Aftermath

Part V: Christine

The grogginess lifted just enough for me to notice some of my surroundings.  I felt the thin fabric of a hospital gown touching my skin, and as I tried to shift in my sleep, the wires of the heart monitors gave a sharp tug, so I stayed where I was, in an awkward fetal position.  My head was tucked down to my chest and I protectively clutched my injured arm, which was still wrapped securely in its sterile dressing.

Then the door to my room slid open and I heard a few pairs of footsteps enter the room.  Something cool and damp was placed upon my forehead; it was a welcome change from the alternating hot and cold sweat I was drenched in.  Apparently I’d been running a fever for quite some time, ever since the ambulance came.  A gentle hand was placed on top of mine, above where my IV had been inserted.  It took an enormous amount of effort just to open my eyes, which were heavy from my drugged slumber.  Suddenly, I was blinded by a roomful of fluorescent lighting and I immediately squeezed my eyes shut again.  I heard the soft click of a light switch and waited several seconds, gathering up more strength and some guts to reopen my eyes.  Luckily, this time the room was pleasantly dark, the only visible light coming from outside my room, and it was blocked out by the curtain that was pulled all the way around on its rod for privacy.  Then a soothing voice spoke:

“Hey, princess, how are you feeling?”  Adam, I thought.  So he had stayed.  He was seated in a chair at my bedside and he squeezed my hand a little.  “Can you feel that?” he asked softly.  I just hummed in response.  He dabbed at my brow with a wet cloth and then brushed away some of my hair that was stuck to my forehead with sweat and then he pressed a kiss to my temple.

I blinked to clear the blurriness and opened my eyes a little more.  I noticed another person in the room, leaning against the wall—he was slender but lean, dressed in a black-and-white-striped hoodie and black skinny jeans, with a mop of white-blonde hair with black streaks, and bangs falling over one of his big brown eyes.  I knew that face.

“Tommy?” I asked hoarsely.

The petite blonde strode over to where Adam was sitting and knelt down beside him.  He brushed the back of his hand down my cheek.  “Hey, Glitterstar.  Adam told me what happened.”  He sighed and a small crease formed in his brow.  “Everybody’s pretty worried about you, ya know.”  I nodded slowly.  My head was reeling from dehydration and colored dots swirled before my eyes and I just wanted to scream.  “Adam tells me they’re gonna try a blood transfusion.”

“Yeah,” I whispered.  “But I don’t—”

“It’s going to work,” Adam insisted again, more forcefully this time.  “And you’re going to be just fine.  Then we’ll go home, and I’m gonna find a place where you can get some help.”

Closing my eyes, I let out a defeated breath, knowing full well that Adam would never listen to me.  But I knew better than him that I didn’t have much time left, even if I did get the transfusion.  He might know that, too, but he was obviously in a serious state of denial.  So I just smiled a little, not wanting to upset him any further, because I was pretty sure that once Tommy got a hold of him, he’d set him straight pretty quick on what was realistic and what wasn’t.

“Do you want something to drink?” Adam asked me.  “I can ask a nurse if you can have some juice or water.”

“Just ice chips,” I croaked out.  “If I drink anything, I swear I’ll puke it up.”  He chuckled a little at that.

“Ice chips it is, then.  I’ll be right back.”  He ducked behind the curtain and went out into the hall, leaving Tommy and me alone in the room.

No sooner had Adam left, there was a soft knock on the wall, and a nurse pulled back the curtain to my room.  “May I come in?” she asked hesitantly.  I nodded.  She entered and continued, “Ms. Neumann, I need to do a blood-draw to see if you and Mr. Lambert are a match for your transfusion.”

I glanced at Tommy and he just nodded.  “Okay.  Go ahead,” I consented softly.

“Do you wanna hold my hand?” Tommy asked, grinning a little.

I giggled but reached for him anyway.  I felt the tourniquet being snapped and tightened around my arm.  The nurse flicked at my veins until she found a “good” one and said, “Little stick, honey…  Ready?  One…two…”

“Just look at me,” Tommy whispered in my ear.

I locked my eyes on him and squeezed his hand as the needle punctured my skin and I felt a slight tugging sensation as the blood was drawn out of me.

Pieces of gauze and paper tape were simultaneously placed over the crook of my arm as soon as the needle was removed.  I sighed and looked away from Tommy, letting go of his hand.

“Thanks, honey,” the nurse said as she packed up her little box of supplies.  “You were a brave girl.  We’ll have the results in a little while.  Your tentative donor will be going down to the lab shortly for his blood test as well.  Since you’ll be here at least overnight, we’re going to move you to a room upstairs after Mr. Lambert returns from the lab.  Once the results are in, and in the case that the two of you are a match, we can begin the transfusion.”  Then she left the room, and Tommy and I were alone once again.

“I think you broke my hand,” he muttered, looking down to inspect it.  I snorted and batted at his shoulder.

“Liar,” I retorted playfully.

The bassist got up from his crouched position and asked, “Mind if I sit?”

“Nah, go ahead.”  I patted the side of the bed.  He scooted close and then there was a long moment of silence.

“Are you scared?” he asked quietly, looking down at his hands, which were folded in his lap.

“Yeah.  Like, you can’t even imagine,” I said with a bitter laugh.  I paused for a long moment.  Finally I looked up at him.  “You don’t think the transfusion will work, do you?”

He was silent.  “No,” he whispered sadly with a shake of his head, meeting my eyes.  “I don’t.”

“Me neither,” I agreed.  “But Adam…I think he wants to believe that it’ll work, but deep down, I think he knows better.  I just don’t understand why—”

“Christie, don’t you see?” Tommy interrupted.  “He wants to think that way because he loves you too much to let you go.  He wants to keep you here with him for as long as he can.”  I could see tears glistening in his dark eyes.

“Sounds like a pretty selfish kind of love, if you ask me,” I scoffed.

Tommy managed a small smile.  “Yeah, well, that’s Adam for you.  He’s kinda always been a little selfish in the love department.”

“But if he really loves me, he’ll let me go.  He can’t keep me here forever, Tommy, especially like this.  We all know that I don’t have much time left anyway.  It—it’s just not fair…” I whimpered, my voice catching in my throat.

“Aww, c’mere, Chris.”  Very gently, Tommy slid his arm under my back and lifted me up into an embrace, careful not to mess with my arms.  “I know.  I know, you’re scared,” he whispered.

I rested my chin on Tommy’s shoulder and turned my face into the side of his neck and cried.  He placed a hand on the back of my hair, which was tangled and matted down with dried blood and sweat.  My muscles were stiff, and I could feel my heartbeat slowing by the minute.  I might be afraid to die, but maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t be so scary if I had the two people I cared about the most with me when the time came.