Jade's head was pounding. The strong smell of disinfectant filled her nostrils, and she realized that she was in a hospital. Her eyes shot open.
"Brooke!" Jade whispered to herself.
Beck and Andrew, who were sitting in Jade's hospital room, stood up.
"You're awake!" Andrew exclaimed happily.
"Brooke!" Jade repeated a little more urgently. She jumped out of bed, ignoring the fact that she was attached to several different monitors. Beck immediately went to her side.
"Jade, maybe you should get back into bed," Beck suggested, trying to coax his girlfriend back into the hospital bed.
"Move, Beck! I have to find Brooke!" Jade ordered, shoving her boyfriend out of the way. Beck gently grabbed her arm and suggested going back to bed again. Jade brushed him off and started trying to make her way towards the door. Andrew attempted to block her way, but she shoved him to the side. Beck held Jade back, and she started screaming.
"I HAVE TO FIND HER! LET GO OF ME, BECK! ANDREW, GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Jade screamed, fighting against Beck's grip. She elbowed him in the ribcage, making him groan and release his grip on her. She removed her I.V., and she ripped her heart monitor off, making the machine beep wildly. She pushed her brother into the I.V. pole, and it came crashing to the ground.
The erratic beeping and commotion alerted the nurses' station to the situation in Jade's room. A nurse was sent to the room.
"Jade, I'm Nurse Jenna. You're at Los Angeles General Hospital. I need you to calm down for me, okay?" the nurse said, entering the room.
Jade's right arm shot out, and her fist collided Nurse Jenna's jaw, causing the nurse to stumble backwards.
"MOVE, BITCH! I NEED TO FIND MY SISTER!" she yelled.
Beck, and Andrew were doing their best to hold Jade back and guide her back to the hospital bed. Jade was kicking and screaming as she fought to get to the door. During her struggle, she punched Beck in the shoulder and kicked Andrew in the shin. Nurse Jenna called for back-up, and two more nurses came running into the room. One nurse was holding four padded restraints, while the other held a fairly large syringe.
"We need to sedate her," Nurse Jenna told Beck and Andrew.
Beck and Andrew laid Jade back down in the bed, as one nurse plunged the syringe of fast-acting tranquilizers into Jade's bicep. The other nurse and Nurse Jenna slipped the restraints onto Jade's wrists and ankles and fastened them to the bed.
The sedative took effect almost instantly. Jade relaxed and stopped fighting. She quieted down and stopped screaming at everyone. She blinked slowly and looked up at Beck and Andrew.
"Brooke..." Jade whispered groggily. Then, her eyes fluttered closed.
Once Jade was settled, Beck and Andrew thanked the nurses, and they apologized to Nurse Jenna on Jade's behalf.
~ Three Hours Later ~
Jade's head was swimming. She groaned loudly and slowly opened her eyes. She tried to bring her hand to her pounding head but found that she couldn't move it. She tried again, but her wrist was immobilized. She shifted her weight as she looked at what was holding her arms down. The shift caused her to pull at the ankle restraints. She tried to move her legs, but was barely able to. She sat up and yanked at her arm restraints, thinking that she could break free if she tried hard enough.
As Jade gave up on trying to use brute force to break the restraints, Beck and Andrew came back into the room. They had been getting an update on Brooke.
"You let them restrain me!?" Jade exclaimed indignantly at Beck and Andrew.
"You were being really aggressive...kicking...screaming...knocking things over..." Beck said.
"So, you let them restrain me!?" Jade angrily questioned.
"Jade, you punched a nurse..." Andrew said.
Jade rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Where's Brooke? How is she?" she asked.
Beck and Andrew filled Jade in on everything that's happened since they found her in the storage unit.
[What Happened]
Brooke was lucky that Andrew found her when he did. After being repeated kicked in the chest by Elise, she had several fractured and broken ribs, one of which punctured her left lung. Her punctured lung led to a pneumothorax (collapsed lung). She was taken into emergency surgery and has been in the operating room for the past four hours.
The paramedics insisted that Jade go to the hospital right away. Jade wanted to stay with Brooke. She became aggressive when the ambulance took her away, and the paramedics had to sedate her.
Jade was brought to the emergency room of Los Angeles General Hospital. She was sent to several tests and scans to check for internal bleeding, then an obstetrician checked on the baby. There was no internal bleeding, and the baby was alive.
Elise was arrested and taken into police custody.
Shortly after bringing Jade up-to-date, a nurse came in to tell Andrew that Brooke was out of surgery and that she was being taken into the pediatric intensive care unit.
Forgetting about the restraints, Jade jumped up when Andrew relayed what the nurse told him back to her, before he dashed out of the room to see Brooke. She groaned angrily when the restraints held her back.
"Can I see her?" Jade asked.
Beck told his girlfriend that he'd ask a nurse if she could see her sister. He left momentarily, then returned with Nurse Jenna. Jade awkwardly bit her lip when she saw the bruising on the nurse's jaw. She sheepishly apologized for punching her. Nurse Jenna told Jade that she's had much worse patients and that there were no hard feelings. She made her promise that she'd behave if she took off her restraints, and Jade eagerly assured the nurse that she'd be on her best behavior. She was desperate to see Brooke.
Nurse Jenna released Jade from all of her restraints, and Jade thanked her. Then, Beck and Jade headed for the pediatric intensive care unit.
Andrew was sitting stoically by his little sister's bedside. His eyes brimmed with tears as he watched her breathe.
Brooke's thin chest rose and fell steadily. She looked so frail and weak in the giant hospital bed. She was intubated, and she had bruising all over her tiny body. She looked broken and battered. She eyes remained shut, and she had a chest tube protruding from her ribcage. She looked like she was near-death.
Beck and Jade watched Andrew through the doorway. He didn't notice their presence.
"I know you're probably scared. Don't be scared anymore. Elise is in jail. She can't hurt you anymore. Please...please, wake up, Brooke. You don't have to be afraid anymore. I don't want you to be scared. I can sing for you. I know that you and Jade are the singers of the family, but music has always made you feel better..." Andrew told his comatose sister. He gently picked up her tiny hand and held it in his. He used his other hand to quickly wipe way the tears that were about to fall. "Maybe my singing will be so bad that you'll wake up just to tell me to be quiet," he awkwardly joked. He took a deep breath. Then, thinking that no one was watching, he started to softly sing "I'll Follow You Into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie to Brooke.
