American Dream ✦ Maloley

XXVIII ♕

"Her name is Ophelia Eaton, her dad works here!"

"Dammit what the hell happened?"

"Call Nate, get him down here ASAP."

"We're losing her! Get Dr. Eaton!"

"Hang in there, Ophelia, your dad is going to help."

"Nate is on his way, try to stay with us."

"Get the God damn doctor! Her oxygen levels are dropping and her heart is-"

..............

"Ophelia...Ophelia, can you hear me?" I opened my eyes and saw my dad hovering over me. His eyes were swollen, and he had a strong look of distraught on his face. My breath came rushing back to me all at once and I began to panic as I drowned in it. My body spasmed and my father's eyes grew. "Calm down, it's okay, everything is okay now," he assured me. I began to calm down, and I nuzzled my head into the pillow resting behind me. There was a steady beep coming from the monitor that I was hooked up to, and I looked over to see my mother, and my aunt. "Your friends are all here. I'll send them in soon, but I'll go tell them that you're awake."

"Thank you," I whispered. He smiled partially and kissed my forehead and walked out. "Mom?"

"I'm right here, sweetie," she rushed over to my bed side. "Looks like trouble just seems to follow you, huh?" she joked lightly and I smiled faintly. She grabbed my hand and a few stray tears fell from her eyes. "You gave us quite a scare. Your oxygen levels were dropping dramatically and your heart was beginning to fail. Your dad got to you just in time...how are you feeling now?"

"I'm sore," I admitted while in a small amount of pain.

"You most likely will be for awhile," she nodded.

"Is Jack okay?"

"Yeah, he's doing well, I think your friends are visiting with him. They were able to remove the bullet from his shoulder and he's all stitched up and bandaged. What happened, sweetie?"

"There was this party, and a lot of stuff happened," I admitted sadly. I let the guys down is what happened, mom. I let them down and Gilinsky got hurt in the process, and now Sam is gone forever. There was a knock on the door and I looked up to see Nate. He had a bouqet of flowers in his hand and it looked like he had been crying. "Hey," I smiled weakly.

"Hey," he walked over and sat the flowers down and knelt down by the bed. He grabbed my hands and tangled our fingers together.

"We're going to go get some snacks from the vending machine," my mom said. She kissed my forehead and she and my aunt walked out of the room to leave Nate and I alone. He put his head down and I saw his back tense up, and he let out a pityful sigh. I untangled my hands from his and tugged on his shoulder so he could sit next to me in the hospital bed.

"It's okay, I'm okay," I assured him while resting my head on his shoulder. His eyes were red and he had tears in his eyes. The sight of him in so much dismay, and so upset made me feel guilty. If I would have been more careful then none of us would be in the mess that we were in. "Don't cry, babe. This is my fault," I looked down, and he placed his hand under my chin causing me to look back up at him. His eyes were trying to read me, and he looked confused, and it looked like he was about to protest-and knowing him he probably was.

"This isn't your fault, Phil. This is my fault for sending you to do something like this. I should've never agreed-I should've taken the fucker down myself. Look at where you and Gilinsky are, that bastard is going to pay." I could see the fire igniting in his eyes and the flames were growing stronger and stronger. Pretty soon the fire had engulfed his entire being and he jumped up from the bed and began to pace back and forth on the linoleum floor. "You know what? No, fuck this, he's not going to get away with this. I'm going to find him, and I'm going to settle this once and for all."