As we sit here waiting to know the fate of the two loved ones in our lives, it gives me time to reflect back on my own, especially the last two months.
A silly bet between three friends led two a chance encounter with the woman next to me that I believe to be the love of my life. Yes it was a rocky road to get to where we are and somedays it still is touch and go. You see I have given her much reason not to trust me. I was one of those guys, I cheated on her, not just with anybody but with my best friend. Not just once but twice. But here we are, I hope stronger than ever, and this sadness is about to test us again.
But let’s get to the best friend, so we both were confused what we felt for each other and which became clear we lied about. She did some things she was not proud of and yes I forgave her much to everybody else’s disgust. The thing is she will always be in my life. She just wants to be loved like the rest of us and if this sadness brings her closer to that person than it is all that I ask.
The four of us have been sitting here for over a day now, it is frustrating, there is no change, Amber still have a lot of swelling on the brain and Mason has not come to yet.
Damon ~”Skye, baby, let me take you home so you can rest.”
Skye ~”I am not going anywhere.”
Damon ~”Baby you are exhausted.”
Skye ~”I will sleep here on the chair.”
Damon ~”Baby you can’t sleep here.”
Skye ~”Damon just leave me alone, I will sleep where I like.”
Tajsa notices the tension building between me and Skye.
Tajsa ~”Damon let’s go grab everyone some coffee.”
Damon ~”Sure.”
I turn to Skye.
Damon ~”Baby what would you like?”
Skye ~”Strong black with no sugar.”
Damon ~”Brody?”
Brody ~”Same for me too. Can I come help you?”
Tajsa ~”Thanks Brody but I think we can manage.”
We leave the waiting room and head to the cafeteria.
Damon ~”Thanks for that, you know I have never been good with these things.”
Tajsa ~”I saw you needed some rescuing there. She just needs to vent now, just be patient with her.”
Damon ~”I know, I just get too overprotective. I just don’t want her to hurt.”
Tajsa ~”I understand but this is something you are not going to be able to control.”
Damon ~”Fuck Tajsa, I just want them both to come out of it.”
Tajsa ~”Me too Damon, me too.”
We get to the cafeteria and sit down to have coffee.
Damon ~”So how are you doing?”
Tajsa ~”I wish we had some petites for this conversation.”
Damon ~”They have chocolate cake. You want to share?”
Tajsa ~”Why not, I want the part with the most icing.”
Damon ~”Typical girl, like the sweetest part.”
We order our coffee and cake and dig into it.
Damon ~”Do you remember the day you met Mason?”
Tajsa ~”Yes, I punched him for telling me I have a big ass and small tits.”
Damon ~”No that was Brody. Mason was the one that gave you your first bunch of flowers. I remember he made you cry.”
Tajsa ~”No that was my allergies acting up. I remember miss Stephens shitting him out for picking it out of her garden.”
Damon ~”But he still went and did it at least once a week again.”
Tajsa ~”Until I hooked up with Brody.”
Damon ~”Ya, you two were something else. Do you ever think you guys will get back together again?”
Tajsa ~”He will never settle down with one woman. How is this thing with finding him a wife going?”
Damon ~”Well Tori, the girl we took with the weekend was a disaster. Now we only have Candice left and of course he has been out with Chloe.”
Tajsa ~
He must just speak to his mom. I think you guys are just forcing it
Damon ~”Kind of like me and Skye were forced, but at least things worked out.”
Tajsa ~”Talking about Skye, we better get back.”
We order the other’s coffee and go back to the waiting room. Skye is fast asleep on the chair. I take my jacket off and throw it over her shoulders. Today is going to be another long day, I will let her sleep a bit.
An hour later the Doctor shows up to give us an update.
Damon ~”Doctor how are they doing?”
Doctor ~”I am happy with Mason’s progress, he is responding well to treatment. I am confident he will be awake soon.”
Skye ~”And Amber?”
Doctor ~”Unfortunately there is no improvement yet, we can’t seem to get her temperature down. We will run tests this afternoon again.”
Skye ~”What tests?”
Doctor ~”We will do an MRI to determine if there is any damage to therein. The swelling is causing a lack of oxygen which I am concerned about.”
Skye burst out crying, this is the worst news that we have heard so far. We have so been hoping not to hear that word, brain damage, and now it might have just become a reality. Amber is such a young girl, she has a whole life ahead of her, this cannot be happening. She will be alright, she has to be alright, and Skye will never survive this.
The day goes by quickly, we are in and out of Mason and Amber’s room the whole day. Come the late afternoon the Doctor joins us in the waiting room again.
