The Heartbreak Factor - Part Four

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

Stood looking at my reflection in the mirror of the rehearsal studio, I took a deep breath before commencing with the first rehearsal for the television performance for this weekend. The whole theme of the programme was artists covering their idols' songs - obviously I had chosen to do a cover of Beyonce's Love On Top. As the music played, I sang along as I did the choreography flawlessly. 

"Baby, it's you," I sang, smiling at George as he stood in the corner of the room, watching me. "You're the one I love. You're the one I need. You're the only one I see." 

I carried on doing the choreography, watching every move I made in the mirror to make sure I perfected it all. 

"Finally, you put my love on top," I grinned as I finished the song's first rehearsal.

"Good job, Sammy," the choreographer smiled to me as I walked towards George, who gave me a high five. 

"Thanks," I laughed, grabbing my water bottle from beneath Katy's pushchair. 

As I waited for my phone to boot back up after turning it off to limit distractions from the rehearsal, I crouched down beside Katy's pushchair and smiled at her as she clapped at me. "Mummy!" she beamed, still clapping away. 

"Hello baby," I grinned, taking my attention from my phone and turning it to Katy instead. 

Looking down at my phone, I noticed there was a new notification - "FIFTEEN MISSED CALLS FROM RACHEL JOHNSON". In confusion, I put the phone to my ear as I rang her back. Why was Chloe's mum calling me? She hardly ever called me and when she wanted to get in contact with me, she'd text me. I waited for a few moments but the phone line went straight to answer message. 

"Hello, this is Rachel. Leave a message after the beep with your number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank-you."

Hanging up without leaving a message, I looked at George. 

"What is it?" he asked, looking worried at my confused facial expression. 

"Chloe's mum has tried ringing me fifteen times but she's not answering now," I replied. 

"Well, maybe she's.." George got interrupted by his phone ringing in his jeans pocket. Putting the phone to his ear, he looked at me in confusion. "Hello?"

I watched George's facial expression change to shock as he listened to his phone. I tried to listen to the muffled voice on the other end of the phone line but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. "What is it?"

"Right, we'll be straight there," George said, before hanging up the phone and putting it into his pocket. 

"George?"

Instead of replying to me, George turned to Lisa, who was stood beside us talking to the choreographer, deep in discussion over the plans to add more moves to the dance routine so far. "Lisa," George said in a calm tone. "Is it okay if you watch Katy please?"

"When?"

"Now."

"What? Sammy's got rehearsals until 5pm though. We really need to get this sorted as the show is - “

George turned to look back at me. Looking me straight in the eyes, he sighed. "Chloe's been involved in a car crash."

In those few seconds, my heart sunk into my stomach. "What? Is she okay?" I asked as I began to panic. "Is she going to be okay? George?"

"Of course," Lisa said. "You two need to go. I understand."

George put his arm around me and pulled me into his as he hugged me but I pulled away. "George, is she going to be okay? I need an answer."

"They don't know," George said, shrugging his shoulders as he looked at me with a sympathetic look on his face. "She's been rushed into hospital. They're waiting for her to wake up - if she wakes up.”

Still in shock, I looked down at Katy as she sat in her pushchair, watching my team of backing dancers practice the routine, clapping away to the beat of the track. "Are you gonna spend some time now with Aunty Lisa?" I said to Katy, putting a fake smile on for her sake as I knelt beside her. "Mummy and daddy will see you soon.”

After giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, I stood back up and began to make my way out of the rehearsal studio and down the corridor towards the staircase. George caught up with me just in time as I broke down in tears. Wrapping his arms around me tightly, he kissed the top of my head. "It's gonna be okay. Chloe’s strong,” he whispered soothingly. "I'm here."

*

Opening the door to the room where Chloe was laid peacefully in the bed, hooked up to all the machines possible through hundreds of wires and tubes, I slowly walked in, holding George's hand as he walked behind me. Josh was sat by her bedside with a gloomy look on his face as he held onto Chloe's hand. The whole room was in complete silence apart from the various bleeps from the machines and the sound of oxygen being pumped into her limp body through the breathing tube that was shoved down her throat. Sitting on the opposite side of the bed to Josh, I grabbed hold of Chloe's other hand and kissed it gently. "I'm so sorry," I sobbed. 

"You've got nothing to be sorry about," Josh said, looking at me with tears in his eyes. 

I forced a smile to him, but I was breaking inside. "How did it happen?" I asked, looking at Chloe's bruised and battered face. 

"They don't know," Josh replied. "Police think she just lost control of the car but they can't be certain until she wakes up - if she wakes up."

I looked at Josh. "If?"

"Doctors think there's a chance she's brain dead."

George pressed his hand onto my shoulder and squeezed it tightly as I looked at Chloe with tears streaming down my face.

“I didn’t know she had a brain,” I joked, trying to keep Chloe’s spirit alive by acting how she would have acted, but instead of laughing, I began sobbing.  

"I'm gonna go ring Rachel as she's on her way down now and I said I'd keep her updated until she arrived," Josh sniffled as he stood up and walked out of the room. 

Wrapping his arms around me, George stood behind me and kissed the top of my head. We stayed in silence for a few minutes, listening to the beeping of the machines as we watched Chloe - her chest moving up and down slightly as the machine helped her breathe. 

"How did it come to this?" I asked after a few minutes in silence. "I can't lose her. She's the only person who's stuck by my side through everything."

George kissed the top of my head again. "You won't lose her."

I stood up and sat beside Chloe on the hospital bed. Taking hold of Chloe's hand, I looked at the bruising on her arm. "Wake up, Chloe," I whispered as tears trickled down my cheek. "I'm sorry for everything and I shouldn't have ignored you. Just wake up please. I can't lose my best friend."

"Sammy," George said, softly. 

I turned to look at him with my eyes filled with tears. "I can't lose her," I pleaded. 

George walked to me and wrapped his arms around me as I collapsed into his stomach, sobbing. "It's gonna be okay," he said, running his fingers through my hair. "She's a fighter and she's gonna get better." 

"But if she," I paused as I pulled away and wiped the tears away from my face as I looked up at George. I couldn’t bare to say the word. “If anything happens to her, she's gonna think I'm still mad at her and she's gonna be still mad at me. I just want my best friend back."

“Can you still not tell me why you’re mad?” George asked. 

I shook my head. I wasn't mad anymore. I wasn't even angry. I just wanted my best friend to be okay.