Jane was still cursing his name when she got the call. Without knowing what
else she could do, she called Liz. Together they drove to St.Simon Memorial
and raced towards the building. "Where is he?" Jane demanded as she
launched herself upon the young desk clerk who looked frightened. "Who
ma'am?" She asked politely, through Jane's sudden attack had strained her
nerves. "Eddie Alden! He was brought in. He was brought in, he was hit by
a car" The nurse whose tag read 'Renee' began to type into the computer.
"Spell his last name ma'am?" Jane wanted to wrap her hands around the
woman's neck. "A L D E N. God what the fuck is the matter with you
people?!"
A white-coated doctor strolled up while Liz comforted Jane with soothing strokes and pats. "Hello my name is Ryan English. Are you friends or relatives of an Edward Jacob Alden?" "I'm his girlfriend" Jane said quickly and turned to Liz. "This is Elizabeth Matthews, a friend of his. How is he?" English seemed hesitant so avoided answering the question. "I'm going to need you to answer some questions about Mr.Alden for his medical chart. He led Jane and Liz to a row of ugly yellow chairs and sat them down. "Now how old is he?" "Eddie's turning 28 in 4 days" English nodded and scribbled down some notes. He asked them a barrage of questions almost bouncing from if he were allergic to anything to the picture of a blue bunny he drew in the 1st grade.
"How is he?" Jane demanded when English closed the notebook slowly and rose. "I will be blunt with you," He said and held up a hand as Jane tried to rise too. "You might want to stay seated" He advised and Liz eased Jane back into the seat. "Your boyfriend has a lot of trauma mostly to the head and that's never an easy situation. "We've closed what we can but there is a lot of internal bleeding, if we can't get it drained in time and find a suiting match, then there is a possibility that he might drown in his own blood"
Jane felt a sickly thick bile claw its way up her throat and she pressed her head into her hands and a moan escaped her lips. "There is another possibility," English began and Jane looked up sharply. "That he'll pull through, the by amount of scars we found on his body, it seems like he's a survivor. But if he does, all the signs point to that he will be brain- dead" Jane nodded and turned to Liz. "Why don't you get a soda from the cafeteria or something?" Liz regarded her slowly. "Are you going to be ok?" Jane plastered a fake smile on her unpainted lips. "Yeah". Reluctantly, Liz rose from the seats and once she left, Jane returned her dark gaze to English.
"What exactly," She began as she massaged her tired eyes. "Is the chance that he'll live?" English seemed to pause for a moment as he polished his glasses on the white front of his coat. "I won't lie to you," He said and continued when Jane said nothing. "The odds aren't in his favor at 25%. With all his injuries he shouldn't be alive right now" Jane felt as if the ground beneath her feet was crumbling. "It was my fault he walked out," She said as the uncontrollable tears began to tumble down her cheeks. "We had had a fight and he walked out. If I hadn't been such a bitch then he would be alright now"
Sympathy began to stir in English for Jane. "There's no accounting for why these sort of things happen Miss.Goodale, but that 25% chance is still there, so all hope is not lost" He squeezed Jane's hand reassuringly then a nurse with a blood smeared shirt came and Jane felt her heart drop. The nurse whispered something in English's ear and he gaze Jane an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Miss.Goodale but I have to go back to the room. I suggest that you go home and try to rest and we will call you if anything happens" Jane shook her head. "No, I want to stay here with him" Realizing that she wasn't going to leave the hospital willfully he nodded. "Alright, I'll have Nurse Renee Parker set up an empty bed for you" Jane smiled gratefully and followed the nurse down the opposite hallway.
It was about 2 in the morning when Jane heard people running through the halls. For a moment she was in a panic because she couldn't remember where she was. Then when she heard the intercom calling out the names of random doctors and nurses, the realization came with the fresh hot lick of fear. When they called for Ryan English, Jane began to grope for her cell phone to call Liz. When Liz arrived at the hospital, she was a little groggy but alert all the same, she looked shrunken in her oversized Mets T-shirt and jogging pants, but her eyes were clear and she was at Jane's side all the same.
