I Own nothing from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
"Where…where am I?" Cody groggily, his words very unclear owing to the respirator down his throat, he was obviously discomforted about it, his hand's slowing moving to try and move it as he desperately swallowed on it.
"You're in hospital, in New York" Carey said smiling brightly, she was so happy he was awake "Don't try to speak honey, just rest, your strength will come back soon. And don't mind the tube, we'll call a doctor and they will remove it, Marion, could you go and tell the nurse pleases?" She added as she noticed his strained expression as he tried to come to terms with what was going on, Moesby left the room at that point to go and fetch the nurse.
"What happened?" Cody asked in his drowsy voice through the respirator, still trying to get it out in ignorance of Carey's advice
"You had an accident, but please honey, just rest for a while we'll talk about it more later" Carey replied trying to avoid telling him what had happened fully, even though she herself didn't know the dire situation of Maddie's health she assumed it wasn't good and she didn't want Cody feeling guilty.
"Yeah Cody, just rest, we'll be here for you" Zack added, feeling weird, he didn't want to tell Cody about Maddie, and didn't want him to feel guilty and do something stupid, but a large part of him blamed Cody for what happened, but he also hoped he would get more answers in due course from someone actually at the crash.
Cody's memory of the crash was hazy at best, he remembered leaving Maddie's and something happening, but at that moment he didn't remember anything in particular about the crash, about Maddie's condition or the trip to New York, it was probably better that way. Cody was distressed by all the equipment rigged up to him and the ventilator in particular, it was very uncomfortable and made speaking very hard, but he was too tired and out of it to fully comprehend and be able to remove it properly. Carey leaned down and kissed Cody on the forehead, she was so happy he was awake. Zack just smiled at Cody, but looking at him it was obvious he had something else on his mind, he wasn't as happy as he should have been, as happy as he would have been if Maddie wasn't lying in another room on deaths door.
Moesby brought the nurse in not long after
"Hello Mr. Martin" She greeted Cody with, flashing a warm smile at Zack and Carey as well "I've called the doctor, I'll take that respirator out as soon as he comes and has a look at you, it shouldn't be long" The nurse said warmly, Cody groggily nodded in acknowledgement, hoping he would soon have this foreign object removed from his throat.
"How long until he's fully conscious" Zack asked
"Not too long" The nurse replied, Cody was still out of it, the drugs not completely worn off keeping him in a sleeping state. Cody was staring to get more memories of what had happened, he remembered being in the car with Maddie, going around the corner and then it was all blank, he couldn't remember hitting the pole, or seeing Maddie slumped in the passenger seat with her head all bloodied and broken.
The doctor arrived soon after and checked Cody out, checking his pupils and his wounds before telling the nurse she could remove the ventilator and they would see how Cody was able to breathe on his own. The nurse began the slow process of pulling the tube out, telling the now more lucid Cody to remain still and that it would be a little uncomfortable while she took it out. Eventually the ventilator was out and Cody began coughing profusely and rasping desperately for air, it was the first time he had breathed under his own steam for a while.
"Are you alright Cody?" The nurse asked as she prepared a standard oxygen mask for him
"Yes" Cody managed to get out between coughs and breaths before she placed the mask over his mouth, helping him breathe better. The doctor began to tell Cody just what had happened and what his situation was.
"Cody, you were involved in a motor vehicle collision this morning, the car you were driving hit a pole and caused you significant injuries as I'm sure you are becoming aware of. The most significant injuries have been sustained to your kidneys, and I'm sorry to say you are in renal failure, which is why the dialysis machine is required, it is good that you can breathe on your own however so I remain hopeful. There is a chance that you will require a kidney transplant, being an identical twin however it shouldn't be any trouble finding a match assuming Zack agrees. Do you have any questions?" Usually Cody would be full of questions in such a situation but he was too overwhelmed and out of it to have any at this particular point so he just nodded, it was only just starting to dawn on him about what had happened, but he didn't want to talk about it with this stranger.
"Well if there's nothing else I'll be on my way, I'll be back to check on you later Cody and we'll monitor your kidneys for the next couple of hours and tomorrow probably we can decide if a transplant will be required" The doctor then left with the thanks and praise of everyone in the room, except Cody who was still to overwhelmed to speak much.
"How are you feeling honey?" Carey asked
"Tired, I don't remember much, mom, Mr. Moesby, can I talk to Zack alone for a minute please" Zack didn't want to have the conversation he knew was coming, but Carey and Moesby honoured Cody's request and left him.
"Zack, I don't remember much, but I know I was drunk, and I was driving, and Maddie was in the car, where is she? Is she alright, please Zack tell me she's alright" Cody hadn't let on that he remembered much about Maddie before but it was all coming back, he seemed to have sensed from Zack's demeanour that something was wrong, he wasn't as joyous as Carey.
"She's here as well, the doctors are looking after her" Zack stopped short of telling Cody the awful truth, not wanting to drive him into a guilt spiral, but he also crucially stopped short of telling Cody it wasn't his fault as well, mostly because Zack hadn't really decided if he blamed Cody or not.
"She's dead isn't she, it's all my fault, I killed Maddie" Cody wailed out bursting into tears, Zack hadn't expected him to jump immediately to the worst case scenario, but then again he did always think Cody was the over dramatic twin.
"She's not dead, you didn't kill her, and she was drinking too. Let's just focus on getting you better alright man" Zack wanted to comfort Cody, he hated seeing him cry. The way Zack had spoken about Maddie's drinking had distinctly sounded like he was trying to argue with himself as to Cody's total guilt in the situation. Cody still didn't have the full picture of what had happened or what Maddie's condition was, but the image of her in the wrecked Car was coming back to him.
"I remember Zack, seeing Maddie slumped in the seat, she was broken, blood everywhere…" Cody trailed off shuddering as he spoke, Zack didn't want to hear that though, but also didn't want to cut Cody off.
"Look, don't talk, you're still too weak, just lie back and relax, I'll get mom back in here" Before Cody could answer Zack had already gone to usher Carey and Moesby back into the room.
Cody was tired and sore and would have liked to sleep but it was so hard with all the noise in the room and the horrible image of the bloodied and broken Maddie burned into his mind, he felt so guilty, it seemed to him that his life was useless anymore; all he did was stupid things. Cody was even more confused now than when he had arrived at Maddie's, and the issue with Max was now completely from his mind, all he could think about was that he had probably killed Maddie, he knew Zack wasn't telling him everything, he seemed so distant in his comfort giving. Zack and Cody had a lot to talk about but they were conversations that no matter how great the need for them was neither of them truly wanted to face the consequences and knowledge from them.
I feel that not a lot happened in that chapter, but I also feel it will prove a very important starting point for the next stretch of the story which is why I've chosen to end it here rather than continue on for a long chapter and include more stuff in this one so I hope you guys don't mind….also its 2am so I'm kind of tired lol. Anyways I hope you enjoy it and please read and review I just love getting the reviews from you they always brighten my day.
On another more serious note I would like to extend by deepest condolences to anyone reading this story who were in any way effected by the recent horrible Victorian bushfires, I am from Melbourne so I have seen them and my heart goes out to anyone effected by this terrible tragedy (saying this however I do think there's only about 3 people who it shows as visiting from Australia and one of them is probably me lol).