Chapter 132: State of Shock

After what felt like hours, Sheriff Borden pulled up in front of the Emergency entrance, and I was sure I was out of the car before it came to a full stop, but I didn't care.

I ran inside and scanned the Emergency room, everything one big blur, as I struggled to focus in order to find the information desk.

Thankfully, the problem was solved for me as I saw Officer Shaw walking toward me. I quickly met her halfway.

"Where is she?! Is she okay?!" I asked frantically.

"I haven't seen her since she was rushed back for examination," Officer Shaw replied.

That can't be a good sign…

Before I could question her more, Sheriff Borden appeared next to us, and Officer Shaw answered my second question.

"She never regained consciousness in the ambulance, and her blood pressure began to drop…that's really all I know…she was whisked away as soon as we arrived," Officer Shaw explained.

I ran my fingers through my perfectly styled hair, not caring one bit about how it may look afterward. I needed to know more. I needed to know if Alicia was okay.

"Someone must know something…" I mumbled, and began walking toward the information desk, but I stopped short when I felt someone grab my shoulder.

I looked back to see Sheriff Borden was the person who had stopped me.

"I'm sure a doctor will be out to speak with you as soon as they know anything," Sheriff Borden said reassuringly.

I knew he was right, despite my desperate need to know something, anything, I knew I had to wait.

Roughly 15 minutes later…

I was sitting, rather impatiently, in the waiting room along with Officer Shaw and Sheriff Borden. They had offered several times if there was anyone they could call for me, but other than the guys, there really wasn't much point in calling anyone until I had more information.

I was surprised to suddenly see Aaron walk in to the waiting room, and he walked over to us once he saw us.

"Have you heard anything, bro?" Aaron asked, clearly concerned.

I shook my head.

"Not yet…" I replied, as he took a seat beside me.

"Cheryl called me, frantic…she's listed as Alicia's next of kin…" Aaron said, and I frowned, feeling bad for Cheryl. "I told her I'd come here so I could update her as soon as we knew anything, and for support bro," Aaron added.

I nodded in understanding, and in thanks.

"Thanks Aaron…" I replied softly, and he nodded in return and patted my shoulder briefly.

"Mr. Bagans?" Sheriff Borden suddenly asked from my other side.

I turned to look at him.

"Would it be alright with you, now that your friend is here, if Officer Shaw and I return to the crime scene?" Sheriff Borden asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah, sure, of course," I replied, understanding that they still had a job to do. "Thank you for driving me here," I added, realizing I hadn't thanked him earlier.

He nodded as he and Officer Shaw stood up.

"Of course," Sheriff Borden said.

"We'll keep her in our thoughts," Officer Shaw said, and I smiled weakly.

"Thank you…" I said softly.

She nodded, and then she and Sheriff Borden walked across the waiting room, and exited through the large doors that led outside.

Before I could even attempt to settle in more comfortably to wait, now that they were gone and Aaron here with me, I heard a new voice call my name.

"Mr. Bagans?" A male voice questioned.

I jumped up from my seat as I looked toward the double doors that led to the emergency department where visitors weren't allowed.

"That's me," I replied and quickly walked over to him, Aaron walking along beside me.

The doctor held out his hand, and I shook it briefly as he introduced himself.

"I'm Dr. Hamza, the lead Neurosurgeon here at St. Vincent's. You're Alicia Wilde's boyfriend, correct?" The doctor asked, as our hands parted.

Neurosurgeon…not good…

"Yes, how is she?" I asked.

"We are running tests to confirm, but we are pretty sure the car accident has caused an Epidural Hematoma," Dr. Hamza replied. "Bleeding and pressure around the brain," he explained.

I felt like someone had sucked all the air out of my lungs.

Bleeding and pressure around…the brain…

"We're going to do a CT scan and a MRI to confirm the diagnosis, and to narrow down the site of the bleeding," Dr. Hamza said.

Ok…CT Scan…MRI…I know what those are…

"What happens then…?" I asked.

"It depends on the location and severity of the bleed, and how much pressure her brain is under. If minor, we would prescribe medications and monitor her for a while. However, if more severe, she may need a Craniotomy - brain surgery – in order to release the pressure on her brain and to repair the bleed," Dr. Hamza explained.

Brain surgery…

I felt like I was going to be sick. I began breathing more rapidly, and I was worried I'd suffer an asthma attack, which would have been ironic. At least I was in the right place if I ended up having a severe one. But then I felt Aaron put his hand on my shoulder and squeeze it for support, and I managed to calm down somewhat.

"Okay…" I managed to reply. "Has she regained consciousness? Can I see her?" I asked.

"I'm afraid she's still unconscious, and I'm sorry, but it's of utmost importance we get these scans done to see what we're dealing with," Dr. Hamza replied.

Even though it was gut wrenching, I nodded in understanding.

"I'll come update you once we have the results of the scans, and let you know when you may be able to see her," Dr. Hamza said.

"Alright, thank you doctor," I replied, and watched as he nodded in acknowledgment, and then turned and walked back through the double doors leading to the Emergency department.

