Griffin and Eric nervously paced the halls of the hospital in front of a very worried Dori and her husband, who was trying not to sure his own nervousness, was sitting down at the moment.
"Griffin, Eric," said Dori, cutting the silence. "Will you please sit down! You're making me dizzy!"
"Sorry mom." Griffin stated, and sat down beside his father. Eric continued to stand.
Brett came through the electric doors and came running up to Eric. "Where's Caitlin?" he asked hurried. Then noticing the Lowe family, he turned and asked them, "Is she all right?
"We don't know." replied Jim. "She's been in there for at least 15 min., maybe a half hour, and the doctors haven't told us anything."
Then, they saw a doctor coming toward them; his expression didn't settle the knots in their stomachs. "Hello, the Lowe family?" he asked.
"Yes." said Jim as himself and everyone who had been sitting stood up.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Brunan." he said, shaking hands with Jim.
"Is Caitlin all right?" Dori asked hopefully as she shook hands with the doctor.
Dr. Brunan sighed, which turned into a frown. "I'm afraid she's not doing well." he replied
"What's wrong with her?" Eric asked, more so demanding.
"Yeah, what's up with Caitlin?" asked Brett.
The doctor could hear the impatience in their voices and decided to just come out and say it. "She's in a coma. She hit her head, and we don't know when she will come out of her currant state . . ."
"But she was fine when she woke up!" interrupted Eric angrily.
"Yes, this sometimes happens." responded Dr. Brunan, carefully choosing his words. "If a person has a concussion, that person might be fine or slip into a coma. Some people are sleepy and when they go to sleep, they sometimes become unconscious or worse . . .they indeed slip into a coma."
"Is she going to . . .?" asked Griffin.
"We can't know that now. She could wake up . . .or yes, she could die."
"How long do you think she'll be like this?" asked Jim.
"It varies. She could be in a coma for months. We just don't know."
"Ok, thanks doctor." said Jim.
"You may come and visit her anytime you like, since she doesn't need rest." he said. "Sometimes, hearing the people the coma patients love will lure them out of their sleep." There was a pause, then, "She's in room 320. I hope . . ." Another pause, then, "I hope your presence will help Miss Seagar." and he walked off.
It had been a week since Caitlin had been in the hospital. The doctors had said that there had been no changes in her vital signs or any hints that she might be coming out of her coma. Griffin, Eric, and Brett worried about her when they were in school, and visited her when they could, along with Jim and Dori.
On one occasion, when the three guys were making one of their daily visits to the hospital, Will had come in. There had been an uncomfortable silence as the trio had glared at Will, along with Will glaring back.
Brett and Griffin noticed that Eric had a speck more of anger in his eyes than normally. Curiosity formed when they thought of the possibility of Caitlin and Eric together.
Now, Eric sat alone in the hospital room that was occupied by Caitlin. Brett had basketball practice, Jim was working, Dori had an emergency call for Will's horse, Sinbad, and Griffin had stayed after school for some club. He stared at Caitlin, silently willing her to wake up from this deep sleep. "Come on Caitlin," he said quietly, breaking the definite silence. "You gotta' wake up." He clung to his leather jacket and fell asleep by her bed side.
Author's Note: I can't believe it, but I'm already on the next chapter!
