Déjà vu

Justin looked around frantically searching for any signs of Julie. He saw none. He quickly called 911 and then ran into the water and started swimming towards the place where he thought Julie fell. Even though he wasn't a wonderful swimmer, he was able to keep himself from drowning; he hoped he could do the same for Julie. Justin dived underwater and tried to see anything in the murky cold water surrounding him. He thought he caught a glimpse of the blue shirt that Julie was wearing behind some rocks. Justin carefully made his way over there, making sure that he didn't hurt himself on the rocks, and then he saw Julie. He wrapped his arm around her waist and gently lifted both of them to the surface. As he was making his way towards the shore, he saw the ambulance approaching the beach. Within minutes, Julie was on a stretcher and Justin was being handed a warm blanket and was being asked a lot of questions. He tried his best to answer them but he was very worried about Julie. Justin also knew that he was going to have to call Rachel and Nick, and let them know what happened. Even though neither person was actually speaking to Justin at that time, he knew that both Rachel and Nick would want to hear what he had to say. Justin wished that he could've called Julie's mom, but that was impossible. Since she was away on her business trip, she was unreachable.
"Is she going to be okay?" asked Justin.
"We don't know," replied one of the paramedics. "Are you her boyfriend?"
"No, I'm her friend," said Justin worriedly looking over at Julie. She was unconscious and the paramedics were trying to revive her because she wasn't breathing.
"How long would you say she was submerged?" asked a different paramedic.
"About three or four minutes," answered Justin. He didn't really know for sure, he could only estimate.
"That's not good, the sooner she starts breathing again, the better chances of survival she has," said the paramedic shaking his head. Justin couldn't believe what he was hearing. He remembered what happened to Julie just months before and he was terrified that it might happen again.

*~*~*
Nick was staring into the window, sourly looking at the scenery. He didn't really see what he was looking at; his mind was entirely on Julie and the things that he had said to her the previous week. He now knew that he didn't mean them and he wished that he hadn't left the way he did. Every time he wanted to pick up the phone and call her, he stopped himself. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. He was also very worried, he had a terrible feeling in his heart that something awful happened and that he will never get to tell Julie that he was sorry for everything he said. Nick's phone rang and he picked it up.
"Hello?" he said.
"Nick, I'm glad I got a hold of you," began Justin.
"Look Justin, I really don't want to talk to you right now, okay?" said Nick in an irritated tone.
"NO! Nick listen, you have to…" said Justin but Nick hung up the phone. He continued staring into the window when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Nick turned and saw Brian.
"Rok, what's wrong?" asked Nick looking at his friend; Brian was very pale.
"Nick, I don't know how to tell you this…" started Brian; he was holding his phone in his hand.
"Tell me what?" asked Nick carefully.
"Justin just called me and well…" said Brian but Nick cut him off too.
"I don't care about what he had to say," said Nick angrily.
"Believe me, you'll want to know this," said Brian in a shaky voice.
"Okay, fine what is it?"
"It's about Julie, Nick, she was at the beach and there was a wave and…" Brian trailed off because his eyes filled with tears.
"NOOO!!" yelled Nick and bolted from his seat and ran to the back of the bus. He was sitting and crying, when Brian came up to him again. "NO BRIAN, I CAN'T HANDLE THIS AGAIN!!" he said through tears.
"Nick, she's alive, Justin managed to find her and bring her to the surface but she's in critical condition," said Brian sitting down next to Nick.
"Bri, I can't take this, I won't be able to…FUNCTION, if it happens again," said Nick sobbing into Brian's shoulder.
"I know, I know exactly how you feel, but Nick, you have to go to her," stated Brian.
Nick wiped some of the tears off of his face with the back of his hand, "How hurt is she?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know, Justin said that she was underwater for about three or four minutes before he got to her. The paramedics managed to get her breathing again on the scene of the accident, but there were rocks where she fell, and Justin isn't sure how hurt she really is," explained Brian sadly.
"I feel like this is a nightmare," said Nick shaking his head.
"It is a nightmare, only it's a living one," replied Brian putting his hand on Nick's shoulder. "Now come on, we have to get you to an airport."
"But what about the concert tonight?" asked Nick walking back to the front of the bus with Brian.
"What about the concert tonight?" asked Kevin sleepily from his bunk. Him, AJ, and Howie had been asleep up until that point.
"Something happened to Julie," said Nick fighting back tears. Kevin was instantly on his feet and fear flashed in his green eyes.
