Coma White

Minute Of Decay

Chapter 6 – Minute Of Decay

Brian sat by a hospital bed. A hospital bed that held an unconscious Jessie, and he cried. How could they do this? His own classmates! He heard her breath hitch momentarily and his eyes snapped up, but she normalised again quickly. She’d been like this for two weeks, and it was killing him.

He’d watched her fight for breath through a shattered rib-cage for two weeks, barely leaving her side. Her mother had done the same until he’d told her to go home and get some sleep…that had been four hours ago.

He leant forward, her hand in both of his, and rested his head on the edge of the bed. He didn’t know what he’d become if he lost her.

“B…Brian…” His head snapped up at the sound of her soft, broken voice.

He breathed a sigh of relief. She was awake. “Hey, I’m here…” he watched her swallow thickly and attempt a small smile for him. “Do you want me to get the doctor?”

“Probably should…” she winced as she breathed in and swallowed again. “Some water wouldn’t go amiss either.”

“Okay…I’ll be right back.” He assured her as he stood and kissed her forehead. “Hang in there baby.” Brian ran, bolting down the corridor, to find a doctor.

***

“Okay, you just rest for a moment.” The doctor gave Jessie a gentle smile as he turned towards the door. “Sir, would you come with me for a moment, please?”

Brian glanced back at Jessie as she closed her eyes and followed the doctor out into the hall, frowning as the doctor closed the door behind them. “Is she going to be alright?”

Brian’s hope deflated as the doctor sighed heavily. “It’s a miracle she survived this far. She’s got a broken arm and leg, bruised bone, the ribs on her right side are almost completely crushed…and she’s bleeding internally.” The doctor stopped. “Now that she’s woken up, we can take her in for further surgery…but we have to do it soon.”

“Then do it!” Brian nearly yelled and the doctor shushed him. “Whatever you need to do to make her better, do it.”

“We need permission from her or her next of kin of she’s underage.” The doctor explained, seeing the desperation in Brian’s eyes.

Brian nodded, “She’s eighteen. Does that still count as underage?”

The doctor shook his head. “No, if she consents we can have her in surgery today.”

Brian opened the door quickly, both he and the doctor walking in and explaining their conversation to Jessie. Brian watched her carefully the whole time, he could tell she was scared but she was also a stubborn and determined, and he breathed a sigh of relief when she agreed and the doctor left to organise her move into surgery.

“You’re gonna be okay, Jessie.” He smiled, trying to relieve her anxiety, but he knew he was saying it also for himself. “We’re gonna leave here…we’ll go live in Florida or somewhere warm…sound good?”

Jessie merely smiled a sad smile at him, like she knew something he didn’t, and pointed to the box her mother had brought her once she’d heard Jessie was awake. He lifted its contents onto the tray-like table that hovered over her left side and watched as she rifled slowly through the different pieces of paper she’d written on. A strained smiled crossed her features when she found what she was looking for.

“Here,” she whispered as she handed the papers to him. “I want you to have these…”

Brian looked through the papers carefully. His eyes widened slightly. Jessie had handed him the lyrics and musical composition of the song she’d been working on…the one she’d never been happy with. “No…Jessie, I can’t take this…” Brian tried to hand them back to her. “You…you’re giving up too easily…”

“I know you can make it better…” her voice became strained, like she was holding back tears. “I know you’ll finish it…you can make it perfect…” she smiled and pushed the papers back into his hands. “Promise me you’ll finish it…please…”

Brian steeled himself. “I promise.” When he spoke again, his voice broke. “Just please get through this for me…I don’t know what I’d do if you…if you…”

“I know.” Jessie stated simply, a peaceful smile gracing her features. “You’re going to be…extraordinary.” Brian looked at her in incomprehension, and she smiled. “Sing to me?”

Brian looked at the lyrics in his hand, back at Jessie, then back at the lyrics, and began to sing her song. “There’s something cold and blank…behind her smile. She’s standing on an overpass…in a miracle mile…” Brian continued to sing as she closed her eyes, smiling peacefully. “Coz you were from a perfect world. A world that threw me away today…today… to run away…” And, as he sang the chorus, he watched the machines go flat-line.

Brian never had, nor would, cry so hard again…

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{I know...tragic...but wait! There's more!}