Within You

five.

Cody and I have been calling each other every night for weeks. It's been two months since I saw him last. Our schedules had been clashing for a while now, making it harder for me to see him. I came back into the dorm, soaking wet from the freak thunderstorm that hit this afternoon. I had no more classes for the day. I decided to rest before practice tonight. Lex burst through the door with a big smile on her face.

"What happened now, dude?" I groaned, throwing my sweatpants on. I tucked myself in under my covers.

"Coach canceled practice because of the freak thunderstorm, apparently it's supposed to continue raining until tomorrow morning. So you know what that means," Lex states, shrugging her shoulders and plopping down on the bed. "You want to go out somewhere tonight?"

"Lex..." I annoyingly groan, sitting up from my bed. "It's Wednesday."

She scoffs and changes out of her soaked pullover into a gigantic sweatshirt she stole from the football team's merchandise. "Kylie, you haven't gone out since Cody left! You have to come out with the girls."

"Who is going out?" I quietly question, with a clear hint of annoyance in my voice.

Lex stays quiet for a bit while she put her sweat pants on. "The whole team. I'm riding with Tara, Samantha, and I think Paula, so you can come with us."

I rolled my eyes... "Fine."

Tara, Sam, Lex, Paula, and I were all crammed into Paula's Camry driving on the highway to a popular bar in downtown. The rain was coming down harder than when we left. It was a dull conversation that I drowned out for the time being. We were following the girls in two other cars.

"Shit, I can't see well!" Paula nervously exclaims.

"You should be exiting soon," Sam reassures, checking the GPS map on her dimly lit cell phone. Tara clutches onto the back of Paula's seat.

Paula gently hits the brake, easing off of it hesitantly. I place my phone in my lap as I look around at the freeway and the cars speeding by us. The tension was apparent, the girls were anxious as we continued toward the exit. Paula presses the brak one more time. A car smashes the rear end of the Camry, causing us to spin into oncoming traffic.

It was all slow motion and I can think of how Cody is going to find about this. I was thinking that we were going to be in trouble with the coach. I was thinking about how I should have stayed in the dorm while they went out. I can see a car hit my side. The rain hit my face as I looked around at the blinding lights around me. There are faint voices, concerned for our safety. People are trying to block off the area, making sure that there are no more accidents until the paramedics arrive.

I looked to my left side and I can see Tara, barely moving and breathing. I looked back up to the sky, the rain hitting my face--or it could be tears, streaming down my face. Or my own blood. Cody. I wanted him here and I wanted him to hold me. The cries coming from Paula and Sam were unbearable to hear. Finally there was a light over me, I guess checking my neural function. It was a female, freckle-faced, redhead and a muscular tan guy, quickly checking my vitals before loading me onto the ambulance. Lexie? Where's Lexie? I tried to ask the paramedics where she was, but nothing escaped from my mouth. That means I'm injured somewhere in my throat or lungs.

"You're going to be okay... Kylie. You're going to be okay. We're on the way to the hopsital and they're going to take care of you there. Your friends are going to be okay," the freckled face girl reassures me, wiping the tears streaming down my cheeks.

The ride to the hospital felt quick as they unloaded me onto the trauma bay. The two paramedics quickly telling the doctors about the situation and how my current state was. The female doctor holds on the gourney by my head, followed by a few more individuals who I figure were other residents or her interns. The pulled me into a trauma room, loading me onto the bed to begin their evaluations. I can hear them cutting apart of my favorite romper off to examine my injuries.

Their examinations were quick, and after injecting me with a pain killer while I'm being transported to I think an MRI or CT scan, I can hardly feel pain.

The team of doctors quickly would glance back at me and looked forward. They constantly reassured me that everything was going to be okay.

My eyes slowly opened to the faint sound of a television screen and multiple bright lights. I was attached to a breathing tube with an IV pierced into my right arm. I pressed the nurse button to get someone in here right away.

"Miss Kylie, Miss Kylie!" The petite brunette girl runs in. "Is everything okay?" She quietly asks, handing me whiteboard and a marker. I manged to write with my right hand, showing her.

Can I see my doctor?

"Yes, let me page her okay?" She runs out of the room.

About ten minutes later, my doctor comes in. She's an older woman with long curly black hair, accented with streaks of white hairs. She wore cat-eye reading glasses and had a rosey colored lipgloss on her lips. She had some silver eyeshadow on her eyes.

"Hi sweetie, what can I do for you?"

I wrote to her on my whiteboard, asking her what happened, how my friends were and if anyone has been contacted.

"Okay sweetie," she gently says, placing a seat next to the bed. I figure this is going to be tough. "First and foremost Miss Kylie, I did contact your parents. They're working something out with the military to get special clearance to come out here. I also contacted your boyfriend Mr. Bellinger."

I managed to give her a nod, letting her know that I understood she let someone know I was here.

"As for what happened, all we know is you were in a car accident. You have some cuts and bruises on your shoulders and have temporarily lost function in your right leg. We placed a breathing tube in your throat because one of your lungs collapsed, interrupting the function of your voice." Before she could update me about my friends, her pager goes off. She takes a look at it with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry sweetie, I have to go. I will try to come back later okay?" I give her a nod and she urgently leaves the room.

I stared at the TV screen, tears began rolling down my face. I wanted my parents here, I wanted Cody to be here. I knew I should not have gone with Lex.