Driven by Confidence, a Ross Lynch Fan Fiction

Chapter 12

There was a time in fifth grade when my mom and I had gotten in a car accident. A drunk driver had hit us. The car hit us at the back of her car. We spun on the wet road and ended up hitting a tree. Mom and I had our necks sprained and cuts and bruises, but were ultimately okay. Had the driver driven only one mile per hour slower, he would have missed us by two yards.

That was the first time I was in the hospital as an inpatient.

This was the second time.

I awoke with a killer migraine to a dark hospital room. Every part of me was sore and in pain, but mostly my head and neck.

My room was empty and through the crack in the curtains, I could tell it was dark outside. I looked around for a call button. When I found it, I pressed it. A few nurses ran in.

After checking my vital signs, two of the three nurses left.

"You are quite the little fighter," he chuckled. He couldn't be older than twenty-five. He must have just gotten out of college. "I'm nurse Oliver."

When I tried to introduce myself, only a croak came out. He smiled warmly and handed me a plastic cup of water. I gulped it down.

"How are you feeling?"

"I have a killer migraine. My entire body hurts."

He nodded. After pulling a msall electronic device from his pocket, he said, "I'm affiliated with the Northridge Police Department," he said as he retrieved a thin wallet from the same pocket. After unfolding it, I saw a golden badge. Underneath it was a police identification card. It read, "Oliver Hayne, NPD EMT"

"I was the one who got you onto a gurney and aided you in the ambulance. Would you make a statement for the NPD please? Just answer a few questions."

"Okay."

He turned on the recorder and asked me questions about myself, when I was born, what year it was, et cetera, just to show that I was fully aware and conscious of my surroundings. He then asked me about Jace. How long had he abused me? What did he do? When did he do it? Had I contacted police before? Why not?

I answered them all honestly.

When he turned the recorder off, he grabbed my clipboard and returned to his seat.

"You suffered a lot of head trauma. You were in a coma for about two weeks. It was starting to look like you weren't going to wake up. You have four broken ribs on your left side, so you'll feel winded and uncomfortable for quite some time. You had a deviated septum, on which we performed surgery, so if your nose is shaped differently, we apologize. Your shoulder is dislocated, and it'll be easy to dislocate in the future, so be wary, and your humerus has a few cracks in it. We have both your shoulder and your arm in an immobilizer right now. Your neck is sprained, hence your brace."

I grimaced.

"You were really bruised up and bloody when we got to you. All of us EMTs thought you were dead at first glance because you can't have that much blood without a dead body. Your face didn't have a lot of clear skin. It was all purple and blue and red and brown. It still is, but it's faded now. You had lots of bruising and lacerations on you. When you hit the nightstand, the light toppled over and cut you."

He stood.

"You really are a trooper. We've called your parents to let them know you're awake. Your phone is on your bedside table. It's four in the morning, and you've had quite a few visitors in the past eleven days. You may want to rest because you'll probably get a lot today."

He left my room, and I reached over with my right arm - the one not in the immobilizer but the one with the IVs in the wrist - to grab my phone.

Lots of messages - thirty-six to be exact - lit up my screen. I had fourteen missed calls.

I went through my texts and replied to them all, which took me a good half hour. I didn't call anyone back, but I listened to my voicemails. The one from Rydel really tore me up.

"Hey, Dianna. I know you won't get this 'til you wake up. I'm sorry we didn't get to you sooner. I want you to call me when you wake up, even if I'm asleep. I love you, girl. See ya soon."

So I called her. When she didn't answer, I called again.

"Dianna?" she croaked. "Oh my God!!" The life sprung to her. I heard footsteps and closing doors. "I'm outside. How are you feeling? The doctor said if you were in a coma for two weeks, it was likely you'd be in it for far longer! We were so afraid you wouldn't wake up."

"I'm alright. What happened after I passed out?"

"Oh! Well, when Jace was beating you up, we could hear it. Ross was pacing and punching pillows and walls and I even had to hold him back from barging in because you hadn't screamed. I couldn't hold him back and that's when he ran in and found you and Jace. Jace was sitting on the bed with his head in his hands cussing at himself. He looked like he legit hated himself. Ross socked him in the face and wouldn't stop until I told him to worry about you, not Jace, and I called 911. There was a lot of blood coming from your nose and your shoulder looked dislocated and funky. You had so many bruises on your face and no matter how much I called your name, you didn't wake up. Ross and I got really scared. Jace didn't leave though.

"When the police and ambulance got there, there were a lot of paparazzi. Jace's career is over, for sure. The EMTs kept performing emergency procedures on you. They said your pulse was really slow and faint. They thought you were going to die. They kept doing those shock things on your chest, but your heartbeat would not speed up. That's when they closed the ambulance and sped off. Ross hasn't talked to anyone since, Dianna. He won't leave his room. He hates himself."

"Why?"

"He didn't get to you sooner? He did't protect you? He should've thought of a better way to get Jace? That's what he said, at least."

"Um... Will you two come this morning? I want to see you both."

"Of course, chica! I'm gonna go back to sleep, though. Love ya!"

"Love ya too. Night."

"Night!" Rydel chirped before hanging up. I set my phone down. Despite the large amount of time I've been asleep, I found my eyelids drooping. I could not fight the weight of them and soon found myself asleep.

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Just a filler chapter, it seems! I apologize! I also apologize for the LONG wait! College, man. Also!!! I went to R5's LA Hang and met all of them, and got a picture with everyone except Riker!! Picture on my tumblr: howunfair.tumblr.com/tagged/personal You may hve to scroll a bit!

xoxo