Jeanette's Point of View
A white room and a warm blanket greeted me three times, each after waking up from unconsciousness and each time I lasted longer before passing out into a deeper sleep. Finally I managed to stay awake for more than a few seconds and I got the opportunity to get a look at my surroundings. I lay in a solid cage, the door was open so I guessed that I was free to come and go. The inside of the cage reflected the thick, white blanket that I was wrapped in. It was a strong reflection that made the whole cage look white. It was spacious enough for me to fit my bed from home in here as well as anything a chipmunk might need. It reminded me of my locker back at school. My vision was blurry again and my glasses were who knows where, so I decided to rely on my other senses to guide me. I wiggled my furry ears and my soft nose and shook my hands, which were still sore, still healing. Was I in any danger here? My hands weren't broken, but with the burns they received I wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't use them. My ears sang silence although I expected to hear the bulldozer blast and start up again or even the storm I swear I was in not long ago… or a heartbeat. I sniffed for any familiar scents; gasoline, sweat, mud; nothing like that shoved it's way up my nose, yet there was still something familiar.
I smelled something good, better than good; like it was freshly baked, I smelled a cookie. I followed my nose, spreading out my hands in case I bumped into anything. I shivered as I stepped onto the floor, ice cold compared to the blanket that was thick enough to act as a bed. I jumped as my hands hit the steel wall, the cold soothed the burns, but by now wasn't needed. I eventually reached the plate that held the cookie, surprised that my glasses presented themselves to me on top. I put them on, regaining my vision happily. I could see again!
I weighed the still warm cookie in my hands. The texture and warmth felt nice especially compared to all the dirt I climbed through recently. The cookie looked professionally baked and when I took a bite, it melted in my mouth. I recognized it immediately, Eleanor had baked it, I could recognized anything she made with only a taste. The chocolate chips, warm enough to kiss your taste-buds without having to chew and the cookie itself was chewy enough. I saved the rest of the deliciously baked good for later and decided to explore, to learn where I really was. I stepped up to the edge of the cage and glared intensely around the room. It was clear to me that I was in a veterinarian's office. There were shelves full of medicine and books, doors on both sides of the room, and surgical equipment on a desk on the other side of the room. If I didn't get dizzy with each step, I'd have jumped down to the table below the cage.
"Oh good, you're up." A voice came from the left side door, "You're family will be thrilled to know." I turned to see a young woman with brown hair and wearing a white lab coat. She seemed friendly compared the construction workers that I was used to, but I still had my doubts on trusting her. She knew my family though, could she really be that dangerous?
"My family…" I whispered and my heart filled with anticipation, "Simon too?" I asked before the woman could fetch everyone. She seemed not to hear me, either that or she ignored the question which made me worry.
"Jeanette!" I heard my sisters scream and dash through the door that the woman held open. A happy pain reached me as Brittany and Eleanor tackled me, showering me with hugs and then with questions.
"Jeanette, are you feeling okay?" Brittany asked.
"Did you get my "get well" cookie?" Eleanor followed up. I answered the questions one at a time starting with Eleanor's.
"It was delicious! Thank you." I smiled and hugged my little sister. Now for Brittany's, "I feel okay, sore hands a headache." Brittany lowered her head when I mentioned my headache, her voice quivered.
"Sorry…" A confused look was spread across my face, why would she be sorry?
"For what?" I asked.
"Hitting you unconscious… I tried to be gentle." By now tears were forming in her eyes, "Y-You were delirious. I had to do something." Her hands shook on their own and I thought she would break down.
"Thank you…" I hugged her and now it was her turn to be confused.
"You're thanking me for hitting you?" She quivered.
"You saved my life by doing that." I knew this, I was stopping not only myself, but Simon too from reaching medical attention, "Because of you, I'm alive and Simon gets a chance, right?" She remained quiet, but smiled and hugged me back.
"You are in big trouble, young lady." Dave said walking into the room looking distraught.
"Dave!" I exclaimed and despite my dizziness, jumped up to him. He was angry, but judging by the look on his face, he was happy to see me.
"It's great to see you too." There was a strange emptiness in his voice, one that both me and my sisters could feel. A question hung in the air, one that clenched my sides and disturbed my thoughts, one that I was scared to know the answer to.
"Where's Simon?" I expected Dave to be quiet too, like the woman, but instead he answered almost right away.
"Follow me." His reply was more towards my sisters, in my condition, Dave was more than willing to give me a ride. He took me through a metal door and into the next room; it was like a waiting room, the kind you see at a hospital, except it was different, there was a window to a separate room that through it I could see a bunch of people, either holding tools or glaring down at whatever was on the table… I could have guessed what, or who, was on it in one shot. "He's still in surgery."
