Cuts Heal In Time (CM Punk)

Chapter 58: Holding Her Hand

Monday, August 20th, 2012 4:00 A.M.

Punk sat in the chair next to Bella's bed in the hospital, still holding onto her hand, like he had been ever since he was allowed to see her. Her eyes were closed, and she was in a neck brace. It felt like she hadn't moved in forever. 

Traveling on the ambulance with her was the scariest moment of his entire life. Everything was moving so fast. The EMTs had to immobilize her neck. She had a pulse, but the fact that they had to keep checking worried Punk beyond compare. He felt like he was going to throw up. He couldn't look at her like this. It wasn't fair.

They had done a CT scan and thankfully there was no detected damage to her spinal cord, but for the brief period of time that she was awake, she said she couldn't feel her legs. The doctors said that longterm paralysis was unlikely because she only had a minor compression fracture in the cervical region of the spine, but the CT scan they did also picked up that she had a concussion. 

The doctors said she should be okay, but the trauma of the fall could've resulted in undetectable issues that they wouldn't be able to gage until she woke up. They said she would wake up on her own time, but Punk just wanted her to wake up now. He just wanted her to open her eyes, to say anything. It didn't matter what.

Her hand felt so cold and lifeless. It scared him, but he couldn't let go. He needed to keep her hand warm. It was the only thing he could think to do. 

His phone had been blowing up non-stop, but he hadn't glanced at it once. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. 

"Oh my God," he recognized Jade's voice as she broke out into sobs. 

She stood in the doorway looking at her best friend who looked pale and like she hadn't moved in weeks. She kept pushing the thought out of her head, but she couldn't help it. Bella looked dead. 

She covered her mouth with her hand and tried to blink back tears. She had to calm down so she could talk to Punk. She had to find out what he knew. She took a couple deep breaths before sitting one seat over from Punk. His phone had a seat to itself in between them, and it wouldn't stop blinking. 

She didn't know what to say to him. He hadn't acknowledged her presence in any way, but he knew she was there. He just couldn't pull his eyes away from Bella.

"Punk," she whispered.

He still didn't look at her.

So she said his name a little louder.

No answer.

"How is she?" Jade asked, fighting back more tears from falling.

"You see her," he rasped. He sounded like he hadn't spoken in a long time. She reached in her purse and pulled out a bottle of water to give to him, but he shook his head. His eyes were bloodshot and his normally prominent bags were even bigger.

"Have you spoken to the doctor yet?" She asked, retracting her hand with the bottle in it.

He nodded his head.

"What'd they say?"

"Fractured her neck and concussion," he whispered, barely audible.

Jade's hand returned to her mouth, unable to comprehend how this all happened. She was okay. Just the day before. She was fine.

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Monday, August 20th, 2012 6:00 P.M.

Punk and Jade were still awake, just staring at Bella. There was a silence looming over them, and nobody dared to speak. It just didn't feel right. Nothing quite felt right. They both felt helpless and inadequate and on top of that, they both desperately needed some sleep.