The Last Cheer (Book 1 of the Cheer series)

Two:

The car ride continues on, my mother's loud sobs echoing in the silent car. My pulse increases, and my heart drops down to my legs, or so it feels, as the hospital comes into view.

"Mom!" I turn in my seat to face her, "Please tell me. I can't bear it anymore. What happened?" I ask, and another loud sob escapes my mother's throat.

"Dad and... and Steven..." she starts, and I nod, urging her to continue, "They...they were in a- an..." She tries to explain between sobs.

"In what? An accident?" I finish and she nods, putting her hand on her lip as she tries to contain her sob. It doesn't help, as her body shakes violently. "How bad was it?" I try to make out, through the shock, which is taking over my body. My mother doesn't reply, and silence follows, which can only mean one thing. The accident was very bad.

My mother climbs out the car and leads me into the hospital. We stop at the nurse sitting at the reception desk. I turn to my mother, who is shaking violently, sobs still taking over her body.

"We are here-" I start, trying to keep calm. "Here, to see Steven and George Daniels." The nurse nods. I look down at my hands, which are shaking wildly, and I stuff them into my pants pockets.

"The doctor will be with you both in a moment. Are you the immediate family?" She asks, and I nod. She looks at me and my mother sympathetically. The nurse lead us to the waiting room. "Wait here. The doctor will be with you soon. Hang tight."

I sit next my mother in the waiting chairs, rubbing her back slowly, still with shaking hands. It's pure torture. I have no idea what actually happened to my brother and my father, and sitting in the silence, allows my mind to focus on the worse case scenarios, and they only get worse the more I think about it. My leg starts twitching, and I bite my lip, until I can taste the bitter blood on my tongue. Finally, out names are called, as doctor arrives and leads us down the corridors and stops outside a room.

"Mrs Daniels, it appears that your husband will be alright. He has only a few milder injuries. He has a fracture in two ribs, and he has broken his arm." The doctor sighed. "We will be keeping here for a few days to make sure he has no suffered a concussion."

"And-" my mother starts, finally free from the sobs, "And my son?"

The doctor looks at us sympathetically. I bite my lip harder, and my hands continue to shake. "Your son is stable, however, he is in a coma." The words hit me like a knife. I know people who have not woken up from a coma. Comas usually mean brain damage. My heart races, and I feel a sob threatening an escape. At least my father is fine, but Steven, Steven could be dying. I've heard about so many cases. Comas are not a good thing. Brain damage. Brain dead. My heart breaks into a million pieces at this realisation. Steven could die.

The doctor turns and opens the door, showing us inside. My father is sitting on a hospital bed, his eyes closed and his arm was in a cast. He looks battered and bruised. He has a few scratches on his face, the maroon colour of blood.

"W-Where's Steven?" I ask the doctor, seeing only my father's bed in the room. 

"You cannot see him now. He is in the ICU." The doctor explains.

The ICU. He is in the ICU. The intensive care unit. My brother, the one who was playing football with me only yesterday afternoon, the same brother who I had grown up next to and shared a birthday with, could be gone any minute. Any moment, I could lose him forever, and that realization brings me to my knees. A sob escapes my throat, and tears stream down my face.

The doctor lead my mother and I out the room, with the excuse that my father need rest. It is going to be a long night, but we cannot leave this terrible place until we know more about Steven and his condition. We cannot leave until we know our family is safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Melissa!" Shouts a muffled voice, waking me up from my sleep.

"What?" I groan back.

"Come, wake up honey. It's 7 am." My mother's voice sounds, and I groan, sitting up. I open my eyes, and I want to close them again, knowing that this nightmare was not just a nightmare. It's real.

"Any news?" I ask, looking at my mother who looks as bad as I feel. Her eyes are red and puffy, her make up is smudged and she looks like she hasn't slept in weeks.

"No. Dad is still asleep." She answers, and rubs my back comfortingly. I rub my eyes. This can't be real. I look over to the door and see the doctor from yesterday making his way to us.

"Good morning doctor." My mother says, getting up from the chair.

"Good morning Mrs Daniels." The doctor starts. "So, I have both good news and bad news for you." My mother nods, but I can tell she is extremely nervous, "The good news is that Steven made it through the night, and he is still stable. But, the bad news is that he is still in a coma."

"Thank you Doctor." My mother replies, clearly disappointed that there has been no improvement. The doctor nods and exits the room.

"I'm going to call Allison." I inform my mother and walk out the waiting room, outside the hospital. I dial Allison's number, knowing it off by heart. Two rings, and I hear Allison's voice on the other side.

"Hey Mel. What's wrong? I saw that you left debating really quickly. Is everything alright?" She asks worryingly.

"Um..." I start, and I feel the tears threatening to spill, "Steven and Dad, they were in a really bad car accident. Alli, I don't know what to do." My heart breaks inside as I admit everything to my best friend.

"Mel, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." Allison states quickly, "Well, obviously you aren't coming to school today, so I will collect the work. I'll get my mom to make you guys some food. After school, I will come to the hospital. I'm here for you Mel." Allison replies.

"I love you."

"Love you too. I'll see you later then." She ends the call, and I don't feel any better, in fact, I feel a lot worse.