Jeff and Chris paced the floor of the hospital waiting room, waiting on word about Rachel. Adam had ridden in the ambulance with Rachel, and that was the last they had heard of anything.
"What room is she in?" Albert says, as he steps into the room, with eyes that were noticably swollen from crying.
"She hasn't made it to a room yet." Amy said, looking at him. Both knew what each other were thinking. Matt lay with his head in her lap, he had been uncontrolably crying ever since they had entered the hospital.
"We don't know anything yet. As far as we know they are still in the operating room." Michelle says to Albert. " It's all my fault." She says, and stares out the window.
"Michelle, don't say that. No one is blaming you. You didn't know Sherrie would freak out like that." Nick said, and held her hand in his to comfort her.
Jeff quits pacing and stares at her. He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it. Now was not the time, his emotions were running to high. He turns away from her, and walks out of the waiting room.
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Rachel felt as if she were floating. She could hear Adam talking to the doctor.How many doctors were in her room, she thought. She tried to wiggle a finger, she couldn't move anything at all. She couldn't feel anything. The voices were mixing together, and she was catching every other word.
Coma? So she wasn't dead, she thought. She's been here the whole time, it was if her body was just a shell. I am thinking, thinking, thinking. Adam, I am so sorry you had to find out I was pregnant this way, she thought. She had wanted it to be a surprise. Did she loose the baby, she wondered.
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"Coma. Lost baby." Adam says, to the people in the waiting room, through sobs. He leans on Jeff for support.
"Can we go into her room?" Matt asks him.
"She was pregnant??" Jeff asks in suprise.
"Yes, she was going to the doctor soon, to find out for sure. She didn't want to get your hopes up Adam, and it be nothing." Amy said, as she started to cry. Albert put an arm around her, as he too had tears fall down his cheek.
"I have to call Christi." Matt says, and walks out of the room with his cell phone.
Michelle stood staring at Adam with a dark expression. "Adam, I am so sorry. This is completely my fault. If you wouldn't have met me, none of this would have happened." She runs out of the room crying, with Chris going after her.
"Did they say if Rachel was going to be ok, other than the Coma?" Jay asked, making Adam sit down before he passed out.
"They don't know yet. They got everything fixed, and she is stable. But they don't know how long she will be in a coma. They don't even know if she will ever come out of it." HE said , and put his head in his hands.
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Jeff stood at the window of the waiting room, looking out the window. Morning was coming, and with it another day. It was another morning just like when their mother died. How can something like this happen to a family twice in one lifetime, he thought. We are a good family, this is not supposed to happen, it wasn't fair. He rubbed at his eyes, as if to wipe away a nightmare.
The rising sun means nothing today, he thought. No amount of sunshine, or birds singing meant anything to him. The redness of dawn only represented the blood Rachel lost, he thought. All the blood that he saw splattered on the floor. Everytime he closed his eyes, he could see her still lying on the floor, looking at him.
He turned to leave the room, and barely noticed the cup of coffee that spilled onto the floor. He walked past everyone as he left the room. He was going to visit Rachel now, even if the doctors said it wasn't the right time.
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Jeff, Rachel thought, as she heard his soft voice. Don't cry baby brother, don't cry. I'm going to be alright, she wanted to say to him.
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Jeff took Rachel's hand and held it to his lips. Her skin was warm to his cold lips. His tears fell on her hand, and he kissed them away. He looked up to her face, and then over to the respirator.
"Don't die on me sis. You just can't." He said, as he put his head on the bed and continued to cry.
The doctor came in to read her charts one last time before the vistors were to visit. Jeff stood up to leave, as he came in, knowing he wasn't supposed to be there. He ran down the steps at full speed, not wanting to wait for the elevator. He could no longer stand the stench of hospital air. Making it outside, he leaned up against the wall, and slid down it. Morning had finally broken through, and the sun reflected on the tears that were falling down his cheeks.
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Matt stood in the hallway, Christi had put him on hold as soon as she had heard his voice.
"I'm sorry baby, I'm back." She says with a giggle.
Matt started to tell her of what happened to Rachel, only breaking to breath. He spoke to her until he could no longer speak.
"I'm so sorry Matt. If there is anything we can do for her and Adam, just let me know." Christi says to him.
"I love you Christi, I honestly do." Matt says, wishing it wouldn't have taken something like this, to make him see.
"Sweetie, how is Adam? How is he taking all this?" She asks, as she steps out onto her front porch.
"Like everyone else, not good." He says, with a sad laugh. "I love...."
Christi cuts him off. "Look, baby, I gotta go. Mom needs to use the phone. I will call you back later when I can." She says and hangs up.
Matt hangs up his phone, and walks back into the waiting room to wait on word about Rachel. Matt felt a tiny bit better being able to say he loved Christi, he thought. He looked out the window, to see Jeff sitting on one of the tables. He could tell his brother was looking up at the waiting room. He waved, hoping his brother would wave back. When he didn't, Matt decided to go sit outside with his brother.
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What day is today, Rachel thought. She started to count in her head. Friday, is it only Friday. She was starting to feel like the man in the Metallica video. Jess had been there a few hours before. She was talking about Chris, she misses him. I think he still loves her, she thought as she imagined she could run a brush through her hair. Chris has Michelle though. S.O.S., Rachel thought, as the Metallica video started to take over her thoughts. Think, think, think. Do I remember anything else, she thought.
