Chapter 4: June 8, 2012 11:14PM Daniel’s POV
There was no way I was leaving Bonnie alone. It just wouldn’t happen, and no one could make me. I promised her that I wouldn’t let anything or anyone hurt her. I let her down. I let her down and it was all my fault. I should have been more careful. I should have seen that other car speeding down the street, running that stop sign. It should be me in that hospital bed and not her. She didn’t deserve any of this. The doctors had her in a medically induced coma so she wasn’t suffering from the pain. The entire time I refused to let go of her hand, even when I knew she wasn’t aware that I was here with her. Sure, I had a few scratches and bruises here and there, but I wasn’t worried about myself. All I needed to know what that Bonnie would be okay.
A nurse walked into the room, did a few things on one of the machines, and then just looked at me.
“Are you a family member?” she asked me.
“Ehm… yeah. I’m her… brother.” I knew that if I told her I wasn’t family she would have told me to leave. I wasn’t leaving.
“Will you be staying here with us tonight?”
“Yeah, I mean, if that’s okay.”
“It’s fine, just let us know if you need anything by pushing that call button right over there.”
She walked out of the room and I was just glad that she didn’t ask me to leave. When she asked if I was family, I started wondering if anyone contacted Bonnie’s mom. I mean, when they checked Bonnie in after the accident, I had to enter all her information. I only knew the basics, but for the emergency contact, I put in her mom’s number. So why wouldn’t they call her? Maybe they did call her, and her mom just didn’t care. No, it can’t be. That’s just too ridiculous.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized Bonnie was kind of avoiding her mom these past few months. Earlier this evening when I came to pick her up at her house, Bonnie didn’t say goodbye to her mom, but her mom didn’t say goodbye to Bonnie either. They were never like that. Well, Bonnie and her mom were never exactly close, but they needed each other. It was just them in that house, all alone. Things may have been a little tense since the death of Bonnie’s dad a few years back but they never really talked about it. Bonnie’s dad passed away from pancreatic cancer and the fact that it wasn’t unexpected made it a little easier to take in. I was there for Bonnie every step of the way with her dad’s treatments. I was there for her then, and I am here for her now.
It was hard to look at Bonnie with all these scratches and cuts all over her body. She just looked like she was in so much pain. Pain that I had no control over; I couldn’t make it go away. Why didn’t I notice that car was going way too fast? Why can’t it be me in that bed? I had the entire night planned out perfectly. All I could think of was the car flipping in the air, over and over and over again. It haunted my thoughts and there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn’t stop staring at Bonnie, wondering why it had to be her lying there. She looked beautiful, even wearing the silly hospital gown. I had to wait a few days for the doctors to take her out of her coma, but I couldn’t wait for the magical moment when she finally opened her eyes and I could tell her how absolutely beautiful she was.
