Shelby was laying on stretcher getting put into the back of an ambulance. She had bandages trying to slow the bleeding from her head but they were just getting filled with blood as well. The bleeding was slowing was not stopping.
One of the medics told Peter and Sophie that they could follow them but they couldn't be in the ambulance with them.
Peter and Sophie got in the truck and managed to squeeze all of the cliffhangers in with them. They were breaking a few laws by doing this though; Juliet had to sit on Auggie's lap and Daisy was on David's with Ezra up front with Peter and Sophie. They didn't care that they were breaking laws though, they just wanted to get to the hospital to make sure Shelby was okay.
The drive was really only about 10 or 15 minutes but it seemed, to the students, that it lasted an hour for they were both uncomfortable and worried about Shelby.
They finally pulled into the Hospital parking lot and unloaded the truck of all the students. Despite how worried they were and how much they wanted to get into the hospital, they had to stretch their legs out.
Once they all stretched out it was like a race to who could get to the hospital doors first. Scott won, with Daisy, Peter and Sophie following very closely behind me. Scott threw the door open and ran through it as quickly as possible.
Peter ran up to the front desk and asked if they knew anything about Shelby Merrick but the lady knew nothing. She simply told them to wait out here and that the doctors would come out when they know something.
Everyone sat down expect for Scott. Scott started to pace back a forth, frustrated. He wanted to know what happened and he wanted to know it now.
Daisy looked up from her chair to Scott and noticed how uneasy he was. She sighed and looked back down to the magazine she was reading to try and distract herself. She thought about what she could do to help Shelby but she knew their was nothing; she had to just let the doctors do their thing.
Juliet looked up at Scott.
"Scott just try and relax," She said.
"Relax?" Scott asked as if the word wasn't in his vocabulary. "I can't relax right now,"
Juliet looked at Peter who was thinking the same thing she said. Peter shrugged. He knew no one would be able to get Scott relax no matter how much they tried; he loved Shelby too much.
Scott finally sat down but he couldn't sit still. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He brought his eyes to look at the clock and to him it seemed like time was going backwards. He couldn't handle just waiting to know what happened. All he wanted to hear right now was that Shelby was okay. Scott pulled his eyes from the time and leaned back in the chair.
Everyone was worried about Shelby. Even David who didn't really care about anyone sat there in silence. No one could sit still and the girls who were reading magazines weren't even really reading them; they would turn the pages and look at the woods but they couldn't process what they were reading. Everyone's mind was all for Shelby right now.
Daisy finally lost control and stood up quickly, walking over to the front desk just as fast.
"What the hell is taking so long?" Daisy asked.
"Miss, I'm sorry but you need to relax and let the doctors work. I'm sure they're doing all they can to help your friend," The lady at the front desk responded in a very hesitant voice.
"They need to hurry up!" Daisy said.
"Miss, please just try and relax. They will come out once they know something," The lady responded.
Peter came up behind Daisy and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Come on Daisy," Peter said and half pulled her back over by the group to sit back down in the chair she was in before.
The chair Daisy sat in was directly across from Scott's and the two looked at each other both with the same look in their eyes and the same emotion showing across their faces: worry. They were both so worried about Shelby and neither of them knew how to control it or react to it. They were both so lost. There was nothing either of them could do but wait and the waiting was beginning to drive them insane.
Daisy and Scott both let sighs leave their mouths and sat back in their chairs.
The time went by slowly. The seconds seemed like minutes, the minutes like hours and no one was handling it well. Scott started to pace again, Juliet and Sophie were nervously flipping through magazines, David and Ezra were leaning back with their eyes closed but not asleep, Auggie was drawing in a notebook he brought with him, Peter was in his own world thinking about things and Daisy was sitting in her chair biting her nails.
Finally after almost an hour of waiting, a doctor came out by the group. Everyone rushed over to him but the doctor just raised her hand, telling everyone to be quiet. She motioned them all into a separate room where they all sat down in chairs waiting to be told what was going on.
The doctor shook hands with Peter and Sophie and told everyone who she was; her name was Carol Price but she asked to be called Dr. Price.
"Well, what's wrong with Shelby?" Juliet asked.
"She has a severe concussion and her head needed stitches but other than that, it's just a bunch of bumps and bruises," Dr. Price said.
"So, she's okay?" Sophie asked.
Dr. Price shook her and took in a deep breath.
"Unfortunately, no. The concussion added in with the loss of blood and the blow to her head put her in a coma. But there's every chance to hope that she will come out of it,"
"A coma," Ezra said as if he needed it to be confirmed again.
Scott stood up from his chair as his eyes glazed over with un shed tears.
"She's gonna be okay though, right?" Scott asked softly.
"We think so," Dr. Price said.
"You think so?" Daisy asked getting emotional.
"It's hard to be positive but we all think that she'll be fine. She's fighting. If her body keeps up and if she doesn't have a reaction to any of the medication we have her one, she'll be fine,"
"I don't want a 'we think'! She's going to be fine," Scott almost screamed and then said very softly, "She has to be fine,"
Daisy walked next to Scott and pulled him into a hug. They both just broke down and let their emotions go at that. They cried in each others arms as they thought of the same things.
