My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter 3

Chapter 3
The Hospital
I never liked the smell of hospitals. They were dark and smelled funny. It seemed like everyone was on edge once they entered one. I knew I was. Finn kept his hands on my shoulders as we stood in line waiting to check in. I felt them tense up and he would bring them back down. Finn was being so comforting with the whole thing.
"Pete Polaski," I said to the girl at the counter.
"Room 244," she said handing us visitors passes. I smiled and walked slowly down the hall. With every room I looked at only the room number. We were getting closer to Pete's room. I was scared. For the first time in my life I was scared to see my brother...I didn't know what to expect.
"Room 244," Finn whispered as we stopped at a closed door. I looked up into his eyes and sighed. I reached for the handle and slowly turned it. I was shaking.
I opened the door and there he was. Pete...my darling brother Pete. He was lying on the bed, stiff as a board. He had tubes in his nose.
"Pete," I cried running to his side. I grabbed his hand and colapsed to the ground. I heard sniffles behind me. Finn was crying. I had never seen him this emotional before.
"He's my best friend," he said slowly. He sat on a nearby chair and put his head in his hands.
"Viv..." I heard a mumble. I looked up. Pete was awake.
"Oh my god!" I screamed, "Pete!" I squeezed his hand harder.
"Pete!" Finn ran to the side of me.
"Hi," he said slowly, "what am I doing here?"
"Pete, you were hit pretty hard in football...do you remember?" I asked. I tried to keep the tears in but they just kept pouring out.
"I'll get the doctor," Finn said leaving the room.
"No," Pete whispered, "I only remember us before the game...and now I'm here..."
"Oh," I said.
"What's wrong with me anyway?" he asked looking down at his body. I could feel more tears coming. I could tell Pete was trying to move...but he couldn't. It broke my heart.
"Pete!" the doctor said appearing from the doorway. I retreaded into Finn's arms.
"Hi," he said slowly. Finn sat down with me on the bench. He held on to my shoulder.
"I'm glad you're awake so quickly!" she said sitting on the edge of the bed.
"What's wrong with me?" Pete whispered. Two more nurses walked in. They began checking his temperature, blood pressure, everything.
"Well we had to run some tests..." the doctors kept working steadily away.
"What's wrong with me?" Pete repeated. The doctors kept ignoring him...I know this was difficult to tell a person...that they would never walk again...
"Pete, we need to wait..."
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!" he yelled, "WHY CAN'T I MOVE MY LEGS?!" my heart was shattered. I started crying even harder. Finn was holding me tightly but I knew he was hurting on the inside too...
"Pete," the two other doctors dispersed, "You are paralyzed...from the neck down..."
"Oh God..." Pete cried. I couldn't bear it. My brother never cried. He never showed his emotions like this....I started balling. So did Finn...
"What about football...?" He cried.
"I'm sorry, Pete," she said slowly, "I'll leave you alone..."
"What happened in that game?!" he cried to us. But Finn and I were frozen. I felt like I had been paralyzed. My feet wanted to move but they couldn't. I was scared for Pete. I was scared of what was going to happen to him...Our lives were going to change forever. We were no longer the star athletes of the school. Finn, Pete, and Vivian were no longer individuals...We were connected that night. That night when Pete realized his life was going to change, it hit both Finn and I. That for the rest of our lives, nothing was going to be the same...