I'm In Love With The Football Player

11. A New Beginning

I wake up again and see that the room is all white again. This time I'm not in the surgery room. I'm in a hospital room. My parents are at the feet of the bed. Even my sister is here. I think the crash was pretty bad wasn't it?

"Frank, he's awake! He's awake!" My mom shouts at my dad and walks over to me and grabs my hand. "Hey Zac, how are you feeling?"

I look at my dad, step dad to be exact, and see that he looks worried. For the first time in my life I feel like he actually cares about me. He was never home because he had to work, but he actually came here to the hospital and is actually worried of how I am.

"I'm fine." I lie. "Just a little dizzy."

"You hit your head pretty rough." Dad says. "And you're ribs, and your arm-"

"Frank!" Mom says shutting him up. "You aren't really helping."

"Sorry." He mumbles.

"Where's Bree?" I ask. "Is she okay? What happened?"

"Bree is having surgery right now." Dad explains. "As for the next question, she isn't okay. You got in a car accident. You would believe that you would be more hurt by being the first one to get hit, but she was the one with the most "bruises" if you know what I mean."

"Dad, I just got hit by a car." I remind him. "My mind is still not as fast as yours. Do you think I got it?"

"What I mean is...." He hesitates in saying it. "Bree can die if this surgery doesn't go as planned."

"What?" I say trying to be calm. "What happened to her?"

Mom and dad look at each other trying to decide either tell me or not.

"When you had the crashed, her door flew open and she flew out the car and hit a pole so hard that it fell." Mom explains. "She has been "asleep" ever since."

"You mean, she hasn't opened her eyes yet?"

They both nod. "She's in a coma right now. They don't really know if she will survive or not."

Without noticing I start crying. I feel a hot drop rolling down my cheek and falling onto my hand. I stare at the drop and wipe it off on my hospital "gown".

Before you ask, yes I cried. I cried for hours. 5 to be exact. I'm lucky I didn't dehydrate enough to die.

Mom came in the room with a huge smile. How can she even be smiling in a time like this.

"Bree just woke up." Mom says not being able to contain her happiness. "The doctor wants to see you both right away."

"Well what are you waiting for mom? Get the wheelchair and let's go!" I say hurrying down of the hospital bed.

I try walking but my legs are too weak and I collapse. Mom comes running to me with the wheelchair.

"You're still too weak to walk on your own." Mom says as she helps me get on the wheelchair.

"How long do you think I'll be like this?" I ask.

"Probably 6 months." She says. "But if you start practicing now it may take less."

I smile and look forward signaling for us to move on. Mom takes me out of the hospital room and down the elevator. This hospital had like 50 floors and we were on floor 45. We were almost on top. Mom hit the button for floor 29. We were in there for 10 minutes.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally got to floor 29. Mom and I got out and she took me to the "conference room". You would think that it would be a beige room with a mahogany table and black chairs, but really it was just a room with some sofas accommodated so they'd make a circle. In the middle there was a mahogany table with packets of tea, coffee, or hot chocolate with a pot full of hot water and 7 teacups stacked. I move my wheelchair near the table and grab a packet of hot chocolate mix. Mom grabs a cup and pours water into it. She grabs a spoon and takes the mix from me and mixes it with the water.

We stay there for about 10 minutes talking about what was happening in life when I was in surgery.

"Has Andrew been here?" I ask.

"Not that I know of." She says.

"Okay." I say disappointed that he still hasn't come.

The door opens and Bree comes in with a side braid. Half her head is shaved because of her surgery on that side of her head. I smile. She is still the beautiful girl whom I fell in love with.

"Zac!" Bree says going faster in her wheelchair. Our wheelchairs collide and we both laugh and reach over to give each other a hug.

"I missed you so much!" I say.

The doctor clears his throat and we both laugh and move our chairs where we are close enough to hold each other's hand but far enough for our tubes not to tangle with each other's.

"So, I called you here to tell you the side effects that your crash has left you." The doctor explains.

Our grip tightens as we are not looking forward to it. I could feel my own heartbeat coming out of my chest. I think Bree noticed so she smiled at me and winked. "It'll be fine." She promised.

"Okay, so the results are:" The doctor starts. "Zac, you only suffered a minor brain injury, but it is fine in your case."

I let out a breath of relief. "That is so much better than what I expected."

"But," the doctor adds. "You have developed severe anxiety and depression."

"That's okay." I say. "At least it's not so big of a deal."

Bree smiles at me sending me a "lucky you" grin.

"Now, Bree." The doctor says while his smile disappears. "Hmm."

"Hmm?" Bree says insecurely. "Hmm? What does that hmm mean?"

"Bree, you've developed a severe brain injury." He states. "As you can see it has taken you some time to do things that you regularly did with ease."

"What do you mean?" I ask. "She's perfectly fine. She hasn't done anything wrong."

"As you know Bree, you broke your back when you hit that pole so you will be on either a wheelchair or some crouches." He explains.

"Doesn't that mean-" i start but get interrupted by Bree's sobbing. I squeeze her hand and start consoling her. I look at her parents and their both looking at each other in disappointment. They look pretty close for a divorced couple, but that doesn't matter right now.

"Wait, what does that mean?" My mom asks.

Bree cries even more at her question.

"Bree won't be able to play football anymore." The doctor explains.