SAVAGE 2

14

Medicare chapter, but whatever.

°°°

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Jersey stared inside the palms of her hands, trying to decipher what was going on. She blinked a few times. Her vision was blurry. Each blink made it worse.

"Jersey?"

There was no response. She didn't realize someone was speaking to her until she discovered a brown hand stroking the top of her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

Jersey blinked a few times, placing her eyes on the well-proportioned woman. It was Frida, Malcolm's mom. She was dressed in a jogger suit, looking casual. However, the look on her face displayed her despondency.

"Hey, Jersey. Are you alright?"

Jersey didn't say yes or no to the woman. She just parted her lips while blinking her eyes once again.

"Get her some water." Someone suggested.

It didn't take long for Jersey to be handed a cone paper cup. She peered down at the cold water, wanting to splash it on the floors. Instead, she just brought the cup up to her lips and took a few sips.

"You're not answering me..." Frida trailed off, taking a seat beside the young woman. Her sweet lingering scent tackled Jersey's nostrils. Frida ran her hands across Jersey's back and continued to speak to her in a low tone.

"This is...hard...on all of us." Frida continued in a shaky voice. She pushed out a harsh breath while looking off. "He's going to pull through."

If only that were true.

Malcolm's injuries were very severe. He suffered a gunshot wound in the abdomen and a bullet graze that did minimal damage above his right ear. The doctor reported to the family that Malcolm would need to have emergency surgery to remove the bullet.

Everything sounded simple, but it wasn't. Malcolm arrived at the hospital with not only a gunshot wound but also breathing difficulties. This situation resulted in the doctor wanting to insert an endotracheal tube down his throat.

Jersey had no idea about it.

There was an intense chance that he wouldn't make it through, and that scared not only Jersey but his whole family.

"It's getting late..." Frida continued. Jersey not speaking didn't bother her at all. She knew that the accident had shocked the young woman. "You should let Amber take you home."

Jersey looked over at her and parted her lips once again. She clasped her hand around the cone cup and muttered, "...I don't want to leave him."

"I know, I know you don't want to leave him," Frida retorted. "But Malcolm is in surgery right now, and we don't know when he'll be out. Sitting in this waiting room all night will uncomfortable. Let Amber take you home, and you can come back tomorrow morning. He should at least be out of surgery and in ICU."

"Come on, Hersh." Amber walked over with her hands tucked into the pockets of her sweatpants. "Let me take you home."

Jersey looked around the waiting room and realized that Malcolm's family were decreasing, one by one. There was a full house at first, but most of his supporters had other things to do. Staying wouldn't make any sense. Malcolm was enduring an extensive surgery.

However, that didn't matter to Jersey. She wanted to be at the hospital. She would lay out in the uncomfortable chairs if she had to. Malcolm's health was the only thing on her mind.