Freefalling

12

In his last moment of consciousness, he smiled. She was the last thing on his mind.

She forced herself into the back of the ambulance. The paramedics saw no point in making her stay behind; they had to get to the hospital.

His eyes were closed and he was out. She began to freak out again. The paramedic in the back tried to calm her down as IVs were being attached to his arms. The man was saying that it was okay for him to be unconscious.

The whole trip she stayed right by his side and held his hand. She doesn't pray, so all she could do was hope.

When they arrived at the hospital, the two men rushed him into the emergency room. She had to wait in the lobby; no exceptions.

He had lost quite a bit of blood. The doctors operating on him gave him a blood transfusion. He also required a tetanus shot for the rust on the knife.

She anxiously waited out in the lobby. She observed other families waiting for their loved ones to be done with their various procedures. Then it hit her, his parents are unaware of the whole ordeal. Her phone didn't have his parents' numbers on it and she didn't have his phone.

She ran up to the receptionist and asked for a phone book. The phone book was deeply examined until his parents were found. The home phone was the only number listed.

His father answered with, "Hi, I don't want whatever you're selling."

"I'm not selling anything. Actually, I'm calling about your son."

"What happened?"

"Well, h-he was stabbed earlier today. We're at the hospital now. He's been in surgery for an hour a-and I just now realized that you didn't know about it."

"Thank you. We will be on our way right now."

Twenty minutes later, his parents were with her in the waiting area. They sat in silence, holding hands.

Eventually, a doctor emerged from the operating room and was identified as his surgeon. The surgery went well and he was fine. The surgeon also said that they could visit him when he was in a different room.

The three stood there after the surgeon left. His father pulled them into a group hug. She backed away and saw a mother who's child didn't meet the same fate. It broke her heart seeing the woman cry. She felt her eyes tear up as she approached the woman.

The woman looked up at her through wet vision when she got there. She held out her arms and the sad mother embraced her. They both stood crying in the lobby. The two women were absolute strangers, comforting each other.

When they calmed down, his father notified her of the fact that they could visit him. The woman thanked her and sat down morosely. It tugged her heart strings to leave this woman, but she desperately needed to see him.

A nurse was outside the door. They were informed that he was going to have to stay here for a week and that only two people could go inside. She let his parents go first.

When they finished, she walked in. He looked tired and a little pale, but still like himself.

He begged for a hug and she hugged him.

"So, you love me?"