Carry On

The Call

Gia was weaving in and out of traffic. She was only three minutes away from the hospital, but it felt like a hundred miles away. Her mind was racing, thinking a million different terrible things all at once. She tried to force them out of her mind, but they took over.

The car in front of her pressed their brakes.

"Come on!" She yelled, knowing they couldn't hear her, but couldn't resist the need to scream.

She hurriedly pulled into a random parking spot, pretty sure she was double parked. She threw the car in park and snatched the leys out of the ignition, not even bothering to roll the windows up.  She ran into the hospital, frantic. She rushed to the nurses' counter.

"I'm looking for Giovanni Taylor. I'm his emergency contact. I got a call saying he was rushed here about 15 minutes ago." She tried to be as calm as possible, knowing it was the quickest was to get to him.

"Sure, honey, let me look him up." The older black woman tapped away at her computer. "Date of birth?"

Just then, she heard her mom called her name, rushing into the hospital, searching for her. She was carrying her six month old niece, Gianni, in her car seat who she was asleep. Her mom was babysitting tonight because she and Gio had plans with their friends.

"Gia? Gia! Have you heard anything?" Gia quickly went to her, knowing she would need to be calm in this moment, because her mom was freaking out.

"Mom, calm down, she's looking him up now, but I haven't gotten any information. I'm sure he's okay. You're gonna freak the baby out." She knew the words she was saying and she tried to believe them because she couldn't freak out yet. She wouldn't let herself.

Giovanni is her big brother and her best friend in the whole world. He was over protective of her and loved hanging out with her on the weekends. He pestered her every day, several times a day, about the smallest things and always made sure he called her and let her know he was home each night, because he knew she worried. He knew her better than anyone and there was no one she loved more than him, aside from his daughter, Gianni, who gave him a run for his money. That was Gia's baby.

He meant so much to her and if she allowed herself to give into her emotions before she knew what happened, she would never come out of them and right now, it was most important to get information.

Just then, a doctor in blue scrubs called for them. "Family of Giovanni Taylor?"

"That's us! I'm his sister, Gia. Is he okay? Can we see him?"

The doctor folded his hands together. The words he said next knocked the wind out of Gia.

"Your brother was hit by a drunk driver tonight. He was hit pretty badly by the airbags and the steering wheel impaled him. He didn't survive the drive from the scene of the crash to the hospital. We've done what we can to make him presentable. Would you like to see him now?"

Gia felt like she was having an out of body experience. She knew where she was, standing in front of the doctor, and she could hear him speaking, but the words he said didn't register. She could hear her mom behind her. She was wailing from the top of her lungs. Her body had given out and she was hunched over like she literally could not lift her body.

Gia couldn't bring herself to comfort her. She was in shock.

"Ma'am? Would you like to see him?"

His words brought Gia back to where she was. "Um, no, not yet. I don't want to take the baby and my mom can't handle her alone right now. Can I wait until more of my family comes?"

"Of course, Miss Taylor. In the meantime, the police are here and would like to speak with you."

"Okay. Is there somewhere more private where we can speak with them?" Her mom was still screaming behind her and she didn't want to continue the public scene.