There was nothing that Jane or Liz could do and they felt helpless and they hated it. Slowly the pace returned to normal and Jane and Liz waited in the corridor to see if they could grab English to shake information out of him. But English was no where to be found and Renee insisted that she didn't know either, though Jane suspected that the pretty brunette nurse was holding information out on her. Jane paced up and down the corridor like a restless tiger and Liz followed her with her eyes while she played with the hem of her shirt and got the attention of the cute male intern she only knew as Will.
Then they saw English walking down the hall, his steps sharp and crisp yet a little doggy. His chocolate brown hair fell in front of his dark green eyes as if he had just recovered from a mad dash. As he got closer, Jane noticed that the youthful color had gone from his face and in its place was a pale flush that made Jane's nerves stand on the edge of hysteria. "How is he?" Liz asked when Jane didn't, she seemed frozen in place. English regarded then silently for a minute, taking in their appearance and situation. He placed his hands lightly on Jane's shoulders and took a deep breath.
"We had thought that we found a matching donor" He said slowly and before Jane or Liz had the time to say anything, he continued. "However, Edward's body rejected it and the second donor that he had on list turned out to be infected with AIDS. The nurses didn't pick it up when they screened the blood, and the man who gave us the blood didn't seem to think it was important to tell us that he had AIDS" While he paused, Jane took the opportunity to talk. "But if it were a match, then why didn't you give it to him?" English raised a dark eyebrow. "Because it would infect him with the virus" Jane simply pushed it aside. "He would recover from the accident though right?" "Yes," English said on the verge of impatient. "But he would suffer from AIDS and it would just be a matter for 1 to 4 years until he dies from it"
Liz rubbed the back of Jane's tense back and motioned for English to tell them whatever he had come to say. "The point of the case is ladies that since we couldn't use the second donor and his body rejected the first so violently it only added to the accident trauma," He paused, seeming to try to find another way to approach the matter. "Everyone did all they could," Jane's eyes transformed into smoky brown dinner plates "But it wasn't enough and sadly, his pulse and blood dropped at around 1:45 this morning and the residents on call did everything that they could due to revive him, but it wasn't enough. I'm very sorry"
Liz dropped into the chair with her head in her hands while Jane simply stood there frozen. "Excuse me?" She heard herself say dumbly. Sympathy swirled in English and he stroked a lean hand over Jane's shoulder and down her arm. "He died at around 2:15. The residents and I did everything that they taught us to do, we even pulled things out of our asses to revive him, but nothing worked. I'm so sorry, I know how hard this must be on you" Jane took a deep wavering breath and slowly collapsed against English. A heartbroken moan escaped her lips and English caught her in his surprisingly strong arms.
A white-coated doctor strolled up while Liz comforted Jane with soothing strokes and pats. "Hello my name is Ryan English. Are you friends or relatives of an Edward Jacob Alden?" "I'm his girlfriend" Jane said quickly and turned to Liz. "This is Elizabeth Matthews, a friend of his. How is he?" English seemed hesitant so avoided answering the question. "I'm going to need you to answer some questions about Mr.Alden for his medical chart. He led Jane and Liz to a row of ugly yellow chairs and sat them down. "Now how old is he?" "Eddie's turning 28 in 4 days" English nodded and scribbled down some notes. He asked them a barrage of questions almost bouncing from if he were allergic to anything to the picture of a blue bunny he drew in the 1st grade.
"How is he?" Jane demanded when English closed the notebook slowly and rose. "I will be blunt with you," He said and held up a hand as Jane tried to rise too. "You might want to stay seated" He advised and Liz eased Jane back into the seat. "Your boyfriend has a lot of trauma mostly to the head and that's never an easy situation. "We've closed what we can but there is a lot of internal bleeding, if we can't get it drained in time and find a suiting match, then there is a possibility that he might drown in his own blood"
Jane felt a sickly thick bile claw its way up her throat and she pressed her head into her hands and a moan escaped her lips. "There is another possibility," English began and Jane looked up sharply. "That he'll pull through, the by amount of scars we found on his body, it seems like he's a survivor. But if he does, all the signs point to that he will be brain- dead" Jane nodded and turned to Liz. "Why don't you get a soda from the cafeteria or something?" Liz regarded her slowly. "Are you going to be ok?" Jane plastered a fake smile on her unpainted lips. "Yeah". Reluctantly, Liz rose from the seats and once she left, Jane returned her dark gaze to English.
