Standing By-an Avi Kaplan fanfic

Chapter 5: Hospitalized

"Alright, she's regaining consciousness―we need another dosage of morphine over here," a muffled male voice announces.
My eyes flutter open to a blinding white light and I squint. I cough a couple times which send jolts of pain down my body. It smells like blood and antiseptic, and it's loud. Footsteps, conversation, clanging, beeping, the PA, sirens, everything. "Where... Where am I?" I ask quietly to nobody in particular.
An older woman with kind eyes appears in my field of vision. "You're in the ER, sweetheart."
"ER?" I echo, and struggle to sit up, but my arms are too weak and my legs won't cooperate and I flop back down onto the bed. A man helps me up and I blink a few times to adjust to the light.
There are people in scrubs darting around with clipboards and monitors and other strange machines. I have an IV hooked into my left arm, and a heart monitor is to my right, which beeps lightly. There's a blanket on me waist-down and I feel something hot and sticky in my hair, trickling down the side of my face. I reach up to touch it and my fingers come away bloody. "What happened to me?"
The man, who I'm assuming is a doctor since he wears a white lab coat over his scrub, says, "You were in a severe car accident an hour ago. Luckily the man in the truck who hit you stopped to call nine-one-one."
The woman dabs a wet towel on my face to mop away the blood, and I flinch. Car accident? I tense as I remember mom and dad's fatal accident.
Then I gasp. Dylan. "Where's Dylan?" I ask her in a raspy voice.
"If you mean your brother, he's in the ICU... He took the worst of the hit and he hasn't woken up yet," she answers.
"Cousin," I correct her, and she dips her head apologetically.
The doctor pulls out a pen and picks up his clipboard. "Could you tell me your name and age, darling? And also your cousin's name and age?" he asks me.
"My name is Ruby McAllister, and I'm eighteen," I tell him. "My cousin is Dylan Knowles; he's nineteen."
He writes on the sheet on the clipboard and hands it to the woman. "Take this to Shelley and find the girl's parents and contact them. They―"
"My parents are dead," I say, my voice slurred. The morphine is kicking in.
The doctor blinks at me. "Uh, well, find her guardian or emergency contact and notify them of this accident."
The woman nods and heads toward Shelley the secretary.
The doctor sits down on a stool beside my bed. "My name is Dr. Fischer," he tells me. "Now, you took most of the impact on your left side―you have bruised ribs, and your hip was dislocated... And we aren't sure what happened to your leg. There are no breaks in the bones as far as we can tell; it'll be easier to say what it is after we see your X-ray results."
I stare blankly at him. All I can think about is Dylan. I clear my throat a few times. "Dr. Fischer, is Dylan going to be okay?"
His pale grey eyes cloud with concern before he smiles reasuringly. "I'm sure everything is going to be okay. In the meantime, I want you to get some rest―I'll let you know when your guardian arrives."
With that, I slip off into a dark, dreamless sleep.

