Another horn sounded in the distance, the screech of more tires...
And then nothing.
A monotonous beep pulled me from the darkness. Cracking open an eye, I waited for the nightmare to be real, except it never came. There was no crumpled car, no headlights or tires screeching.
“M- Maverick?” I croaked and my dad rushed to my side.
“Thank God, Eloise. Don’t try to talk, sweetheart. I’ll buzz for the nurse.” He pressed the alarm and five seconds later, a nurse entered the room.
“It’s nice to see you awake, Lo. I’m Dinah, and I’ll be looking after you today.”
“I... where’s Maverick?”
“We’re taking good care of him. You just focus on you, okay? Now let me get in here and see what’s happening.” She came to the side of the bed and began fumbling with the monitor. “That’s quite a bump you had.”
Her words made me instinctively touch my head, and I winced with pain. “W- what happened?”
“You were in an accident, sweetheart.”
“Dad?” I croaked, fear flooding my chest at the thought that my 'nightmare' had been real.
“You’ve been out of it for fourteen hours.”
“Fourteen hours?” I tried to sit up, but my muscles were heavy and sore.
“You need to relax.” Dinah gave me a reassuring smile. “Your vitals are good and the few bumps and bruises you have will heal. But you had a bad concussion, sweetheart, so we’ll need to monitor you for a little while.”
My hand instinctively went to my head again. “Ouch,” I whispered, pain radiating through me as I gently touched my face and head for damage. Other than a gauze dressing over one side of my forehead, I seemed to be intact.
“Can I see Maverick?” I needed to know he was okay too.
Dinah and my dad shared a look, but it was Dad who replied. “He came off a little worse than you, Lo.”
“W- what? He’s hurt bad?” My bottom lip trembled.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Dad took my hand in his. “He’s strong; he’ll get through this.”
My heart sank as fear trickled down my spine. “It’s that bad?” The alarm on the machine starting bleeping furiously.
“Maybe we should do this later?” he suggested, flicking his eyes to the nurse.
“Tell me what happened.” Blood roared between my ears as silent tears streamed down my face.
“Maverick took the brunt of the force, sweetheart. He’s in a coma.”
“A coma?” I gasped. “No, no... no.”
He couldn’t be in a coma. We had the whole summer planned. It was his senior year… the team had their sights set on the championship.
Oh God… the team.
Maverick’s basketball career.
“Hey, hey...” Dad brushed the hair from my face and offered me a warm smile. “Rick is strong, he will pull through this. The doctors induced the coma to give his body time to heal.”
“But he’s okay, right? He’ll be okay?”
He let out a shaky breath and I had my answer. “Honestly, we don’t know yet, sweetheart.”
My heart broke.
Right there on the hospital bed, my heart fractured into two and bled out for the man I loved more than life itself.
“I need to see him,” I said defiantly.
Dad glanced at Dinah and she gave me a small nod. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Summer
“Lo, thank God,” I rushed over to her as Uncle Robert wheeled her toward the waiting room.
“Hey.” She barely smiled. “Is he…”
“There’s no change.”
It had been hours since we'd first got here. The attending EMTs recognized Maverick and told the police officers to call Mom and Dad. Dad called the rest of us. Kyle and Laurie couldn’t get a flight out of Maui until Wednesday, and Macey was across the other side of the country with Devon.
Lo trembled, a pained whimper spilling from her lips.
“Hey.” I dropped down to my knees and took her hands in mine. “He’s going to be okay, Lo. This is Rick we’re talking about. He’s too stubborn to—” I swallowed the words. “God, I didn’t mean...”
“It’s okay.” She gave me a weak smile. “You’re right, he’s strong. He’ll get through this.”
I felt my family move behind me, so I got up and stepped aside to let them have their moment with Lo.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Mom went first. “He loves you so much, Lo. He’ll come back to you. I know he will.”
“Rebecca’s right.” Dad’s voice trembled. “Maverick is strong.”
Lo managed a small nod, but I saw the desperation in her eyes, like a wild animal cornered and looking for a way out.
“Why don’t I take Lo to see him?” I suggested.
“Okay, we’ll wait right here.” Uncle Robert gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
I gave JB a hug. “I’ll be okay.”
“I know you will.” He stared down at me before kissing me softly. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”
“I always need you. But I need to do this, for her.” My gaze went to Lo. She looked so lost, sitting there, covered in grazes and gauze, the sparkle gone from her eyes.
“I love you.” JB cupped the back of my neck and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
Tears stung my eyes, but I swallowed them down. We needed to be strong. For my family. For Lo.
For Maverick.
“Come on,” I said to her as I approached. “Let’s go see him.”
Lo
The sight of Maverick lying there, hooked up to various machines, his head in a neck brace, was the most terrifying thing I’d ever seen.
And I’d lived through losing my mother and my brother in a tragic accident.
“Oh God, Summer.” I reached for her hand. I needed comfort. I needed something to steady the rapid beat of my heart.
“You must be Lo,” a nurse said as Summer wheeled me closer.
“Is he... can he hear us?”
“I like to think he can.” She gave me a small smile. “You come over here and hold his hand and talk to him.”
“How is he? I mean... what are his injuries?”
“Maverick suffered quite a bump to the head. The doctors are also concerned about a spinal injury. But until he wakes up, they won’t know the extent of the damage.”
Spinal injury?
Oh God.
Nausea washed through me.
Summer’s hand slid over my shoulder and squeezed gently. I laid my hand over hers, taking comfort in her touch. This was her pain as much as mine. Maverick was her big brother, her protector. Seeing him like this...
A garbled cry escaped my lips. “I don’t know how to do this,” I confessed.
“Of course you do.” The nurse smiled again. “What Maverick needs right now is his family. He needs to know you’re here for him, sweetheart.”
“O- okay, I can do that.” Gently lifting Maverick’s hand, I slid it into my own. “It’s me,” I said.