"He's alive though?" I couldn't believe it, his heart had stopped beating and yet here he was, still fighting; I knew I could sense life in him.
"That's what we're trying to find out." Dave said coldly. The window was for anyone who wanted to watch the surgeries take place. I suspected the room to be sound-proof so no one could disturb the surgeons. On the ledge of the window stood Simon's brothers, Alvin and Theodore.
"How long have they been sitting there?" I asked Brittany.
"Ever since you guys got here," She replied, "About a day." I was petrified. All that time I've been out, useless, I couldn't even be there to support Simon! Brittany always seemed to sense what I was thinking, she gave me a side hug when Dave let me down and after, I headed straight for the window ledge.
"Jeanette, you're okay!" Theodore lit up and lifted his gaze from the activity going on the other side of the window. I gave him and Alvin a hug, but Alvin didn't seem to notice. "We've been so worried." I knew they worried, but I also knew that their main focus was their brother, and so was mine. I gave a quick glance to Alvin, who barely acknowledged I was here; he looked like a wreck. His ears drooped and his hazel eyes were dry and glued to the window. His fur was messy and he looked like he hadn't slept at all in the past twenty-four hours. I felt like I should say something, but he beat me to it.
"I know we fight," He said, "I know we get on each others nerves and have times where we've wanted to kill each other, but I can't stand his life really being on the line, I can't imagine a world where we won't hear his brainy attitude or his complaints about me not being responsible. I know he can pull through this, if he can deal with me, he can pull through this." Alvin was crying, although I never expected him to admit it, he did nothing to hide his tears for his brother. This got Theodore to cry too and as the two brothers cried, all else was silent. The activity behind the window quickened, as if something had gone wrong; I noticed tools being handed back and forth between surgeons. I couldn't see Simon's head or face, but I knew which side of the table it was on. I wished I could see his face, see his eyes open in their usual calm manner and hear his voice that always relaxed me.
"Jeanette," The woman from before, one of the vets, tapped me on the shoulder, "You need to take a pill now."
"Could you please give it to me here?" I asked politely, "I don't- I can't leave." She nodded and smiled and brought me my pill, my medication that I would have to take for the next four weeks, once a day. I didn't on plan on leaving, I couldn't leave Simon in this state, he needed all the support he could get. I wouldn't leave this spot until I was allowed to go in and see Simon myself. Alive. Alvin was right, there was no way Simon could lose this fight, he was too strong, too stubborn.
Eventually an hour went by and the vets still seemed hard at work. I didn't know the time and I didn't care. Alvin and Theodore were forced by Dave to take a nap and I knew that I would soon be forced the same. My sisters stood by side and if not for the situation at hand, this would be a happy moment. Brittany and Eleanor tried to brighten the mood by telling me funny stories an even by singing. While singing was fun and it did calm me down and relieve a hint of stress, I almost fainted when the vets revealed the blood soaked cloth through the window. That cloth had Simon's blood, the longer I stared at it, the more nauseated I got. Pure white to crimson red, it was a nightmarish thought to think, Simon losing so much blood, being on the brink of death, all for a stupid flower. Did I mean me or the violet?
"You know he went through all of this for you." Brittany stated, trying to make me feel better, but with my thoughts, it had a higher chance of making me feel worse. Was Simon in this state because of me? "You're lucky to have him." She was talking like Simon was alive and well. I wanted to believe in her tone, believe that the chipmunk would live and I would get to hug him and kiss him. I refused to believe that he was a lost cause.
The door to the surgery room opened and the lead surgeon walked out and closed it gently like only a surgeon could. All seemed to have died down; I missed the clean-up and I wasn't sure if I should be happy about that or not. I hopped over to the surgeon and looked up at him dead in the eye. He returned the gaze with his bloodshot eyes and I was quickly intimidated. He had a scruffy beard and a surgical mask, gloves, and cap. He took off his small glasses and blinked.
"W-What was wrong with him?" I asked timidly.
"He ingested not only rock and mud, but gasoline as well, we had to get to his stomach and even check his heart, lungs and throat. He has a concussion as well as the need of a surgically repaired nerve in his arm. Amazingly, the only broken bone was one in his wrist, but most of his torso is bruised, including his ribs, it was hard to get into him." I couldn't bear to hear anymore.
"B-But he's alive…? I blubbered. The vet sighed and he bent down to stare at me, eye to eye.
"I've done all I can."