**CHAPTER 19; OUT OF REACH**
******CHAPTER 19; OUT OF REACH******
“Taxi!” we screamed, as we held out our hands. Finally, after about five minutes, a taxi came. The five of us piled in, and we were on our way back to my uncle’s apartment. “That was such a good Jesse…I mean concert..concert! Such a good concert!” Sara said, blushing. All of us started to laugh. “Okay, we’re here,” the taxi driver said as he pulled up across the street from the apartment building. I handed him money, and we got out of the small, black and yellow-checkered taxi. “Okay guys, let’s cross quickly,” Courtney said as we started to cross the street. I was the last person to go cross, but when I looked to my right, I saw bright lights. “LAUREN!” the other four screamed. That’s all I heard, screaming. I opened my eyes to see that I was lying in the middle of the street, in a pool of blood. Sara, Courtney, Larissa and Nikki were standing there, trying to stay calm. “Laurie..Laur..Lauren talk to me!” Sara said trying to stay calm. “Guys,” I said in a weak voice. “Get me outta here,” I said quietly. “Someone call 911!” Larissa screamed as people started to crowd around us. “Laur..stay awake!” all four said, trying not to cry in front of me. “How bad do I look?” I said, trying to laugh. “You look fine..you’ll be fine..” Courtney said calmly. About five minutes later, the ambulance came and the four of them were told to stand aside as they loaded me in. I awoke to the faint beeping of the heart monitor. I looked over to my right to see my parents sitting on two chairs, next to the bed. “Hi,” I said slowly. “Hey baby,” my Mom said, stroking my hair. “How are you feeling?” my Dad asked quietly. “Do you have to ask?” I replied sarcastically. “How bad am I banged up?” I asked, looking around. “Well..your left leg is broken, and the rest is just cuts and bruises,” my Mom said..being the nurse in the family. I looked around to a lot of tubes and wires hooked onto me. “Get some rest,” my Dad said quietly as they each gave me a kiss on the cheek. After that, I slowly closed my eyes.
“Oh my God,” I heard someone gasp quietly. I slowly opened my eyes to see that besides my parents, Greg, Sara, Jesse, Courtney, Chris, Nikki, Frankie, Matt and Larissa were all in my hospital room. I felt someone holding my hand, and I turned my head to the left to see that it was Greg. “Hey guys,” I said quietly. All of them looked over at me, with their eyes lighting up. “Hey sweetie,” Greg said, giving me a little kiss on my cheek. “How long have you all been here?” I asked. “Since 9 am..Greg had to fight with the doctor to let us in here this early,” Matt replied. “Ooh..so you guys must have been worried about me or something?” I said sarcastically. “Yeah…Courtney called us at my house and was like ‘OH MY GOD LAURIE’S BEEN HIT BY A BIG MEAN TRUCK!!” Chris said, acting out how Cori sounded on the phone. “Shut up,” she said as she playfully punched him in the arm. “Here..these are from all of us,” Jesse said, putting a vase of flowers onto a little table. “Awww..thanks guys,” I said smiling. About five seconds later, Claudia came running into the room. “LAURIE!!” she screamed. I tried to laugh a little. “Hey Claudia,” I said smiling. “Honey, are you okay??” she asked with a concerned look on her face. “Umm..besides the fact that I’m in the hospital with a broken leg..I think I’m okay,” I said sarcastically. “Well it’s nice to see that you haven’t lost your sense of humor!” she laughed. Just then, the doctor walked into the room.
“Aahh..I take it that you’re all close friends of Ms. Thompson’s?” the doctor said, noting everyone in the room. “Yeah,” Greg said, still sitting next to me, holding my hand. “So..?” I asked nervously. “Okay, here’s the deal,” he started as the room turned dead silent. “You can go home in a couple of days, but until then you need some rest. Nurse Diane is going to teach you how to use crutches because of your leg..and your cuts and bruises on your head are going to hurt for a while, but after a couple of days they should fade away slowly,” he said slowly. “Okay,” I agreed. “Can we go with her?” Greg asked eagerly. “Only one of..well…however many of you there are can go with her,” the doctor said looking around the room. Everyone looked at each other. “Okay Greg, we’ll see you later,” they said as they started to get up and leave. “Bye Laur, feel better babe,” Chris said as he walked over and gave me a little kiss on the forehead. All of the guys did that as they left. “Hey..we’ll be back here later okay? We’ll stay through the night if we have to..we’re not leaving until you do,” Larissa said. “Guys, it’s okay..you can leave; I’ll be here when you get back..you guys should go out and relax for a while..come back whenever you want,” I said slowly. “Okay..bye Laur!” each of them said as they came over and gave me a little hug. “Bye sweetie..feel better!” Claudia said as she gave me a hug and left the room with everybody else. “Thanks for staying here with me,” I said quietly to Greg. “No problem..I wouldn’t leave you like this,” he said giving me a quick kiss on the forehead.
