SPINE [Completed]

CHAPTER 5

The silence continued and the tension grew worse. All of James's sweat glands opened and the water sprinted out of his body. His hand shook viciously and his heart twisted violently in his chest. He waited. For any sound. Even a breath. "Taylor?" There was still no answer. His pupils dilated after each ticking second. Tears ran down his now pale face and down to his hands. A sudden rush of frustration and anger pierced through his skull and all of his emotions let loose as if they had been held back for awhile. In an instant, nurses ran into the room. "James, is everything okay? What's wrong?" The three nurses all scanned James. He moved his lips to speak but no words escaped his throat. Just aching moans. "Is the medicine too strong? Do you need a break?" Not knowing what to do, the nurses stood still for a moment. Just then, his mom entered the room. "James, sweetheart, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Is everything okay?" She started to caress his face. She glanced down at the phone. "James, who were you on the phone with? Was it Taylor? What's wrong?" Wiping all of his tears away, she sat next to James. "I don't...I don't know what happened to her." His mom's eyes lit like wildfire and her voice shook. "What do you mean? Don't scare me like that." James raised the phone to his ear. The call finally died out. Still not a sound. "I think she crashed. She was coming back from the game and the music was loud and I shouldn't have had her call me after the game. This is my fault. I need to go find her." As if he was possessed, James swung his legs to the side of the bed and attempted to walk out of the room. "Don't you dare move. There's no way you're going anywhere like this. I'll go find her. You stay here. Please. I'll give Taylor's dad a call." His mom held him down but she struggled. James kept fighting and he kept pushing his mom away. His legs felt numb and his entire body felt extremely weak. "I can go. I can find her." James got to his feet and immediately collapsed to his knees. "Please, James. Don't make this harder than it is already. Let me find her. You need to rest. She needs you healthy and so do I." James's mom picked him up and put him back to bed. James unwillingly nodded. Without even noticing, his eyes closed and he drifted into sleep.

An hour later, James woke up in a pool of sweat. His heartbeat spiked and he felt each vein pulse. He scrambled to find his phone. He had sixteen new messages from his mom. He felt his nerves kick into high gear. After taking a deep breath, he opened the messages.

"James? Are you sleeping?"

"I called Taylor's dad to update the situation. I tried calling you."

"She's been in an accident."

James could feel his heart freefalling from within his body. His eyes quickly scanned the rest of the messages. No other message caught his attention quite like the last one his mother had sent.

"She's going to be fine. She's headed to the hospital you're staying at for some checkups. Nothing major. I'll be back real soon. Don't you worry."

He could literally feel the stress and the worries leave his body after each exhale. If those texts were from around a half hour ago, Taylor should be almost here, he thought to himself. James could not wait any longer for her. He repeatedly clicked the 'HELP' button for the nurses. For each single click, a beeping noise rang in his room and at the desk outside. "Yes James?" His nurse walked in and she seemed a bit annoyed."I'm sorry for clicking too many times, but has a Taylor Brookes checked in yet?" The nurse went back to the desk and returned in seconds. "Yeah, she came in a few minutes ago. Why?" James looked up at the nurse. "Can I go see her?"The nurse looked at him. "Is she your girlfriend by any chance?" She now smiled. He nodded. "Sure, I can wheel you in." The nurse kicked up the brakes on his bed and wheeled him out of the room. After a short trip across the hall,James entered Taylor's room. "Taylor! Are you okay? I was so worried. You have no idea. What happened?" James felt so relieved and broken all at the sametime. Relieved that Taylor was okay and broken because she was also in a hospital bed. Taylor peeked up from where she was. "Hey you...I'm sorry...I took my eyes off the road for a second and I swerved onto the curb and hit a mailbox. Audrey and Bella are okay too. I just have a headache and a few scratches." A doctor walked into the room. "I see you have a visitor Taylor.Well, looks like you're going to be fine. Are you James by the way?" She asked as she glanced at him. James nodded. "Yes, why?" The doctor took off her mask and smiled. "You're looking at your bone marrow transplant match." James looked at the doctor. "You?" The doctor shook her head. "No, her."