catch 22 :: m.clifford

three

Michael's eyes snapped open, and he shifted uncomfortably in the metal lobby chair. His neck was itchy with cold sweat, and the thick black sweater he wore, the right sleeve ripped and torn from the crash. Positive he would get a rash on his pale skin, he slid off the knit fabric, wiggling his shoulders to adjust the white tee shirt he wore underneath, drenched with his clammy sweat.

"Mr. Clifford?" Dr. Irwin's familiar voice drifted through the room, and Michael let out the deep exhale he wasn't aware he had been holding in.

"Yeah, Doc?"

"I'm very sorry, Michael, there was slip-up in the surgery.... Ms. Rivera had a brain bleed, causing a swell near the stem resulting in--"

"Please," Michael squeezed his eyes closed, chest constricting, "please don't tell me what I think you're going to tell me."

"Michael, September fell into a coma."

"A... a coma? But that means she'll wake up real soon though, right?" He could care less how desperate he sounded. "September's gonna be fine. She'll be fine?"

"Mr. Clifford," the doctor shook his head, "we don't know when she'll wake up. September will wake up when she's ready to wake up."

"Can I at least see her?"

"We have found contact with Ms. Rivera's immediate family." He flipped through several pages on the clipboard. "When September becomes more stable, then you may see her."

    Although Michael knew it was hospital rules enough, he couldn't help but feel simply enraged. At the stupid Doctor, Irwin, at himself, Michael, and at the stupid accident, which was all his fault. If he hadn't cared about his stupid shirt then he wouldn't be here in the stupid lobby anyway, needing to see his best friend who was in a stupid coma.

He was such an idiot. A complete and total idiot.

"Whatever." Michael shook his head, lifting himself from the chair, and trudged out of the building, his dizzy head feeling numb.

    Two whole days passed, in which he avoided the hospital at all costs. The guilt of his actions and where his best friend had ended up felt like an entire boulder of weight on his shoulders. It was half a week away from the start of college, but he didn't even think about whether he had to meet with the college dean about an excused absence, because Michael knew that September would wake up. Any day now, he'd call in, and they'd tell him how she had woken up, asking for Michael, and he'd walk down to the building, greet his friend, and then everything could go back to normal. But that didn't happen.

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dedicated to rose b/c i miss her heaps :)! thanks to all for the feedback.