She's With the Band

Together We Cry

A swarm of people quickly gathered around the overturned car in the middle of the highway.

It was eerily quiet for a few moments; the kind prior to a heavy storm. Breaths were mingled in the night air and heavy with anticipation for what was to come. There was no movement coming from the scene; no indication that there had been two lively women driving home after a long day. Their existence was slowly ebbing away under the weight of the car' metal frame.

The congregation got bigger with each passing second; people were trying to see if they could help. From behind the crowd, a group of three men rushed past towards the toppled car. One of the men knocked rapidly on Valerie's window.

"Can you hear me, in there? Are you alright?" He received no answer, only the hissing of the engine as it emitted a steady stream of smoke. Suddenly, sparks from the engine electrified the night's air.

"Quick! Somebody call an ambulance."

"There are two girls! We have to get them out before this thing catches fire!"

"There's smoke coming from everywhere, hurry!"

One of the women who had been on her phone called out, "The ambulance should be here in ten minutes."

The first of the three men tried to tear the door open from its hinges, to no avail. He called back into the crowd.

"Michael! Help me get this thing off. Gale, try knocking on the other door to see if the other girl is conscious."

Michael sprinted to help out his friend, "On the count of three; one, two, three!" Their loud grunts compelled another group of men to aid in lifting the door off from Dana's side.

Meanwhile, Gale knocked frantically at the barely-conscious Valerie. "Miss, can you move your legs?" A weak moan escaped Valerie's lips; she felt the bones of her right arm threating to rupture out of her skin, but her legs were functional. She tried to jolt Dana with her free left arm and a strained voice that mirrored her panic. "Dana? Dana wake up, please!"

A rush of cold air conditioned Valerie's right side before she realized that her door had been torn open. The man outside of her window, Gale, outstretched his arms and wrapped them around her torso, slowly pulling her away from Dana. Valerie struggled against his firm grasp, "No! Get her out first. Dana!"

Her voice was a piercing shrill, begging for her sister. With eyes still wide with shock, she saw as the men extracted her battered sister—now bloody beyond recognition.

"They're getting her out," Gale tried to calm down the hysteric Valerie, "it's going to be alright." He carried her to the side of the highway and away from the crowd. He took off his jacket and placed it protectively on her shoulders, "It's going to be alright." He repeated that mantra until Valerie felt her heavy lids flutter.

Gale looked alarmed as he shook her frail body violently, "Wake up, you can't fall asleep." Valerie's eyes fluttered back to consciousness. They were wild; inspecting the scene of the burning car that had caged her only seconds ago. Her heart pounded in her ears; its noise drowning her own sobs. The flames hungrily licked the car frame, leaving behind a strong metallic stench.

"It's all my fault," she murmured to herself, sobbing like a madwoman.

"Shhh," Gale tried to console the distressed woman, "why don't you tell me your name?"

Valerie focused on the calm face that stood before her through teary eyes, "It's... V-Valerie."

"Valerie," he began, "Do you want me to call anyone...?"

She could see his mouth moving but his words were lost in her mind. From the corner of her eye, she saw the flickering lights of an ambulance followed by a fire truck. Paramedics raced to tend to Dana, who was lying unconscious on the ground.

Valerie ran towards Dana with wobbly legs, inspecting the full extent of her wounds under the flashing red and blue lights. Dana's face was bloody with cuts; a big gash was oozing from her forehead, no doubt caused by her collision with the window. A paramedic cut away Dana's shirt to reveal her bruised ribs and immediately examined her side with gloved fingers.

"Multiple internal fractures and she's not breathing," the paramedic called out, "her ribs are pressing against the liver and lungs; she's risking multiple organ failure."

"Oh my god," Valerie breathed in horror, "Please, save my sister!"

"Miss, I need you to step back," the paramedic shouted as he rapidly attached an oxygen mask onto her sister's face.

Two paramedics carried Dana on a gurney and disappeared inside the ambulance. "Are you family?" one of the paramedics shouted back to her. She nodded violently, despite the ringing in her ears, and ran inside the ambulance.

"The police will be waiting for your statements at the hospital," the paramedic stepped outside to address the group that had taken the girls out of the car, "we need to get this ambulance to St. Beaumont's quick."

"We'll follow you there," Michael assured the paramedic, who nodded and shut the door forcefully.

*****

The ambulance skidded to a stop in front of the doors St. Beaumont's trauma centre. The ambulance door was pushed aside as the paramedics unloaded Dana's gurney outside of the ambulance. She was received by two doctors with grim stances.

"Two sisters were in a car accident on the highway; one is suffering from multiple internal fractures. BP was fluctuating en route and we had to put on an oxygen mask on her."

Valerie, with a fresh trail of blood streaking her cheeks, appeared after the paramedics. One of the doctors looked at her in alarm, "And her?"

"Possible concussion, and broken right arm. She'll need multiple sutures, too."

"Alright, trauma room four, quick."

Valerie's sobs never ceased; she was praying that Dana would wake up. She held onto her hand tightly and refused to leave her side. When they neared the trauma room, Valerie saw a police officer busily chattering with the three men that rescued them. One of them, Gale, pull her aside for the second time this evening, clearing the way for the gurney that carried Dana into the trauma room. "No!" Valerie protested, "I need to be with her."

"Your injuries need to be looked at," he led her towards a doctor with an open suture kit.

"But I'm fine," she planted her feet on the ground and refused to budge, "she needs me."

"Listen, Valerie," Gale started with a strained voice, "You're beat up pretty badly, and you might have a concussion. What your sister needs from you, right now, is to let that doctor take care of you."

Sighing in defeat, Valerie let the doctor clean the gash across her cheek. She winced from the sting of the disinfectant.

"Sorry about that," the doctor spoke softly as she began stitching the skin, "I'll just close this up, then we'll get you a CT scan...."

"What's going to happen to her?" Valerie asked, fighting away tears.

"She's probably going to need surgery," The doctor closed the wound and focused on the cuts on Valerie's arms. "Your right arm is broken," she gently pressed the bruised flesh, "you'll need a cast, too."