Chapter 10 – The Waiting
Hank, Val and Tyler all sat in the waiting room at Kingsport hospital. They had just brought Jamie in, he was bad off and they knew it. Val sat in a chair in the corner and stared straight ahead, tears falling from her eyes. Jamie had proven himself to her and she now considered him a good friend. She really hoped he pulled through.
Tyler sat down next to Val resting his elbow on his knees and staring at the floor. He didn't know what to say or do. Tyler had been riding shotgun tonight, and if he hadn't been so busy arguing about that needless call it would have been him opening the passenger door and clearing them. It would have been him who had gotten hit. Or so he thought.
Hank look distraught. He paced back and forth looking at his feet. He was senior EMT this was his team. Now one of his team was lying in a hospital bed and he might not make it, and it would be all Hanks fault. After all he was the one who had told Jamie to clear them. He could have done it himself from the driver's side where he would have been on the sidewalk, but he didn't.
"I've got to call Alex." Hank said as he left the room Tyler looked over at Val and grabbed her hand
"He's going to be okay. Jamie's pretty tough." He said trying to reassure Val and himself. Hank walked back in the room and Tyler looked up at him
"Alex is on his way." He said before taking a seat next to Tyler. The three of them just sat there. There was nothing else to say or do but wait.
Twenty minutes later Alex walked in to the waiting room with Val, Tyler and Hank's parents all in tow.
"Mom! What are you doing here?" Val asked as she ran into her parents embrace, Hank and Tyler following suit
"Alex called all of us. He thought you guys would need some support." She replied placing a kiss on Val's head.
"What the hell happened out there?" Alex asked after a moment. Everyone in the room sat down. Hank spoke first,
"It was just a routine call. A kid had fallen and scraped up his knee, a panicy mother had called us. Val cleaned up the scrape and I told her to keep the wound clean, and that he should be fine. Then we all went out to the rig. Val climbed in back her and Tyler started to put the stretcher away. I was putting our bags away and I asked Jamie to clear us. He went over to open the door and the next thing I know Jamie's getting hit." Hank said shaking his head
"What was really weird was there were no cars around. None. It was like the whole neighborhood was empty. Then all of a sudden there's the screeching of tires and this car is speeding towards Jamie. He didn't have time to move. The car never slowed down. Not even after they had hit Jamie." Tyler added.
"Where are Jamie's parents?" asked Val once she noticed that there was no one else in the room.
"I tried to call his house, there was no answer. I'm going to go try again." Alex said as he left the room, only to come back a moment later. "There's still no answer. Did Jamie happen to mention anything about his parents going out of town or anything?" He asked the teens. They all shook their heads.
"To tell you the truth Alex, I've never heard Jamie mention anything about family. Ever." Val said.
"I don't think I have either." Added Hank
"And I haven't really ever had a conversation with Jamie." Said Tyler as he looked down at his feet.
"What do we do now?" asked Hank
"We wait." Said Alex as he sat back down. It was going to be a long night.