Chapter 31
"Is Chelsea okay?"
Tanya sighed, nodding slowly. "She has a concussion, a pretty bad one sweetie. She also broke her arm and bruised a few ribs, but she's going to be okay."
Raven felt her knees grow weak as relief flooded over her. She exhaled, not even realizing she had been holding her breath. Eddie jumped forward, grabbing Raven's good arm and wrapping his other arm around her waist, steadying and hugging her at the same time. "She's okay Rae. I told you she'd be okay." He whispered shakily in her ear, indicating that he was fighting to keep himself composed.
Tears of relief began to stream down Raven's face. She closed her eyes, silently thanking God that Chelsea was going to be okay.
Tanya couldn't help but let a small smile creep on to the corner of her mouth. "Chester said that if you wanted to, you could see Chelsea for a minute."
"Really?" Raven said, surprised. Tanya nodded.
"Room 337, just through those doors."
"You okay to walk Rae?" Eddie asked, squeezing her arm a little.
Raven nodded, standing up straighter. "I'll be okay." She reassured Eddie as she wiped the tear streaks off of her cheeks.
"I'm going to go call your father. I'll be right out here when you're done." Tanya said, wrapping Raven in one more hug before the girl headed through the swinging doors.
Raven walked slowly down the hall, unsure of which room was which, when Chester and Charlene came into view. "Mr. and Mrs. Daniels." Raven called out, quickening her pace a little bit. Charlene put a small hand to her mouth at the sight of Raven.
"Raven, honey, are you all right?" Charlene asked, touching Raven on the shoulder when Raven reached them.
Raven nodded. "I'm okay Mrs. Daniels, thanks for asking. So, how's Chelsea?" She said quickly, anxious to see her girlfriend.
"She keeps drifting in and out of consciousness, so don't expect her to say very much." Chester said, sighing and looking in the dim room at his daughter.
"But she's going to be okay, right?" Raven asked, the deep concern in her voice was not lost on either Chester or Charlene. It touched them very deeply.
Charlene nodded, her already tear-soaked eyes beginning to well up again. "Yes Raven. Why don't you go in? She's asked about you a few times."
"But you mustn't stay too long. She needs her rest." Chester added.
Raven nodded. "I promise to keep it short. Thank you for letting me see her."
Both of the Daniels nodded silently in response. Raven took a deep breath before turning and entering Chelsea's room.
She wasn't prepared for the sight that lay before her.
Chelsea looked so small and pale in that big hospital bed. A white bandage was wrapped around her head, covering from the top to the middle of the girl's forehead. A white cast covered her left arm from the middle of her upper arm all the way down. She was on her back, angled to an almost upright position. Monitors beeped and machines buzzed, filling the room with some sort of noise, but all Raven could hear was the beating of her heart.
As she inched forward, she kept whispering, "She's okay. She's okay. She's okay." over and over again as if to make herself believe that despite how bad Chelsea looked, she would recover. Raven finally reached the side of the bed, gripping on to the side rail to keep herself from running out of the room.
Chelsea's arm twitched, making Raven jump a little. Her head turned toward Raven and her eyes fluttered. They cracked open barely enough to be a squint, but Chelsea was awake.
"Hey baby," Raven whispered, her voice cracking with intense emotion, "Are you okay?"
"Raven…What happened?" Chelsea asked breathlessly, seemingly dazed and barely awake.
"You took a really bad spill down the stairs, but you're gonna be fine. I promise." Raven said sweetly, running a fingertip across Chelsea's cheek.
"What happened to your arm?"
"Don't you worry about that now." Raven soothed. "You should get some rest. How's your head?"
"S'okay." Chelsea slurred slowly. She was drifting off again. "Love you…"
"I love you too Chelsea." Raven said shakily, bending down and kissing Chelsea gently on the forehead. "I'm so sorry that this happened, but I promise that I'll never, ever let you get hurt again. I'm going to take care of you baby for the rest of my life." She whispered, kissing Chelsea softly on the head several times.