Doctor ~”I have some good news, Mason woke up a few minutes ago.”
Damon ~”Oh my god! Thank you Doctor! Can we go see him?”
Doctor ~”I just want to give you an update on Amber.”
Damon ~”What did the test say?”
Doctor ~”We struggling to tell, we have to wait for the swelling to go down.”
Damon ~”How long is that going to take?”
Doctor ~”Unfortunately I don’t know, it’s up to her body to fight it.”
The Doctor leaves, Skye is curled up in the chair next to me crying. I don’t know how to comfort her, what do I do, she is shattered in pieces. The parts of what keeps her alive inside is disappearing with every second. She is becoming dead inside, she does not see hope past what is faced in front of her and that is that her sister might be dying. How do you even come to terms with that, how do you even comfort someone faced with that.
I sit with her while Brody and Tajsa go check on Mason.
Skye ~”Baby, go to Mason, I will be okay.”
Damon ~”Baby I am not leaving you alone.”
Skye ~”Baby I am fine.”
Damon ~”Baby please, I want to stay with you.”
Skye ~”Can we go check on Amber again?”
Damon ~”Of course, let me help you up.”
She is unstable on her feet, she has not eaten since we have been here and she does not want to go home. I will go grab her clean clothes and something to eat once we have been to see Amber.
As we get to the room, there is not much that has changed. She has that awful tube in her mouth still that is pulling her lips up to the left, it looks so damn painful. The heart machine is still beeping at the same speed and it is not the speed a normal heart should beat at. This is not Amber, without thinking I utter the words out loud.
Damon ~”I beg you, please Amber, come back.”
Skye bursts out crying, me and my big damn mouth.
We sit there for a half an hour before we go back to the waiting room. Brody is there waiting.
Brody ~”Skye, Mason wants to talk to you.”
Skye ~”Is he okay?”
Brody ~”He is in a lot of pain, they want to give him something but he wants to talk to you first.”
Damon ~”Do you want to go baby?”
Skye ~”Okay, yes we can go. Brody please call me if the Doctor comes or anything.”
We make our way down to Mason’s room. As soon as Tajsa sees us, she comes out the room.
Tajsa ~”I am going back to the waiting room.”
Damon ~”Okay, we will see you now.”
I hold Skye by the arm as we enter the room, she nearly collapses as we get to the bed.
Mason ~”Skye, I, I, I am, I am so sorry.”
Skye ~”Mason what happened?”
Mason ~”We were, we, we were talking, I was, I was not paying, paying attention to, to the road. I, I am sorry.”
Skye ~”Mason it is not your fault.”
Mason ~”It is, I should, should have made, made her wear her, her seatbelt.”
Skye ~”Mason she never wears it, she would not have listened to you even if you tried.”
Mason ~”Is she okay?”
Skye ~”We don’t know yet but I will let you know what the Doctor says when we see her again.”
Damon ~”You just rest, I will come check on you a little later.”
As we leave Mason’s room, the nurse comes to give him something for the pain, it is quite strong so it will knock him out for the next few hours.
We get back to the waiting room, Brody has fallen asleep on Tajsa’s lap, she herself is looking exhausted.
Damon ~”Tajsa why don’t you go home to rest?”
Tajsa ~”I think I am just going to go home to shower and change. Can I bring you guys anything with?”
Skye ~”Baby please go with her and bring me clean clothes from home.”
Damon ~”Don’t you want me to take you home to shower?”
Skye ~”I will ask the nurses if I can use their showers.”
Damon ~”Are you sure?”
Skye ~”Yes please.”
After letting her check on Amber again, me and Tajsa leave the hospital, first heading for my place.
Tajsa ~”Are you going to be okay?”
Damon ~”Tajsa I don’t know, I don’t think I will know how to deal with it if Amber goes. I mean, I had Brody to help me after my mom’s death and then you as well. I would have never made it without you. I don’t know how to deal with this, I can’t comfort her.”
Tajsa ~”You can, don’t sell yourself so short. You have come a long way this past two months.”
Damon ~”Yes and if it was not for you, I would have never got to be with Skye. You always seem to be there. Please promise me that no matter your differences that you will be there for Skye?”
Tajsa ~”Damon you don’t even have to ask.”
We get to my place where I quickly shower and change.
I grab some clean clothes for Skye and meet Tajsa back in the kitchen.
Damon ~”You want to have a quick whiskey?”
Tajsa ~”Fuck I won’t say no.”
I pour us a glass each and sit down at the kitchen counter. Yes I know, this is probably not the right time for this but hell it feels like I am going to fall apart. Skye is with Brody, he will look after her.
