Authors Note: I wasn't sure what sort of reaction to expect for my last
chapter. I was just sitting there, not really sure of what to write and it
just sort of hit me, so I'm glad that you seemed to like it. As always,
please R&R, your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Chapter 48 | Waiting
Lily stood nervously at the window, waiting anxiously for Rick to arrive. Seeing the bright lights of a car approaching she ran over to the front door. Unlocking it she flung it open as Rick's car pulled up in front of the house.
As she was about to step outside the phone rang.
[Lily - I froze. Completely. Somehow I just knew. A mother knows these things]
Lily looked at the phone which had been left tossed on the couch after she had called Rick, she knew she could pick it up, but it was almost like there was some sort of force holding her back.
Still standing in the doorway she looked over at Rick who was just getting out of his car, and then over at the phone. Biting her lip she ran her hand through her hair and walked over to the couch. She stared at the phone in her hand for a moment, before pressing talk, and putting it to her ear.
[Lily - I tried to tell myself that it could be just anyone calling, but *shrugs* who would call me at 11 o' clock other than Rick?]
"Hello, could I speak to Mrs Manning please?" Lily could feel the dread washing over her in waves.
"This is she" Lily said formally, not knowing what else to say.
"Mrs Manning, this is Dr Charlotte Adams for St Andrews hospital"
[AT THE SAME TIME]
Rick walked through the open door to Lily's house, Lily stood in the lounge room, her back to him, the phone pressed tightly to her ear.
As he took a step towards her she let out a loud cry, the phone slipping from her hands as she collapsed onto the floor in tears.
* * * * * * * * * *
Eli paced back and forth in the waiting room, his left arm completely forgotten. He knew it hadn't been long since they had arrived at the hospital, but he wanted to know how Grace was. After the paramedics had pulled her out of the car, Eli had gone along with them in the ambulance. And even though they tried, there was no way Eli was letting go of her hand.
[Eli - her skin was so white *shudders* white like de- *shakes head* just too white]
Eli had tried to follow them as they wheeled her out of the ambulance and into the hospital, but one of the paramedics blocked his path, forcing him to let her hand go. Fresh tears formed pools in his eyes as he felt her fingers slipping away from his, knowing that it may be the last time he ever felt her hand in his.
"This is bullshit!" Eli yelled frustrated, causing everyone in the waiting room to turn and stare at him.
"Excuse me?" a young nurse approached him, "are you all right?" she asked when she was close enough to see the tiny cuts on the right side of his face and neck, from where glass had hit him due to the impact of the crash, he hadn't noticed it at the time but could now feel the sting from where the glass had cut into him
"Where is she?" Eli snapped angrily, looking around.
"If you tell me her name I could find out for you," the black haired nurse said kindly, noticing his distress.
"Grace, Grace Manning. Please! Do you know where she is?" Eli cried out grabbing the nurse's arm.
"She's in theater at the moment" The nurse said softly, gently extracting her self from his grip, "It may be awhile"
Eli ran a hair roughly through his hair, "Is she okay? What's wrong with her? Why is it taking so long?"
The nurse took Eli by the arm and led him over to a small room. "I'm sorry but you'll have to wait until one of the doctors come and speaks to you" she said leading him inside the room.
"Has someone checked you over yet?"
Eli shook his head, sinking into a chair by the door. "I'm fine really" he shifted his position, wincing as his jolted his arm.
"You don't look okay, let me take a look at that," the nurse said gesturing to his arm.
"It's fine" Eli snapped. "It's her you need to be worried about. I should never have let him driv-"
[Eli - it's like I had totally forgotten about him without intending to. All I could think of at the time was how Grace was]
"Oh my god, Matt how is he?" Eli shuddered as images of Matt in the car flashes into his memory. "His alright isn't he?" he asked, the nurse who was avoiding his eyes.
She kneeled down next to him, "I'm really sorry, but he lost so much blood. There was nothing the doctors could-"
As realization dawned, "his dead"
"Yes, I'm really sorry. The doctors did everything they could"
"I killed him" and with that Eli jumped up and strode swiftly out of the room.
* * * * * * * * * *
Lily ran into the hospitals main entrance, followed closely by Rick. All the woman on the phone had been able to tell them was that there was a car accident involving Grace and Rick as well as some other guy.
Not looking where she was going Lily crashed into someone and stumbled. She didn't realise it was Eli until she heard Rick cry out, "Eli. We were so worried. You're okay!" Lily turned around to see something she had never seen Rick do before. Rick wrapped his arms around his son and roughly drew him into a hug.
"Shit!" Eli let out a cry as Rick almost crushed his bad arm.
"What's wrong, are you all right?" Rick said jumping back in alarm.
"Nothing I'm fine" Eli shook his head.
"Where's Grace?" Lily asked the dreaded question, taking in Eli's red eyed and devilish appearance.
