Flowers and Books

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Emma Reed

I know I'm waking up in a hospital when I smell the familiar and distinct smell of the disinfectant. The blanket around me feels warm, but not warm enough to convince me that I have nothing to worry about. I find Jen sitting in the corner of the room, fidgety and nervous, and I don't know what to say when she walks to me with a faint smile.

"You okay?"

"What happened?" I ignore her question.

"I'll be right back."

Well, she ignores mine.

Jen walks away with her hand dabbing a tear on her cheek, and my heart sunk. As she disappears from my view, my mind flies back to the scene in the car.

Dad and I had an argument. He was angry that I sneaked out. I said sorry, but he just wouldn't stop lecturing me. When I talked about giving me up to an orphanage, he blanked out, and that's when I found a car just one foot away from ours. That's when his eyes bugged out and his hands frantically tried to move the wheel. The last memory I had was our car colliding with the roadblock.

"You're doing great, so far," says a nurse who I never saw coming.

I guess I was too busy blaming myself for what happened that for a moment everything around me seems like a blur.

"Uh, cool."

With a cold grin, I try to look grateful although my heart gradually beat faster, pounding inside my chest. The vision of my dad, the inflating airbag from the steering wheel, and the screech that ended with an incapacitating bump come back to my brain, inside my aching brain. I'm too scared to ask a question and see the reality, so my voice gets shaky when I ask the nurse, "Where's my dad?"

"He's in another room. We're taking care of him."

"Is he awake yet?" I asked.

"No, he's in a coma. He needs a lot of strength to get through this. Even if he makes it..." the nurse covers her mouth and stops mid-sentence before she sighs at herself. Her faint, sheepish grin looks like she is pleading for me to stop asking her questions.

"What?"

"The concussion might cause a permanent brain damage," she says with a somber tone as she finishes taking care of my IV.

"But he'll wake up, right?" I speak with a mix of fear and guilt. I shock myself as I realize how desperate and sad I sounded. "He's going to be okay, right?"

The nurse shakes her head. "I don't know. We're doing our best, and he's still fighting now." The nurse might see how moisture builds in my eyes, so she fakes a smile and says, "Just get some rest. Your boyfriend visited you today. You should rest now so you can see him again soon. He's a lovely guy, by the way."

It must be Jared. Did Jen tell him about the crash? Did he return from his trip?

"Relax, I promise I take my patient's privacy very seriously."

The nurse winks before the door closes behind her, and in just a few seconds, Jen enters the room with a bouquet on her hand. She places it on a small table beside me, and I could smell the scent from my bed.

"This is from Jared," she says. "His mom came here to bring you this."

I frown. I'm confused, but Jen might think that I'm pissed. So, she asks, "Did I do anything wrong?"

"No, of course not."

"Good." Jen takes a deep breath and says, "This is past my visiting time, and honestly, I'm so tired, so..."

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