Chapter 2
"Jason, Jason!" he heard his name being repeated over and over. He groggily opened his eyes, and his friends' faces came into view. He blinked a few times, then he asked in a hoarse voice, "What happenened? Where am I?" Chad answered, "Well, you were in a car accident, and now, you're at the hospital." Jason looked around, he was in a white room. "How long ago was the accident?" Gabi told him, "Only half an hour." Sure enough, Jason was still in his jeans and red shirt. Then, he noticed someone was missing. Kelsi, he thought, Where's Kelsi?
He asked that question, but his friends didn't answer. He asked again, "Where's Kelsi? Is she here?" Troy looked at the others and they slowly nodded. Troy stammered, "Jason, Kelsi's um, she, well..." Jason cut him off, "Guys, just tell me." Taylor started, "Well, she's in the hospital, but not in the best condition." Ryan continued, "She's in the ICU." Sharpay finished, "She's in a coma, Jason." Those words echoed in Jaosn't mind, She's in a coma, she's in the ICU.
He shook his head, "No, she can't be. How?" Zeke explained, "The car hit her side of your car, she got the full impact." Troy added, "The doctors told us she had a broken arm, and two broken ribs." Jason said, "This can't be happening." Gabi said, "I'm sorry, Jason." He shook his head again and said, "I can't believe this." Taylor put her hand on his shoulder and comforted him, "She'll be fine, Jason." He asked, "How do you know that?" Sharpay told him, "Just have faith in her, you know, trust her, she'll be fine."
Just then, a doctor walked in. "Ah, how are you feeling, Mr. Cross?" Jason shrugged, "OK, I guess." Then he asked, "Where's Kelsi?" the doctor questioned, "You mean Miss Neilson?" Jason nodded, and the doctor said, "She's in the ICU, room #3070." (A/N: I dunno if hospitals even have room numbers that high, but it's Olesya Rulin's b-day, so I just did that.) Jason asked, "Could we go see her now?" The doctor explained, "I'd need to check your condition first." Jason nodded and the doctor asked everyone to leave the room. The seven of them walked out the closed the door behind them. Then, the doctor Jason a check-up. After he had given Jason permission to go, he met up with his friends.
The walked to Kelsi's room in silence, then they saw the sign on the door. It read, "Oxygen in use. NO SMOKING." Ryan asked, "Why is that there?" Zeke added, "Are you sure that this is Kelsi's room?" Jason pointed to the sign next to the door. That one said, "Kelsi Neilson."
"Oh," Zeke said, disappointed. Jason reached for the doorknob, turned it, opened the door, and walked in. He looked behind him, waiting for his friends to follow. "You're going alone for now, dude," Chad said. Jason sighed and shut the door. He turned around and got his first look at Kelsi since he found out he was in the hospital. He sighed again at the sight of her, all bruised, with a white cast on her left arm, in one of those horrible hospital gowns. She also had something like a brace to help her ribs get back in place, around her chest.
He sat down next to her bed, on the side where the arm without the cast was. He held her hand and his mind drifted to his times with Kelsi. Walking with Kelsi, talking with Kelsi, laughing with Kelsi, just being with Kelsi. he remembered when he first saw her, in October, in the start of sophomore year. She was the new girl then, but she quickly found a clique to be in: the drama club. She was just passing by him in the hall, but he thought she was beautiful. He remembered when he saw her, standing, holding the basketball oddly in her hands. He had walked behind her, and taken off her hat, letting her long wavy hair flow down. She had smiled at him, and he had helped her shoot a basket. He remembered when he had first heard her playing the piano. He was walking by the auditorium before school, heading to the gym for some extra practice, when he heard her. He looked in, and there she was, sitting on the bench, her fingers gliding over the keys. This was they day after they had come back from Christmas break. She had been playing "What I've Been Looking For," it was slow, peaceful, and he was entranced by it. He had moved on, but the enchanting feeling of Kelsi's music stayed in his mind.
He smiled at all these memories and stayed with Kelsi. There was a knock on the door, and Troy's voice came, "Jason, can we come in?" Jason replied, "Sure." The seven of his friends walked in. They sat on the chairs and the one small couch around the room and they barely talked at all during the hour they were there. All of them needed to leave at nine, since visiting hours were over. Jason squeezed Kelsi's hand, "Goodnight, Kelsi." He lightly kissed her hand and walked out of her room.
Troy drove Jason to his house and went home, the other six of them called taxis home. Jason's parents asked what happened, and said they were sorry about Kelsi, then Kelsi's mom and dad called and asked Jason how he was, and explained that they were out of town for Friday and Saturday, but they'd come back the next day. Jason went to bed, tired, exhausted, and feeling overall horrible.
