I despise hospitals. I’ve never had an injury or an illness so bad that it required me to visit one as a patient, but when I was seven and my dad was working as a forklift operator in a warehouse, he got into an accident that left him with a broken arm and a concussion. I was in tears every time I visited him with my mam, because no matter how many times she insisted he wasn’t going to die, I didn’t believe her. The sight of him in the hospital bed was overwhelming, with all the machines and the beeping and that sterile, chemical smell in the ward, so the moment that Shane and I push through the doors of the hospital reception the memory hits me with a waft. In an instant I am a little girl again.
Michelle is sleeping on Simon’s lap in the waiting room with her legs curled up on the seats while he watched vines on his phone. They’ve been here all night, and it shows. He’s pale faced with great purple marks beneath his eyes, so sluggish that it takes him a moment to even register that we’ve arrived.
“Oh.” He says quietly. “You’re here. We haven’t seen her yet. I think they’ve got her down in another surgery.”
“We’ve got the things you wanted.” I thrust a bag at him, including things like pyjamas, a new toothbrush, face wash and fluffy pink slippers that are so un-Jen that they gave me pause when I bought them, but they were the only ones within my budget.
“When do you expect she’ll be out?” Shane wants to know, and we take the seats across from them and huddle in close to speak so as not to wake Michelle.
“Man, I’ve no idea what they’re doing. They had her in surgery last night, and then they took her into another this morning. Nobody’s really telling us anything, everyone is too busy to explain it, so we’re just kind of waiting around. Michelle’s dad will be in soon, he starts his shift at eight, and I was hoping he might actually be able to get some insider info, or at least explain something to us.”
Shane chews on his lip. “Did they say how bad it is?”
“Broken right arm, shattered ribs, whiplash, um… lacerations?” He breaks off. “I don’t remember everything. A lot. It’s not great. And the car-”
Michelle stirs. “Don’t talk about the car. I don’t want to think about it anymore.”
“Right.” Simon says grimly. “But honestly they won’t tell us much, we’re just her random friends. They really want to speak to her family.”
“Aren’t they here already?” I ask. “Her parents, like.” And Shane starts shaking his head.
“No.” Says Simon. “I doubt they’ll come.” Michelle rolls over a little onto his lap and begins to rifle sleepily through the bag of supplies I brought. “Thanks for offering to bring this stuff, Evie.” She says, voicy thick and croaky with sleep. “You’re a legend. We’ll try and get it to her as soon as they let us.”
“Whenever that’ll be.” Simon adds. “Youse don’t have to hang around if you don’t want to, honestly it’s probably going to be a long day of… probably nothing.”
“I suppose I have work and all.” I say, and he shakes his head. “No point, Evie. I’m not going to be there to direct you anyway. Why don’t you just go home and chill out?”
I glance at Shane. “Do you have classes today that you need to get to?”
“Nope.” He says gruffly. “Can skip ‘em. It’s just biomolecular lab skills today. Don’t really care about it if I’m honest.”
Even though he probably should care, but I don’t bother saying it. “Okay well, then I suppose we don’t mind staying around, just in case anything happens.”
“Really?” Says Simon, as though staying around is a weird thing to want to do, and I get it. I don’t like it here, but the idea of sitting at home watching TV and wondering what’s going on with Jen all day, waiting for some phone call, makes me feel a bit queasy.
“We brought things to do.” I say, hauling the hardback novel I’m currently reading out of my bag to prove it.
“Yep.” Says Shane, and he takes a Hello magazine off the table. “We’ve plenty to be keeping ourselves busy.”
I get through most of my novel while Shane does all of the crossword puzzles and all of the sudokus in all of the magazines, and Simon and Michelle look on their phones and wander around, to the desk and back, asking for Jen, nothing. No news. We get dull food from the canteen and spend all of our change on the vending machines. Michelle’s dad, Rahim, a hassled yet polite man in a pair of scrubs rushes by at one point only to say that Jen is still in the operating room. He doesn’t know how much longer she’ll be. We wait some more.
A nurse calls for Michelle at two in the afternoon. She shoots up from her plastic seat and goes over to talk while we all crane to listen.
“She’s out of the OR.” the nurse is saying. “But she’ll be very groggy from the anaesthetic for a while. She’s been sick quite a few times already, so if you must go in and see her, please make sure it’s only one of you at a time. The last thing we want is to be crowded all around her like mad things and causing overwhelm.”
“Yeah of course.” Says Michelle. “I’ll go in first then, just to see how she is. Evie, can I’ve the bag?”
I bring it over so that she can take it down the hallway towards Jen’s ward. I watch her go for a while, all the way down the long white hallway until she turns a corner and she’s gone, and the feeling that comes over me is strange. A sort of reverence, a peculiar kind of sadness, like Michelle shouldn’t have to be the first to see her. Where are Jen’s parents? Where is her family? Everybody else seems to know something that I don’t.
Just as I’m staring blankly down the hallway, the door to the waiting room swings open and a familiar woman comes in. She’s tall and glamorous and blonde, with sunglasses covering half of her face and a big crocodile leather handbag slung over her arm. It’s Colette Turner, and her son is right behind her.
“Jude.” I say, more to myself, as he’s much too far away to hear me, and my stomach feels like it’s dropped to my feet. He comes into the waiting room in a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a sweatshirt, looking more miserable than any man has ever looked. It hurts to even see him at this moment. He sees Shane and Simon before he sees me, and instantly starts firing questions at them. I feel like I begin to float towards him against my own volition. One moment I’m by the hallway to the ward and the next I’m right there beside him.
pain: What’s the worst pain your OC has ever felt? Do they have a high pain tolerance?
