Here's Chapter 3! Don't want to give too much away, so I just won't say anything :D Enjoy! And review too! :)
Chapter 3
The hospital Jeff was transferred to was about ten minutes away but, because of the wreck, it took him almost twenty minutes to get there. When he pulled in the parking lot, he parked his truck and walked inside. He had never liked hospitals and this trip was no exception. There were a couple of people in the waiting room, but it wasn't busy. He walked up to the desk and the secretary greeted him with a smile,
"Hi, can I help you?"
"Yes ma'am, I was wondering if you could tell me what room Jeff Duvall is in? They just brought him in, I think." The smile immediately left her face as she nodded,
"You might want to follow me." He followed her down a long hallway until she stopped in front of a door,
"Can you wait right here for me for a minute, sweetie?"
"Sure."
He was starting to worry. When he had asked her what room Jeff was in, the smile immediately left her face; that couldn't be a good sign. He waited for what seemed like forever until she finally came out.
"Can you wait in the waiting room for a few minutes? The doctor is busy at the moment."
"Sure…" He said again. She smiled,
"Thank you." She led him back down the hallway and into the waiting room.
"He'll be right out." He nodded,
"All right, thank you."
He sat down and there were a couple of people sitting across the room, but other than that, he was alone. He picked up a magazine, then almost immediately put it back down. He sat back and replayed his day. He looked at his watch and saw that it was 4:30. He saw a payphone and decided to call his parents. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a couple of coins and dialed the number. His mom picked up,
"Hello?"
"Hey mom."
"Ben? Where are you?" He took a deep breath,
"I'm at the hospital."
"What? What happened? Are you okay?" He heard the panic in her voice,
"Yeah mom I'm fine, it's Jeff. There was an accident." She sighed,
"Oh my… I'm sorry, Ben, is he okay?"
He was about to answer when he heard someone enter the waiting room. He turned around and saw that it was Emma and Allison. They saw him and Allison waved. He waved back and saw that Emma looked rougher than she did back at the accident. Her eyes were redder and more swollen. Her face was pale as Allison led her to sit down.
"Ben, are you still there?" He almost forgot that he was on the phone.
"Yeah, sorry. And I don't know, we're in the waiting room- the doctor's busy right now." He heard someone crying and he turned around. He saw that Emma had started crying again as Allison put her arm around her. Allison sighed and saw him looking and gave a weak smile.
"All right, well I hope he's okay." His mom said.
"Me too. I better go, the doctor should be coming in any second."
"Okay, I'll see you when you get home. Love you."
"Love you too." He hung up and went and sat down beside Allison.
"Hey." he said. She sighed,
"Hi." Emma turned to him,
"Hey, Ben."
"Hey, Emma. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay." She said between sobs.
"The paramedic said Jeff would be okay." Allison offered, optimistically.
"Then why are we just sitting here? Why can't we see him?" Emma argued. Allison started to say something, but closed her mouth. She looked at Ben.
"Well maybe he's resting." He said for her. She continued to cry and Allison put her hand on Emma's back. They sat for a while before Emma said she had to go to the restroom. Allison offered to go with her but she said she needed some time alone for a few minutes. She got up and left the waiting room and Allison took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Are you okay?" He asked. She nodded,
"Yeah, I'm just worried. About Jeff and Emma both. Emma is so worried about him." She shook her head,
"She actually told me on the way over here that she was in love with Jeff." He looked at her,
"Really?" She nodded,
"Yeah, she worried about him but she's also worried that she won't have a chance to tell him how she really feels."
"Wow, really?" She looked at him,
"Yeah, why so surprised?" He chuckled,
"Nothing it's just… you know Jeff is in love with her too, right?" She raised her eyebrow,
"What?" He nodded,
"Yeah, he's been in love with her ever since I've known him, and I've known him for three years now."
"Wow, why are they just friends, then?" She asked, surprised.
"I don't know. He said he was scared to tell her because he was afraid that their relationship would change, and not for the better. He was scared she wouldn't feel the same."
She was about to respond when Emma walked back in. She had obviously tried to freshen up, but her eyes were still red and swollen. She sat down and Ben was about to say something about her and Jeff when Allison elbowed him. He looked at her and her eyes were wide as she shook her head. He smiled, liking the way she looked when she was nervous. He decided not to say anything. They sat in silence for a few minutes before a doctor came in. He came over to them,
"Are you all the folks looking for Mr. Duvall?"
