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The hours after

I woke up on the couch confused on how I got there and wondering how much time had gone by. When I got up I looked out the window and noticed the shelby parked out side. " Had I drove the rest of the way to the house or did dad come get the car?" This was the question that kept repeating within my head. The decorations that we had set earlier where still in place. Moms stupid sign still hung over the fireplace and when I looked at the clock it was now 6 pm. This is when I got a knot in my stomach. "This was the time that everyone was supposed to be coming to the house. Had they left me and went to graduation without me?" I asked my self. Then that's when the memories started to fade back and panic came over me. "Who was all in the car? Was it dad driving or where they all with him? Who drive the shelby back and does mom know what has happened? Surely she knows she HAS to know!"
I began to run around the house looking for my phone, someone had to know something about what happened. After going up and down the stairs I dont know how many times I found my phone laying on dads desk in his office. And maybe that was a sign from him that he was ok because he would be the only one that would leave my phone on his desk. I could barley open my contacts and choose a number because of my hands trembling so much. I choose to call mom first because I felt that she would bring some of this chaos back down to earth. The phone rang for what felt like an eternity and then I heard " hi you reached pay_" I hung up and retried calling her and after the 5th try still no answer. So I tried calling Garett's phone but weirdly it went straight to voice mail. I found this odd because no matter what the boy was doing he would drop everything when that phone rang. After that failed I had the idea that maybe someone had dads phone. The phone rung one time and to my surprise it was dad's soothing voice on the other side. " Shaune glad to hear that your up. Took a fall back there I think." He tried to make himself not sound worried but you could hear it in the back of his voice. For just a split second everything seemed like it was alright. That maybe, just maybe, it had all been a terrible dream and dads suv was really still in the garage. "Dad I don't remember parking the car. What time did I make it back? And are you guys all ready at the school" you could hear him take a deep breath and then, "son you can't remember parking the car because I did. What is the last thing you can remember?" "Well I remember coming up the road and seeing all theses cop lights....." " Go on" he wanted to hear every detail "And then I remember seeing your Mercedes down in the ridge . But dad how did you walk away from something like that, I mean you should be dead right now." There was a long pause as he caught his breath. " Shaune are you sitting down" "no why" I asked. "Take a seat." As I did so he began to talk " let me just start that they said it couldn't have been his fault. They said that by the skid marks he was traveling the......." His voice carried off as I began to wrap my head around what he was saying. The only reason that dad could be talking to me was because he was not the one behind the wheel. He was not the one that needed to be at the school early. So he would not be coming down the road right at that time. And at that very moment my whole world fell apart. I cut back in the conversation sharply " dad what hospital is he in right now." " Shaune it may not be the best place for you to be right now. It may be to hard for you to handle." " TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW!" That was the first time I had screamed at my father for years. " We are at Hardin Memorial Hos_" I hung up the phone, got the keys to the car, and started speeding down drive way. But no matter how fast I drove it seemed like I would never reach the hospital.
As I top over the hill on Dixie I could see the hospital to my left. As I pulled in the parking lot I spotted moms bmw which looked like it had been parked in a hurry. As I began to run up the hill I could see dad standing by the ER door. He was talking to someone on the phone and as I got closer I could hear his conversation. " Yes mother they said in no way could it be his fault because of the way the other man was driving. But none of that matters at this point. The only thing I care about is if he lives or dies and at this point the doctors don't know which road he will take." He then saw me coming and tried hurrying off the phone " mom just listen to me for a second. Shaune just got here so I need to go. I have already called Bradley and he has left Nashville and is going to stop and get you on his way. I will talk to you when you guys make it here. I love you" and with that he turned his attention to me. "How you holding up?" " I just want to see him is that possible?" He looked at me with his rich blue eyes " come here son" we stood there hugging and crying together for a few moments and then walked inside.
While sitting in the waiting room two big questions floated in my head. Why did it have to be Garett? What had he done to deserve this type of pain. He had always been the A+ student in school, he was the star athlete in baseball and in cross country, and anyone who knew him would tell you how kind he was to people. People always use to say how he could brighten anyone's day. That even if you had known him since kindergarten or just the day before he always treated you with a kind heart. Then came the bigger question which still lays in the back of my head today. What if I'd just went home instead of going to that stupid car wash, because in the end he was waiting on the car I was driving. And had I been on time he would have left the house in a different car and 20 minutes sooner. It was for a few hours I thought of this and the more I thought about it the more I blamed myself.
After about two hours Nana and Bradley had finally made it to the hospital after their long drive from Nashville. And after they sat down they where asking the same questions to my dad as I was to myself. But at this point no one knew answers and the only thing that we could do was play the miserable waiting game.
Two or three hours past before doctors came out to inform us on what was happening. " He has been in surgery for about eight hours now and is holding up at this point. The thing we are for unsure about is the brain. Right now there is tremendous swelling around his brain which could cause him to die if it exceeds a certain pressure. At this point all I can say is to pray and to know that God will take him down the road he needs to go down." After taking a few questions from my parents he went back through the double doors and back to the operating room. And once again we where left to play the waiting game.
It was later on when Garett's and my principle walked through the door. He informed us that word had got out about Garett thirty minutes before graduation started. He had tried to delay graduation in order for our family to later on attend, hopefully with Garett to fill his seat, but the board told him that the ceremony must continue. He informed us that there was a moment of silence and a prayer said for our family and that most students when his name was called held up five fingers in the air. This was to represent his number in baseball and cross country. He reinsured us that we had the whole community behind our backs in this whole ordeal, and that he was only one phone call away for anything we needed. If there is one thing that was good that came from that night it was his statement about the class of 2015 Etown high school. It showed that when one of their classmates where in trouble and fell down they did not leave them behind, the helped them win the fight.