What The Heart Wants (Stereo Kicks/ James Graham)

Chapter 70

Thursday went by as expected. Vocals, choreography, then home. The boys and I were just about to have a jam session in the game room when Caden called me. "You guys start without me. I'll be right back." I told the boys and ran inside the closet and shut the door to block the noise. "Hey Caden, you all packed up?" I asked excitedly. "Is this Aria Smith?" It wasn't Caden on the phone, instead it was a lady whose voice I didn't recognize. "It is. Who is this?" I asked, confused. "My name is Dr. Stephanie Jackson and I am the head neurologist at the University of Michigan. It says here that you are Mr. Smiths emergency contact. May I ask what your relation is?" Dr. Jackson asked me. I was shaking with nerves. "I'm his older sister. What happened? Why is he at U of M?" I asked. "Miss Smith, I'm afraid there has been an accident. Your brother has been badly injured and he is currently in a medically induced coma. We are monitoring him very closely, but the outcome is still uncertain." She said. "There are some forms we need you to fill out just in case...in case things don't go according to plan." She sighed. "You mean if he dies. Don't you?" I was crying now. "I'm very sorry. We are doing all we can, but the extent of his injuries are still unknown. He is stable for now, but the brain is rather tricky, and things could change any minute. " She said. "How fast can you be here?" She asked me. "I uh...I can be there tomorrow." I said. "Great. Just ask for Dr. Jackson and you will be directed to me. I am very sorry this is happening." She apologized and then hung up. I could feel the tears on my face, but I wasn't sobbing like I was when I found out about my mom. Instead, I was numb. I couldn't move, I couldn't think. My grasp loosened and my phone shattered on the floor of the closet. I still couldn't move. This was a million times worse than when I found out about my mom. Atleast then I was actually able to comprehend what was going on and I had control over my body, but right now nothing made sense. There was a slight ringing in my ears and my vision was blurry from all the tears. Eventually, I forced myself to open the closet door. I slowly stepped out of the closet. My body was so numb I was wobbling like a toddler just learning to walk for the first time. When I was in view of the boys they all smiled at me until my knees -unsurprisingly- gave out and I collapsed to the floor. Part of me wished I could just shatter to pieces like my cellphone, but I didn't. The boys immediately stopped playing and they ran over to me. "Aria! Aria what's wrong?" James yelled as he lifted my head into his lap. I couldn't reply. I could understand him just fine, and I could form the words in my head, I just couldn't manage to say what needed to be said. The tears were still streaming silently down my face. "Aria please answer me. You're scaring me." James said as a single tear escaped from his eye and landed on my cheek. "Tom, call 911, Jake, call Louis tell him we need help." James cried, and the rest of the boys were crying to. I wanted to tell them that I didn't need the hospital, I needed to get to the airport, but I couldn't speak, or move. I was frozen with shock all while my eyes supplied a continuous flow of tears. A few minutes later and James was carrying me upstairs and setting me inside the back of an ambulance.  I don't need this! I need to go home! I yelled in my head. I just wished my mouth would open so I could talk! "Only two can ride with us." A man with an EMS jacket said as we prepared to leave. "I'm definitely coming." James said without hesitation as he got in the back with me. "Me too." Tom said as he got in the abulance and sat next to James. "You boys meet us at the hospital." Tom said before the EMS shut the doors and we took off. "Aria, please say something." James begged through his tears. He hasn't stopped crying yet. I felt bad. I wanted to grab his hand, or smile, or do anything that would make him feel better. But I couldn't. "James she'll be ok. You know Aria, nothing can keep her down. She's the strongest girl there is. I promise she'll be ok." Tom tried to reassure him, but I could see Tom wiping away his own tears. James grabbed my hand and held it the entire way to the hospital. I tried to force myself to squeeze his hand back, but nothing was working. I was broken. After about five minutes, we pulled into the ER entrance and the doors to the ambulance opened. The EMS men wheeled me out of the vehicle and rushed me inside. Tom and James were right Behind me, I could hear them. "What's wrong with her?" A strange woman asked as she grabbed a clipboard from the EMS. "Her vitals are good, but she's non-responsive. They don't know what happened. They said she left to take a phone call then after the call she just collapsed." The man said. "Alright, O'Brien, I need a cat scan, then get her to trauma room 3. Check her vitals again and then get some fluid into her. I'll be up to check on her in a bit." She woman said and then left. The EMS was also gone now. Instead I was stuck with this O'Brien guy who wheeled me into the nearest elevator. Wait, where are James and Tom? I didn't see them leave. "Your friends are in the waiting room." O'Brien said like he could read my mind. "Don't worry, you're gonna be ok. You'll be back home in just a few days." He smiled. A