My Friend the Stranger

My Friend the Stranger (part 2)

I was still trapped in the hospital. The accident had only happened the day before, but it felt like I had been there forever.  Since my injuries weren't life threatening as had first been assumed, my stay was only for a couple nights and my room was near the ER. The ER is the noisiest place in the hospital and runs for twenty-four hours. So basically, it was impossible for me to get any sleep. I could hear the wailing of a baby, the screams of a woman who had been burned while making dinner and the shouts of orders of all the personnel.

I buried my face in my pillow and tried to block the noise. Somehow, this worked, because I woke up two hours later with an extremely dry throat. With my good hand I grabbed the handy jug and poured myself an extra cold, extra relieving glass of water. I noticed the noise from the ER had died down. I only heard a voice every now and then. The trouble was, I couldn't get back to sleep. I lay staring at the ceiling for thirty minutes and was getting drowsy once again, but a sudden shouting shook me from my half-dazed state.

I guess, before I continue with what had happened at the ER, I should tell you a bit about myself. I am a very inquisitive person, almost to the point of being nosy. I am pretty much your average, sixteen-year-old girl.Blue eyes, long brown hair, kind of tiny physique and average name, Gwen. I have a couple close friends and I am on good bases with pretty much everybody. I have a boyfriend, whose name is David, average, A's and B's in school, a single mom and a little brother, Tom. I play tennis as a sport and nothing else, while David is on the basketball team. He isn't very tall, but he makes a great defense player. He is always really sweet to me, holding my hand or kissing my hair. I tell you this because I was thinking about him and my best friend Ashley.I was remembering talking to them about the tennis team and girls who were going to try out. It was a very trivial conversation, now that I think about it.

All those thoughts were brushed out of my head when I heard the rolling of a stretcher, the beeping of the machines and the yelling of the paramedics. My inquisitive nature got the better of me as I tried to get up. I had been plastered up that morning, but I still needed a wheel chair to get around. Both my legs were hurt so crutches were basically useless. I got up and slipped into the wheel chair, thanking god that I didn't fall. When I opened my room's door, the shouts became clearer. "We're losing him! He's fading!" Curiously, I quietly wheeled myself with my good arm and peaked around the corner. The first thing I noticed that there was blood everywhere. It made my stomach lurch and I thought that it must have come from ten different people. But there was only one person in the stretcher. I caught a glimpse of an already dead looking guy around my age. I whimpered and almost threw up. I got out of there as quickly as possible and got back into bed. I laid back onto my pillow, trembling. Fat tears rolled down my face while I damned my curiosity. I knew that I had just seen the last minutes of that person. He had lost so much blood. The image would haunt me forever. I shook as I cried for that boy for an hour or so. I didn't even have the energy to wipe the flow of tears down my eyes. I don't remember falling asleep.