In The Long Run

In The Long Run (13)

Wayne's POV

I haven't moved since I got here. My legs were fast asleep and it felt like I would be too any second, but I had to stay awake. I had to be awake in case Jamie woke up. She's been unconscious for six hours. She hasn't moved at all, but her breathing kind of calms me down. It reminds me that she is still alive.

Jamie's parents called me at about eight-thirty. They wouldn't call me that late unless something was wrong, so it was natural for me to start worrying.

"Wayne, there's been an accident." her dad said.

"What? How? What happened? . . ." My eyes went wide. "Is Jamie okay?"

"Son, she's alive, but she's unconscious. She and Liz were driving home when a guy skipped the red light and hit them. Liz has a few broken ribs, cuts and bruises and a splintered collarbone, but Jamie hit her head and got a lot of shrapnel in her from the window that broke. They think she might have a concussion too, so they're keeping a close eye on them."

I stood on the other side of the call, trying to breath like a normal person, but I probably looked like a fish gasping for air. I put down the phone and practically sprinted all the way to the hospital. I really needed a car, but I'd get one in due time. At that point I really didn't care about anything other than Jamie and our baby. I couldn't lose my family, not when we've just started to figure everything out. I mean seriously, we'd just gotten engaged.

I couldn't lose them.

It would kill me.

I love them.

When I saw Jamie, I almost passed out myself. All those pipes and wires connected to her made me sick and I could feel myself turning pale. She had a lot of little cuts and scratches on her right side, so I assumed she was in the passenger seat. It really was like seeing a ghost. Hearing her heartbeat, so slow and eerie, like in one of those medical sitcoms, made me feel cold. It beats quietly in the background, then it suddenly gets louder and faster and you sit there gawking at it, until those red zigzags fall flat and turn into that infamous straight line and it feels like your own heart is about to do the same. I didn't want to be the loved one of the patient, this wasn't a sitcom, but I wished so hard for it not to be real, for Jamie to open her eyes and yell "Surprise! April Fool's!", but it wasn't April 1st and if it was, I'd kill her for doing this to me. I look up every five seconds to see if she's opened her eyes yet, but the results are always the same . . . nothing. I just wanted her to open her eyes, just so I could look into them one more time, deep into the most beautiful eyes on this planet. See her smile, the way she smiles just for me or the sexy grin she uses when she's trying to get what she wants. I know she'll wake up. She's a fighter and she's always been the strong one. I know, even though she wouldn't admit it, yet, that she loves this kid too. I've heard her talking to it when she didn't know I could hear her. She'd say stuff like "Scoot over, would you? You're squeezing my bladder again." or "Do you think you'd like Winnie the Pooh?'Cause your aunts' been getting you a lot of that stuff." I took another look at her before I settled into the chair and closed my eyes.

The sun rose, but it set just as fast as it came up without any reaction from Jamie. This cycle continued for many days, so many that we stopped counting. Her parents visited everyday and every time they came I was still there. They'd tried to get me to go home, but I refused. I skipped so much school that I don't think they'd recognize me when I go back. My dad was okay with it though. He told me to stay with her as long as I'd like. He even came to check on me at the hospital once. At least he thought I had good taste, because he thought Jamie was pretty. My dad was a really good guy. He always had this philosophy about putting the people you love above everything else in life, but that kind of confused me when he took the divorce so easily. My mom was the one with "issues". He told me: