Disclaimer: I apologize for the delayed update. I had a lot of stuff going on…regarding college, my band, my job…anyway, here's Chapter 4! I OWN NOTHING. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Waiting

Leslie's POV:

What the hell am I going to tell them?

Please God, save Jess. Don't let him die.

This all of my fault, Mr. Aarons…

Oh my God, I am so sorry, Mrs. Aarons…

The thoughts I had right there were the only thoughts I had when I sprinted to Jess's house with tears streaming down my face. I couldn't think straight at all.

Mr. Aarons was pulling into the driveway when I approached the premise. My heart skipped a beat and I stopped dead in my tracks.

It's now or never, Leslie. Tell him now. I thought.

"Why, hello Leslie. How are—" He studied my face. "What's wrong? You've been crying. Your clothes; your hair; what happened?"

"Mr. Aarons, Jess was taken away by the ambulance. He hit his head when he fell in the creek and—"

"WHAT!" He screamed. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?"

My God I can't do this... "He went to swing on the rope and it ripped, and he fell in—"

"Jesus H. Christ…that rope was dangerous. Why the hell—"

Jess's mother came out of the house. "I thought I heard yelling. What's going on out here?"

"Honey, get the kids. Jess is in the hospital. He's been hurt real bad."

Mrs. Aarons practically broke down in front of me. "My God, how did this happen?"

Mr. Aarons took a deep breath in. "There is no time to explain everything right now. Let's go." He turned to me. "Leslie, do you need a lift?"

"No sir, I'm going with my parents. I'll see you there."

Even though the hospital wasn't very far, the ride to the hospital felt like it was hours long. Every second felt like a minute, and every minute felt like an hour. My mind was racing and I couldn't close my eyes. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Jess plummet into the creek. The sound of his head cracking against the rock haunted my mind.

When we finally got to the hospital, we were told that Jess was just getting out of surgery and was getting transferred to the recovery room. We were then escorted to the waiting room.

"As soon as Jess is out of recovery, and after we run some tests, you can see Jesse." A nurse said to us.

When we were finally called to see Jesse, he was on the fifth floor in room 518. I followed his family while Bill and Judy went to the gift shop to get flowers and Get Well cards. When I saw him, my heart dropped. He was hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor. He had bandage wrapped around his head and his face was as pale as the white wall paper in the hospital room. He had a breathing tube attached to mouth. I was mortified.

I held back the tears as his parents were sitting by his bedside. May Belle and Joyce Ann were crying while Brenda and Ellie were sitting on the opposite side of the room. The doctor came into the room. His face looked grim.

"It appears that Jesse suffered a concussion and had some cranial damage. He's lost a lot of blood, but luckily we were able to stop the bleeding. But unfortunately, we don't know when he will wake up. While we were stitching up his head, there were problems with his breathing. He is in a coma."

I nearly collapsed when he said the word "coma." I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that my best friend could possibly die.

That should be me hooked up the machines. Not him. Jess didn't want to swing over the creek in the first place. But no, I had to pressure him into swinging over the creek. I had to make us go to Terabithia. This is all of my fault. My God, Jesse, I am so sorry...if anything happens to you, I will never forgive myself. Until the day I die...

"If Jesse does wake up," the doctor continued," there may be some long term affects from everything that happened."

Mrs. Aarons came close to tears. "What kind of long term affects?"

"He might have some memory loss, blurred vision, and impaired speech…"

"Mrs. Aarons broke down in her husband's arms. I cried too.

"Hold good thoughts, everyone. Say a prayer or two." The doctor said as he left the room.

Mr. Aarons turned to me. "Leslie…I know this is hard for you…but I need to know exactly what happened to Jess. Please tell us everything."

I took a deep breath in and did everything in my power to pull myself together. "Jess and I wanted to take a walk by the creek…and since the rope was there…we figured we could swing across the creek. He said he wasn't comfortable swinging across the creek because the water was too high…but I insisted on us going across. I was gonna swing across first, but Jess insisted that he would swing across first…and then when the rope snapped, Jess fell in and hit his head on the jagged rocks…" Tears began to fill my eyes and my voice began to shake. "I dove after him and got him out of the water…but when I tried to resuscitate him…and he didn't respond…I called for help…B—my dad came to Jess's aid…and then Jud—my mom called 911…the ambulance came immediately…and after they took him here…"

"I've heard enough." Mrs. Aarons finally spoke. "I knew I shouldn't have let him go out today…"

I blinked. "What…? What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you didn't pressure him into doing something he didn't want to do, this wouldn't have happened!" Mrs. Aarons snapped. "He wouldn't be in a coma!"

I began to lose control. "Mrs. Aarons I'm so incredibly sorry…I can't stop apologizing for all of this. I can't even begin to—"

"Mary, stop it—" Mr. Aarons attempted to calm his wife down.

"We can't even afford the hospital bills that we're supposed to pay!" She harshly continued. "This incident might put us on the streets! This happened all because of you. Ever since you came to town, Jesse stopped helping out around the house and kept ditching—"

"Mrs. Aarons, you have no right to speak to my daughter that way." Judy came to my side. "Leslie has done nothing but being a great friend to your son and this is how you treat her? Shame on you!"

"This is about Jesse, for Christ's sake." Bill said as he put the bouquet of wild flowers on the window sill beside Jess. "No one is to blame because it was an accident. If anything, we will help pay for the hospital bills. Our children are dear to us and we want Jess to get better as much as you do."

"Excuse me," I said as I ran out of Jess's hospital room.

"Leslie, wait!" Bill called after me.

I didn't want any comfort. I knew it was my fault. I knew I was to blame. I couldn't deal with facing with the reality that my best friend was in a coma, and no one knew when he was going to wake up. It could have been days, weeks, months, any day of the year. All I wanted was to be alone; away from the Aarons'. They needed to be with Jess. They were his family.

I waited by the car and cried more than I ever cried in my entire life. All I wanted was to be at Jess's beside, but I couldn't because his family resented me. Bill and Judy came to my side and drove me home.

"Please don't blame yourself, sweetheart." Judy finally said to me. "When we get home, I want you to calm down, take a warm bath, and relax. What you did for Jess today was amazing, and I am so proud of the beautiful young girl you are turning into."

Judy's words made me smile a little. But unfortunately that smile was only temporary. It didn't open Jess's eyes.

Even though the sun was practically going down, I curled up into my bed and escaped from reality. No matter how many times I tried to relax, my mind re-played the events that happened today. After I exhausted myself from crying for hours, I managed to calm down as I slowly drifted to sleep.

That's all for now! I should probably update more often since my summer class finally ended! Chapter 5 will be posted A.S.A.P!