Forbidden Literature

43| Heartbeat

When I was in second grade, a girl named Cynthia use to pick on me all the time because I was overweight. She was my first bully and I'll never forget her cruel words. One day when crying about it on Granny's shoulder she rocked me back and forth saying, "When people do mean things to others, it will come back to bite them. That's why you must always be kind to people, Allison. If you do good, good things will happen to you."

And I believed her.

But now, sitting in the emergency room still in my cap and gown waiting for any news about Ben, I stopped believing. My brother doesn't have a single bad bone in his body. He has always been kind, even to people that don't deserve it. He makes the world a better place, and in turn the world takes down his airplane crashing it into a field leaving him inches from death.

Maybe I should be thankful because it was a rural area, and maybe I should be thankful because he was on a private plane so only two other people got hurt, and maybe I should be thankful that he is still alive for the most part, but I'm not. I'm bitter. Incredibly, undoubtfully bitter, because Ben is the last person who deserves this.

On the way here Granny informed me that both Ben, Danica, and the pilot all had to be life-flighted to the hospital in Bulfort. He was only fifteen minutes away from landing when they ran into a massive flock of geese taking out their engines. Fifteen minutes and he would have been fine, but no. Fate had other ideas. Very cruel ideas.

When we arrived we found Mom a mess, screaming at a nurse to let her back there but the nurse refused saying that he was in the middle of surgery. Mom demanded Dad to talk some sense with the woman, but he was too shocked to do anything. It was an absolutely heartbreaking sight to walk into.

When they saw us I was surprised that they flung their selves at me, holding me tightly letting their tears pour all over me like a second shower. I don't know why, but I couldn't join them. I felt like somebody had to be strong because they had clearly given up. So I let them hold me, I let them cry, but I didn't let a single tear shed.

Granny was keeping it together, but her composure was slipping with each minute that went by. Her eyes kept drifting to the double doors probably like me waiting for a doctor to come out. Until then I waited, staring at the white walls feeling the severity of the situation press against my chest. Ellen was playing on the television but I couldn't even enjoy it. My mind was deflecting anything but Ben.

It was nearly three hours later when one doctor did surface taking off his mask and calling for our family. Immediately we all stood.

"Is he okay?" Mom practically jumped on him.

He gave a quick nod. "For now. The surgery was successful, but it seems he took most of the damage as far as injuries go. Part of his back is broken and there was some internal bleeding from a punctured lung, but he pulled through," I didn't know how to feel. It wasn't bad news, but it wasn't good news. "Recovery will take several days so he needs to remain here under constant supervision."

"Can we see him?" Dad asked, his voice cracked.

"Not just yet. He may need a second surgery on his leg but we will let you know before the surgeons decide on anything," the doctor informed. "I must warn you, when he goes into recovery he will not be responsive for a while. We have given him lots of pain medicine that makes him sleep so that his body can restore itself. From here on out it's a waiting game."

"And the others?" Granny asked. "Are they okay?"

At this the doctor frowned. "The girl is still in her room being treated, but the pilot will remain here for a little while."

"Does his family know?" Dad asked.

"The family was contacted and are on their way now. For the girl, her only emergency contact was your son."