I wake up again, this time in a room. It's dark and quiet, which is a huge change from the ER. I look around the room. The door is to my right, and I have a window to my left. There's a small TV and sofa on the other side of the room, and another door that I'm guessing leads to the bathroom. There's a bed beside the window with a lump in it, but I can't tell if it's a male or female, and a small bedside table between us. There's an alarm clock which reads 5:56am, and a glass of water beside it.
I reach out with my left arm to try and grab the water, but pain sears through my side and I let out a small cry.
The lump in the other bed sits up and turns to face me. "You okay?" a small female voice says.
"I don't know," I answer, trying to make out her features in the dark.
"My name is Shizuka," she says a little louder. "I'm twelve."
"I'm Ruby, eighteen. Nice to meet you."
"I heard them move you in a few hours ago but you were asleep so I decided not to bother you or the doctors, but I heard everything they said," Shizuka tells me.
"Really?" I say, pushing the button on the bed, slowly bringing it and me up into a sitting position. "So what's the matter with me?"
"Well, Dr. Fischer said you were in a car accident and you suffered a minor concussion... Um, you have bruised ribs and a dislocated hip―which they put back in place while you were out―and your X-ray results say that your growth plate in your left ankle or foot or whatever was pushed up to your leg an that the same thing happened to your kneecap. I didn't hear the rest, sorry," she tells me.
"Oh." Growth plate? "Do you know anything about the whole growth plate thing?"
"No, sorry," she says, shaking her head.
"Did they say anything about my cousin?"
"Um.... Not that I recall. Your grandmother I think came to visit; she only stayed for a few minutes, but you were asleep," Shizuka says.
"When does the nurse come by?" I ask.
"Normally they drop by bringing breakfast at eight a.m."
Shizuka and I chat for a few hours more. She tells me her story―last week at school, her and her friends were walking down the halls to their next class when she felt a burning pain an collapsed onto the floor. The ambulance came and the paramedics told her she had an ulcer. The doctors expected it would heal fast because of her age, but instead the ulcer became a tumor, which was worse. She's been here a week and the doctors are doing everything they can, but she expects that they've tried their best and there's nothing else they can do.
"I'm probably going to die," she says softly.
Tears are welling up in my eyes. "Aren't you scared?" I say, my voice cracking. "I mean, you're only twelve... You still have so much of your life to live."
Shizuka sniffles, shakes her head, and she sounds a hundred years older when she speaks. "I don't want to suffer anymore. All the pain, this loneliness in this room, the stress of not knowing if I'm going to be cured... Some people in my school even think that I'm doing this for the attention." She sneers. "How sick is that? I clearly have no support."
I let the tears spill. "That's terrible... I'm so sorry. But what about your parents?"
"My mother walked out on me and my dad when I was ten. He's been so depressed since then and turned to drinking... I doubt he even cares that I'm here. He hasn't visited me yet," she says, her voice dripping with sadness.
"Oh my gosh..." I murmur. "I'm here for you, okay? If you ever need help, or just someone to lean on. I'll be your sister figure," I tell her.
Her body racks with sobs. "Thank you," she manages to say through tears.

The nurse comes in just as the sunlight starts to filter through the curtains. "Breakfast, girls," she says cheerfully. She pulls out the tables and makes us both comfortable and sets the trays down.
I finally have a good look at Shizuka. Her dark brown hair is cut very short, and she has a small, round face with brown almond-shaped eyes. She looks very thin and delicate; she must be of Asian decent.
The nurse pulls out a chair and sits between us as we eat. I take a large bite out of my blueberry bagel and listen to her.
"So, Ruby, the X-rays say that your growth plate in your left ankle and your kneecap have both been pushed out of their places and moved slightly upwards from the hit," the nurse says. "We have already informed your grandmother about the surgery you'll have to undergo to replace your growth plate and fix your knee... Unfortunately, it is very costly, and the concern is that you don't have enough funds to pay for the full treatment."
I reposition myself and wince from the pain in my side and left leg. "So that means...?"
She sighs. "The growth plate is so damaged, it will have to be replaced. You'll still be able to move around if you don't have the surgery; you'll just need crutches and it will be painful. You won't be able to walk regularly unless we fix the plate and your knee."
My heart drops. "I... I won't be able to walk properly? Ever?"
"I'm sorry, but this is the case."
I'm numb to her words. This is crazy... I won't be able to walk properly? "What about... What about my job?"
"I've talked to your manager... You'll have to be treated fully before returning," the nurse replies. She pats me gently on the shoulder. "Dr. Fischer will be in shortly and take you to rehabilitation―once you have the money, you can return and we shall do the surgery." She leaves me and goes to talk to Shizuka, who is sitting silently.
***
"I truly am sorry," Dr. Fischer says to me as he wheels me to the elevator. "I really hate seeing people who can't afford all the treatment they need... But for now, the best we can do is get you up and moving."
I don't answer him.
"There's been an update on Mr. Knowles," he continues, and I look up at him. "He has not regained consciousness... Dr. Madani says his head injuries are too severe; he's comatose."
"No... No, he can't be," I say, shaking my head. I bury my face in my hands. "This can't be happening..."
Dr. Fischer wheels me into the elevator. "I know it's hard, dear. First your parents; now you and Dylan in this accident... I really wish this didn't happen," he says sympathetically. "But I'm sure Dylan will be okay. We just all have to stay strong for him, all right?"
I bite my lip. "Okay," I say in a choked voice, and I watch as we enter the elevator and the doors slowly close.