Eli looked down at the ground and swallowed slowly before answering. "She's still in surgery" he struggled to hold back his tears as Lily let out a strangled cry.
"Is she okay?" Rick asked.
"I don't know, they won't tell me anything" Eli shook his head, lily who couldn't wait any longer ran into the waiting room and went up to the first nurse she saw.
Rick looked at his on Eli, who was standing there, his head down and his arms hanging limply at his sides.
[Rick - It was like (pauses and looks directly at camera) to tell you the truth I don't know. I had never seen him like that before]
"What about the other guy? How is he?" Rick asked gently.
Eli reached up and rubbed just below his eye where a piece of glass had been lodged. "He's dead" Eli said flatly. "It's my fault, I thought someone had spiked my drink so I asked him to drive but . . . but I shouldn't have. If I hadn't he would still be alive, and Grace wouldn't be" Eli trailed off as Rick led him over to a chair.
"It wasn't your fault" Rick said strongly, "Do you hear me? You did the right thing. Now why don't you take a seat over here for a while so I can go find Lily and find out what is going on?"
* * * * * * * * * *
Lily jumped up at the sight of a doctor walking towards them. It was now 12:30am in the morning and they were waiting for the doctor to come back and speak to them again as she said she would.
"Mrs. manning, Mr. Sammler" she greeted them a serious look on her face.
"How is she?" Eli jumped up; Rick put a restraining hand on his right arm. Eli had finally agreed to let a doctor check him over and his left arm was now in a plastered and in a sling. And he also spotted a huge pad on the right side of his face to cover the cuts from the glass.
"She just came out of theater about ten minutes ago. She's stable but still unconscious, but we are expecting her to come around in a couple hours time."
"Why did you have to operate?"
"Well she has 4 broken ribs, 2 on each side. When she was moved it cause a punctured lung, so we'll be needed to keep her on a ventilator for a few days but after that she should be fine"
"What about her head" Eli asked frantically, "the blood. . ."
"Well she'll probably have concussion for the next few days. We were slightly worried because there appeared to be some internal bleeding, however we checked it out and there's nothing to be worried about. She will have to wear some heavy dressing on her head for the next week or so until the wound heals. He neck and throat are also very swollen and bruised which could be due to whiplash so she'll be needing to wear a neck brace for the next week or so and we will see how she goes.
Lily ran her hand through her hair tiredly. "How long will you be needing to keep her in for?" she asked.
"We're looking at about a week at the moment. But we'll see how things are after a few days"
"Can I see her?" Lily asked anxiously.
"Sure, but only for a few minutes. She needs time to rest right now"
"Thank you"
Chapter 48 | Waiting
Lily stood nervously at the window, waiting anxiously for Rick to arrive. Seeing the bright lights of a car approaching she ran over to the front door. Unlocking it she flung it open as Rick's car pulled up in front of the house.
As she was about to step outside the phone rang.
[Lily - I froze. Completely. Somehow I just knew. A mother knows these things]
Lily looked at the phone which had been left tossed on the couch after she had called Rick, she knew she could pick it up, but it was almost like there was some sort of force holding her back.
Still standing in the doorway she looked over at Rick who was just getting out of his car, and then over at the phone. Biting her lip she ran her hand through her hair and walked over to the couch. She stared at the phone in her hand for a moment, before pressing talk, and putting it to her ear.
[Lily - I tried to tell myself that it could be just anyone calling, but *shrugs* who would call me at 11 o' clock other than Rick?]
"Hello, could I speak to Mrs Manning please?" Lily could feel the dread washing over her in waves.
"This is she" Lily said formally, not knowing what else to say.
"Mrs Manning, this is Dr Charlotte Adams for St Andrews hospital"
[AT THE SAME TIME]
Rick walked through the open door to Lily's house, Lily stood in the lounge room, her back to him, the phone pressed tightly to her ear.
As he took a step towards her she let out a loud cry, the phone slipping from her hands as she collapsed onto the floor in tears.
* * * * * * * * * *
Eli paced back and forth in the waiting room, his left arm completely forgotten. He knew it hadn't been long since they had arrived at the hospital, but he wanted to know how Grace was. After the paramedics had pulled her out of the car, Eli had gone along with them in the ambulance. And even though they tried, there was no way Eli was letting go of her hand.
[Eli - her skin was so white *shudders* white like de- *shakes head* just too white]
Eli had tried to follow them as they wheeled her out of the ambulance and into the hospital, but one of the paramedics blocked his path, forcing him to let her hand go. Fresh tears formed pools in his eyes as he felt her fingers slipping away from his, knowing that it may be the last time he ever felt her hand in his.
"This is bullshit!" Eli yelled frustrated, causing everyone in the waiting room to turn and stare at him.
"Excuse me?" a young nurse approached him, "are you all right?" she asked when she was close enough to see the tiny cuts on the right side of his face and neck, from where glass had hit him due to the impact of the crash, he hadn't noticed it at the time but could now feel the sting from where the glass had cut into him
"Where is she?" Eli snapped angrily, looking around.
