A/N: I haven't updated anything in awhile, I know. I was planning on writing a Thanksgiving (later transformed to Christmas) story, which didn't get finished in the amount of time I wanted it to. It might end up getting posted in July or something. Anyways, I'm back to writing this, I guess. On to the story!
"Now," the nurse began, "I need to tell you two about the extent of Zack's injuries before you can see him."
"Okay," Carey said quietly. Cody silently stood beside her in solemn anticipation as he waited for the nurse to tell them of Zack's injuries.
"First, the accident Zack was in was a side collision. From what witnesses and others involved in the crash have said, Zack's car drifted into the left lane of I-95 going north. A vehicle was coming up behind him and couldn't slow down before it hit him. It slammed into the driver-side door of Zack's car, and because his car didn't have any airbags, Zack took on a great deal of the impact. Since the crash occurred after a slight curve in the road at the top of a hill, the cars were somewhat concealed from view, and a few more cars weren't able to slow down much before they reached the two cars. However, they were able to attempt to swerve around the cars, which spared Zack from being impacted directly a second time, though his car was hit again in other areas."
Tears fell from the eyes of the entire Martin family as the nurse finished the account of the accident.
"Now, about Zack's injuries. He is, as you have been informed, in a coma. He has a rating of three on the Glasgow Coma Scale. That means he has a severe brain injury. In addition, he's got several broken bones. His leg, wrist, arm, two fingers, and some of his ribs are broken. He's also intubated and on a ventilator to help him breathe."
The Martin family still remained more or less silent, Kurt's face creased in concern, for he had already seen the condition that the older Martin twin was in, and Carey and Cody still standing anxiously outside his room, holding back tears.
"You can go in whenever you're ready," the nurse finished, walking away.
The entire family turned toward the door, preparing to walk into the room.
Except Cody.
"I'm… I'm not sure if I want to go in there," he said sadly, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Why not?" Carey asked, walking over to her son's side.
Cody stood quietly for a couple seconds before answering. "I don't wanna see him like that," he cried as tears rolled down his face.
Before either of his parents could answer, he continued. "He's lying vulnerable in a hospital bed with a bunch of casts on, connected to a machine with a tube shoved down his throat! I don't want to see him that way!" he sobbed. Cody couldn't bring up the fact that, up until two days ago, he had been feeling everything his brother had, and now, he felt nothing. He couldn't bring up how much that freaked him out. Kurt and Carey didn't even know about the Gemini Project; they thought he'd been at the marine biology laboratory all spring break. And he wouldn't bring up how guilty he felt about the whole accident.
His parents were silent as he looked down, sobbing, at his feet.
After half a minute of silence, Kurt spoke up. "Codes... I know it's hard to have Zack be in the hospital like this. And I know you don't want to go in there because you're scared of what you might see. But trust me, I've been in there dozens of times over the past two days, and it's not as bad as it seems."
"I don't care. I can't see him like that," he gulped, shaking his head stubbornly.
Kurt looked over to Carey, his face pleading for help.
"Cody," she started, "you've been going on about how much you wanted to see Zack all day. It's all you talked about on the trip over. You wouldn't let anyone get a word in edgewise. You talked for a full ten minutes just about how much you wanted to hold his hand and tell him everything would be okay," she said with a slight whine as she ended her sentence. "And now, everything you've said means nothing?"
"Well... no. Not—not nothing. It's just..." He let his sentence trail off as tears silently slid down his face.
Carey sighed as she rested her hand on the shoulder of her son. "Honey... I understand why you don't want to go in there. To be honest, I'm scared, too. But I know one thing: Zack would want you in there."
Cody pleadingly looked up into his mother's eyes.
"In fact, I think that if there's any one person that needs to be in there the most, it's you," she continued, smiling weakly at the younger twin. "You guys have been together since the beginning, and now would be a bad time to stop."
"But..." Cody searched for a reason not to go into the room, even a fabricated one, so that he could avoid seeing the biggest and most glaring symbol of his guilt.
Carey interrupted his thoughts. "We're all going in together. You won't be alone. We can wait to go in until you're ready."
Cody stared at his mother's soft expression for a short while longer as he thought.
I want to see Zack, he thought, but I'm not sure I'll be able to handle it. This guilt is too much. I wonder if Mom would understand if I told her...
No... I can't. She doesn't need to know.
What to do, what to do?
I don't even deserve to see Zack. I blame him for everything, even when it's not his fault or he just made a mistake.
Look where that got us.
Then again, Zack does need the whole family right now. I need the whole family right now.
We all need the whole family right now, he thought, glancing over at his father, who was looking at him with a saddened expression, before returning his gaze to his mother's kind eyes.
Maybe... seeing Zack will help me...
Finally he said, "I'm ready."
With Cody finally ready, the family walked towards the door and entered the room.
A/N: …And she ends it. You probably thought you were going to see Zack this chapter, weren't you? Yeah… me, too. But I felt I needed the events in this chapter to be in the story, and after I began writing it, I decided I didn't want the "seeing Zack for the first time" scene and all its baggage in the same chapter as this scene. But hey, at least you got more insight into his condition. And rest assured, he WILL be there next chapter! He has to be, since they just went into his room. Anyway, feel free to leave me a totally awesome review listing all the things I did right AND all the things I did wrong! Go ahead; the pretty yellow speech bubble calls out to you.
