Breathe-Chapter 7
By: Panda Angel
Jillian quickly tried to compose herself, dirtying her lab coat by wiping make-up on it.
“Jillian!! Sweetheart, how is my baby?” AJ’s mother, Denise, rushed into the room. Her tear streaked face expressed pain, worry, concern, sadness, and fear.
“Denise, I am so sorry. I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Jillian attempted to comfort her ‘second mother.’
Denise, however, wasn’t listening. She was too preoccupied looking over her only child, bawling incessantly. Jillian couldn’t bear to hear Denise’s anguished cries, so she left the room. She slid her body along the wall, so that she was sitting on the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in her hands.
The ER doctor, Dr. Wilkes, approached the room where AJ was staying. “Ahem!” he coughed rather loudly to get Jillian’s attention.
She looked up at him with pitiful, puffy eyes. “You must be a…friend??” he questioned. Jillian wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and nodded. “Well, there are a few things his family members should know involving his accident.”
“I’m uh, not exactly family. His mother’s in there with him.”
“Well, you’re welcome to listen as well if you don’t think the patient would mind, and if his mother has no objections.”
Jillian apprehensively approached Denise, sitting by her son’s bed. “Denise?” she tapped her shoulder.
“What happened?!” she screeched, not completely turning around.
“Well, Dr. Wilkes is here to tell you,” she paused, “and me, if that’s okay with you.”
Denise turned around to face Jillian’s pleading green eyes. In a barely audible whisper, she answered, “Fine by me.”
Dr. Wilkes asked both women to have a seat as he proceeded to tell them the fate of the helpless man lying near them. “First, I’ll give you the details surrounding the accident. Mr. McLean was hit, head on, driving home from a party.”
“Oh no!” Denise cried. Jillian cast her eyes on the floor, almost instinctly knowing that AJ had been drinking.
Dr. Wilkes proceeded, “Mr. McLean had not consumed any alcohol, however, the other driver was legally drunk. The two collided head on, at um, approximately 50 miles per hour, according to the police report.”
A single tear slid down Denise’s cheek, while her frown deepened. Jillian just stared out the window, trying to comprehend everything the doctor was telling them.
“Mr. McLean has suffered innumerable injuries. He has numerous cuts and bruises, a broken arm, a dislocated shoulder, and…” the doctor paused briefly, looked down at his clipboard and back up to Denise and Jillian. “His left leg is broken, and his right femur is crushed, as well.” Tears welled up in Jillian’s eyes, but they poured like a waterfall from Denise.
“Will he ever be able to dance again?” she managed to mutter out.
“Mrs. McLean, your son is lucky to be alive right now. We’re all surprised that the impact didn’t kill him immediately. Although he has several broken bones, he doesn’t appear to have any internal bleeding. And in response to your question…Mr. McLean will be lucky if he ever walks again.”
Email: panda_angelaj@hotmail.com
