Nicole>
I was in my room working on a book report. I may be an Animorph but I still have to keep my grades up. Try saving the world and maintaining a "B" average at the same time, almost impossible. My mouth was beginning to get dry so I went to the bathroom to get some water. The door was open a crack so I thought Jason was in there.
"Jason?" I called. No answer. I pushed the door open and screamed. "DAAAAAAD!"
He was lying in the tub covered in blood that flowed from both his wrists. My dad came barrelling up the stairs to see what the problem was and nearly had a heart attack when he took in the scene before us.
"Oh my God," he knelt beside Jason and checked for a pulse. "He's alive. Call 9-1-1!"
"What if the paramedics are Controllers?"
"I'll take the risk, now hurry!"
As I turned to leave I noticed an open bottle of pills sitting on the sink counter. I took the stairs two at a time and snatched up the phone. I dialed the number to the hospital and the operator answered.
"I need an ambulance," I said. "My brother slit his wrists and I think he may have overdosed."
I gave the address and hurried back upstairs. Dad was applying pressure to stop the bleeding. I ran over to the cabinet and got the gauze bandages and wrapped them around his wrists. My vision was blurred from the tears that welled up in my eyes.
Hold yourself together Nicole, Jason needs you right now, I told myself.
"Nicole," Cheyenne called from downstairs, "you here?"
"Don't let her come in here," my dad said.
Cheyenne didn't need to see him like this, she would go ballistic. Jason and Cheyenne had a close relationship going between them and I knew it would tear her apart. I bolted out into the hall in time to meet Cheyenne at the top of the stairs.
"Hey," I said. "What's up?"
"Not much. Did you know you're door was left open?"
"Yeah I completely forgot about it." I raised my hand to brush a curl from my face.
"Is that blood?"
I looked at my hand. It was covered in blood from treating Jason. I had to think of something to say quick. "It's paint. I'm working on a new Bob Ross picture."
"Nic, I've seen enough blood in the last few months to know that that is not paint. What's going on?"
Before I could speak I heard sirens outside in the driveway. Two EMT's rushed through the door and up the stairs carrying bags of medical supplies. Cheyenne pushed past me towards the bathroom and stood frozen with horror in the doorway.
"Jason! Please God no!" she shrieked.
I pulled her back and held her close as she began to sob. The EMT's lifted him out of the bathtub and carried him downstairs where the gurney was. They strapped him down and loaded him into the back of the ambulance. Dad came up to Cheyenne and I.
"I'll ride to the hospital with him, you two keep watch from above."
We nodded and he got in the ambulance with Jason. As they pulled away I morphed to prairie falcon and Cheyenne morphed to martial eagle. We flew high above them as they headed to the hospital looking for anything out of the ordinary. Everything seemed to be okay as they pulled into the emergency room's garage. Cheyenne and I demorphed behind a dumpster in an alley and went inside. Dad was busy filling out paperwork as Jason was hooked up to an IV and oxygen mask.
"Nicole, you and Cheyenne stay with Jason while I finish up here," he told us.
Jason had to have stitches and his stomach pumped. An hour later the doctor came into the waiting room and sat down in front of us.
"Mr. Berenson," the doctor began. "Your son lost a substantial amount of blood. We also found large traces of Zanex, Valium and asprin in his system. He's doing fine, but we need to keep him under close observation for a few days. A week at the most."
"Can we see him?" I asked.
"He's unconscious at the moment. I'd wait until there was some improvement before receiving any visitors. We will keep you informed of any changes that occur."
I stared through the window into Jason's room in ICU. His steady breathing
kept in rhythm with the beeping of the heart monitor. Rage boiled deep
within me as I stood there watching my brother fight for his life. I decided
at that I would send Visser One a little message.