Doodle Heart | ✓

chapter twenty-five: mae

T W E N T Y - F I V E : MAE

PARKER HAD NEVER sped in his life before this minute, this second, in time. His heart could be heard hammering against his ribcage as he gripped the leather steering wheel of his battered car, his knuckles whitened. The hospital was coming into view, the sight of it taunting him.

He'd received the news only minutes ago and he left his house seconds later, racing through the streets at almost the same speed that got Mae hurt. But he didn't know that. He only knew that something bad, something very bad happened.

What happened? Why was he at the hospital again for the millionth time in his years alive? And for a reason other than Pete?

He swerved into a parking space, thanking whoever was watching above for giving him it. He sprinted into the emergency room entrance and found the front desk.

“Mae Chen,” he rasped, his face pale and his hands trembling like a magnitude 9 earthquake.

The woman sent him an expression of pity—one he'd seen before. She handed him a visitor's sticker and motioned to the waiting room entrance. He slapped the sticker onto his chest and flung the door open. The room was sterile and quiet with only a few hushed voices floating about the room.

He spotted Joanna and Icelyn huddled in a corner, weeping together with their hands around the other. Lewis was there, his mouth pressed into a taut line. He recognized Mae's mother and father, the former sobbing into the latter's chest. And Dustin… Dustin almost looked done with life, his eyes red and threatening to spill more tears.

He hurried over to them. He was having conflicting feelings about being the last one here. When he reached Dustin, his best friend glanced at him with a hollow look in his eyes.

“What the hell happened?” Parker whispered, desperation lacing his words.

Dustin shook his head, roughly swiping at his wet eyes. “She got in a car accident—a bad one. I didn't see her come in, but Icelyn was crying when she got the phone call—” like she had when she called Parker, “—and I knew something really bad happened. My parents are in there now trying to help, but we might be here for awhile.”

Parker was speechless, but wanted to say something. He stammered, “A car accident? Were there any witnesses?”

Dustin shrugged, nodding his head at Mae's parents. “The officers only informed her parents and they don't seem willing to share yet.”

There was a distinct tightening in Parker's chest as be took in everything. One in a million chances, and it just happened to be Mae.

Parker watched as Mr and Mrs Chen slowly made their way over to Lewis and the crying girls, Mr. Chen beckoning Parker and Dustin over to them. The two boys strode over, just as Mae's mother launched into a story. She had stopped crying, but Parker could tell she was only trying to be strong.

“We were informed it was a drunk driving incident. The culprit was found about 500 feet away, passed out behind the wheel. Charges are being pressed,” she informed them.

A drunk. Driving. Incident. Of course. How utterly ironic.

Everyone else seemed to understand just how ironic it was except for Mae's father who stood solemnly by his wife's side. “Thank you all for coming here,” he said finally. “She'll appreciate all of your support. Especially yours.” His haze swept to Dustin who only nodded. Dustin's parents.

Parker felt his blood boil. Rich ass, little prick, Mae's father was. He was only here because his wife was here. They were dressed in formal wear, and he assumed that the car crash interrupted some very important event. That somehow made Parker feel better.

“Do they know anymore details?” Icelyn rasped, swiping at the tears drying on her face.

Mae's mother shook her head. “We will be receiving a file of the whole case's information soon, though.”

The doors to the waiting room from the ER bursted open revealing a couple dressed in light blue scrubs from head to toe. Parker recognized Dustin's parents immediately as they made their way to them.

Their teal gloves and the fronts of their scrubs were stained in the metallic, tangy stench and the horrifying red of blood. Their masks dropped from their ears and they peeled the gloves off of their hands. They were dumped into a trashcan nearby.

“We did everything we could,” Dustin's mother reported. “Though, we couldn't save everything.”

“What do you mean?” Lewis asked.

Dr. Jin (Dustin's father), glanced at his wife before speaking, “We were able to make sure that no serious damage happened to her brain and skull, however, there was one part we couldn't save. The blood vessels to her optic nerves were damaged through blunt force. The blood had clotted too quickly choking those vessels and killing those optic nerves. I am sorry to say, that Mae will wake up blind.”

It was like the whole world stopped. Parker stopped breathing, his lungs weren't working.

Blind? BLIND. Mae was going to wake up blind, but apparently, that wasn't all.

“Her left arm is broken, but will heal with time,” the other Dr. Jin (Dustin’s mother) went on, “However, her right hand was mangled so severely that although the bones and flesh will piece together, she may never be able to use it properly again.”

Parker's knees buckled from under him and he fell to the linoleum floor. Her right hand. Mangled. Her eyes. Blind. What else? What more could this night bring?

“She will be asleep for awhile,” Dustin's father said. “I suggest you all get some yourself.”

“When can we see her?” Parker heard the crack in Lana Chen's voice, her tears breaking free. “When can I see my daughter?”

“As soon as she is brought up to her assigned room,” Dustin's mother assured. “And we will find a way to sneak you all in… but for now… rest, and we will find you all when she is settled.”

Parker stood, a mere ghost in a shell. He barely heard Lewis's voice as he turned to the exit of the waiting room and walked all the way over to the cancer side of the hospital.

Pete's room came into view, and although it was only a tad past the kid's bedtime, he knew his younger brother would not be asleep. He slipped into the room, shutting it behind him.

Pete grinned from the bed, but it fell quickly. “Parker?”

Parker slumped into the chair beside his bed, and quickly recounted the night's events. It wasn't until the end that he finally let himself believe the worst. He couldn't imagine the devastation Mae would go through when she woke up.

Because of that mangled, dominant hand, and her now useless eyes… Mae Chen likely would not ever paint again.