Treadmill Guy

Creepy Stalker Dude

The second we entered the room, another nurse swooped in on us.

"I'm sorry, but we're only allowing family to see the patient at the moment," she snapped.

My heart sank as Maggie's crying intensified, and the nurse who led us to the room glanced at me sharply. "I thought you told the EMTs she was your sister?"

My heart rose a bit. I forgot, I had told her that I was Violet's sister hours ago when I was trying to find her hospital room. The lie hadn't worked then, but it had sure as hell better work now. "Yes, that's right. I'm Lizzie Bennett, Violet Bennett's sister--"

The nurse laughed, "Lizzie Bennett? For real?"

I blushed bright red, feeling more than a little idiotic. "My mom's a big Jane Austen fan, my dad's never read the books; what can I say?"

The first nurse continued to laugh while her coworker turned her gaze to Maggie and I quickly added, "And this is Maggie, our third sister." She'd have to be a complete idiot to believe me; the three of us looked nothing alike. But she gave me a compassionate look and stepped aside to let us in. I almost wished she hadn't.

Violet looked awful. Like, not just a little beaten and bruised but really, truly awful. Half of her face was massively bruised and swollen, dappled with red and purple, and from what I could see her arms and lets weren't doing much better. From what the doctor told us, she also had several cracked ribs, a fractured radius, and likely a severe concussion.

"Likely?" Wouldn't they know for sure that she at least had a concussion, if it was as severe as he was saying?

"Well, we can't be sure until we get an MRI, but I'd assume she has a concussion. If she wakes up, I can run some other tests and see," she explained.

"Sorry, if she wakes up?" Maggie was still crying.

She looked at the other nurse as if to say, You didn't tell her? And the nurse looked only mildly apologetic. The doctor sighed. "We believe your sister has fallen into a comatose state." The room began to spin. "This means, naturally, that we will be keeping her in the ICU for the time being. We still have a few more assessments to make, but she will likely need an IV and a feeding tube. Eventually, we may consider moving her to a different department. Are you okay, sweetheart?"

I nodded, feeling nauseous. "Can you let us know if you learn anything new?" My voice sounded thin and far away, and I faintly registered that Maggie was crying again, this time silently.