"Yes." Ben said, standing up.
"Will you please come with me?" His expression was serious. They all looked at each other and followed him outside the waiting room.
"What's wrong, doctor?" Ben asked. He turned around to face them, bringing his hands together.
"I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but Mr. Duvall didn't make it." Ben's heart sank,
"What?" The doctor sighed,
"When Mr. Duvall arrived, he was unconscious. His heart rate then started to slow and we tried to shock him, but we lost him."
His heart sank even lower as he looked at Emma and Allison. Emma started to break down and started to cry, soft at first, then she got louder and louder. She broke down and collapsed on the floor. Allison had both hands over her mouth and tears started rolling down her cheeks. Ben was speechless and shocked, then he remembered what the paramedic had said.
"Wait, I talked to a paramedic at the accident. He said that Jeff was going to be fine." The doctor nodded,
"We thought he was going to be, but the impact of the crash must have been too much for his body to handle. Do you know if he was smoking or drinking before the accident?"
"No." He immediately replied. He then remembered that he had a cigarette at the restaurant and ordered a Budweiser to drink.
"Yeah. Yeah, he had both." he admitted. The doctor shook his head,
"That adds only insult to injury. We think he died of internal bleeding in the brain. I'm so sorry."
With that, he turned and walked back down a long hallway and into a set of double doors. He looked at Allison and Emma. Allison still had her hands over her mouth,
"Oh my god." She whispered. Emma was still on the floor. He went over to her,
"Emma, come on."
He grabbed her arms and helped her up. She was sobbing and he stood and held her for a minute. She was still crying and Ben looked over at Allison. She was crying too and he looked at her and she looked back at him. He hated to see people cry, but when he saw Allison cry, it bothered him more than usual. He was about to say something when someone busted into the room. He let Emma go and they looked behind them. A man and a woman were screaming,
"Where is he? Where is he?" A nurse came in and asked them to calm down and asked who they were looking for. The woman shrieked,
"My son, Jeff!" Ben, Allison and Emma all looked at each other. The nurse sighed and said,
"Mrs. Duvall, I'm sorry, but your son didn't make it." Ben saw all the color drain from her face. She lost it and started crying and wailing. It was then that she looked over at them and said,
"Emma?" She ran over to her and hugged her,
"Emma, what happened?" She asked, between her sobs. Ben looked over at Allison and she began to cry harder.
"Mrs. Duvall?" He finally asked. She looked at him,
"Yes?"
"Hi, I'm Ben Carter. I was one of Jeff's friends."
"Oh my gosh, you're Ben?" He sighed and nodded,
"Yes ma'am." She came over to him,
"Jeff talked about you constantly. Please, Ben, what happened to my son?"
Ben was started to get tears in his eyes, all of his emotions he was trying to keep bottled inside were slowly rising to the surface.
"Jeff was in a car accident. A truck ran a red light and hit going 70 miles an hour."
Jeff's mom put a hand over her mouth and more tears fell down her cheeks. Ben's eyes were starting to get even more watery and tears started to fall down his cheeks as well. He looked down and said,
"I'm so sorry."
She lost it again, Emma losing it soon after her. He looked at Allison and the tears were streaming down her cheeks. 'I can't handle this.' He thought. He had to get out of there. He walked back down the hallway and past the secretary's desk. He walked out of the hospital and into the busy parking lot. He was walking down the steps when he heard someone behind yelling his name.
"Ben! Ben!" He turned around and saw Allison running towards him. When she got closer, he could see her eyes were still red and swollen but she wasn't crying anymore.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"I'm leaving, I can't stay in there anymore."
"Why not?" He pointed his hand towards the hospital,
"Because my best friend just died, that's why! And I can't stay in that hospital just sitting there watching all of cry." He shook his head, with tears in his eyes,
"I can't take it." He turned around and started to head towards his truck.
"Hey!" She called out. He turned around and she came towards him.
"Do you think you're the only one who's hurting? A mother just found out what happened to her son from someone she doesn't even know! She'll never be able to see him or feel his touch ever again and you're acting like you're the only one who's hurting." He shook his head,
"No I'm not, but I'm not going to sit in there anymore."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going home. Goodbye, Allison." With that, he turned and headed towards his truck.
A sad chapter :( Sorry for everyone who liked Jeff. But his passing had to happen for future events. Which I think you'll like :D See you next chapter! Oh and if you've already forgotten, please review!
