The once silent night was suddenly filled with the wails of squad cars and ambulances. Most of the people who had been in the ballroom were gathered outside, watching the scene unfold. Angel had run over to Jeremy's car and was attempting to open the door.
"Jeremy!" she screeched, using every ounce of strength in her body to try and open the car door, but it wasn't budging. Through the cracked car window she could see that he was unconscious and bleeding. Angel felt arms wrap around her, pulling her away from the car and she began to protest.
"Let me go!" she screamed.
"It's me," she heard Andrew's voice, "You need to let the police help him."
Angel choked on a sob, "Jeremy…" she whimpered, as though it were the only word she knew. Andrew led her over to the sidewalk where Shae, Blake, and Janelle were waiting. As soon as she was close enough, Shae embraced her sobbing friend.
"It's going to be okay, Angel," she whispered, "It has to be okay." The teenagers stood in silent horror as they watched Jeremy's car door get ripped off and their friend loaded onto a stretcher. He was still unconscious and in very bad condition.
"We should get to the hospital," Janelle suggested quietly and they began to walk toward Andrew and Blake's cars.
The waiting room at Bellvue Memorial hospital was silent, except for a random sniffle or two. Jeremy's parents, Adam and Meghan Monroe, were huddled close together, silently weeping. Janelle was next to Blake, her head on his shoulder. Shae was in a chair, staring at an invisible spot on the ground. Leaning against the wall was Andrew, his arms crossed. Jonah and Casey had come as soon as they had gotten the call. They sat on either side of their daughter who was clutching her boyfriend's jacket in a death grip. Angel had yet to utter a single word unless it was Jeremy's name.
They waited for hours while he underwent surgery. It seemed like an eternity had gone by when a middle aged doctor finally walked into the waiting room, "Family of Jeremy Monroe?"
Adam, Meghan, Angel, and Jonah stood up, "Is he going to be okay?" Meghan asked tearfully.
"Jeremy sustained quite a few injuries in the accident," the doctor began, "He has a broken arm which we were able to set and cast. He had some cuts that required stitches. When the cars collided, Jeremy's head hit the steering wheel…this caused a concussion. He's in a coma now."
At that point, Angel put a hand over her mouth and began to silently sob.
"But he's going to wake up, right?" Adam asked, not believing this was happening to his only child.
The doctor sighed, "Right now, we can only be hopeful."
"Can we see him?" Meghan asked, blinking back tears.
"Yes," the doctor replied, "He's in our ICU. I must ask that you go two at a time and not to stay long."
Meghan and Adam followed the doctor out of the waiting room. Jonah led Angel over to her chair and sat down himself. He pulled her into his arms, rubbing her shoulders, "Breathe, Honey. Just breathe."
Angel couldn't speak, simply cried in her father's arms.
Casey walked into Angel's bedroom early in the morning. The teenager was still in her dress although she had discarded her shoes. She was still wearing Jeremy's jacket, her tears stained into the material. She was facing away from her mother, towards her window.
The red head approached the bed with caution, "Angel?" Not receiving a reply, she sat down on the bed and looked at her daughter's face and saw that her green eyes were open but staring into a distant world.
Sighing, Casey stroked Angel's hair, "You need to get out of that dress, Baby."
"Jeremy…" Angel whispered in a heart-breaking voice. Casey didn't know what to do, her daughter was broken and she didn't know how to fix her. She reached over to remove the tuxedo jacket but Angel tightened her grip on it, "Don't."
"Can I at least take off your dress?" Casey asked. Not receiving an answer, she unzipped the back and slid the dress off, mindful not to move the jacket off of the teenager. She rummaged through Angel's drawers and found some grey yoga pants as well as a tank top. She slipped the pants over Angel's bare legs. She stopped, realizing she couldn't get the shirt on.
"Angel, can you please put this on?"
The teenager's response was to tighten Jeremy's jacket around her bare torso. Casey put the tank top next to Angel before grabbing a blanket to cover the latter with. She sat on the bed once more and kissed the blonde's forehead.
"I love you, Angel."
Jonah looked up at his bedroom doorway as Casey walked in, looking drained.
"How's Angel?" he asked.
