Clean Slate #Wattys2019

Chapter Four

12:47 p.m.

That was the time that I got the worst call of my life. I heard my heart pounding in my ears and my feet slamming against the floor in the house, then the ground outside, then the floor in the hospital. I heard a voice, too, at one point. It sounded frantic and I couldn't recognize it.

"Sir? Excuse me, sir?" I heard another voice, a woman's.

I tried to respond to it, but the only thing I heard was whoever was speaking so frantically before.

"Sir, she's in surgery, please have a seat in the waiting room, when I have an update, I will come find you." What was she saying? I didn't even answer her, it made no sense.

It wasn't until I felt someone grab my arm that I realized that I did know who's frantic voice that was.

It was mine.

I turned to look at whoever grabbed my arm and I could barely make out a gender. My eyes were blurred and I found myself short of breath.

I blinked hard enough that my eyes cleared and I took in my surroundings. I was in the hospital. I don't remember driving or how I even got here, but I knew one thing for sure: my baby sister was in an accident, and it's not good.

I got a call from a paramedic. He called her first ICE contact which we set as each other the second that Natalie got her first phone. He was in the emergency room when the nurse finally got me to sit down. He came up to me in the waiting room.

"Dylan?" He guessed.

I stood up. "Yes, were you the one who called me from the ambulance?"

"Yes, your sister is a real fighter. She should've been dead on impact. Knowing that, I need you to understand and take time to really consider how bad her injuries will be. I know this is awful to even think about and more difficult than anything should ever be, but you may want to prepare yourself for the worst scenario. If you have any questions, I'll be around." He offered a sympathetic smile which only made me feel worse.

He was walking away when I called out. "I do, actually... have a question, I mean."

The paramedic turned towards me and waited for me to ask. I noticed his name tag read "Jake".

"What happened to her?" My voice cracked.

"She was driving her friend's car and the vehicle was struck on the driver's side in the middle of the Pleasant Street and West Street intersection. It appears that her head hit the window when they were struck. The driver of the other vehicle was also badly injured. He had a blood alcohol concentration of .127 and traces of LSD in his system. We already have him in custody. We are waiting for him to sober up completely but then we are going to start questioning him. We will be holding him until then." He told me all this as if he had no emotions, completely void of any sincere reactions.

"Okay, please keep me updated. If you'll excuse me." I walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind me, unable to handle anything but these four walls at the moment.

I splashed my face with cold water to see if I could possibly wake myself up from this nightmare. From this world that someone really just suggested that I might have to live without Natalie.

I couldn't wake up.

It wasn't a dream, I couldn't get out.

I wanted to scream and break things and find someone to blame but the only person I could see that might even be somewhat to blame was staring back at me from the mirror.

I shouldn't have let her go. I knew all about what prom was like. I knew everyone drank and was stupid enough to get behind the wheel afterwards, not thinking about the potential consequences.

I took the next fifteen minutes to gather myself to the best of my ability and unlocked the door and walked out of the bathroom to find Jake leaning against the wall across from the bathroom.

He stood straighter when he saw me and stepped towards me as if he had something to tell me.

"I found this near her open bag at the crime scene, does it mean anything to you?" He held up a gold chain with a cross at the bottom and I'm still not sure if my heart jumped up into my throat or if it fell into my stomach, but all I knew was that I felt sick. Earlier today, Martha gave Natalie her cross to protect her and keep her safe.

"Yes, it's very important. Can I hold onto it?" I hoped that he wouldn't be able to turn me down because although I never really believed in anything religious to the extent that Martha and my sister did, I figured that God would be better able to answer my prayers and help my sister if her own flesh and blood was holding the cross. 

"Yes, of course. Again, I'm praying that she pulls through." He nodded kindly before walking away.

I checked the time.

It had been only a little over an hour but it was almost two in the morning at this point. I couldn't bring myself to call Martha, so I prayed a little bit for the both of us. We both needed her to wake up and be fine. It felt as if the world would collapse if she didn't. I finally came to the conclusion that I would call Martha when I knew that everything was fine and that Natalie was out of the woods.

Our mother was on a little getaway with Chris and wouldn't be able to get a flight back home until tomorrow afternoon. I wasn't worried about her showing up anyway. I didn't want to hear her shrill voice speaking all of my worst fears and acting as if her world will end if Natalie doesn't make it. Nobody in this world is closer to Natalie than I am, and if I can keep it together, so can everyone else.

It felt like an eternity until someone came out to speak to me again. I kept my eye on the surgical board and the only information that was available for her was something I already knew: she was in surgery. After a while it started to feel like that board was taunting me, and I began to resent it.

When her surgeon came out, her face was not what I was hoping it would be. "Dylan? Dylan Fields?" I stood and nodded when I heard my name and walked over to the surgeon. "Hi, Dylan. I'm Dr. Jocelyn Marsh, your sister's surgeon. It's a pleasure to meet you." She stuck her hand out and I shook it, not being able to form any words except for, "Is she okay?"

"She's stable for now. I need you to understand that her injuries were very severe and the next few hours are crucial. She was asking for you a lot before surgery, you may go sit in her room and wait for her to wake up. I can take you there if you'd like." She offered with a crooked smile that didn't hold much promise.

"Yes, please, I need to see her."

Author's Note: How do you think this reunion is going to go? Do you think Natalie is going to wake up? I'd love to hear where you think this story is going!