Page 24 of Tease
During a real life trauma, I now know that time seems to both stand still and speed up at the same time. Looking up at the clock on the back wall of the waiting room, I find that it’s been an hour since we arrived at this local emergency room.
Once Steffan’s truck came to a stop at the ER entrance, Brittney ran inside and came back with multiple staff pushing a stretcher. They quickly loaded Beth’s unconscious body and ran through the sliding doors.
I think I’m officially in shock. I’m nauseated, my body is shaking slightly, and no words wanted to come out when the registration lady asked me for my sister’s information. I vaguely remember the lady saying she was calling our parents. Thank god for Brittney; she stepped up and gave the employee everything that was needed.
Loud, rushed footsteps have me looking up in their direction, and I see my parents running inside the emergency department from the parking lot. Travey is following close behind.
A loud sob comes from Mom, and she reaches for me, bringing my body against hers for a hug. “What happened?” She doesn’t release me; her hold becomes tighter.
My words come out flustered and jittery. “I–I don’t know… We were at a party… I didn’t see her when Brittney and I got there.”
The rest of my response is cut off when Mom starts to cry, louder, into my shoulder. I can feel her tears soaking my skin. How can I tell her thatthisis all my fault? If I wouldn’t have arrived so late to the party… If we all would’ve driven together instead of separately… If the stupid party hadn’t been for me… my birthday celebration… If Ineverwould’ve introduced her to Joey… Or the absolute most important fault: if there had never been aKailey and Jared… None of this would be happening right now. Beth wouldn’t be lying on some stretcher, fighting for her life behind those sliding doors—the doors that continue to taunt me.My. Fucking. Fault.
Dad is wearing khaki shorts and a white polo, with brown sandals. He’s leaning against the registration desk, trying to get information on his oldest daughter. The one who had first made him a father. By his tearful expression, I now see the desk is actually helping him stay upright. Travey stands directly behind Dad, wearing similar clothes, except his shirt is a light shade of pink, and his face has a sunburnt line, where sunglasses had been. He has his arms crossed against his chest, appearing to be a wall, in case our dad loses the battle of gravity.
Mom gradually unlatches herself from me, using the sleeve of her sweatshirt to wipe her face. Her tears have slowed down, for now. Her lips peck my cheek, and she whispers, “Everything will be okay, baby girl. It has to be.”
The doors that separate the waiting room from the emergency department slide apart, and a gray-haired man steps out. He’s wearing dark blue scrubs covered by a long white coat.Dr.Hughis embroidered on the top-right coat pocket.
His tired eyes scan over the waiting room, before he speaks, sternly. “I’m looking for the parents of Beth Caine.”
Mom’s high-pitched voice rings near my ear, startling me. “We’re right here.” She locks her hand into my dad’s grasp.
She’s in white shorts, and a dark gray sweatshirt that has a flamingo on it. Her black hair has been thrown up into a sloppy ponytail. Her tear-soaked face and smeared mascara makes our mom appear older than she is.
Nodding to my parents, the doctor shakes my dad’s hand, but he doesn’t drop it. “I need you both to follow me to the consultation room, please.”
“Travis, stay here with your sister. It’ll be alright.” Dad grips my brother’s shoulder before leading Mom to follow the doctor.
As the doors are closing, I see my parents lean into each other. Mom’s head lands on Dad’s shoulder while his arm holds her up by her waist. The waiting room noise starts to fade back into my surroundings.
“Hello? Are you even listening to me, Kailey?” Travey’s palms are on my shoulders as he shakes me roughly.
“What?” My eyes make direct contact with my little brother for the first time this evening. I can’t avoid the look on his face, just for me…Anger. His mouth is in a firm line, and his eyebrows dip down.
“What the fuck happened?”
“It’s my fault, okay?” I scream at him. My breathing becomes erratic.
His body jerks backwards, like I physically slapped him.
Brittney walks up beside us, shaking her head lightly at him, while rubbing circles into my lower back. “You know that’s not true…”
Travey walks off to the corner of the waiting room, where Greg and Steffan are sitting. He plops into the seat next to them, resting his elbows on his knees and looking down at his feet, both hands gripping his hair.
Slowly, my head swivels, and I look around the waiting room. This town isn’t huge, so it’s a fairly small hospital. There’s a crying baby being held by a woman who’s maybe in her mid-twenties, wearing a pink beanie. A few seats down from her is an old man rubbing his chest, appearing to be short of breath. On the other side of the room is a man holding a bloody bandage to his right knee, while his buddy is laughing and telling a story with animated hand gestures. If I had to guess, those two are drunk. I wish I was drunk, and this situation was just a terrible hallucination.
“Where’s Jared?” I whisper to Brittney.
Her body pivots around mine, and she looks around before responding, “I think he went outside to call his brother.”
Instant rage consumes me. I scream at the top of my lungs, “That piece of fucking shit!” I can tell Brittney knows that I’m talking about Joey. Brittney leads me by my lower back, guiding me to take a seat next to her. I sit up straight in my seat and look out the windows to see if either of them are outside. An alarm pierces through an intercom over our heads. “CODE BLUE. E.D. ONE. CODE BLUE. E.D. ONE.”
I’ve done enough work studies in the emergency department—to prepare me for my nursing career—to know that this alarm means someone’s heart has just stopped. Steadily, I rise from the chair, and my feet carry me toward the registration desk like I’m floating on a cloud. Ineedan update on Beth’s condition.
A tall male employee runs past me, and his speed causes my stray hairs to lift up. Scanning his badge, those damn taunting doors open. My line of vision has a direct path to E.D. One. Everything happens in slow motion. I look to see what patient is getting all of this attention, and the staff continue to run around. I can hear someone yelling but can’t decipher what’s being said. That’s when I see her… My beautiful sister, in a tan hospital gown, lying on the stretcher. A staff member is actively doingchest compressions on her, the person’s badge almost hitting her in the face with each rapid push down. Another employee is standing by, filling up a syringe with a clear fluid and then passing it off to someone else. Then, the doors abruptly shut, plunging me back into the dark. Code blue… Beth’s heart has stopped. She’s not going to make it.
All the air my lungs had been holding evaporates out of me in a rushed sigh. In this suffocating waiting room, my knees give out as I fall to the white laminate flooring. I can’t hear anything except my own pounding heartbeat pulsing in my ears. Both of my cheeks are coated in tears.I can’t breathe; I’m suffocating!Firm hands grip my shoulders, lifting me from the dirty, cold hospital floor. Confusion fills my face as I look into deep emerald green eyes. Jared’s mouth is moving, but I don’t hear his words.
