"Oh my god. Frankie. Oh my god"
"Mikey, call 911."
My thoughts all piled into one another as I franticly tried to awaken my best friend. I tried to warn him that he would get hurt. He didn't listen. It's my fault. I should have tried that much harder to make him stay. I wouldn't have cared if my parents knew he was here, if I knew that this was going to happen.
Mikey came rushing out of the house, phone in hand. "The ambulance is on its way, it should be here within ten minutes. What happened to Frank?"
"I don't know. He jumped out of my window; I don't know what else happened after that because I was pretending to be asleep".
I heard sirens somewhere in the distance. They sounded far off; somewhere else entirely. I desperately wanted them to be here already. I didn't care; I was going to the hospital with them. I had to; I wouldn't be able to do anything if I didn't know what was happening with Frank.
"Gee, I know what you're thinking already. If you're going, I'm going to come with you"
"Mikey-"
"No, I'm coming. I've made up my mind already".
This made me smile, ever so slightly. This kid was so stubborn sometimes. You just couldn't talk him out of something once he set his mind to it.
I realized that I was still sitting beside Frank, still trying to wake him up somehow. I wasn't sure why, but it wasn't working. He was alive still, so I was rather puzzled.
I got up, looked at him, and then decided to walk over to the street, and check if the ambulance was almost here. I saw the lights flashing from a block or so over, and felt a bit of relief. The panic in my chest started to loosen; I thought to myself, we'll know what's happening soon. I stood and watched the ambulances lights, hypnotized, until it got into our yard.
A man in some kind of uniform jumped out of the vehicle. "What exactly happened here?"
I stuttered, then finally explained that Frankie had decided to jump out of my window, and that was all I knew.
"Hmm. Well; we'll have to take him to the hospital and find out what happened, and if any damage has been done."
"I'm coming too."
"I'm sorry son, I'm afraid that we cannot allow you to come with us."
I started to freak out. "Please! I need to know what is happening. If I stay here, all I will be able to think about is how it's my fault that he's hurt."
The man decided that he would let me come, just this once.
"Can my brother come too?"
He sighed heavily, but nodded his head, ever so slightly.
I turned, and found that the paramedics had put Frank onto a stretcher and were wheeling him over to us.
"Mikey! Come on, let's go."
Mikey ran over to me, and we got into the back of the ambulance. After all four of the paramedics crammed in, as well as Frank on his stretcher, it became extremely cramped in the small space. I figured that the ride would take about 5 minutes, so I just sat there and waited.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the hospital. I straightened up automatically, but waited until the paramedics were out with Frank, until I moved any farther.
I followed them into the hospital, but when Frank was rushed into a room, I was told I would have to sit in the waiting room.
Mikey and I went and sat in the big chairs in silence. Too quiet. There were so many unpleasant thoughts entering my mind, and I didn't even notice when I started to cry.
Mikey interrupted, sparing me from those thoughts for the time being. "He's going to be okay, Gee. Any minute now, he'll walk out of that room, with nothing but a slightly confused expression on his face." He pulled me into a hug.
"Thank you so much, for being so supportive."
"Any time, big bro."
We sat there for what seemed like an eternity, Mikey's arms still embracing me. It was quiet in the hospital. I hoped there would be some sort of noise, or movement soon.
I think I fell asleep. The next thing that I knew, I jumped as I heard a door squeak. I looked up eagerly, hoping to see the familiar face of my best friend walking towards us. All I saw was a doctor.
I put my head back down, thinking that the doctor was just going off to a different ward, or something. I was startled when he ended up standing directly in front of me, a grim expression on his face.
"I have some bad news about your friend."
Oh my god. No, this can't be happening. He couldn't have died. No.
"He's not dead."
I looked up. "Well then what's wrong with him?"
"Well, he seems to have hit his head rather hard on something. I believe he must have landed okay when he when he jumped out of that window, but stumbled and fell over something."
"What's wrong?" I heard the edge that had crept into my voice, and I'm pretty sure that the doctor heard it too.
"I'm afraid that your friend Frank has slipped into a severe coma."
