Chapter 26- A Coma.
The helicopter landed, and the medics immediately rushed Lightning inside. Sally tried to follow, but mass crowds of papparazi stopped her, all flashing cameras and asking questions.
"Miss Carrera, will this accident cause a breakup?"
"Sally, is the wedding still on?"
"How severe are the injuries!"
"How will this affect your pregnancy?" (yeah, Sally wasn't happy about that one.)
"What will your reaction be if he dies!"
Sally angrily tried to push through the crowd and ignore the flashing cameras and shouts.
Finally she managed to press through the crowd and enter the hospital, which had previously been marked as a 'No Papparazi' zone.
She shivered at the coolness of the waiting room which contrasted the ninety degree heat outside.
Lightning had already been rushed into surgery, so that left Sally to sit and wait.
She could still hear the papparazi outside, but she decided to ignore it.
Her cell phone rang and she answered it, hoping it wasn't just some random fan who'd gotten ahold of her number.
"Hello?" She said in a hoarse whisper, then cleared her throat and tried again. "Hello?" in a clearer voice.
"Is that the world's fastest racing machine's fiancé?" Harv's voice asked.
Sally took a breath. "Yes, it is."
"I saw the wreck. Ouch! That had to hurt." Harv said, not really in a sympathetic/caring voice. "So how is he doing? By the way, when you talk to him, tell him that this is GREAT for his image. We've had more calls and press from this, than we got from his win last season."
Sally glanced at the papparazi trying to get in the hospital, but the sheriff stoping them. Yeah, she could believe Harv about the press. "Well, he's in surgery now." Sally explained.
"Okay, well I'll just keep watching the news and checking the websites, and by the way, congrats on the baby."
Sally screamed inwardly. "Sir, I am not pregnant. That's just a crazy rumor that the papparazi made up." She said slowly, trying to keep her temper.
"Alright, I got a meeting to get to. I'm out."
There was a dial tone, and Sally placed her phone back in her pocket. She glanced at the green swinging doors that led to the operating room. Where Lightning was.
Sally leaned back onto the not-so-comfy chair and tried to close her eyes.
It didn't work, as the hospital was brightly lit, and the tv in the corner was blaring Dora-the-
explorer.
After ten more excruciating minutes of listening to "I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map!", The doors swung open and Doc, wearing a surgeons uniform, entered the room.
He came and sat beside Sally and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey." He said in a gentle tone. "How are you holding up?"
She managed a small smile. "I'm alright." She said. "How is Lightning?"
A sense of anxiety was heard in her tone, but Doc couldn't blame her.
"I haven't been in there yet, but I'm just about to go, okay?" He asked.
Sally nodded.
Doc tried to think of something cheerful to tell her. Just anything that might brighten her spirits. "I got a call from NASCAR. Steven did it on purpose, and is banned from the sport." He said, but it didn't have the effect he'd hoped for.
"It doesn't matter." Sally said, looking at the brown carpet.
Doc was confused. "Why not?"
Sally tried to keep a handle on her emotions, as she spoke her next sentence. "If Lightning is dead, what does it matter?" her voice was cracking, and she felt a lump in her throat forming.
Doc shook his head. "Sally, he may pull through. I'm a doctor. I deal with injuries like his all the time. And most of the people are completely fine."
Sally felt tears spring to her eyes. "Most of the them?" She asked, her voice breaking again. "What about the rest of them? The ones who don't pull through? What about them, Doc?"
"We remember them as being good people that we loved." He replied, taking her hand.
Sally took a shaky deep breath, and Doc stood up. "I'm gonna go take a look. Okay?"
She nodded. "Alright." She whispered.
After he left, Sally reached into her pocket and pulled back out her phone. Time to drown out everything with some music.
She placed the headphones in her ears and leaned back as the sound of 'Please Stay' by Westlife, began to play.
"Please Stay, Don't Go,
If I called out your name like a prayer,
Would you leave me alone with my tears,
Knowing I need you so,
Would you still turn and go,
This time be different...
Please stay, don't go,
Please stay,
I loved you before I knew your name,
I wanted to give you my heart,
But then you came back
After leaving me one time,
I knew that the heartache would start.
If I called out your name,
Like a song.
That was written for you,
You alone...
Sally was pulled out of her music three hours later when the door to the hospital opened, and to her surprise, Lightning's family walked in.
John, Lillian, Leah, Logan, and Lily were all present.
"Hey!" Sally said, walking up to them. "What are you guys doing here?"
Lillian hugged her almost daughter in law. "We actually arrived here for the wedding, but...well, I suppose that we came to see how Lightning was doing."
Sally sighed deeply. "He's in surgery now."
"How is he, though?" Logan asked concernedly. "What all do you know?"
They all sat down on the chairs before Sally answered.
"He was unconscious last I saw him...and...on the helicopter flight here, he, um, quit breathing. But then they got him stabilized, and that's all I know." She said, desperately trying not to cry.
Logan put an arm around her, and she didn't object.
"Sal, Lightning has always been a fast healer." He said. "And you wouldn't believe all the scrapes he got into as a kid. I remember one time...
FLASHBACK-
"Do you have your scarfs?" Lillian asked.