Damon ~”So I heard you went out with the marketing guy?”
Tajsa ~”Does nothing stay a secret in that office?”
Damon ~”You forget that those girls will do anything to get into this and that includes saying shit about my recent ex.”
Tajsa ~”We were a whole of one day, I am not really an ex.”
Damon ~”In my books it counted as an ex.”
Tajsa ~”Oh yes, the whole seconds and thirds thing.”
Damon ~”Mason really does not keep his mouth shut.”
Tajsa ~”I feel so bad for him, he finally meets a girl and then this shit happens.”
Damon ~”I don’t think he was really that into her but yes this is fucked up. I don’t know what he is going to do if anything bad happens to her.”
Tajsa ~”I don’t know, he has always been lonely, ever since that other woman left him he has not been the same.”
Damon ~”So have you, Brody also did a real number on you?”
Tajsa ~”And I did one on you.”
Damon ~”I told you to forget about it, I was just as much into it as you.”
We finish our drink and get into the car to head onto her place.
I have not heard from Skye so I am sure everything is still okay at the hospital. We only have been gone for an hour.
We get to Tajsa’s place, I wait for her in the lounge while she showers and changes.
Tajsa ~”Do you want to grab them something to eat on the way or should we see what we have got here?”
Damon ~”Let’s run past that Chinese place, we can pop in next door to get whatever Mason might need.”
Tajsa ~”Great idea, let me just grab some of Brody’s old clothes that is still here.”
Damon ~”Why the fuck do you still have his shit?”
Tajsa ~”I could not find the heart to throw it away.”
We grab what we need and head off to go to the store and get some Chinese take away, not that I think Skye would eat but at least it would be there. I still have not heard from her and she has not responded to my messages either, I assume everything is okay.
But then Brody phones.
Brody ~”You guys need to get back here.”
Damon ~”We just got some take away, we are on our way. What is wrong?”
Brody ~”It is Amber. She crashed, they managed to revive her but it is not looking good.”
Damon ~”FUCK. We on our way.”
I drop the call, put my emergency lights on and floor the car.
Tajsa ~”What is wrong?”
Damon ~”Amber crashed, they don’t think she is going to make it.”
Tajsa ~”Go Damon, go faster.”
In fifteen minutes flat we are at the hospital rushing down the corridors. We find Skye hysterically screaming as the Doctor and nurses are in Amber’s room.
Damon ~”Baby I am here, I am here.”
Skye ~”Baby it is horrible, her body started shaking and everything just died, she died, she was dead for almost five minutes.”
Damon ~”Baby I am so sorry.”
Skye ~”Baby they say she is not going to make it. Is she going to make it?”
Damon ~”Baby she will make it. Amber is a strong girl, she will fight it.”
I am lying to her, I don’t know if Amber is going to make it. Only Amber knows if she is going to make it. Only she decides if she wants to make it. And god knows, I hope she does want to make it. But Amber’s body is broken and truth be told the Doctor doubts she will make it through the night but we need to have hope. Without hope we are nothing, we are just aimless beings wondering the earth. We need all the hope we can get, Skye needs all the hope that we can give.
But then it happens again. Her body shakes in a seizure attack and the terrible noise of the heart monitor flat lines, Amber is dying once again.
Skye ~”NO! CALL THE DOCTOR!”
The Doctor and nurses come rushing back in and start frantically working on her. This time it takes nine minutes.
Damon ~”Baby let’s go sit down. I don’t want you to see this. The Doctor is looking after her.”
Skye ~”NO. I AM STAYING RIGHT HERE.”
Damon ~”Baby please.”
Skye ~”NO DAMON. I AM STAYING HERE.”
Damon ~”Please come here.”
I put my jacket around her, I don’t know if she is shivering from the cold or from fear. I pull her into my arms and I just hold her, shying her face away from what is happening in the room.
The Doctor leaves in a rush and it seems everything is okay. But not for long.
Amber crashes again.
The Doctor is back in seconds, but it does not take seconds to resuscitate Amber. Fifteen minutes goes by, the Doctor is still frantic but a look of dread sets on her face. It has been too long, is all what it tells. She puts down the defibrillator and looks at the clock. She call it a ten minutes past four in the afternoon.
Skye crashes to the floor.
Her entire world has just fallen apart. I pick her up as she screams at the top of her lungs, all she wants is to rush in the room. She is kicking at my legs as she is trying to get away from me. I cannot let go, it is breaking my heart. I am losing the woman I love right in front of me. How is she going to survive this, how is Mason going to survive this. I don’t know how any of us are going to survive this.