“Okay..are you ready?” the doctor said as he came back into the room. “I guess,” I said as Greg and the doctor helped me get out of the bed and into the wheelchair. Greg wheeled me down the hallway. I looked around to see people being rushed through the hallways on stretchers..people in worse shape than I was in. “Greg,” I said quietly. “Yeah?” he replied, bending down so he could talk to me. “I know that this might be a bad time to mention this..but I hate hospitals!” I whispered. “I know, but it’s okay, I’m here,” he reassured me as he kept on wheeling me down the hallway. About five minutes later, the doctor brought me into a big room. “Hi..you must be Lauren?” a little voice said. “Yeah,” I replied nervously. Greg saw how nervous I was and walked over and held my hand. She looked at Greg and smiled. “And you are…?” she said, waiting for his response. “Greg Raposo,” he replied as he shook her hand. “Well Mr. Raposo…don’t worry, she’ll be fine,” she said looking at how nervous I was. She brought over two wooden crutches. I stood up and tried not to laugh. “Umm..I think these are a little big..don’t you think?” I said, as I pointed out that the crutches were taller than I was. “Oh,” the nurse laughed. “Sorry about that, hold on a minute,” she said as she left the room. Greg stood there, starting to laugh. “I’m so depressed..i’m a fricken cripple!!” I laughed. “Aww..no you’re not,” Greg said, still laughing. “Okay, here we go,” the nurse said bringing over two crutches that “fit me.” I slowly stood up, holding onto Greg’s shoulders for support. The nurse gave me the crutches and she showed me how to walk with them. After 15 minutes of torture..she finally let me back into my hospital room. “Damn..I need an advil!” I sighed. “Why?” Greg asked as he walked back into the room. “Cuz from leaning on the crutches…my arms hurt!” I said pointing to my arms. He looked at me and laughed. “It’s not that funny..” I said giving him the puppy-eyed look. “Of course it isn’t!” he laughed. “Eww..if I wanted to..I could hit you with my crutch..but I’m nice and I won’t do that,” I laughed back. Five minutes later, another nurse came in to check on me. “Hi sweetie..how are you doing?” she asked politely. “Umm good except for the pain..umm..I have a question,” I said quietly. “What’s that?” she replied. Greg looked over curiously. “Can I get into something else besides a gown? This thing is sorta itchy..” I whispered. The nurse looked at me and laughed. “No honey, sorry,” she said as she laughed and walked out of the room. “Why is everyone laughing at me today!?!” I exclaimed. Greg looked at me with a confused look. “What did you ask her?” he asked. “I asked her if I could get into something else besides the hospital gown,” I replied as I scratched my arm. “It’s too damn itchy!” I exclaimed. Greg looked at me and started laughing. “WHAT NOW!?!” I screamed as I threw my hands up in the air. “You’re really cute when you’re angry,” he said sarcastically. “Ugh,” I mumbled. “Here..let me help you,” he said as he came over and started to scratch my back. “Oh my God..” I sighed. “More to the right..no-no..more to the left…yeah..right there..” I mumbled as he continued to scratch my back. I could tell that I had a look of relief on my face. “Hey Munchkin!” Chris said as he and Cori walked into the room. “Umm..did we come at a bad time??” Cori said, referring to Greg scratching my back..and me umm..well you know. “Maybe..” Greg said with a big smile on his face. When I heard him say that, I quickly opened my eyes and slowly turned my head back. Chris and Courtney saw the shocked look on my face and busted up laughing. “Umm..Greg what are you doing back there?” Cori asked trying to keep a straight face. “HE’S JUST SCRATCHING MY BACK PEOPLE..THAT’S IT!!!!” I exclaimed. Greg just started laughing. “Greg..” I said trying not to smile. About then, he got off of the hospital bed and walked over to where Chris and Courtney were. “Chris..I’m gonna go get a drink, come with me,” Greg said. “I’ll be right back,” Greg said quickly as he gave me a quick kiss and walked out of the room with Chris. “So….” Cori said grinning as she walked over to me. “What?” I said smiling. “Nothing,” she laughed. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* “So Greg, how’s Laurie doing?” Chris asked as Greg put the money in the vending machine. “Better..the nurse tought her how to use the crutches…but I feel so bad,” Greg said directing his attention towards Chris. “Why?” he asked with a concerned look. “Because she’s in so much pain..I mean she has so many cuts on her head and she broke her leg..and I was scared to death when they called and said that she had been hit by a truck..the thought of almost losing her..and there’s nothing I can do to stop the pain..I wanna help her, but I can’t,” Greg said eyeing the floor. “But you didn’t lose her, and you even said it yourself that she’s getting better. And so far, I can tell how happy she is when you’re with her, yeah I know that it sucks because you can’t do anything about the pain, but neither can any of us, but staying with her is the best you can do, and you’re doing that, so try not to worry so much okay?” Chris said getting the drinks from the slot. “Aight, let’s go back to the girls,” Chris said as he handed Greg his drink and they walked down the long hallway.