" Well considering the shit, I've done to my body when I was on drugs, I would have to say going through detox and rehab was the worst I've ever felt in my life. I walked through a glass door once too. That was a nightmare. "
This was her first time driving the car. It was just her dad and her cruising down the country road with the wind whistling through the open windows and Bruce Springsteen blasting from the radio. They were laughing about the theme for prom (British Invasion - Spice Girls style) and the newest craze called the ‘internet’. It was a fabulous afternoon. Kate didn’t get to spend a whole lot of alone time with her dad so this was awesome.
The awesome day switched from great to horrible in five second flat. A deer ran across the road. Kate swerved trying to miss it. The car hit a slick spot and flipped. Kate’s head hit the steering wheel as glass showered down all over her. “Dad? Daddy, are you okay?” the sixteen-year-old asked as she blinked away blood, sweat, tears, and glass.
Keith stumbled out of the no-name bar, his feet tripping him up as he attempted to walk. He hadn’t gotten this drunk in a while, but as his alcohol abuse had increased since his father’s death it was only a matter of time before it got bad again. What had set him off this time was a particularly vicious fight with his mother. Ever since she had compared him to Jason, giving substance to what Keith had always felt, like he was the lesser, the two were like oil and water.
Fumbling through his jacket, he found his keys, and his clumsy fingers dropped them on the ground. Twice. Keith shook off the haze the alcohol had on his brain, picking up his helmet. Zipping up his leather jacket, he mounted the bike, and started the ignition.
After a bit of a shaky kick off, he was on the highway. Pulling back into town, he even almost made it home, until something distracted him from the side. As he moved his head to see what it was, he accidentally took his whole body with him, jerking the bike, and upending the equilibrium of the movement. The bike fell, it’s engine cutting, and both rider and motorcycle went skidding to the side.
Because over the weekend one of my classmate’s little brother lost half his hand climbing between train cars! HALF of his hand! He’s fourteen!
They had to amputate the whole hand because there was no saving those fingers.
A picture of his mangled hand and severed fingers has been circulating through the whole county for three days.
Do you want people flashing pictures of your bloody, gore-fest hand around to get a cheap gag out of their friends? Do you want to be a parent’s cautionary tale to their own dumbass kids?
Ian had been driving..it was raining, quite hard in fact..they really shouldn’t have been out at all.. They seemed fine.. he had one hand on the steering wheel, the other one clasped in hers..laughing and talking.. she didn’t even notice the other car coming straight at them..
It apparently was quick..she could barely remember what happened. The only thing she could piece together was..screaming..and the windshield broke..and there was glass coming straight for her..and……that’s it..it went dark after that.
She wasn’t even sure if she had woken up, because everything was still that pitch black..but she could feel there was something wrapped around her head..she reached up to her eye-level and felt bandages covering her eyes. Next thing she knew a doctor was trying to explain things to her, but she could barely comprehend it.
The glass created irreparable damage..
…never be able to see again..
We can’t possibly be able to fix it..
..Permanate blindness.
She heard a choked sob from her right..which only meant one thing…Oh no, Ian….
"I-It’s not your fault, Ian." she whispered, her hand reaching out to him..to hold his hand or caress his face..just trying to find him.
July 25, 2014— Lima officials fish out Honda Civic from nearby lake after a car full of intoxicated teens rammed into the vehicle and veered it off the bridge, leaving one teenage girl with serious injuries and one in critical condition.
Local Lima teenagers, Rachel Berry (16) and Philippa Jagaer (15) were the victims of an intoxicated car crash this morning at 10AM. Enforcement say that Benjamin Alexander (18) and his friends were returning from a lake trip when their driver rammed into Jagaer’s car. The front of the car was smashed in before they were tossed over the bridge and into the water. Officials haven’t released the details of the other passengers, but Alexander allegedly tested positive for cocaine, alcohol, and a few other drugs that have yet to be detailed.
When the vehicle crashed into the water, Berry managed to escape the with a broken arm and several other minor injuries. She swam to the nearby shore and flagged down a passing cop car. Fortunately, someone from the other vehicle had also already called for an ambulance. While paramedics raced to the scene, Officer Gadson and his partner did what they could to fish Jagaer out of the water.
The second set of paramedics tended to Berry’s concussion, broken arm and other injuries, while Jagaer was being helped. She was quickly moved to Murphy Memorial Hospital and doctors seem hopeful for her recovery.
Jagaer, the driver of the sunken vehicle, had been pinned by the smashed-in front of the car and was unable to move free. Metal had pierced her side and leg down, making it impossible for her to get out of the vehicle as it sunk in deeper into the water. By the time officials were able to reach the young girl, she had been under water for a few minutes and had lost a lot of blood. She was removed from the car as fast as possible and brought to shore where she coded twice before paramedics were able to resuscitate her. She was rushed off to the same hospital as Berry. Jagaer remains in critical conditions, but not much else has been reported or released. However, doctors do not seem hopeful for the girl’s recovery, which is bitter news for Alexander who could face second degree manslaughter if the girl does not recover.
Though the state of health for these two Lima teens is not clear, one thing is. Lima’s drug abuse problem has damaged the lives of two more youths.
Stay tuned for updates about Jagaer and Berry’s condition.
Jagaer’s father is currently serving time in a Chicago prison, so Lima officials are scrambling to find the girl’s mother before her condition worsens. If anyone has any information about the location of Monica Jagaer, Lima officials ask that you call into the station. Any information given will remain anonymous and will solely be used for the purpose of tracking down a legal guardian for the teen.