"What happened?" asked AJ getting up from his bunk too. Brian then went on to explain the tragic story to them because Nick couldn't bear himself to do it. When Brian was done, the other three guys just stood there in complete shock.
"Please tell me you're joking," said Howie shakily.
"Afraid not," said Brian shaking his head.
"Oh my God," said Kevin. His mind flashed back to when he talked to Julie right before him and the guys left for the tour. He didn't want that to be the last time he talked to her.
"We're all flying to New York immediately," declared AJ.
"We can't, remember the concert?" asked Brian.
"Screw the concert!" exclaimed AJ. "This is Julie we're talking about!"
"Let me call management and see what they have to say," said Kevin taking out his phone. He spoke on the phone for several minutes and then furiously hung up. "They won't let all of us go, they said that only Nick can go but the rest of us have to perform tonight," he told the other guys.
"Damn it," said AJ.
"I know, so Nick you go but you have to promise to call us as soon as you know something," said Howie looking at Nick.
"I promise," said Nick. He kept having flashbacks to the last time that he lost Julie…
*~* FLASHBACK TO THE DAY OF JULIE'S ACCIDENT *~*
Nick went into Julie's room and winced. Julie was hooked up to several machines, which were keeping her alive. She looked so fragile in the bed that Nick couldn't bear to look. He finally got himself together and came and sat on a chair next to Julie's bed.
"Hey." He said quietly taking her hand in his. "Now, I know you can hear me, so listen up. You can't quit. I don't care what the doctors say, you're strong, I know you can fight this, please fight it." he begged; tears were flowing freely from his eyes. Julie remained still. "I love you too much and you can't just die and leave everyone. We're supposed to be together forever remember? That means that this isn't over here, it means that you're supposed to wake up and tell me that you're okay. Please Julie, wake up." But there was still no change. Then Nick began to sing softly: "Open up your heart to me, and say what's on your mind, oh yes. I know that we have been through so much pain, but I still need you in my life this time…" then all of a sudden he heard a long beep and realized that it was Julie's heart monitor. She had flat lined. All at once a team of doctors rushed into the room and Nick was forced to step back. Then everything happened in slow motion. It was like Nick was watching himself watch the doctors working on his girlfriend. Somewhere in the distance he heard the doctors yelling:
"One…two…three…shocking…not working…again…one…two…three…" Then all he heard was the steady long beep of the heart monitor and then there was silence. All the machines have been turned off. At that moment it finally hit him full force: Julie had died.
*~* END OF FLASHBACK *~*
Nick shuddered at the memory and almost broke down crying again. He took a deep breath to calm himself down.
"So how fast can we get to the airport?" he asked.
*~*~*
Rachel was sitting numbly in the ICU waiting room. Justin was pacing back and forth in front of her.
"Sit down will you?" she asked irritably.
"I can't, I'm really worried," said Justin stopping for a few seconds and looking at Rachel.
"I'm worried too, she's my sister remember? I can't lose her, not again," said Rachel and started to cry. Justin's face expression softened and he came over and sat near Rachel. He awkwardly put his arm around her and she didn't resist.
"It'll be okay, it has to be," he assured her, although he didn't sound very sure of what he was saying. He saw Julie when she was being loaded into the ambulance. She looked like she was dead because she was so pale. Justin forced that image out of his head and started to tell himself that Julie will be fine.
A few minutes later a doctor came out and headed straight for Rachel and Justin.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Feldman," he said extending his hand to the couple. They shook his hand, both numb with shock.
"I'm Julie's sister, please tell me that she's okay," said Rachel shakily, and Justin tightened his arm around her shoulders.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, unless you want me to lie," said Dr. Feldman solemnly.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" asked Justin.
"What I mean is that Julie was submerged for a while and her lungs have water in them. We're trying to get the water out, but we're not getting very far. Also, Julie is bleeding internally because she apparently hit some rocks while in the water. We cannot fix the injury with surgery because we're afraid that she might not survive it," explained the doctor. Rachel would've collapsed if Justin had not been holding her.
"Are you telling me that my sister is going to die?" she asked weakly.
"We don't know for sure, but it looks that way. Unless she comes out of the coma that she's in, she has zero chances of surviving," said Dr. Feldman shaking his head sadly.
"And if she wakes up, she will live?" asked Justin hopefully.
"I'm afraid I can't answer that because I don't know. If she does wake up, we might be able to repair her internal bleeding, but I'm not guaranteeing that she won't fall into an another coma and not come out of it," replied Dr. Feldman.
