The Calm Before The Storm

Stay

~Chloe~

311? Huh, that can't be a coincidence, I think to myself as I wait anxiously outside Max's door.

I gasp audibly when my eyes land on the little brunette with in. Max is laying on a large hospital bed in the middle of the room... she looks.... so small and fragile like the lightest touch could shatter her.

I try to say something but my voice catches and all that comes out of my mouth is a sad, pathetic cry.

"Max..." I say weakly, closing the door noiselessly behind me. I struggle to move forward, every step feeling heavier and heavier the closer I get to her bedside.

I look down at a chair by her bed and flop down onto it, setting my crutches aside. I look blankly at my feet, the toes of my right foot sticking out of the cast.

I close my eyes and listen.

Her breathing is a lot stronger than it was before... but that's because the machine she's hooked up to is doing it for her.

The whirling of the machines in the room sound eerily and hauntingly familiar in a way I know shouldn't.

That must be the ventilator, I determine.

It hurts to look, but... my eyes trail up the bed to Max's face. I brush a few stray pieces of hair from her eyes and continue to look at her. Max's face is really pale, bruised and cut from the crash. Some of her hair has been shaved away where a large piece of gauze covers the wound on her forehead. Her eyes are held closed by some light tape, but I can see dark purple rings around her eyes. There's some gauze on the bridge of her nose too, probably from the whole busted sinuses thing the doctor told me about. Along with the mask on Max's face, there's a tube that's stuck down her throat, giving her lungs the air she can't give herself.

I have to hold down a dry heave when I see how fucking uncomfortable it must be.

I look down the length of her body and realize that part of her chest is bare and I blush. The only thing covering Max's chest is a bunch of gauzes which is where I'm guessing she had some sort of procedure done to fix whatever was broken inside of her.

I lift the blanket a little higher until it rests under her chin, respecting her slight indecency.

I sigh and continue to look down, my eyes trailing down the length of her arms. I run a hand down from her shoulders to her hand as I pick it up and kiss it gently.

"Max...".

Then my eyes landing on an oddly shaped lump under the blankets. It takes me a second to realize that it's her busted leg, the one with pins in it. Is that what's making that weird lump?

I look up again, tears springing in my eyes. Max is hooked up to so many machines, there are so many wires, so much beeping and noise.

She... she barely looks alive.

I adjust her hand in mine and feel for a pulse, just to be sure. I wait for a few seconds and...

There.

It's slower and more spaced out than it should be, but I can feel her heart beating nonetheless. I can feel it reverberate into my body which... for some reason... makes me cry.

I slide my hand into hers so that way our fingers are interlocking and just... start breaking down in tears.

"Goddammit! Why, why couldn't it have been me!" I yell. "Nobody especially you should have to go through this pain! And I caused it... again! I'm sorry, Max... I... I wish I could tell you how I really feel. I know I say 'I Love You' but I don't think you know what I mean. It's not just something you say to someone when you like them... I mean, it is but... fuck! I've never told anyone that I love them, Max. You're the only one I've ever said that to. And I know that I said that I loved Rachel, but I never... I never really told her that. I've had so much trouble with that word, Max. Hell, I stopped saying it to my mom, I-", I get choked up on my tears before I continue, "After you left... y- you were the only one I could ever truly say that to, you are the only one I've ever wanted to say that to".