The Bucket List

t h i r t y

They didn't let me go. They didn't let me leave with him.

Mr Halliday found us seconds later after the crash and immediately called the ambulance. I wanted to go with him. I wanted to get into the ambulance and stay by his side. But they didn't let me. They made me stay, wait until class finished, and even gave me and Kyle a detention. The whole time I couldn't even think straight. I couldn't think about anything other than the blood and the glass shattered all around Daniel. And all I did was stand there pathetically. I couldn't do anything.

When the final bell rang, I ran out of there. I didn't even bother grabbing my bag from my locker. I ran as fast as I could out of the school premises towards the hospital.

I didn't care about everything around me as I did. I didn't care that I jaywalked. I didn't care that I was almost ran over by the tram. I was desperate. My eyes blurred with tears as I ran, ignoring the yells from the people I accidentally shoved, and ignoring the yells of the security guard telling me to stop running when I got to the hospital.

My mind was focused on one thing and that was to find Daniel. To make sure he was okay.

I ran towards the reception desk. A man was sitting there on the phone, talking but I interrupted. My hands shook, my heart racing uncontrollably fast that I couldn't even breathe right.

"Where's Daniel?" I demanded.

The man looked at me with shock in his eyes. He asked the person on the other side to wait and placed the call on hold.

"Please calm down, ma'am," said the man.

I wanted to scream. How could I calm down? How could he possibly think I could be calm right now? I didn't care if I looked like a lunatic. I had to see him. I needed to know if he was okay.

"Where is Daniel!" I repeated, almost yelling.

"Is he a patient here?" he asked calmly.

"Yes, yes," I said through gasps of air. "His name is Daniel Ross. He came here in an ambulance over an hour ago."

He nodded solemnly. He looked through the system and I felt my foot tapping impatiently. Why was it taking so long?

"He's at the emergency room," said the man.

I didn't even need to wait to tell me where it was. I started running, hearing my footsteps echoing in the hospital. I knew where the emergency room was. I'd been here so many times visiting dad it was like I knew this place with the back of my hands. I kept running, feeling my legs beginning to wane but I ignored them. I managed to get to the other side within minutes, and found dad walking a patient out of the emergency room.

"Ellie, what are you doing here?" dad said the moment his eyes fell on me.

"Dad, where is he?"

"You know about it?" he asked.

Of course, I knew about it. I saw it happen right before my eyes. I was there!

"Where is he?" I asked again, my voice slightly raised. I was panicking.

Dad gestured for one of the nurses to take the patient and stepped me aside to the corner of the room. "You need to calm down, Ellie."

"Please tell me he's okay."

"He's okay. Don't worry. He lost a lot of blood, even be a little concussed and a broken bone but we're keeping an eye on him. He'll be okay," dad reassured. But I felt anything but.

Concussion. Broken bone. How was any of that okay? How could dad say that he was going to be okay?

"Let me see him." It wasn't a request. I looked at the doors to the emergency room, heading straight towards it. I didn't care if I wasn't allowed in there.