few days? No, I can't be gone for a few days. I need to be on the next plane to Michigan! I yelled to myself. I was getting scared. I can form thoughts and I want to be able to move, so why can't I talk or move? I don't understand why my body is still frozen. I was wheeled to a room with a big machine in the center. Dr. O'Brien began taking my clothes of me and I started breathing heavily. "Relax. We can't let you go in the machine with your normal clothes, I have to put you in this." He said as he help up an ugly hospital gown. I was now stripped down to just my bra and underwear while he put the gown on me, arm by arm. He then lifted me from the gurney and placed me gently on the table. "Do me a favor and blink once if you can hear me." Dr. O'Brien asked as he looked at me. I blinked my eyes once. "Great. Ok, now you're going to hear a lot of loud clanking noises, but I need you to try and be as still as possible so we get the best results." He said. I blinked my eyes one more time to let him know I understood what he said. "Good girl. Just close your eyes and try to relax. It'll be over soon." He smiled and left the room. A few seconds later, the machine lit up and began taking X-rays of my brain. Fifteen minutes later and I was being wheeled to my hospital room. I was poked and prodded while Dr. O'Brien checked my vitals and hooked me up to a machine. "Your friends are here, do you want me to let them in?" The doctor asked. I blinked my eyes once and he smiled. "Okay." He said before leaving the room. He came back about two minutes later with all 8 of the boys. "Aria." James whispered when he seen me. I wanted to smile, but I couldn't. "Uh, the doctor said you can hear us and understand us but you can't talk. So, he gave us a notepad to write down what you say. So uh, we're gonna go through the alphabet and when we come across the right letter, just blink ok?" Jake looked at me worriedly. I blinked once. "Okay. Who was on the phone?" He asked. "A, B, C, D" blink. "Ok, Tom write down D." Jake ordered. We went through the alphabet until I had spelled out the word doctor. "Doctor? For who? Your mom?" Jake asked. "Oh right, blink once for yes, twice for no." He added once I didn't respond. I blinked my eyes twice. "Caden?" He asked and I blinked once. Eventually they knew that a doctor called because Caden was in a coma, but then the strange doctor from downstairs came into the room. "Well, Miss Smith I have good news." She smiled. "You'll be able to go home tonight." She said as she hung up the x-rays of my brain. "You are experiencing a severe case of sleep paralysis. It typically happens when someone is having a nightmare and they get so scared, they literally become paralysed with fear. It does occasionally happen while people are conscious, but it's very rare. The  good thing is, it's easy to fix and you'll be on your way home in about half an hour." She smiled as she walked towards me with a needle of clear liquid. "This is a nerve relaxer. It will calm you down enough so you will be able to move again. It takes about ten minutes to kick in." She said before inserting the needle in my arm and emptying the contents of the tube into my blood system. She was right, about ten minutes later I had feeling in my body again and I could talk. I still couldn't move as fast as before, but it's progress. "James." I whispered. "Aria." James sighed and grabbed my hand. I slowly squeezed it back and he smiled down at me. "You scared the hell out of me. Out of all of us." He corrected. "I'm sorry." I said softly. "I forgive you. Just don't ever scare me like that again. I was a nervous wreck the entire time. I don't think I've ever cried so much." He chuckled and I felt my mouth lift in a small smile. "I love you." He leaned down and whispered in my ear. "You too." I whispered back. Fifteen minutes later and I was in one of The X Factor vans on my way back to the house. It's only 5pm. I still have time. When we got home, I -slowly- walked upstairs and packed a small bag with a few outfits. I then called a cab -Tom let me borrow his old android so I would have a phone- and grabbed my secret stash of money from my sock and underwear drawer. I have $2,000. That's plenty for a plane ticket, cab money, and anything else I need. I said a quick goodbye to the boys before the cab pulled up. They all understood why I was leaving, and I had to force James to stay behind. "I don't know how long I'll be gone, and you need to be here to perform on Saturday." I argued. "No I don't. I need to be with you." He rebutted. "I'll be fine. Hopefully I'll be back to perform with you guys." I smiled. It was small and fake, but it worked. I knew I wouldn't be back by Saturday. "Call me as soon as you land." He ordered. "I will. I love you James." I whispered and pulled him in for a quick kiss. He kissed me back passionately, before the cab driver honked his horn and I had to go. "I love you." James whispered before I turned and ran down the stairs. I jumped in the back of the cab and told the driver I was going to the airport. Three hours later and I was on a plane headed back to Michigan.

UNEDITED. OH MY GOD. DO YOU GUYS THINK CADEN WILL BE OK?! POOR ARIA, HER LIFE WAS JUST GETTING BETTER! (MUAHAHA!) JK. BUT SERIOUSLY...I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED IT! :) VOTE AND COMMENT WHAT YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN! ♡