NAYERT
Chapter Five-The Accident
"What happened?" Stephanie asked, concerned.
"Joey lost control of the car and hit a pole," Danny said.
My heart began pounding heavily.
"Is he alright?" Becky asked.
"He's in critical condition," Danny replied.
I jumped to my feet and stalked out of the room. Danny, Becky, Kimmy, Stephanie and D.J. followed. I was blind to where I was going…all I could think of was getting to the hospital.
"What hospital is he in?" Becky asked alarmed.
"Alane Memorial Hospital," Danny replied.
"Does Uncle Jessie know?" Stephanie asked as we reached the living room.
Jessie was sitting on the couch eating a bowl of popcorn.
"No. We're probably going to have to take his car," Danny replied. "Jess? I just got call from Alane Memorial Hospital. Joey was in an accident."
Jessie nearly dropped the bowl.
"What?" he asked in a monotone.
"He apparently lost control of the car and hit a pole. We're going to the hospital now. Someone's got to stay with Michelle,"
"We'll stay," D.J. said gesturing to herself and Kimmy. "Just please let us know how he is."
D.J. was almost on the verge of tears.
"We will," Danny said putting a hand on D.J's shoulder.
"Let's go," Jessie said as he almost tossed the popcorn bowl onto the table. He pulled his car keys out of his pocket.
Stephanie, Danny, Becky, Jessie and I all headed out to Jessie's Mustang. We managed to pile in. Jessie started the car and we pulled out of the driveway.
ALANE MEMORIAL HOSPTIAL.
We all hurried over to the receptionist's desk.
"Excuse me…we're looking for a Joey Gladstone," Becky said urgently.
The nurse receptionist typed in the name on a computer.
"Yes. Third floor, ICU," she replied.
"Thanks," Danny said as we headed over to the elevators.
"What's ICU?" Stephanie asked.
"Intensive Care Unit," I replied quietly.
Stephanie was fighting tears as well. We all climbed into the elevator and hit the 3 button on the panel.
The elevator began ascending. Once the doors whiffed open on the third floor, we all flew out.
There was a nurse's station.
"Joey Gladstone," Jessie said.
"He's in room 343A. Three people are allowed in at a time," the nurse said.
Danny, Becky, Jessie, Stephanie and I looked at each other.
"Why don't me, Emma, and Jess go first? Then Danny you and Stephanie can go in?" Becky suggested.
"Sure. That's fine," Danny said nodding looking grave and solemn.
Jessie, Becky and I headed down the corridor until we reached room 343A. Becky opened the door and we stepped in.
Joey was lying in a hospital bed. He had an IV, a heart monitor and a respirator on.
He had a bandage around his head. His eyes were closed. The heart monitor beeped rhythmically.
"God," Jessie said, quietly as we crowded around the bed.
"Joey? It's Becky. Emma and Jess are here. So is Danny and Stephanie," Becky said, trying to keep her voice steady.
"We all want you to get better," Jessie added.
"Please do," I said, swallowing tears. "We all love you."
Just then, a nurse came into the room to check Joey's blood pressure.
"Were there any witnesses?" Becky asked the nurse.
"No," the nurse said, as she was finished checking his blood pressure.
"How is he doing?" I asked, hugging myself and feeling the tears start to form in my eyes.
"Well, he's stable now. One of his lungs collapsed. Once he starts breathing on his own again, he'll be better off," the nurse said as she put a hand on my arm before leaving.
"This is my fault," Jessie said, as he began pacing the room.
"How is this your fault?" Becky asked stunned.
"I should've went to the pet store instead of him,"
"No…Jess, this wasn't your fault," I said, as tears began sliding down my cheeks.
Becky came over to me and wrapped her arms around me.
"Joey wanted to go," I continued.
Jess was still pacing the room.
"Listen, they allow one person to spend the night. Why don't you take the first night?" Becky suggested to me.
I nodded.
"Sure,"
After that, Danny and Stephanie came in. Steph broke down. Danny had to leave quickly.
