Disclaimer: I don't own the Inheritance Games series or any of the characters. If I did, there would already be at least twelve books.
Author's Notes: Hey guys! Welcome to my first ever published fan fiction! I got inspired by that time Avery was in a coma during the second book, and you're reading the result. This should end up being a seven chapter fic, (one for each day she's under), and I'm hoping most of the other chapters end up longer than this one. Hope you guys enjoy!
Day 1
"What's going on, what's happening?" I ran through the halls of Hawthorne House, chasing after the retreating figure of Alisa Ortega, who was currently the only one who knew what the hell was going on. "I was just talking to Grayson and Avery and the connection cut out. ALISA!"
Alisa spun on her heel, looking me dead in the eye. "I don't have time for this right now, Jameson."
"Make time!" I growled. In response, she just turned around and kept walking. "Wait!" I said, speaking in a slightly calmer tone now. "Please, just tell me what's happened to Avery."
Alisa stopped and sighed. "There was an incident." she said finally.
"What sort of incident?"
She looked at me, and I saw that her eyes were red from crying. "Someone planted a bomb inside the engine of Avery's plane. It was just detonated."
• • •
Everything around me seemed to be shrouded in a hazy glow. Words spoken were just a buzzing in the back of my mind. On the drive to the hospital where Avery had been airlifted, I couldn't do anything but stare out the window, vaguely aware of a dull aching feeling in my chest. Every so often a few words of the surrounding conversation would jump out at me, like "Bad swelling" and "Two guards lost" and "Might not make it", but I couldn't listen for more than a few seconds without the aching in my chest turning into a blazing fire, lapping against my ribs, threatening to tear me apart. So I didn't listen, and the fire didn't overwhelm me. Not yet.
When we reached the entrance to the ER, I felt myself open the car door and leap out, not bothering to shut it behind me. I ran through the sliding doors into the waiting room, not even fully aware of what I was doing, and immediately started shouting. "Avery, where's Avery?!" I yelled at anyone who would listen, "Someone tell me where the hell she is!" "Someone tell me if she's still alive." I added silently.
I continued to stand there, screaming my head off, until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Oren, a sad look on his face. "Jameson…" he began.
"What?" I said, panic evident in my voice, "What's happened?"
"Clear!" a voice started from down the hall. Without another word, I ran after it, Oren hot on my heels. "Clear!" the voice said again, and this time I could see it was a doctor, holding defibrillator paddles over a patient on a stretcher. The patient's heart had stopped; so did mine. The patient was Avery.
"Avery." I tried to say, but my voice sounded far away. I watched as the doctor brought the paddles to her chest, an electric shock shooting through her body. Nothing happened. The doctor defibrillated her again, and after a few agonizing moments, I heard the sweetest sound I had ever heard, and probably ever would hear, in my life: a monitor beeping.
"She's back." the doctor declared, but she didn't revel in that victory for long. In an instant, Avery was being rushed down the corridor, surrounded by doctors and nurses. I began to chase after her, but was held back.
"Let me go!" I screamed, beating at the arms that held me in place, "I need to go!"
"No." I heard Oren say in a calm voice, "She needs surgery; you can't go with her."
"I have to!" I said. Every moment I stayed here, the beeping was getting farther away. I needed the beeping, the beeping meant Avery was still alive. I couldn't live without it. Struggling to break free from Oren's grasp, I didn't notice someone else walk up beside me.
"Jameson." they said and laid their hand on my arm. For the first time since I saw her, I glanced away from Avery's motionless figure. Standing to my left, a bloody gash on his forehead, was Grayson. "Don't." he said.
I stared at him, struggling for breath, until suddenly it was too much to bear. I fell to my knees, crying. Grayson just kneeled next to me, letting me sob into his expensive silk suit jacket. "It's okay." he said gently, "It's going to be okay."
• • •
The next few hours were torture. There was nothing we could do but wait. Wait for someone to tell us the surgery was successful, wait for someone to tell us Avery was going to be alright. At some point, Libby sat down next to me, her face stained with tears. Max and Grayson were sitting in the seats across from me, both looking as if they were a million miles away. The four of us instantly jumped up, though, when we heard a voice say, "Family of Avery Grambs?"
"Yes! That's us!" Libby said, practically jumping over the chair behind her to get to the doctor. Max, Grayson, and I followed quickly behind.
"Hi, my name's Dr. West. I'm the lead surgeon from Avery's operation."
"Did it.. Is she okay?" Libby whispered, sounding scared of the answer.
"The surgery went exceedingly well." Dr. West said, "We managed to stop most of the bleeding, and she's currently in stable condition." I felt a huge weight be lifted from my chest. Stable. She was stable. "There is, however, one thing we need to discuss." she continued.
"What is it?" Libby asked, the relief on her face clouded by a wave of concern.
"Avery's stable, but she's currently in a coma. " the doctor said. "It's medically induced." she assured us upon seeing the look on Libby's face, "But, this early, it's hard to tell when or if she'll wake up."
Libby appeared to be on the verge of tears. "O-okay." she said shakily. Then: "Can we see her?"
"Of course." Dr. West replied, and gestured for us to follow her. The four of us stumbled along behind her as she walked through a corridor, up a flight of stairs, and down a twisting hallway until we finally reached Avery's room.
When we walked inside, the first thing that stood out to me was the steady beeping of her monitor. I breathed a sigh a relief. The beeping was back. She was okay. The second thing I noticed was Avery lying on a hospital bed in the center of the room. Dozens of tubes containing different liquids dangled out of her. There was an oxygen tube in her nose and a bandage around her head. "She looks pale." I said, because what else could I say? Libby was at her side in an instant, rubbing gently at the dried blood on her face.
"Oh, Avery." she whispered, her voice cracking. Next to me, Max stifled her tears.
"I'll give you guys some privacy." Dr. West said, "Just press that red help button on her remote if you need anything." With that she left us, and the only sound that could be heard in the room was the quiet "Beep, beep, beep," of Avery's heart beating.