I woke up again in a hospital bed with a brace on my wrist and a compression pack against my head. I looked at my arm to see an IV was attached to it, and I realized my nailbeds were a sickly dark blue color. But all I could think about was Ellie. I looked over to see a doctor, a nurse, my mom, Ellie's parents, Wyatt and Stan standing over the bed next to me, each trying to comfort and talk to each other. They noticed me awake and rushed over to my side as well. I sat up.
"Guys, what the hell is going on?" I said shakily.
"I'm Dr. Rontussle, but call me Dr. R. You apparently passed out, fell really hard against your bedroom dresser and sprained your wrist. And you possibly have a concussion," The doctor recited calmly.
"I don't care about me, where's Ellie and what happened, is she okay, this is all my fault--"
"Calm down Katalia," He interrupted.
"Kat." I corrected.
Dr. R let out a frustrated sigh. "Okay. Kat. You need to calm down. Your heart has started taking a dramatic turn for the worse and you'll have to cooperate. Honestly, we only have about a week to find you a donor or you're not going to make it." He started touching and rearranging wires attached to me.
I rolled my eyes. "What part of 'I don't care about me, what about Ellie,' do you not understand. Jesus."
He shot me a look and I shut up, realizing this man had my life literally in his hand.
"Ellen,"
"ELLIE." I corrected him again. Ellie hates being called her real name, Ellen.
"Ellie. Ellie is in a coma. The impact she took when she swerved and hit that tree would've been enough to kill her, but she happened to be in a neighborhood where the farmers wake up at 2 or 3 am to start daily chores. An old man found her and rushed her to the hospital."
"She's gonna wake up, right..." I felt the tears creeping.
"I'm going to tell you like I've told her family. In order for a coma patient to properly wake up from a coma, the person's brain waves must be at the maximum number, 15, between 3 and 15. Right now, Ellie's brainwaves are at a 7, which does not look good for her. If she can increase her brainwaves to at least an 11, we can begin giving her treatments to "wake up" her brain. If she goes any lower than a 4...She will stay in the coma and die within weeks, without anything we can do for her." Dr. R said softly, trying to console me.
I started to cry and my mother held me in her arms.
"I am very sorry, but if she goes any lower than a four we will strongly advise for you as a family to pull the plug on the machine forcing her to live. Going lower than a four will increase the overall pain the victim feels during death, and we would rather not have her in pain for her last moments. I am sorry. But we should know by Tuesday what the level is." Dr. R put a hand on Mr. & Mrs. Summers backs as they sobbed loudly onto their only daughter who may never wake up.
As I leaned over on the bed, tears pouring endlessly down my face, I got a glimpse of the sleeping Ellie, peaceful, make-up-less, and somehow still beautiful.
Close your eyes, and...Imagine sharing the best kiss with your best friend, just for you to turn her down. Imagine your best friend never waking up because you let her drive away from you in tears. Imagine going to her funeral, walking the school halls without her, eating, drinking--Being, completely without the one person who means the most to you.
You're lucky you get to just imagine this. You can open your eyes right now, and all of those sad thoughts will go away. But no matter how many times I blink, or hit myself, or pinch myself. I can't wake up from this nightmare. Ellie hasn't woken up, or popped up saying "You've been pranked, BITCH!"....................This is really happening.
Ellie could really be gone, all because of me...
I deserve to die in a week.
