One Shot

Chapter 7

When we arrived at the hospital, I was immediately greeted with a team of nurses and a wheelchair, which Cole helped me into. I was wheeled back into a room with a very loud machine and I had to sit very still in a slightly painful and uncomfortable position while they took and MRI of my knee.

The whole time I was thinking, did mom even realize that I was gone? Or that I was even hurt? Thoughts similar to those ran through my head on a loop during the whole thing before I got let out about twenty minutes later.

"So, this is my Dad." Cole said, introducing me to the doctor that stood in front of me. I smiled up at him and introduced myself, lifting  my good hand out for a hand-shake. He smiled back and shook it gently.

"You are Lilly and Robbie's daughter aren't you? Well I haven't seen you in ages! It is really nice to see you again, however, I wish it was underbetter circumstances." A wave of realization had seemed to hit his face when I told him my name. However, a grimace swept across his face when he looked down at my x-rays and he led us into another room.

"Now, your MRI won't be in for another couple of days, but I will let you know as soon as we get it and what the results are going to mean." He sat down at a big, heavy-looking, dark oak desk with stacks of papers and a large high-tech computer system set up on top of it. Cole and his mother sat on either side of me in big comfy-looking leather chairs. I however was stuck in an uncomfortable squeaky wheelchair.

He continued, "but, as of now, my best guess is you have a torn ACL, possibly MCL is torn too, but you will need to be put on crutches and a big brace to put all of your weight off of that knee. I will need to also fit your for a cast for your hand today and send you home in a temporary brace for that as well. Your concussion is pretty severe, so no school for at least two weeks, we will discuss matters with your teachers and you will be excused from all assignments and tests within that period." He took a deep breath and continued, "hopefully my son and wife have been treating you good. I'm so sorry about your injuires kid, but you are going to pull through just fine."

I looked over at Cole, to see if he took all of the information in too. How do I trust this guy so much? I've only known him for a matter of days! God woman! Get yourself together!

I locked eyes with Cole anyways and he nodded, a supportive smile tracing his lips. I gave a small smile back and turned towards the doctor again. "So, how long do you think it is going to take for these to heal?" I ask, silently hoping it would only take a few weeks. So my mother wouldn't be so mad.

He sighed, " for your hand I would say about six to eight weeks, give or take. Depends on how it is healing and if you will need surgery. You concussion could be up to two months, maybe longer. Your knee, if it is what I think it is, will fake around nine months before you get back to doing anything. That includes physical therapy and lots more doctors appointments for surgery." I took a big gulp of air, my lungs suddenly felt like they weren't able to expand all the way and my air was coming in short supply. I gasped and my hands gripped the edge of my wheel chair till my knuckles turned white, my vision blurred and it felt like I was going to pass out until I heard his voice.

"Hey, Made. Shush, its ok. You are going to be fine. It's all going to be fine." His large hand pet the back of my head, slowly moving across my hair and his other hand was gripping my good one, peeling it off of the wheelchair and lacing my fingers through his. I felt my pulse calm and breathing slow as his soothing tone brought me back, before I went into a full-on panic attack.

I saw out of the corner of my eye, his parents make eye contact and have a conversation with just their facial expressions, but my focus was zeroed in on the boy in front of me. He brought me back from a panic attack. JEEZ, no one every has done that besides Alexis. OH MY GOSH, HE BROUGHT ME BACK FROM A PANIC ATTACK.

His calm green eyes soothed my spinning mind and I squeezed his hand as a way of thanks. He smiled and kept his hand intertwined with mine as he sat back down.

"Mom, Dad. Can Madelyne stay with us for a while? Just until she is able to get back on her feet? She doesn't have a lot of support at home and needs some place where there is someone there to help her at all times." His question surprised me and is turned to meet his gaze, but his eyes stayed trained on his parents, waiting for their response.

His mom answered first, " of course honey! We would love nothing more than to care for you Madelyne." She gave me a warm smile and I gave one back.

His dad seemed to be all for the idea as well. "All right, well that seems to be settled then," be grinned at me and Cole. " I will see you guys back at home, let me just close out my shift and I should be back before seven." He kissed his wife and gave Cole a bro-hug before leaving us in his office.

I finally had the chance to just admire the office space. My eyes scanned over the multiple awards, certificates, and diplomas that adorned the walls. There were trophies and what seemed like hundreds of medical books lining the shelves and a few pictures of what looked like their family. Cole caught me admiring the room and smirked,"impressed are we, Mads?"

I blushed and nodded my head while meeting his gaze. He just chuckled and started to push me out the door and down the hall.

After getting fitted for my cast and getting my leg brace and hand brace on, Cole helped me into my crutch and taught me how to use it. I could only use one right now because of my hand, but I would get two once it was healed. 

"So, I just do this?" I asked him, trying to maneuver the crutch but it caught on the floor and I almost fell face forward. Cole lunged for me and caught me before I could hit the ground.

My face was burning red as this movement had caused everyone to look over at us. Cole had his arms wrapped around my waist and my body was hugged tight up against his. His warm breath hit my ear as he whispered,"I will always be there to catch you when you fall, Mads." His proximity made a shiver run down my spine and his words had a certain affect on me too.

Well, after that little incident, we headed back to his place and decided to get me settled in. "Now, Honey, I know you don't have your stuff here. Like clothes and whatnot, but I figured we could just run back over to your house and run inside and get some? Whatever you don't have we can order on our online shopping trip!" His mom sounded so excited, but a sense of dread filled me at the thought of going back to that place.

Cole must've noticed the way my body tightened and he grabbed my broken hand gently, rubbing his thumb up and down the part of my hand that wasn't in the brace. I calmed down and scooted over in the car so that our legs were touching and leaned my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes to rest on the way to my house.