"She has to be okay," Scott mumbled through a sob while still being in Daisy's arms.
"She will be," Daisy responded and tried to keep her voice normal but one could tell that she was crying. She pulled away from the hug and looked Scott directly in the eyes. "She's a fighter, Scott. She'll be fine. If anyone can come out of this it's Shelby,"
"I can't live without her," Scott said and more tears fell from both of them.
Everyone else was either crying or trying not to cry. Peter was holding Sophie in his arms as she cried. Juliet was in Auggies arms crying as Auggie tried to fight back tears but a couple still fell. Ezra and David were both sitting in their chairs in a sort of shock and they had un shed tears in their eyes.
"Can we see her?" Peter asked as his voice cracked. He was fighting back tears.
Dr. Price was about to say 'no' but looked over to Scott who obviously wanted to see her and she nodded.
Everyone nodded slowly. Scott and Daisy pulled themselves up from the floor and walked slowly over to the door. Everyone followed Dr. Price out of the room and down the hallway to Shelby's room.
Peter and Sophie entered first followed by Juliet, Auggie, David and Ezra. Scott and Daisy were the last the enter.
Seeing Shelby lying on the bed, connected to machines that were practically keeping her alive, made everyone who didn't already cry finally cry. Peter finally let his tears fall, Auggie let his fall freely and David and Ezra finally let this whole thing sink in and cried. The sight of Shelby made Juliet and Sophie break down even more but it strangely made Scott and Daisy some what calmer. They at least saw that she was alive now.
Everyone watched Shelby lay there completely helpless and they had a feeling of unreality going through them. No one, up until this very moment, could fully grasp that it was Shelby, their strongest one, who was the one hurt and couldn't be helped by them.
Juliet was the first of them to go up and try to talk to Shelby.
"I know you and me have never really gotten along but..." Juliet's voice cracked and she had a pause and take a breath before continuing. "but I really hope you get better. You just have to," Juliet couldn't say anymore. She started to cry too fiercely after that.
"Shelby, you have to come out of this. Now we all know you can so just do it. We won't be able to deal if you leave us. Not yet," Auggie said and then stopped because she started to cry.
"This is really strange. I've never talked to someone in a coma before but here goes," David said and took in a deep breath to stop more tears from coming. "Just keep fighting like you always do and get yourself back to the real world with us,"
"I never thought you would be the one laying here helpless," Ezra said. "You were always so strong, the strongest of us all. Just, like David said, keep fighting like you always do and come back soon,"
"Shelby, you're like a daughter to me. I've known you and took care of you as best I could for over a year now and I don't know how I would handle it if you were gone. You were always one of the most rebellious of the bunch so all I'm asking now is that you continue to be your rebellious self and don't accept this. Come back to us," Peter said and started to cry.
"Shelby, you're the daughter I can never have. Just keep fighting," Sophie said and was barely understandable for she was crying too hard.
Daisy approached Shelby slowly and rested one of her hands on Shelby's shoulder.
"I'm not going to repeat what had already been said but I will say this: you surprised me. I never thought that you would be the helpless one. Just..." Daisy had to pause and get control of her emotions to stop more tears from falling. "Just come back soon. I don't know what I'd do without my best friend,"
Daisy lifted her hand from Shelby and started to cry. David walked over to Daisy and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting manor. He knew there was nothing he could do to help ease her pain as a friend or boyfriend but he was going to be there for her anyways.
Scott walked up next to Shelby and grabbed one of her hands. Just the touch of her skin on his made another tear fall from Scott's eyes. He sat on the bed next to her and looked down at the love of his life, the girl he could never live without. He lifted her hand to his mouth and laid a kiss on it as another tear left his eyes.
"You have to get better, Shel. I need you to get better," Scott said with another tear falling. "I don't know what I would do without you," Another tear. "You're too strong to be here helpless like this. Come back to me soon, Shel. I need you to come back," Another tear fell.
Scott leaned down and kissed Shelby's forehead. Tears were streaming down his face and he didn't care, he wasn't even trying to control them anymore. He sat up again and noticed a strand of Shelby's hair on her face. He brushed it away and his lips formed a small smile as he thought about her always did that to her and the smile she always gave him after. The smile left his face as more tears fell.
"I'm sorry but visiting hours are over now. You all can come back tomorrow. Visiting hours start at 7:00 a.m." Dr. Price said and felt bad that she was forcing these very emotional people to leave.
Scott kissed Shelby's hand again.
"I love you," Scott said softly to Shelby as she reluctantly let go of her and walked from the room with the others.
(A/N)- First, thank you so much for all of the reviews from: Melms213, Snoopy22, Linkie, ScottandShelby4ever, SnowyOwl-17, nefftys, tracy, hdrox, keke1, bubbly, Mickey, AliciaClark and Ishbu girl. Whoa! 13 reviews for one chapter. Thanks! I'm happy you guys enjoy this story!