Through Pain We Survive

Chapter 50

Becca was elated still. She felt like she was in a dream. She got ready for bed and got her book. She wanted to be sure she was awake when Nate texted her.

A half hour goes by. Becca looks at the clock quizzically. He should have been home by now. She starts to worry. Okay, it's okay, maybe he had to stop somewhere else before he went home. Or maybe he is taking with AJ and hasn't been able to get away yet.

After an hour had passed, she tried calling Nate numerous times to no avail. She was really worried. She picked up her phone and called Gwen.

"Hello?" Gwen sleepily answered.

"Hey, Gwen, it's Becca. I'm so sorry to call this late, but is Nate there?"

"I thought you two went out tonight?"

"We did, and he dropped me off an hour ago, and he hasn't texted me or called to say he was home."

Gwen's heart started racing. "Let me check." Gwen looked over to AJ, who sleepily looked at her. "Nate hasn't called or texted Becca he's home yet. I'm going to go look to see if he's here."

She got out of bed. Walking to Nate's room, the door was open and he was not in there. "He's not in there. Let me go downstairs."  Gwen walked downstairs and looked around. "He's not here Becca. Did he say anything to you about going anywhere else?"

"No, and that's what has me so worried."

"You guys didn't fight or anything, did you?" Gwen was trying to figure out where Nate could have gone.

Becca smiled. "Quite the opposite, actually. He asked me to be his girlfriend, and we had a wonderful night."

Gwen smiled. "Aww, I'm so happy for you two!"

"Thanks! So am I. But he wouldn't not let me know he's home, which makes me worried. Damien is still out there, and—" Becca stopped, a hitch in her voice.

"I'm sure he's okay." Gwen tried comforting her friend.

"I hope so. I'm going to try to call him again. Thanks guys."

"No problem Becca. If you get ahold of him, call or text us and let us know."

"I will. Bye."

"Bye."

AJ came down the stairs dressed. "I'm going to go look for him."

"Baby, wait, we should try calling the hospitals first. If something happened, he wouldn't just be on the side of the road."

"Okay. He will be okay. He had his ID on him, so he wouldn't be a John Doe. They'll be able to identify him." AJ was pacing, talking to himself to try to steady his nerves. Nate was family, and he was terrified something had happened to him.

"Baby, come here." Gwen embraced him. "He's going to be okay. I know it." She pulled away a bit to kiss him. "You need to believe it too. Okay?"

AJ took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Now, here's the number for the hospital." Gwen gave AJ the number, and AJ called.

"Community Hospital, how may I direct your call?"

"Yes, hi. I'm trying to see if my friend has been brought in? He was supposed to be home over an hour ago, and it's not like him to not come home."

"What is the name?"

"Nathan Morse. M-o-r-s-e."

She typed on her computer. "Mr. Morse was brought in about 45 minutes ago by ambulance. I am sorry, but that is all I am able to release to you at this time."

"Okay, th—thank you." AJ's voice broke a bit. Hanging up, he looked at Gwen. "He's at the hospital."

Gwen looked at AJ speechless. She then ran upstairs to get dressed.

She called Becca. "He's at Community Hospital. Meet us there." She hung up without giving Becca a chance to speak.

They rushed to the hospital. Going into the ER, they hustled up to the desk. "I'm looking for Nathan Morse! He was brought in by ambulance almost an hour ago. Where is he? I'm Andrew Pinkerton, his power of attorney."

The nurse typed in Nate's name. "Right now he's in triage bay 4. We didn't have any contact information for anyone, so we didn't know who to call."

Becca comes rushing in. "Gwen! AJ!"

Gwen have Becca a hug. "It's going to be okay. He's in a triage room right now, so we'll find out more soon."

"If you want to wait over there," the nurse pointed to the waiting room, "I'll inform the doctor you are here."

"Thank you." AJ lead the ladies to a few chairs.

Becca had tears down her cheeks. "This is all my fault."

"What? No, of course not. Becca, how could you say that?" Gwen put her arm around Becca to comfort her.

"If I would have told him to wait, or if we would have just talked a little longer, or if I had kissed him again—"

"Becca, this is not your fault. Don't blame yourself. We don't even know what happened." Gwen tried comforting her.

Dr. Mahdi rounded the corner. "Relation to Nathan Morse?" AJ, Gwen, and Becca all stood up and walked to her.

"Whats going on with Nate? Is he okay? What happened?"

"He was in a car collision. The other driver fled, so we don't know what exactly happened. Nate came in to us unconscious, and has yet to wake. You may all see him, but I will warn you— there are a lot of lacerations on his face, his left arm is broken in three places, and he has two broken ribs."

Tears streamed down Becca's face. "Nate..." she trailed off.

"He's strong, Becca. He will get through this." Gwen reassured her.

Becca took a deep breath and settled herself. "All of us will be there to help him."

"We've moved him to a room since he will be staying overnight at least. If you're ready, follow me." Dr. Mahdi took them to Nate's room.

Nate was laying on the bed, appearing as if he were asleep. AJ and Gwen walked in with Becca.

Walking up to him, Becca gingerly stroked his cheek. She took his hand in hers softly. Gwen brought a chair over for her and told her to sit. AJ told Gwen to take the other chair, and he would stand.

"Oh, Nate..." Becca whispered.

"He's strong. He'll pull through." Gwen put her hand on Becca's shoulder.

"He looks so vulnerable right now. My heart is breaking for him. I just want to protect him with all my might."

"Love will do that to you. You don't want to ever see them hurt." Gwen looked to AJ. He had been quiet during this whole ordeal.

Gwen walked over to him. "Baby? Are you okay?"

"He's gonna pull through this, he has to." AJ couldn't take his eyes off his best friend.

"Baby, look at me." AJ hesitated, then looked at her. She took his hands in hers. "He will be fine. Broken bones he can come back from. He's alive and he's here, that's all that matters." She put a hand up to caress his cheek, then she kissed him.

AJ wrapped his arms around her. "He's going to be fine," he whispered.

She stepped back, and touched his cheek again. She sat back down in the chair beside Becca.

Becca was whispering something to herself. Gwen barely caught it, but she was repeating the same mantra over and over again. "He's so strong, he'll pull through. He's so strong, he'll pull through. He's so strong, he'll pull through."

A tear slipped down Gwen's cheek. Becca and Nate's relationship was just blossoming. They didn't need all this on top of navigating a new relationship.

Three hours ago, I was so happy. We were together, we were kissing, we were in love. Now I am looking at the love of my life, and I am terrified for what will happen to him. Becca's tears were flowing freely at this point. "He's so strong, he'll pull through."