Justin felt like someone hit him in the stomach. He couldn't believe what was happening. He looked at Rachel, her face was drained of all color and she looked like she was about to pass out. Justin slowly eased Rachel into a chair and sat down next to her. At that instant they heard a commotion outside and moments later Nick ran in.
"Where is Julie?" he demanded seeing Rachel and Justin.
"Are you a family member?" asked Dr. Feldman turning to Nick.
"No, I'm her fiancé, please tell me what happened to Julie," begged Nick.
"I'm afraid that I have some bad news for you Mr.…" began the doctor.
"Carter. Nickolas Carter," said Nick absentmindedly. All he heard were the words '…bad news…'. "Is she d…" Nick couldn't bring himself to say the word.
"No, she's not dead, but she is in a coma, frankly, I'm not sure if she'll come out of it," said the doctor.
"Oh no, I can't go through this again!" yelled Nick and sat down in a nearby chair with his head in his hands. He took a few deep breaths, "Can I see her?" he asked looking at the doctor.
"I don't know if you want to, she's in pretty bad shape," said Dr. Feldman uncertainly.
"Please, I have to see her," begged Nick.
"Okay, come with me," said Dr. Feldman and motioned for Nick to follow him. A few minutes later he stopped in front of room 310. "This is her room," he said. Nick took a deep breath and opened the door.
He almost broke down crying when he saw Julie. She looked exactly like she did a few months ago after the car accident, only minus the cast. She was hooked up to many machines and she wasn't even breathing on her own; a machine had to do it for her. Tears ran down Nick's face as he came closer to Julie's bed. He wiped the tears away and sat down on the chair next to her bed.
"Hi baby," he began and tears started to flow once again. It was like déjà vu for him. "Julie, I just want to say that I am so so so so so sorry for everything that I said to you. I'm deeply sorry that I didn't listen to your explanation when you tried to talk to me. I know I was acting like an asshole but seeing you kiss Justin was so horrible I can't even begin to explain what I was feeling. Please wake up; I can't lose you again. You know what I went through the last time you died, if you die again I won't be able to live at all. I love you with all my heart and soul and we're supposed to get married remember? We're going to have a beautiful wedding and our entire families will be there and then we'll finally be joined as one. I know that you want that to happen, but in order for it to come true you have to wake up and look at me with those beautiful gray-blue eyes of yours and tell me that you're okay and that everything will be okay," Nick then took Julie's hand in his and started to pray, "Please God, don't take her away from me. You gave her back to me once and I am eternally thankful to you for that. But please, don't take her, you know it's not her time yet; she has her entire life ahead of her. I won't be able to live without her; I love her more that I love anything or anyone in this entire world. She's my soulmate, my best friend, my everything. So please, I am begging you, don't take her away!" Nick then started to cry again because it was too much to take.
*~*~*
Julie hovered in the air watching Nick talking to her physical body in the hospital bed. She saw a bright white light ahead of her and there was a figure in it beckoning for her to come forward and step into the light. Julie hesitated. She looked at Nick and her eyes filled with tears. But she then remembered all the things that he had said to her before and she knew that Nick was begging for her forgiveness about those things, but Julie still couldn't help but feel hurt. She knew that this wasn't the first time that Nick had refused to listen to her explanation and jumped to conclusions saying very hurtful words to her. Julie looked back and forth between Nick and the white light. She hesitated for another second and then began to walk towards the white light.
*~*~*
Nick was sobbing when he heard Julie's heard monitor go wild. He looked up and saw that the normally regular spikes were turning into high and low ones. Immediately doctors and nurses ran in and moved Nick away from Julie's bed. Nick couldn't believe it was happening again. He cried silently with tears running down his cheeks as the doctors tried to revive Julie and get her heartbeat normal again. Nick heard the heart monitor return to normal but another alarm sounded at the same time.
"Damn, she's going into respiratory arrest!!" yelled Dr. Feldman. Nick leaned against the wall and tried to tell himself that Julie was not going to die, not this time.
"She's crashing!!" yelled another doctor as Nick heard Julie flat line.
For twenty minutes the doctors tried everything to get Julie back. They were unsuccessful.
"Call it," said Dr. Feldman.
"Time of death, 7:39am," said one of the nurses sadly shaking her head at Julie's still form on the bed.
"NOOOOOO!!!!!!" screamed Nick and collapsed on the floor crying like never before.