I curled up on the small sofa inside the room and dozed off once everyone had left the room.
During the night, a loud straight beep went off. I snapped awake abruptly. The heart monitor was fine. It must've been someone next door to Joey.
I got up off the sofa and sat in a chair beside Joey's bed.
I gently took Joey's hand in mine and held it.
"Please come back to us. We all love you," I said, swallowing more tears. I crossed my arms on the bed and rested my head on them.
I dozed off again.
The next morning, I felt someone gently shaking me. I snapped awake.
It was a nurse.
"I've got good news. During the night, Joey began breathing on his own. We took him off the respirator. He should wake up any time,"
I burst into happy tears.
"Nothing else was wrong with him?"
"No…other than the collapsed lung. He was lucky," the nurse said.
In the morning, Danny, Jessie, Becky, Michelle and D.J. arrived at the hospital. I told them the good news. They all breathed a sigh of relief.
"What happened?" a voice asked.
We all turned. Joey was awake.
Relieved sobs went around as everyone hugged him. I was the last to hug him.
"You lost control of the car and hit a pole," Danny said.
Everyone was wiping his or her eyes.
"I didn't lose control of the car," Joey replied.
"What do you mean?" Becky asked.
"Someone ran me off the road," Joey replied wincing.
"Do you remember what kind of car it was?" Stephanie asked.
Joey frowned. "A black Nissan Pathfinder,"
I jumped up.
"Emma? What's wrong?" D.J. asked alarmed.
"I know who's car that is," I said, quietly as my voice began shaking with rage and tears streamed down my cheeks.
They waited patiently.
"Mike owns a black Nissan Pathfinder,"
No one answered.
"This is all my fault!" I cried, digging the heels of my palms into my temples as I began pacing.
"How do you see that?" Jessie asked.
"Had I gone back with Mike he wouldn't've tried to hurt Joey!"
"Emma, Mike is a scumbag. This is not your fault…if it's anyone's fault it's Mike's," Joey replied looking at me.
"It doesn't matter! It was still done because of me!" I cried.
"It's not your fault, Emma," Michelle said, in a shaky voice.
Seeing me upset was upsetting her as well.
"It's my fault! It's my fault!" I cried dropping to my knees and I hugged myself, rocking back and forth.
Jess sank to his knees beside me and wrapped his arms around me. I pressed my face into his chest and sobbed uncontrollably.
"This is not your fault, Emma," Jess said, quietly and soothingly. "Mike is a wacko that needs help. We'll tell the police what happened. Mike will get his."
I pulled back and stared at Jessie.
"If Joey had died I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself! The reason Mike drove him off the road was because he knew I was dating Joey and I didn't want to get back with him!"
"He's the one who needs help," D.J. said soothingly. "He's not well."
"Kids, I think Emma and Joey need to talk," Danny said, as he gently began ushering everyone outside. Jessie and I stood up.
Jess gave me once last hug before Becky hugged me and followed the rest of the family out into the hall.
I stood beside Joey's bed.
Joey reached up and took my hand.
"Listen to me…this is not your fault. I don't want you blaming yourself one bit…got it?"
Sobbing, I nodded.
I leaned down and put my arms around him, resting my cheek on top of his chest. The top of my head was right under his chin.
He rubbed my back as I sobbed.
"I love you so much," I sobbed quietly.
"I love you too," Joey said.
"Oooh I swear I'm going to get that mongrel when I get out of here!" Joey said in Yosemite Sam's voice.
I laughed despite the tears. I lifted my head and gave Joey a kiss before standing up. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hands.
"Alright! You can call come back in!" I called.
They all entered talking, but I knew that had been listening.
"Were you listening?" I asked, good-naturedly.
"No…"
"Well…."
"It sounded like…"
"I was…"
They all began rambling excuses. I broke into a grin.
"It's okay. I don't mind," I said, laughing.
"Are you okay now, Emma?" Michelle asked, concerned.
I went over to her and picked her up.
"Absolutely," I grinned giving her a squeeze.