Raven didn't expect a response; Chelsea had fallen back asleep again. She just needed to say it. She meant every word of it too. Raven's heart skipped a beat every time she thought about how close she came to losing the girl she loved today. She would do everything in her power to keep from being this close to losing Chelsea again.
Raven touched Chelsea's cheek one more time before quietly leaving the room. Outside, Chester was leaning up against a wall; his arms were crossed against his chest and his head hung loosely, as if he were sleeping standing up. He moved as soon as Raven took a few steps toward him.
"Hello." He greeted flatly, as if he didn't know what else to say.
"Where's Mrs. Daniels?"
"She went to get a cup of coffee."
"Oh."
"Did you get to talk to Chelsea?" He asked, rubbing his face with his hands. If it was possible, Raven thought Chester had aged ten years in one day.
"Yeah, but not a lot."
Chester nodded and then sighed heavily. "I still don't understand how this could have happened."
"I'm sorry." Raven said, lowering her gaze to the floor.
"Don't apologize Raven. It's certainly not your fault; you're just as much a victim as my Chelsea. It's not like you could have known that this was going to happen."
Raven rolled her eyes a little. "Yeah…I guess." Boy, it was going to be hard to keep the Daniels out of the psychic loop if she and Chelsea were going to spend forever together. Raven figured that one day she would have to tell them. Today was not that day though. She decided to change the subject. "So, how long will Chelsea be in here?"
"The doctor said a few days. You're welcome to visit any time."
Then, Chester surprised Raven by approaching her and pulling her into a hug. She tensed up at first, uncomfortable with the contact since they had barely spoken to one another properly over the years, but then she relaxed, putting her arm around him, patting him on the back.
"I know you love Chelsea very much Raven. If only you knew how happy you made her."
Raven could feel herself getting choked up. "She makes me very happy too Mr. Daniels."
Chester let go, smiling a little. "Please, call me Chester."
Raven squinted and tilted her headin reluctance, unsure of that idea. She instead just nodded and then said, "Well, I should probably go. My mom's waiting."
"All right. Go home, get some rest." Chester said, slipping his hands into his pockets. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Raven nodded. "Bye."
Raven found her mother and Eddie talking to two police officers, one man and one woman. Tanya pointed to Raven, who walked over to them very quickly.
Both officers turned. The lady spoke up first. "Hello. I'm Officer Jenkins; this is my partner Officer Sanchez." The woman said, pointing to the man, who nodded curtly. "We understand that you and your friends were attacked."
Raven nodded. "Yeah."
"Okay, we're going to need you and Mr. Thomas to come down to the station and write a statement." Officer Jenkins said, looking from Raven to Tanya.
"Actually," Tanya said, "we're very tired. Raven's had a long, long day. Is there any way we could possibly come in at a later time?"
"Well, we prefer that she come with us now, so the details are fresh in her mind--" Sanchez began, but Raven interrupted.
"Don't worry Officer. I remember every single thing that happened and I'm not going to forget it."
"All right. Why don't you come down to the station tomorrow then?" Sanchez said and both Raven and Tanya nodded.
"How about you Mr. Thomas?" Jenkins said and Eddie shrugged. "Tomorrow as well?"
"I guess so." Eddie said, holding his stomach a little. "I'm kinda beat."
Both Officers nodded. "Understandable." Jenkins said. "We'll let you go. We'll see you tomorrow."
"Thank you Officers." Tanya said as the cops left. Then, she turned to Raven. "How's Chelsea doing?"
"She's okay. She didn't stay awake too long."
"That's all right. As long as Chelsea's going to be okay." Tanya said.
"I knew she was going to be okay." Eddie said again and Raven nodded, wrapping her arm around Eddie and leaning her head on his arm.
Tanya walked over to the waiting room chair, grabbing her purse. "Eddie, do you need a ride home?"
"Yeah. Thanks Mrs. B."
"No problem. Let's go home and get some rest."
They wearily exited the hospital together, exhausted from the day's events.