"Yes, Mother." Logan (9) and Lightning (7) replied in unison.
"Mittens?"
Logan and Lightning glanced at each other. "Yes, Mother."
Lillian nodded in approval. "Be careful." She warned, as the two brothers grabbed their sleds and ran out the door.
"Come on, Lightning! Keep up!" Logan shouted as they climbed the hill. Or attempted to.
Lightning was panting. "It's too steep!" He shouted.
Logan continued to climb. "You're just slow!"
"No I'm not!" Lightning protested. "One day I'll be faster than you!"
Logan looked back and saw that Lightning was really having a hard time up. He sighed and crunched back down through the snow. It was the first snow of the winter, and a clumpy, freezing snow it was.
"Climb onto my sled." Logan told him.
Lightning gratefully obliged, but accidently dropped his own sled.
"Noooooo!" They shouted as it fell down. Logan tried to run after it, but his leg caught Lightning's, and together they tripped and slid all the way down, and it ended with Logan landing on top of Lightning.
They were silent a minute, but then Lightning began to cry.
"Logan! Get up!" Logan jumped off and looked at Lightning. "You okay, buddy?" He asked.
Lightning shook his head. "No! My leg hurts!"
Logan saw blood, so he grabbed the sled, stuck Lightning on it, and rushed into the house.
"Mommmm!" Logan shouted.
Lillian ran outside and assessed the situation.
Two hours later, Lightning was sitting on the living room sofa, his right leg in a cast.
He was softly sniffling.
Lillian came in and sat beside him. "What's the matter, baby? Does your leg hurt?"
He shook his head. "I can't go sledding." He whispered.
Lillian ruffled his hair. "You'll be able to in a few months."
"But there won't be any snow any more." He said sadly.
Lillian handed him a piece of candy. "There will still be snow, and you'll be able to go then, okay?"
He nodded. "Okay." He smiled.
It turned out that Lightning was sledding four weeks later. The doctor was amazed at how fast his leg had healed, but assumed that it was just because of how young he was.
END FLASHBACK-
"To this day, Lightning is still a fast healer." Logan was saying. "He's broken his leg twice, broken both his arms, had his appendix out, broke his nose, and dislocated his shoulder. And you can't keep him down and resting for more than two weeks. He'll be walking around the third week, and completely better the fourth. And I'll never forget that time that he got put in the dryer."
Sally was laughing. "In the dryer!" She asked, unbelieving.
Lillian scoffed. "You say you'll never forget it, Logan, but that's because of the spanking you got for putting him in there."
Logan just smiled dorkily.
They continued to talk until about an hour later when Alice entered the room, a grim expression on her face.
She walked up to Sally. "Come with me into my office, Sweetheart." She said, taking Sally's hand. Together, they walked down the long hallway, and into her office.
It was a small room, painted white. There was one desk with a chair behind it, and numerous bookshelves and filing cabinets lined the walls. On the desk sat a computer, a few file folders, and a vase of flowers. also on the walls were Alice's college diplomas and certificates.
A few pictures of her and Doc were on the desk. The air in her office was warm, and the atmosphere was calming and serene.
"Sit down." Alice said, then sat across from Sally.
"Well?" Sally asked, with anxiety in her voice.
Alice took Sally's hand. "When Lightning arrived here, we found that he had a broken arm, dislocated shoulder, concussion, and four broken ribs. But that's not the worst of it. He also has a punctured, collapsed lung. I'm not going to beat around the bush. His injuries were fatal and life-threatening."
Sally felt as if she couldn't breathe.
Alice continued. "He's going to need a blood transfusion, and I was sent to ask if you would be the donor."
"Of course." Sally said instantly. If Lightning needed blood, she wanted to be the one to give it. She'd give her life for him, so what was a little blood?
Alice smiled. "Okay. Come with me."
An few hours later, Sally sat in the waiting room again, a bandage still covering her upper left arm.
She was dizzy and pale, but it wasn't too bad.
Lightning's family had all left except for Logan, and he sat beside Sally, making sure that she didn't pass out. It was eleven forty.
Sally turned to Logan. "Why don't you head to the hotel? I'll be fine here." She suggested after seeing him yawn for the third time.
"Are you sure?" He asked, not wanting her to collapse or anything after he left. Probably better not to let anything happen to Lightning's fiancé before he woke up.
Sally nodded. "I'll be fine."
Logan stood up. "Okay. See ya tomorrow." And he left.
Sally once again put in her headphones, listening to sad songs.
She didn't know why she did that, except maybe because sad songs were always quiet and slow. So were romance songs, but she didn't think she could deal with that right now.
Sally found herself almost laughing the song that was playing.
"You had a bad day...
Oh, you had a bad day."
Understatement! Sally thought, a smile forming.
She pulled out her headphones half an hour later and glanced up at the clock.
Midnight.
The doors to the operating room opened and Doc and Alice entered.
Sally stood up and looked at them, a worried expression evident.
Neither of them were smiling in the "He's okay" way.
"Sally.." Doc started.
She couldn't move. "Yes?" She said, praying that they wouldn't tell her he was dead.
Alice stepped forward. "He's in a coma."
Yeah! Cliff hangers!