That man had my girlfriend's life in his hands…

"I'm going to go call Cheryl, if you're okay bro," Aaron said softly.

I looked at him and nodded.

"Go ahead…" I replied softly.

While Aaron walked toward the doors leading outside to call Cheryl, I made my way back to my seat in the waiting room and sat down.

Not knowing what else to do with myself, I took out my cell phone and decided to make my own phone call, to my mother.

After the second ring, she picked up.

"Zachary? Why are you calling at such an early hour? Shouldn't you be in a lockdown?" She asked.

"Mom…there's been an accident…" I began, my voice cracking a bit as I closed my eyes.

How was I going to survive the next few hours of waiting?

Alicia's Point Of View

I opened my eyes, and almost immediately squinted them nearly shut at the bright lights that I was instantly hit with. Once my vision adjusted to the bright light, I opened my eyes more fully to see myself standing at a corner intersection of two long, white hallways.

Suddenly, a flurry of activity came toward me from one hallway, then rounded the corner, and began down the second hallway – seemingly not even aware of my presence. But it all happened in slow motion.

The first thing I noticed was there were two doctors and two nurses. They were all holding the edge of a gurney, and wheeling it quickly down the hallway. On the gurney, I could see there was someone laying on it, but didn't get a good look until they passed in front of me.

A woman…brown hair…wait a minute…that's me!

My eyes were wide with shock as I stared at my own body, laying motionless on the gurney.

The gash on my forehead had been cleaned up, and there was a butterfly bandage over it. There was a brace around my neck, and my body was covered with a dark blue blanket. There were several straps that came up on either side of my body, and connected in the middle – keeping me safely secured on the gurney. There was also an IV bag hanging from a pole attached to the gurney, with tubing hanging down and disappearing near the lower part of my arm beneath the blanket.

Probably the scariest thing I saw, was that one of the nurses was pumping a blue, transparent bag, that had a tube going into my mouth – in other words, she was making sure I was getting enough oxygen.

This is bad…

I followed them down the hall and into a room, that had a large, white machine. The largest part of it was round, and had what I could only describe as a hole going into the middle of it. Emerging from the hole, was a long slab.

The nurses, and some new staff members who seemed to appear without my noticing, wheeled my gurney as close to this slab as possible. Meanwhile, the two doctors walked into a small section of the room that was sectioned off by a wall, which had a door, and a large glass window where they could still see the machine. From what I could see of the room, there was several computer monitors on a desk.

The nurses and other staff members undid the straps securing my body to the gurney, and took off the blanket. After they all grabbed a section of the white blanket that was under my body, they counted to three, and then quickly, but carefully, lifted me up and onto the slab of the machine.

It was then I realized that they were about do a CT scan of my head.

A CT scan, or a computerized tomography scan, combines a series of X-ray images taken from different angles around your body and uses computer processing to create cross-sectional images of the bones, blood vessels and soft tissues inside your body.

The blue ventilator bag was unhooked from it's connection at my mouth, and two white hoses were connected in it's place. The end of these hoses were connected to a rectangular machine next to the CT machine. One of the nurses hit a button on the console near the CT machine, and the slab began slowly sliding into the hole of the machine. I saw red laser beams appear in a grid like fashion upon my face and chest, which I assumed were used to let the staff members know when I was properly in place for the scan.

I looked back at the doctors in the other room, and could see they were talking. At just the thought of going into the room, I was suddenly there, standing behind the two doctors.

Woah…

"She's been unconscious for 38 minutes, and she's not withdrawing from pain…what are you thinking?" One doctor asked, looking at the doctor I assumed was in charge – or the one with the most knowledge to handle my case.

A neurosurgeon maybe?

"She was conscious for a brief period of time after the accident, so it's probably an Epidural Bleed. I think it's a venous bleed," The doctor replied with confidence, but then his expression changed to slight concern. "Or it could be her meningeal artery. If she cones, the pressure in her brain could go down to the spinal cord, and essentially crush her brain," the Neurosurgeon explained.

Crush…my…

"And she could die…" the other doctor replied.

Die?! What?! No!

"You can't let me die!" I cried, running closer to them, but they didn't react at all.

I maneuvered myself so I could see their faces, and noticed the name tag on the Neurosurgeon – Dr. Hamza.

"Dr. Hamza?" I asked, looking directly into his face.

No response.

My panic and frustration went into overdrive.

"Dr. Hamza! Can you hear me?!" I yelled, and again no response.

All the doctors did was focus on the computer monitors on the desk they were now looking at.

I took a few steps back to see the computer monitors more clearly for myself. I saw black and white images on the screens, which I assumed were the scans of my brain. I couldn't make any sense of them.

Looking back up at Dr. Hamza, I rapidly waved my hand back and forth in front of his face – not even the slightest flinch.

Feeling emotional, upset, worried, and scared - all at once - I ran out into the hallway. I looked down either end of the hallway, where there were various people coming and going. I took a long, deep breath.

"Can anyone hear me?!" I yelled out as loud as I could.

Not a single soul reacted – it was like I had been yelling into an empty void.

I had never felt so alone, and utterly terrified, in my entire life, as tears began to stream down my face.