OH, Lily, Sean's sister. Adam hired her. Rich wishing he were me. He were me?? Confused, confussion....fussy, she thought as she giggled inside her head. Adam, read that book to me again. That one that you read all the way through the other day. Ponyboy Curtis. Why can't I remember the name, she screamed in her head. It was only her favorite book! Something to do with the word OUT, was all she could remember.
She remembered the sound of her dad's voice. He hadn't stayed long though. Hospitals made him sick. It was nice to hear his voice though. Why had she waited so long in going back home? Fields of mice, she thought. What?? Fields of mice?
My lungs collapsed? What is this in my mouth? Oh, it's a spider? No, wait, it's a tube. TUBE? hmmmm. So tired of thinking, why couldn't she just sleep, or wake up? Adam, read to me again, she thought.
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Matt and Jeff did not want to wrestle on Raw. They were not up to it. How could they be. Life had almost come to a stop for them ever since Rachel had entered the hospital. Matt past Lily and smiled at her as he walked by. The match was going to be a long one, he thought as they ran out to the ring when their music started.
Lily watched as they wrestled, knowing that after the match that she would have to interview Amy. It was her first interview, and she was going to try to do her best for Rachel's sake.
"They look good out there don't they??" Amy asks, as she walks up behind Lily.
"They aren't into it tonight though, which is understandable." Lily says, as she turns her attention back to looking at Matt.
"So, I am your first interview?" Amy says, as she stands next to Lily. " I should be out there, but I just couldn't do it tonight. I'll probably be in trouble, but I shouldn't even be here. My best friend is laid up in the hospital." She says, despritely wanting to be at Rachel's side.
The match ended out in the ring, and Matt and Jeff walk out of the ring having lost. Jeff rushes past the girls, and Matt stops to say hello. "Hi."He says to the girls.
"Hi." Lily says, hoping her nervousness doesn't show. She was almost wishing he wouldn't talk to her. She hated when she liked someone, and was unable to talk to them. "I'm interviewing for the first time tonight. Next on my list is something about Sweatshops in America." Lily says, hoping she isn't babbling. "Can you excuse me?" She says, as she runs off to throw up in the bathroom.
"She's nice." Matt says to Amy.
"You've got someone, if you remember." Amy says, and takes his hand.
"Just saying she was nice."Matt said laughing. " I can't wait to see Christi tomorrow night. Jeff and I are going home. The doctors were supposed to have moved Rachel to Cameron today." He says, as they enter their dressing room.
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Jeff lay in his motel room and wondered if anyone had called Beth. Michelle may have, but she seemed to be in her own little closed up world at the moment.
"Hello?" Beth says as she answers the phone.
"Beth, hey, It's Jeff." He says to her.
"Hey, how are you doing? I heard about Rachel." She said, as she cut a coupon out of the paper.
"Michelle called you?" He asked Beth.
"No, it's all over the internet. I figured thats why I hadn't heard from you."She replied. "Are you going to be ok? I bet Michelle thinks it's all her fault."
"We haven't told her any different." Jeff replies.
"You can't be serious. You actually think it is her fault?" Beth asks with surprise in her voice. "Jeff, please."
"What I see, it was her friend. If we hadn't come across her back in Chcago that time, none of this would have happened." Jeff said to Beth, as his emotion started to rise.
"We wouldn't have met either." Beth says, trying to make a good point.
Jeff was silent for a moment. "She hasn't been in the hospital since the day that Rachel was put in there. And that day, she ran out. Seems like she would make more of a presance. She has a right to feel guilty."Jeff says, getting irritated the more he talks.
"Jeff, why did you call me, if all you were going to do is trash my friend?" Beth asks him.
"I just wanted to hear your voice. I didn't call to fight, that's for sure." He said, and hung up.
"Jeff!" Beth said into the phone. "I can't believe he hung up on me."
Jeff realized what he had done too late. She probably hated him now, he thought. Well, maybe that was best.
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Chris hadn't really been into wrestling on Raw. He doubted any of them were. He drove his rental car out onto the beach. It was late, and only a few people were out there. He hoped he could have some privacy to think. He wasn't in the mood to sign autographs, he thought.
He was so confused. He had jumped into the relationship with Michelle so fast. The relationship he had with Jessica, was barely finished. He still had feelings for Jessica. Was it a mistake he was with Michelle?? He loved her, but the IN love with her part had not come yet.
He walked along the sandy beach, every now and then letting the water splash on his feet. Ever since Rachel had been in the hospital, he had be reevaluating his life. He didn't want to make the wrong decision about anything, including his love life.
Jess still loved him, he knew that. She didn't even have to say a word, it was just something he felt. Ever since he had stayed the night at her house and talked to her and her brother until the morning. He sat down just out of reach of the chilly waves. He didn't want to hurt Michelle, she was a sweet person. He needed to be fair to himself though, even if it meant him being alone for awhile. Maybe that's what he needed, he thought.
Suddenly all was right in his mind. His decision final. He had to speak to Michelle, he would do that tomorrow. Tomorrow he had to tell Michelle news that might tear her apart.