I ran as fast as I could to him. When I got there I saw Jared take one last punch and then Q go limp. I busted into the circle and pushed Jared away from him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He looked at me glumly and said, "He said something bad about you."
"Q doesn't have the capability to say something bad about me, Jared." Noticing he'd been caught he back down. I stuck my finger in his face and yelled, "Just because you don't like him and I don't like him does not mean you get to go around beating him to a pulp! Especially behind my back. I told you to leave him alone!" All he said was, "Fine," and snapped, queuing his jocks to drop Q. I caught him on my lap and brushed out his hair. His eyes fluttered and I started talking. "Q! Hey, Q, it's gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. I'm so sorry I let this happened." I saw him black out again and waved to a friend who was watching us. "Call 911, say we need an ambulance." She nodded and pulled out her phone, dialing the number.
It took four minutes for the paramedics to show up. In those four minutes, I did my best to patch him up as best I could. He had a huge hash along his forehead from one of Jared's rings plus a broken rib and probably a concussion. The school nurse insisted on doing it since she's "qualified" but I also insisted because if he woke up and saw someone he didn't recognize he has a knife in his pocket that would come flying out. At first, she didn't believe me but I guess she noticed the dead seriousness in my eyes and she quickly joined the crowd. Even when the paramedics arrived she held them back and gave them the same warning I did. Funny thing was that they actually accepted it pretty easily. I saw his eyes start to flutter again as he came to and I signaled to the paramedics to get ready for transfer. He looked around and looked completely baffled to where he was or what had happened. He looked at me and sat up but then his eyes widened as he realized that I was me and he was he. He obviously remembered that we were no longer friends. Honestly, he was probably just as confused as me as to why I was dabbing his face with an alcohol soaked cotton ball. "Alannah?"
"Yes, Q?" He opened his mouth to say something but I flashed him a look that always shuts him up. He sat back and continued to look confused but he let me finish fixing him up. After I was done I helped him to his feet and walked him to the ambulance. "Okay, time for the hospital."
The ambulance ride was fast but seemed to take forever. It was probably because Q came in and out of consciousness so often. He would wake up and say something cute and oblivious to everything and the fall back to sleep. One of the times he said, "Alannah, did you know you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met?"
"Yes, Q, now go back to sleep." He nodded and went back to sleep. The paramedic next to us was going through a box trying to find something when he said, "So how long have you two been together?"
"Oh, we're not together." He looked up at me with a big fat question mark written all over his face but he didn't ask. A minute later he said, "Love is such a weird thing at your guys' age." I just nodded and agreed.
When we arrived at the hospital the paramedics took Quinten inside on a stretcher and I was right by his side. We checked him in and we were brought to one of the usual rooms with the inclining bed, bathroom, TV, and it just wouldn't be complete without the big blue curtain. They moved him to the bed and immediately called me out of the room to do surgery.
I was sitting in the waiting room just outside when a nurse came up to me and said that she had called Q's parents, my parents, and the school saying why we were both not at school. I thank her and she went back to her desk with a smile. It took two hours for the surgery to be over and afterward, I had to wait another ten minutes so he could be "observed." Finally, I was able to see him.
The same nurse from before took me into the room and shut the door behind her. There he was, lying unconscious in the bed with one of those blue scrubs and a white hospital bracelet. I went over and sat down in the chair by the bed and sighed. "Man, Q, this really is all my fault." I put my hand on top of his limp one and just watched him sleep. I'd been terrible to him. Horrible. He'd only ever been good to me. That when I climbed into the space next to him in the large bed and dozed off.