"What exactly," She began as she massaged her tired eyes. "Is the chance that he'll live?" English seemed to pause for a moment as he polished his glasses on the white front of his coat. "I won't lie to you," He said and continued when Jane said nothing. "The odds aren't in his favor at 25%. With all his injuries he shouldn't be alive right now" Jane felt as if the ground beneath her feet was crumbling. "It was my fault he walked out," She said as the uncontrollable tears began to tumble down her cheeks. "We had had a fight and he walked out. If I hadn't been such a bitch then he would be alright now"
Sympathy began to stir in English for Jane. "There's no accounting for why these sort of things happen Miss.Goodale, but that 25% chance is still there, so all hope is not lost" He squeezed Jane's hand reassuringly then a nurse with a blood smeared shirt came and Jane felt her heart drop. The nurse whispered something in English's ear and he gaze Jane an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Miss.Goodale but I have to go back to the room. I suggest that you go home and try to rest and we will call you if anything happens" Jane shook her head. "No, I want to stay here with him" Realizing that she wasn't going to leave the hospital willfully he nodded. "Alright, I'll have Nurse Renee Parker set up an empty bed for you" Jane smiled gratefully and followed the nurse down the opposite hallway.
It was about 2 in the morning when Jane heard people running through the halls. For a moment she was in a panic because she couldn't remember where she was. Then when she heard the intercom calling out the names of random doctors and nurses, the realization came with the fresh hot lick of fear. When they called for Ryan English, Jane began to grope for her cell phone to call Liz. When Liz arrived at the hospital, she was a little groggy but alert all the same, she looked shrunken in her oversized Mets T-shirt and jogging pants, but her eyes were clear and she was at Jane's side all the same.
There was nothing that Jane or Liz could do and they felt helpless and they hated it. Slowly the pace returned to normal and Jane and Liz waited in the corridor to see if they could grab English to shake information out of him. But English was no where to be found and Renee insisted that she didn't know either, though Jane suspected that the pretty brunette nurse was holding information out on her. Jane paced up and down the corridor like a restless tiger and Liz followed her with her eyes while she played with the hem of her shirt and got the attention of the cute male intern she only knew as Will.
Then they saw English walking down the hall, his steps sharp and crisp yet a little doggy. His chocolate brown hair fell in front of his dark green eyes as if he had just recovered from a mad dash. As he got closer, Jane noticed that the youthful color had gone from his face and in its place was a pale flush that made Jane's nerves stand on the edge of hysteria. "How is he?" Liz asked when Jane didn't, she seemed frozen in place. English regarded then silently for a minute, taking in their appearance and situation. He placed his hands lightly on Jane's shoulders and took a deep breath.
"We had thought that we found a matching donor" He said slowly and before Jane or Liz had the time to say anything, he continued. "However, Edward's body rejected it and the second donor that he had on list turned out to be infected with AIDS. The nurses didn't pick it up when they screened the blood, and the man who gave us the blood didn't seem to think it was important to tell us that he had AIDS" While he paused, Jane took the opportunity to talk. "But if it were a match, then why didn't you give it to him?" English raised a dark eyebrow. "Because it would infect him with the virus" Jane simply pushed it aside. "He would recover from the accident though right?" "Yes," English said on the verge of impatient. "But he would suffer from AIDS and it would just be a matter for 1 to 4 years until he dies from it"
Liz rubbed the back of Jane's tense back and motioned for English to tell them whatever he had come to say. "The point of the case is ladies that since we couldn't use the second donor and his body rejected the first so violently it only added to the accident trauma," He paused, seeming to try to find another way to approach the matter. "Everyone did all they could," Jane's eyes transformed into smoky brown dinner plates "But it wasn't enough and sadly, his pulse and blood dropped at around 1:45 this morning and the residents on call did everything that they could due to revive him, but it wasn't enough. I'm very sorry"
Liz dropped into the chair with her head in her hands while Jane simply stood there frozen. "Excuse me?" She heard herself say dumbly. Sympathy swirled in English and he stroked a lean hand over Jane's shoulder and down her arm. "He died at around 2:15. The residents and I did everything that they taught us to do, we even pulled things out of our asses to revive him, but nothing worked. I'm so sorry, I know how hard this must be on you" Jane took a deep wavering breath and slowly collapsed against English. A heartbroken moan escaped her lips and English caught her in his surprisingly strong arms.