I'M BACK BABY! (sorry :p)
Firstly, i'm very, very sorry that it took this long to update... I had a searious case of writers block (i even threw my writing maps of eight years away!!!)
This chapter... lets just say that i'm back, and better then ever...
for the sensitive ones: make sure you have tissues, it sure made me cry (though i blame it on PMS)
have fun reading, and please leave a review xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Devastating Disaster And Heartbeats.
The room Jennifer was in was dimly lit, several sounds were heard, echoing through the room. The regular bleeping of the heart monitor, the sound of footsteps down the hall, some more rushed then others, softly speaking voices. The occasional phone rings, though they sounded distant.
A small motion of her fingers, could've been spastic, her eyelids trembled for a fraction of a second before they fluttered open. A soft moan of pain escaped her lips as she tried to move. Very slowly, she managed to raise her left hand high enough to see it was bandaged, and by the feeling of it, so was the back of her head, her right thigh and somewhere on her stomach, and chest though she couldn't make out exactly where.
By now, Jennifer had concluded that she was in a hospital, but didn't had a clue how she got there. Part of her brain really tried to remember, but the last thing she could recall is when she got back from a vacation, especially the part when Ned opened the door for her.
With a jolt, Jennifer turned her head to the left, but only to see the visitor's chair empty. Through the disappointment, Jennifer knew that Ned was there. She just knew that he spent countless hours at her side, probably just holding her hand and talking softly to her. And she knew that he was the one that found her.
A very vague memory unfolded in her mind's eye. Bright light, scurried voices, the feeling of being lifted up… A warm hand that seemed to be wiping something off her face, before softly stroking it, a voice, she loved so much, telling her to hold on, not to give up.
With the voice clearly in her head, Jennifer's eyes shot wide open and she almost bolted up, a movement she regretted immediately afterwards. Pain, more fierce then she'd ever felt, raged through her body. Her hand was looking for something to grasp, and soon found something. When the sharp pain finally subsided a little, Jennifer raised her hand to see what she was grasping, and found out that she was holding the pager to call a nurse. She tried to push the button, but it seemed like she just didn't had enough strength to put the right amount of pressure on it.
With tears of frustration and agony, she finally managed to push it, but then wasn't able to hold onto it anymore. The pager slid away from her fingers and fell onto the floor where it bounced twice. The noise of that wasn't much, but to Jennifer it was torture.
Now, the only thing she could do was hoping with every fiber that she indeed pressed the button, or that someone is going to check upon her, maybe even a visitor. She had to gather her complete strength to stay awake. It felt like she was waiting for minutes, but in fact, only a couple of seconds had passed since she pressed that button, IF she pressed it.
She just lay there, not able to move, unless pained worse than she ever thought possible; even breathing was a painful thing to do. Constantly the same phrase went through her head. 'let someone find me, let someone be looking for me… somehow,' She didn't knew why that particular phrase hung in her head, seeing that she was obviously found already. A memory tried to form inside of her head, but she purposely blocked it, she could dwell in memories later on. Right now, she had to be awake when someone, anyone, walked through the door.
Rushed footsteps were heard, a voice shouting something… The next moment, the door opened and no less than five medics walked into the room, well, rushed actually; one even knocked a chair over in his rush to get to her.
Then she heard the most wonderful sentence: "Call her parents, and that goofy mop-headed guy who seemed to camp here for the past four days, tell them she's awake,"
Jennifer never felt more relieved in her life. She would see her parents again, and Ned… No matter how much it'll hurt her, but she was determined that, as soon he walked into the room and was near enough, she would wrap her arms around him and will refuse to let him go for hours to come.
A very, very bright light shone in her eyes. First the left, then the right. Jennifer knew that the doctors and nurses there were merely doing the routine examinations, but right now, it bugged her.
She felt how the covers were pulled down, and how her hospital-shirt was pulled up, probably to check upon the chest wound, when a very sharp pain went through her chest, like her heart was being ripped out. She would've screamed if she could, but no sound ever made it to her lips.
Absently, she saw the door open again and a woman's voice saying that the parents are on their way and that the 'goofy kid' was in the cafeteria, so he should be there in matters of seconds.
Jennifer should've been relieved, she should've been filled with excitement and anticipation, but she couldn't feel anything different then the devastating pain, and a feeling of intense panic and fright. Then she knew; something was wrong. Jennifer turned her head to the left, where a black nurse with a friendly face looked downright worried.
She tried to find out what was going on, what was happening to her. The many voices in the room made it difficult for her to understand what they were saying, but the heart monitor was bleeping like crazy.
Jennifer realized that something was very, very wrong. Each draw of breath took her an incredible amount of strength. Soundless tears were running down her cheek when it hit her; she wouldn't make it.
Part of her wanted to sleep, to make the pain go away permanently. But the other part kept telling her to hold on, to fight it. With gasping breaths, Jennifer turned her head to the friendly looking black nurse once more. There was one more thing she needed to do before she was ready to give herself over to the demanding arms of Death. With unbearable difficulty, she managed to rest her hand upon the shoulder of the nurse, who looked at her with compassion and worry.
