had been inserted into her mouth. Apart from the nurse that reappeared every fifteen minutes checking the monitors and scribbling something down on the clipboard on the end of the bed the room was empty. There was a knock at the door before a tall doctor entered, his eyes heavy. He had obviously been working a double shift and knew he wouldn't be getting home anytime soon. "The family's here. How are her obs?" He glanced at the clipboard in the nurses hand. "Blood pressure's holding steady, heart rate is strong, no signs of distress so far." The doctor nodded as he turned behind him, raising his hand to beckon over whoever had been standing in the corridor.

"Oh god, what has she done.." Michelle's voice trails off as she grabs Johnny's hand, squeezing it tightly. They both stare in the direction of the hospital bed where Carla lays. Her face is covered with cuts and stitches, both eyes were black with bruising and she had a slightly blood stained bandage covering her head. The extent of her injuries looked horrifying to them, but the fact that she was still alive brought them some form of comfort. She lay still in the bed, her long brown hair draped over her shoulders although still mottled with blood. "She looks so small." Michelle covered her mouth as silent tears spilled from her eyes. She clung on to Johnny who had yet to move or speak, he just stared silently.

"Is she going to be okay?" He finally speaks, his voice breaking from remaining quiet for so long. He couldn't understand why she would want to do this to herself, especially after Aiden. His death had shook the entire family so hard, especially Carla. Everybody thought she was being strong, dealing with her grief so calmly but Johnny knew deep inside she was falling apart. Only now as he looked down upon her down upon her did he realise how much she must have been hurting. He finally shifts his gaze to the doctor standing beside them who had begun reading from the clipboard.

"Carla's injuries were extremely severe. She has suffered numerous fractures, mainly her left leg and 4 ribs which then in turn punctured her lung. We managed to insert a chest tube to reinflate the lung. She had a mass of internal bleeding from a ruptured spleen which we then had to remove -" Johnny could feel Michelle gripping onto him tighter as though she might fall. He could feel his own knees weaken at the thought of his eldest daughter having so many injuries that could have been prevented had somebody known how she was feeling. "- and as I'm sure you can see numerous cuts and bruising which in time should heal with no complications. Now, Carla did have quite a serious cerebral edema -" Michelle shoots him a puzzled look which the doctor understood from experience without her having to explain. "- swelling of the brain. We have had to put her into an induced coma until the swelling recedes. It sounds worse than it is, it will give her body the chance to rest and heal without her having to work so hard. I'm very surprised she hasn't come away with more extreme injuries given the circumstances. It's a miracle she's even alive at all."

"When will she wake up? Will she wake up?" Michelle's voice is soft, almost like a child's. The doctor proceeds to answer her questions with ease as Johnny walks slowly towards the bed, his eyes welling with tears as he looks down at his daughter. "How did I miss this again? How many children am I going to have to lose?" He spoke gently, obviously blaming himself. He looked down at Carla's pale hand before slipping his own hand into it, careful of the cannula that had been inserted into her frail veins. "You better wake up," his tone of voice changes, as if he was scolding her. "Don't you dare leave us, love." He sits in the chair next to her bed, still holding her hand, and breaks down into a flood of tears.

Michelle looks over, instantly breaking the conversation she was having with the doctor and walking towards Johnny. She put her arms around him, choking back her own tears. She looked at her best friend, only seeing the extent of the bruising on her face now that she was closer. If she had even the slightest idea Carla would have done this she would never have let her leave earlier. She knew Carla had been having a hard time lately and she was always there to lend her a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on, but Carla had a tough exterior. She never let her guard down enough to show people how she truly felt. Michelle sobbed quietly as she held Johnny, trying her best to comfort him. "She'll get through this, I know she will. She's tough as old boots, our Carla."