Amber and Chesa were sitting on a couch in the lobby of the third floor. A man with glasses, dark gray hair, and a mustache walked out. Hoping for
good news, Amber and Chesa stood up. He approached them.
"Ms. Blanton, Ms. Lyons?" The doctor asked. Amber and Chesa nodded. "Hello, I'm Dr. Marcus."
"Hello." Amber replied quietly.
"How are they?" Chesa asked, anxious for good news.
"Do you want to hear it the way it is, or do you want me to candy coat it?" he asked them. They stood quiet for a moment, until Amber spoke.
"Just tell us the way it is."
"Alright girls, sit down please." Chesa and Amber sat down. "Mr. Dorough is alright, he has a broken arm, and a really bad bump on the head, but he's
alright."
"Thank God." Amber and Chesa both sighed in unison.
"Mr. Richardson is dosing in and out of consciousness, probably for two reasons. One is the pain killer that we gave him, and he also might have a
slight concussion, and a fractured rib."
"But he is alright, correct?" Chesa asked, wearily.
"Yes, he will recover...Now for Mr. McLean, Mr. Carter, and Mr. Littrell," the doctor started. Amber and Chesa knew that it wouldn't be good, and their
eyes began to water, " .....they are all in comas. They had servere head trauma," the doctor told them. Chesa and Amber gave each other a hug as they dropped to the floor sobbing.
"No......please God, no!" Amber muttered through sobs. Chesa was too shocked to say anything. Minutes later they finally regained themselves.
"Com'mon, let's go see Howie and Kev." Chesa suggested, still stunned at everything. Chesa and Amber walked into room 324 to find Kevin lying in bed,
staring at the ceiling. When they walked in, he immediately looked over.
"Hey Ambular, hey Chester." Kevin greeted softly. Tears again trickled down Amber and Chesa's face as they approached Kevin. Amber and Chesa both gave Kevin hugs.
"Thank God you are alright." Chesa sighed as she hugged Kevin tightly.
"How are you guys doing?" Kevin asked concernly.
"As well as we can." Amber replied.
"H-how are they? I really don't know." Kevin asked. Amber and Chesa looked at each other in amazement.
"They haven't told you?" Amber asked.
"Well, I know that Brian, Nick and AJ are in pretty bad condition, but I don't know what exactly," Kevin replied. Amber and Chesa stood silent for a
moment.
"Amber, you tell him." Chesa suggested.
"Ok." Amber agreed and took a breath, "Kevin, AJ, Brian, and.....Nick, they're-they're in coma's." Amber eyes started to water, along with Chesa's and Kevin's. Kevin was in total shock.
"They are?" Kevin asked quietly, numb from the shock. Chesa nodded her head and bit her lip to keep from crying. A tear trickled down Kevin's face. Amber and Chesa went over and gave him a hug.
"Where's Rachelle?" Kevin asked.
"We couldn't get a hold of her. She probably went to the Tech/UVA game and is just getting home." Chesa told him. Just then the door slammed open and Rachelle rushed in. Amber and Chesa looked at each other in amazement as Rachelle broke through them over to Kevin, tears running down her face. She hugged Kevin and gave him a long kiss.
"How'd you get here so quickly?" Amber asked, puzzled.
"The hospital called me." She replied.
"No wonder we couldn't get a hold of her, she was in the car." Amber explained.
"Hey, Kev, we'll leave you two alone and go see D, ok?" Chesa asked.
"Yeah, see ya guys." Kevin replied, looking a little scared. This was not the first time he had feared for his cousin, and hopefully he would get
through and it would be the last. Chesa and Amber walked out of the room, and didn't say a word. They went down another hall to room 356 and entered.
Howie was lying on the bed with a cast on his arm and he was singing along with the radio. He looked over as we entered and smiled a pain filled smile.
"Hey guys." he greeted softly as we approached his bed side.
"Hey D." Chesa replied with a smile.
"Hey Sweet D." Amber greeted.
"You ok?" Chesa asked as she gave D a hug. Howie nodded.
"I'm ok. Are you guys, I heard about the others." Howie told them growing softer and looking at the floor. Amber took a deep breath.
"As good as we can be. We just came from seeing Kev... he didn't know." Amber confessed to Howie. Howie's mouth dropped.
"They didn't bother to tell him?" Howie asked in amazement and disbelief.
"Apparently not." Amber replied.
"You in any pain?" Chesa asked him. Howie laughed lightly.
"Na, not anymore... and talking to you guys makes me feel better." Howie replied.
"Talk about SWEET D." Amber sighed, they all chuckled.
"Or another term I know of is Suck-Up." Chesa commented. Howie pretended to be shocked.
"Me?" He asked with his jaw dropped. Chesa and Amber chuckled and Howie's parents walked in. "Oh, Mom, Dad this is..."
