Chapter Nine- Running Away From it All.
It was a shaken ED standing at the front desk at that very moment. Frank looked solemn, Charlotte alarmed, Von pale and Cate upset. Jess looked shocked and disbelieving- it couldn't be true, it couldn't have happened. Her hands were shaking, and she couldn't keep still. Lucy had been there moments earlier; talking to Jess, and seconds later she was gone- just like that.
Charlotte sadly filled out the paperwork. It was very unfortunate and tragic the way Lucy had died. She had had a sudden brain hemaridge, completely unexpected and non preventable. They had tried their hardest to save her, but it had been too late. Whether or not it was related to the accident none of them knew. It was unnerving the way Lucy had predicted her own death- as a terrified Jess had told them, it was almost as if she had known it was about to happen.
"It is pretty weird," a shaken Cate said. "How could she have known though? It's seems impossible."
"I've heard of patients doing that before," said Charlotte, looking down at the papers in front of her. "It is unnerving, but perhaps some people can just predict when they are about to die. We'll never really know."
As Dan walked up to join them, he could tell by the faces the worst had happened. "Oh no…" he said softly. "What am I going to tell David?"
They all turned towards him. "Did you ever work out what was the deal between those two?" asked Jack, clearly curious. Dan felt so angry at Jack, for his bluntness when talking about David's feelings for Lucy- they were anything but blunt, they deserved more respect than idle curiosity. But then he remembered that Jack wouldn't have any idea or understanding of David's situation. Jack was forthcoming; he told it like it was. If he liked someone, he'd make a go of it, and if it didn't work out, well, he'd move on. He didn't know what it was like to agonise, to worry about things like that. He didn't know what it was like for the Davids and Dans of the world. It wasn't his fault.
"Well, he was absolutely crazy about her," said Dan bitterly. "Only he never told her, and now he's going to regret it for the rest of his life."
There was a stunned silence at Dan's outburst, before Jess, not able to stop herself, cried: "No! No, that can't be true, it can't!" When everyone turned, wondering what on earth was going on, she explained. "She loved him as well, she did all along, but she never told him- just before she died, she told me to tell him she was sorry she never told him! It was the final thing she said, with her last breath…"
Dan felt shocked, as the others looked startled by just how involved Jess appeared to be. Deanna, trying to get some control on this situation that was going seriously out of hand, said: "Well, yes, it might all be very sad but we have to keep it together and try our hardest not to get involved personally. We have other patients who need our attention so we just have to get over what's happened and get back to work."
There was another shocked silence, before Jess, having had enough emotion for one day, broke away from the group and ran down the hallway, tears streaming down her face. Frank looked annoyed at Deanna's tactlessness.
"For God's sake, Deanna, give the poor girl a break." He looked around at them all. "Now, if anyone minds, I'm going to go and try and comfort one of our staff members who is very upset." With that he marched off, leaving one surprised bunch of people. Deanna was shocked that Frank hadn't backed her up and had undermined her authority, while the others startled by Jess's behaviour. Dan merely stood there, hearing David's words over and over again in his head. Don't make the same mistake I did.