"When do I get out of here? The food can be used for batting practice!" Joey said.
We all laughed.
"As soon as your all better…one hundred percent," Becky replied.
Jessie snorted.
"If that's the case, he'll be in here for a few more centuries,"
We all laughed again.
"What's your excuse? You talk to your hair in the morning," Joey shot back good-naturedly.
"You talk to your hair?" I asked, rolling with laughter.
"Hey…it's a prep talk so I don't end up with hair plugs," Jess said defensively.
"You're weird, Uncle Jessie," Michelle laughed.
Jessie came over to me and began tickling her in my arms. She was laughing and squealing.
I set Michelle down.
"I informed the nurse what Joey told us. She's going to have two police officers come and ask Joey some questions," Danny replied.
"Good. I hope they nail him good," I said, folding my arms over my chest.
"They will…trust me," Becky said, reassuringly.
Two police officers came and began asking Joey some questions. He gave them the full description and I even told them what I knew and that Mike was probably distraught because I didn't go back with him.
The police asked me if I would like to put a Restraining Order on Mike. I agreed since that might be a little more protection than what we had earlier.
Joey joking asked Jessie if he would like to use the meatballs that came with his dinner as baseballs.
We laughed.
"These look obscene," Joey said, gesturing to the meatballs that looked more like sausages.
We laughed harder. It was good to hear Joey back to himself again.
"They should call them Meat Wiener's instead," I joked. "They don't look like balls to me."
Everyone paused and looked at me before bursting into hysterical laughter.
"I don't get it," Stephanie frowned.
Grinning, I went over to her and whispered in her ears what I meant. She was old enough to hear it.
"Oh!" she broke into giggles and blushed. "I think I need to leave."
She was blushing furiously having the guys watching her.
She left and I heard her laughing hysterically in the hallway. D.J. was even having a hard time keeping a straight face.
I stepped out into the hall and found her doubled over laughing. D.J. came out and rolled with laughter watching Stephanie.
"I think Steph is going to be traumatized now," Joey said, laughing.
"I hope it was okay to tell her the joke," I said to Danny.
"She's old enough to understand," Danny grinned chuckling.
After a few moments, Stephanie finally managed to calm down enough to come back into the room. Every once and awhile, her lip twitched and we heard her snort on occasion.
"Uncle Jessie? Please tell me you're going to stop talking to your hair in the morning? I walked by there the other day and thought you were talking to Becky," D.J. said, laughing.
Jessie blushed.
"Fine…I'll trim it down to a pep talk in about 3 minutes before anyone else wakes up,"
"Let's go. Joey needs his rest," Danny said.
Michelle, D.J., Stephanie, Becky, and Jessie gave Joey a hug before leaving. I gave him a hug and kiss too before I followed the rest of the troop out of the room.
Joey was released two weeks later. He was back to his normal self.
The police informed us that Mike was no where to be found. Typical. He probably figured that I'd tell the police and decided to go on the run.
What a coward. I was enraged toward him for even trying to kill Joey. That's what it basically came down to. He nearly did.
The next day, the doorbell rang. I answered it. The family was in the kitchen eating lunch.
Mike stood in the doorstep.
"YOU!" I bellowed raged.
At that moment, Jessie, Danny, and Joey came trotting into the living room.
"Let me at him!" Joey snarled and went to lunge for Mike, but Danny held him back.
"You need to take it easy," Danny said, softly. "Let Jessie handle him."
Jessie stood beside me and glared at Mike.
"YOU RAN JOEY OFF THE ROAD? WHAT IN GODS NAME WERE YOU THINKING?" I screamed angrily.
I wanted to kill him…
Becky, Michelle, D.J. and Stephanie came into the living room next.
"You've got a hell of a nerve, buddy showing up here," Becky snapped.
"If I couldn't have you, no one can," Mike said as he pulled out a gun and aimed it at me. The girl's screamed and ducked down behind the furniture. Mike clicked back the hammer. The gun was aimed directly at my forehead.