Casey sat down on her bed and put her head in her hands, "Jonah, she's devastated. I had to undress her myself. She looks as though her world just ended."
"In a way, it kind've did," Jonah said quietly. Casey laid down and snuggled up to her husband, burying her face in the crook of his neck.
"I can't stand to see her like this," she whispered.
Jonah kissed her hair and then smoothed it back with his hand, "Let's just pray that Jeremy gets through this."
Olivia got up early Saturday morning. It had been a hell of a night. She walked into the kitchen and discovered Shae was in there. She was circling a spoon around a cup of black coffee, staring into it intently.
"Since when do you drink coffee?" Olivia asked, pouring herself a cup.
"I don't," Shae replied, "I just like the color."
Olivia smiled softly sat down next to her daughter, "How are you dealing with all of this?"
Shae shrugged, "I don't know. Everything feels so weird. I'm worried about Angel. I mean, Jeremy's her boyfriend and she saw it happen. I can't even imagine how I'd feel if that had happened to Andrew." The two fell silent, Shae's spoon the only sound filling the room.
"Do you want to go visit Angel?" Olivia asked her daughter, "I was talking to Casey before and I think it would really help her."
Shae nodded, "Okay…I'll call Janelle and we'll go over."
Janelle followed Shae up the pathway to the Sheppards' house, "Do you think she'll be better than yesterday?"
Shae shrugged and rang the doorbell, "Let's find out."
The door opened and the girls were greeted by Jonah, "Hi, girls. Angel's in her room. Casey and I really appreciate this."
Shae smiled, "No problem," she turned to Janelle, "Let's go." Together they ascended the staircase. They stopped outside of Angel's closed bedroom door.
Janelle knocked on the door, "Angel? It's Janelle. Can we come in?" There was no response and Janelle glanced at Shae who urged her to open the door.
The two of them stepped inside the darkened bedroom. Angel was in the position her mother had left her in, wrapped up in Jeremy's jacket and the tank top by her stomach. Janelle got to work, pulling the curtains and blinds allowing light to get into the room. She opened the windows as well.
"Hi," Shae whispered to Angel, putting a hand over her friend's. Angel remained unresponsive at the contact. Shae patted her hand gently, "You need to stop torturing yourself like this or Jeremy will kick your ass when he wakes up."
Angel's eyes miraculously moved to look into her friend's. Shae smiled softly, "Jeremy is going to wake up, Angel. He'll get through this."
"But what if he doesn't?" Angel whispered hoarsely, using more words in that moment than she had in the past couple of hours, "I'll die, Shae. I need him."
Janelle came over and picked up the tank top, "You should put this on."
Angel allowed the girls to remove the jacket long enough to put the tank top on her. The second it was on, Angel slipped her arms into the tuxedo jacket, taking a deep breath.
"Come on," Shae said, standing up, "You haven't eaten since last night. You need some food."
The blonde shook her head, "I can't eat."
"Just a little," Janelle begged, "And then we'll go to the hospital so you can see Jeremy, okay?"
Angel took a moment before slowly sitting up. She followed her friends down to her kitchen, her will being the promise that she would see her boyfriend soon enough.
Who loves chubbly (yes, chubbly) Asian babies? I don't know why I'm so obsessed with Asian babies but I just think they're the cutest type of babies! Why am I talking about babies? Because two are coming to my house today! Well, technically one is four years old but the other one is one and they're so cute!
Has anyone heard about Kate Gosselin being a part of the opening for the Emmys? Excuse me? Are you kidding me? I don't care if you're in the tabloids every other day YOU'RE NOT A CELEBRITY! I used to like you and your show and now I just think you're a hot mess. So there. Mleh.
Does anyone watch HawthoRNe? There's a new episode on tonight and Christina is gonna attack Marcus for (supposedly) hitting Camille. I don't think he did, he doesn't look like the type. But when I saw the promo I was like, "OH SHIT! CHLOE! (my older sister) CHLOE! CHRISTINA IS GONNA BEAT MARCUS' ASS IN! DAMN! DAMMMMMNN!"
Oh yeah, I'm as psyched as Ronald McDonald would be if Burger King went out of business.
Tehe.
-serenityrayne417