"Tell…" Jennifer coughed weakly, and forced herself to say it. "Tell… Tell them… I love…"
Ned sat in the cafeteria, Cookie had just left, and it was nearly time for him to leave also. With a sigh, he downed the last bit of his drink and stood up when the doors of the cafeteria opened and a nurse came rushing in. Paying little attention to her, he wanted to put his coat on. When the waitress pointed at him, Ned felt a small shot of hope, but figured that, with his luck, it would be one of the people behind him they needed. He was surprised however when the nurse walked up to him. He feared the worst…
The nurse came to him with a smile, and what nurse would go to people with a smile and say: 'guess what, she didn't make it!' so he assumed that it was good news. Though it took him several moments for his mind to make the right click. Then he just grinned madly. "She woke up, didn't she?" he shouted it across the cafeteria, which made several people look at him in surprise. "She…" Ned stood there for a split second, grinning like he was the happiest boy in the world, before he downright stormed off.
The several shouts of disapproval echoed through the hospital corridors as Ned bolted to Jennifer's room. He couldn't believe it, she was awake! For a moment, he scolded himself for not being there when she woke up. But the strong feeling of ecstasy pushed that away quickly.
His heartbeat was getting stronger with the closing distance. The final door and hallway… but one look of the head nurse made him slow down a lot. He had come to respect that woman… she was the one that made it possible for him to visit Jennifer, which is normally only for family, he Cookie and Susie where the exceptions.
When Ned approached Jennifer's room he noticed two things: her room was crowded with medics, and the one seemed more hastily then the other. Something broke within him. He knew that something was wrong. From the point where he stood, right outside the door, he could hear the dreadful tone that didn't seemed to have an end, he knew what that continuous bleep meant.
flat beat… the thing he feared the most, the one thing that could crush him in a way beyond describing.
His knees buckled involuntarily. But the sharp pain in his knees when they made contact to the floor was nothing compared what he felt. The hall filled with his shattered sobs and his heartbreaking wails. It couldn't be happening, she was awake! They had come to fetch him because of that! She can't be gone! She just can't!
Ned scrambled back on his feet and watched through the tiny window in the door to see the doctors trying very hard to reanimate her.
He laid his hand on the glass, tears streaming down his face. "You can't give up now…" it was merely a whisper. "You're strong Jennifer, fight it… fight it damn it!" the last was emphasized with a loud bang of his fist on the window. "You have to fight it, you can't leave me… not like this… you can do it, I know you can…" a loud sob escaped him as he hit the window again. "No! It's not right, and it's not fair!" With that, he really broke down. He was sobbing wildly and wailing uncontrollably.
The Head Nurse came rushing and was just in time to catch Ned as his legs gave away completely. No matter how much he sobbed or wailed, the pain wouldn't go away. It felt like not only his heart, but his entire being was ripped out, right on the moment that he thought that things would be alright, that she was awake and soon in his arms again. That even made him wail harder, the agony took complete control of him. He started to pull his hair and would just claw everything he could.
The Head Nurse just hold him and swayed him like he was a baby. She didn't care how he clawed her arms open, or that she was near deaf from his wails. She even shoed the security away.
With a shuddering breath, Ned caught hold of himself again, though only a little. He stood up again and looked through the window again. Just this time, he felt like a shell, a shadow of who he used to be.
"You can't be gone, it just can't… I don't know what to do without you… Please… come back to me… please just…" another sob escaped him again. "Please…" he hit the window again and sobbed more, with his forehead rested against the window, his eyes closed. Countless memories invaded his brain, every look, every touch, every kiss… it all came to his mind's eye. The last sobs subsided as his breathing calmed down. With a shivering breath he looked up into the room. The doctors where clearing up the reanimation equipment. Ned's eyes filled with tears again. The doctors had given up… outraged, he hit the glass again, which burst, leaving a gash in Ned's right hand palm. He laid his head against the door again, in a foolish attempt to calm down. And then, he heard the utmost wonderful sound of the regularly bleeping of the heart monitor.
Ned whipped his head around to the Head Nurse, who heard it too and smiled. In a impulse, he hugged her, tightly. "Can I…" Ned asked uncertain, looking at the door with the utmost longing in his eyes.
The Head Nurse nodded. "But first, you'll have that hand checked…"
"I'm sorry for that… I'll pay for it…" Ned said nervously.
"It's alright sweety, I perfectly understand why you did it… when my husband died, I trashed the complete room…" she winked and gently took his arm. "Now let's have that wound checked, shall we,"
Ned agreed and let her drag him away from the girl he loved and nearly lost. But as soon she dismissed him, he would rush to Jennifer's side, and maybe, if he's lucky, she would await him with that tender smile of hers.
Normally, this would be the last chapter, or it would've been done with the 12th chapter... but i have 2 more, including a bonus one.... and the waiting won't be as long anymore, i promise
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Leave a review if you liked this chapter, and i want honest opinions, even if they are flames