"If you tell me her name I could find out for you," the black haired nurse said kindly, noticing his distress.
"Grace, Grace Manning. Please! Do you know where she is?" Eli cried out grabbing the nurse's arm.
"She's in theater at the moment" The nurse said softly, gently extracting her self from his grip, "It may be awhile"
Eli ran a hair roughly through his hair, "Is she okay? What's wrong with her? Why is it taking so long?"
The nurse took Eli by the arm and led him over to a small room. "I'm sorry but you'll have to wait until one of the doctors come and speaks to you" she said leading him inside the room.
"Has someone checked you over yet?"
Eli shook his head, sinking into a chair by the door. "I'm fine really" he shifted his position, wincing as his jolted his arm.
"You don't look okay, let me take a look at that," the nurse said gesturing to his arm.
"It's fine" Eli snapped. "It's her you need to be worried about. I should never have let him driv-"
[Eli - it's like I had totally forgotten about him without intending to. All I could think of at the time was how Grace was]
"Oh my god, Matt how is he?" Eli shuddered as images of Matt in the car flashes into his memory. "His alright isn't he?" he asked, the nurse who was avoiding his eyes.
She kneeled down next to him, "I'm really sorry, but he lost so much blood. There was nothing the doctors could-"
As realization dawned, "his dead"
"Yes, I'm really sorry. The doctors did everything they could"
"I killed him" and with that Eli jumped up and strode swiftly out of the room.
* * * * * * * * * *
Lily ran into the hospitals main entrance, followed closely by Rick. All the woman on the phone had been able to tell them was that there was a car accident involving Grace and Rick as well as some other guy.
Not looking where she was going Lily crashed into someone and stumbled. She didn't realise it was Eli until she heard Rick cry out, "Eli. We were so worried. You're okay!" Lily turned around to see something she had never seen Rick do before. Rick wrapped his arms around his son and roughly drew him into a hug.
"Shit!" Eli let out a cry as Rick almost crushed his bad arm.
"What's wrong, are you all right?" Rick said jumping back in alarm.
"Nothing I'm fine" Eli shook his head.
"Where's Grace?" Lily asked the dreaded question, taking in Eli's red eyed and devilish appearance.
Eli looked down at the ground and swallowed slowly before answering. "She's still in surgery" he struggled to hold back his tears as Lily let out a strangled cry.
"Is she okay?" Rick asked.
"I don't know, they won't tell me anything" Eli shook his head, lily who couldn't wait any longer ran into the waiting room and went up to the first nurse she saw.
Rick looked at his on Eli, who was standing there, his head down and his arms hanging limply at his sides.
[Rick - It was like (pauses and looks directly at camera) to tell you the truth I don't know. I had never seen him like that before]
"What about the other guy? How is he?" Rick asked gently.
Eli reached up and rubbed just below his eye where a piece of glass had been lodged. "He's dead" Eli said flatly. "It's my fault, I thought someone had spiked my drink so I asked him to drive but . . . but I shouldn't have. If I hadn't he would still be alive, and Grace wouldn't be" Eli trailed off as Rick led him over to a chair.
"It wasn't your fault" Rick said strongly, "Do you hear me? You did the right thing. Now why don't you take a seat over here for a while so I can go find Lily and find out what is going on?"
* * * * * * * * * *
Lily jumped up at the sight of a doctor walking towards them. It was now 12:30am in the morning and they were waiting for the doctor to come back and speak to them again as she said she would.
"Mrs. manning, Mr. Sammler" she greeted them a serious look on her face.
"How is she?" Eli jumped up; Rick put a restraining hand on his right arm. Eli had finally agreed to let a doctor check him over and his left arm was now in a plastered and in a sling. And he also spotted a huge pad on the right side of his face to cover the cuts from the glass.
"She just came out of theater about ten minutes ago. She's stable but still unconscious, but we are expecting her to come around in a couple hours time."
"Why did you have to operate?"
"Well she has 4 broken ribs, 2 on each side. When she was moved it cause a punctured lung, so we'll be needed to keep her on a ventilator for a few days but after that she should be fine"
"What about her head" Eli asked frantically, "the blood. . ."
"Well she'll probably have concussion for the next few days. We were slightly worried because there appeared to be some internal bleeding, however we checked it out and there's nothing to be worried about. She will have to wear some heavy dressing on her head for the next week or so until the wound heals. He neck and throat are also very swollen and bruised which could be due to whiplash so she'll be needing to wear a neck brace for the next week or so and we will see how she goes.
Lily ran her hand through her hair tiredly. "How long will you be needing to keep her in for?" she asked.
"We're looking at about a week at the moment. But we'll see how things are after a few days"
"Can I see her?" Lily asked anxiously.
"Sure, but only for a few minutes. She needs time to rest right now"
"Thank you"