Riley's POV:

We were riding to the hospital for what seemed like hours. Well, not really, I guess. But how was I to know? I kept dozing off every now and again. I guess it had to do with all the pain I was in, along with the fact that I was probably losing tons of blood. One of the last times I'd woken up was the time in which we arrived to the hospital. I was still crying in pain whenever they lifted up the stretcher I was currently strapped to. I winced in pain just a bit more whenever the people carrying me caused a jolt of pain to go rushing through my body.

"O-Ow.." I cried just loud enough for someone to be able to hear me.

Somebody turned towards me. I couldn't really see if they were a man or a woman, since my tears were blocking most of my vision. "Sorry, sweetheart.. We'll be more careful now, alright?" I could tell that it was a feminine-sounding voice.

"O-Okay.." I said, my voice sounding really pathetic. I made an attempt to nod my head but then I remembered something. My neck was in some weird brace thing and I couldn't move it. As a matter of fact, I actually couldn't move at all. I might've been strapped down or something but I just wasn't sure. Maybe I was just hurt so bad that I was actually paralyzed. Either way it goes, though, I was extremely scared. I felt people continue to carry me on the stretcher for just a couple of minutes until they reached some random room. They brought me into the room and quickly transferred me from the stretcher to either a table or a hospital bed. There were several doctors in the room. I didn't even bother to count them. I couldn't focus enough to count them, anyway.

"Hey, honey. If you didn't already know, you were in a bad accident." One of the doctors announced to me. He spoke in a nice, condescending voice. "You see all of us? We're all doctors, we're going to fix you up, okay?"

"O..Okay." I blinked. It was really hard to focus on his words. His voice was kind of causing my head to hurt badly. It wasn't really his fault but just about anything was causing me pain at this point.

"Okay, so can you tell me where it hurts?" He asked. I bet he already knew my answer.

"E-Everywhere.." I responded quietly. I mean, it really was the truth. I definitely wasn't about to lie about that.

"Oh.." I heard him let out a deep sigh. "Well, what about this. Where does it hurt the worst..?"

"I-I don't know.." I told him in a somewhat shaky voice. I tried to think of where my pain was the absolute worse but it was hard to tell.

"Well, that's okay, honey. We're just going to take a look at you real quick." He told me directly afterward. All the people in the room quickly looked me over to check for serious injuries, I guess. Out of all the people there though, there was one person I didn't happen to see; my mom. I just shrugged it off. Maybe she just got lost somewhere in the hospital. I still wanted her though. She was the only one who could bring me comfort at this point. Even though the doctors were taking care of me, they just weren't as comforting as my mom or dad..or even Maya. I completely forgot about her. I surely hoped she was okay wherever she was. Anyways, a doctor shined some bright light into both of my eyes. It really burned.

"Uh oh." The doctor muttered to himself. That was when I knew something was seriously wrong.

"W-What's wrong..?" I asked with curiosity...well, either that or fear. Or maybe even both. Tears began to flow down my face once again. I certainly didn't want to die!

"Hang on, honey." He told me calmly. "We're gonna need to get you in for a CAT scan of your head. It's quite possible you could've hurt your skull whenever you hit your head or something."

I hit my head? I didn't even know that! I thought my body was just mercilessly crushed by one of the subway cars. "W-Wait.. I..I hit my head?" I asked nervously.

"Yes, you did." The one doctor who was talking to me nodded his head. "We're not entirely sure if you damaged your skull at all but we just want to be sure."

My eyes instantly widened. What did they mean by all of this? Was I going to have to get a major brain surgery? What would happen if I was to die?! How would mom and dad react? How would they tell Auggie? "A-Am I going to die?!" I asked yet another question, my voice cracking every now and again.

"Not if we can help. We're going to be sure you make it out of here alive. Don't you worry, alright?" The doctor tried his very best to reassure me but it didn't really work. I was in quite the panic.

"O-Okay." I frowned. I knew they were more than likely lying just to keep me calm.

"Alright, we're gonna get ya right down there. We'll let your mom come down with you. We had to have her wait outside the room." I was informed by that same doctor. I guess she didn't get lost after all.

Soon enough, I felt the bed I was lying in begin to move once more. I saw the door open and mom was right there, just as I was told. I formed a gentle smile with my lips. It hurt, but oddly enough, I felt more relaxed. I guess seeing her made my nerves calm down. "M-Mom..?" I spoke rather quietly. I just felt even weaker than ever before.

"Yeah, honey?" She asked, leaning over me. I could definitely sense the concern in her voice.

"I-I..I..I'm not gonna make it, a-am I..?" I looked up at her. Tears filled my eyes for like the fifth time today. My voice cracked a repetitive amount of times, as well. I really was not convinced that I would survive this whole ordeal.

"W-Well, I sure hope that's not the case." She admitted. I could tell she was trying her best to remain calm.

But although she was trying to remain calm, I was not. All I kept thinking was that I was going to die and it just made me panic more and more. I couldn't even control my own tears. It made me feel like such a little kid. I was twelve. I didn't really think twelve year olds were supposed to cry uncontrollably just because of pain….but it was happening. I was just a weak and pathetic little crybaby. I didn't even realize we reached the room where the MRI was to take place.

But as they were rolling me into the room, I felt my vision start to get fuzzy. I didn't even bother to mention it to anyone before all the feeling in my body seemed to fade away and I blacked out completely.