JESSE'S ACCIDENT
Disclaimer: The characters here in the story do NOT belong to me.
Jesse had had an exhausting day and he was glad that it was almost over. He did not feel good today, he felt a little bit sick and he had only slept for one hour the night before. His weekend was all planned however, he was going with Steve on a camping trip They both needed a break because they were so exhausted. Jesse needed the vacation the most. The last month he had done plenty of double shifts surviving on coffee and vending machine snacks. He couldn't go on like this forever. He needed to take a break. A person could only do so much work.
He went to do his rounds for the last time, making sure that all his patients were all right. Now he could go on vacation with his best friend, who he actually sees as his big brother.
Mark, Amanda and Steve were in the doctor's lounge. As Jesse entered the room, he could hear Mark telling to Steve to be careful. As Jesse greeted everyone, Mark watched the young doctor with whom he has built up a very good relationship, actually he saw Jesse more as his son, he knew the boy had had a difficult childhood and needed a father figure, so why not him? After all, Jesse hardly ever saw his father any more, as he had left when Jesse was still in high school.
Mark saw that Jesse didn't look very good, he was very pale and he looked as if he was short of sleep.
"Hi Steve, ready to go on vacation? You are already packed aren't you?" Jesse asked, quickly checking and seeing no sign of any bulging bags.
Steve looked very embarrassed and started rather awkwardly.
"Jess," he said, "I have bad news. I can't go with you. I have the chance to go with a few of the guys from the precinct on a boat fishing trip and I want to do that. It's not that I don't want to spend time with you or anything…"
"Ok, Steve I have never been on a boat. Maybe it will be fun" Jesse misunderstood what Steve was saying and his face brightened at the thought of going on the boat instead.
"Err…Jess you don't understand. I want to be alone with the guys understand." Suddenly, Steve felt really guilty about the promise he was breaking to his friend.
Jesse couldn't help but feel rather disappointed. But as the conversation went on, he found he was more angry than upset over the whole thing.
"Yes Steve I understand perfectly. You don't want to go with me. I thought I was your friend, but maybe I was wrong. A year ago I was the one who saved your life. But I guess I'm not ONE of the guys. Then I was the one who invested with you in Barbecue Bob's. Nice friend you are. Thanks a lot for all these years, boy was I wrong about you."
Steve could feel himself panicking.
"You don't understand. I have the chance to go with the guys and do stuff together maybe form some more friendships. I hoped you would understand."
Jesse didn't answer but left the room very angry. Mark was also angry with his son.
"Jess is right Steve, you have treated him very badly, you could have taken him with you, the other cops know him. I am ashamed of you. I have to go, I have patients to see."
Steve felt very ashamed and decided he had to find Jesse. He couldn't leave it the way it was. As Steve got to his car he heard Jesse start his engine and drive away. Steve jumped into his car and followed Jesse.
Jesse put his foot down hard on the accelerator, driving faster because he knew that Steve was following him. The more he thought about his conversation with Steve the angrier he got, and his driving got faster and faster and his concentration got less and less. Finally Jesse shot through a red light without even realising it. A truck, coming from a different angle along the intersection didn't see him and, unable to stop, drove with a screech of tires and brakes straight into the side of Jesse's car.
Steve saw it all happen in slow motion even though it was over in the blink of an eye. It was a very big accident. Steve jumped out of his car and ran over to Jesse. It looked very bad indeed. Steve hesitated. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to look in the car because he feared that his friend, who he cared about a lot could be dead.
"If he is dead then it is my fault." Steve thought. Then, plucking up all his courage, he peered into the car and saw Jesse lying in a pool of blood. Frantically he leant in and searched for a pulse—finding a very faint pulse he let out a sigh. Jesse was breathing even though it was very weakly.
The fire brigade and the ambulance arrived quickly. It took half an hour of sheer hard work to get Jesse free. Mark heard the news from his son and arrived on the scene, quickly . "Steve how are you holding up?" he asked worriedly.
But Steve didn't appear to hear the question. "Dad this is all my fault. How could I be so selfish?"
"Son this is not all your fault, this was an accident. It could be you lying there"
"But it isn't me, if he dies it will be all my fault I will never forgive myself."
The ride to the hospital seemed to last for hours. Jesse came into the ER and Amanda was waiting for him. When she saw him she gasped, Jesse looked terrible. Dr. Anne Verhoeven, the Belgian doctor who had worked for almost a year in the hospital attended to him. Mark knew that he couldn't do it himself, neither could Amanda. Mark was glad to see Anne on the job attending Jesse; she was a very skilled doctor.
"I want a CT Scan, x-rays of the chest, abdomen and legs STAT," she barked out quickly. After taking the x-rays Jesse's pulse started to fade. Dr. Verhoeven gave him three shots with the defibrillator before she got a regular heartbeat again.
What she already suspected was now confirmed Jesse had head trauma, a punctured lung caused by one of four broken ribs, and two broken legs. One of the legs was an open fracture. His spleen was bleeding, he had a broken wrist with a perforated vein and several bruises and abrasions covered his face. Dr Verhoeven knew he had to be operated on immediately.