Page 78 of Once Bitten
Dora gave Jordyn a quick nod before answering Steve. “We were driving last night. He picked me up after he left your place… We were just going to get a coffee, you know, anything to be around each other, and then this car came out of nowhere! It sideswiped us, and we flipped. Jamie is in the ICU right now, but they didn’t let me see him because I’m not family.” Dora’s voice cracked, and she looked down at her hands, which were clenched into fists. “I didn’t know what to do, but they gave me his phone finally and that’s when I called you. I lost--I lost my phone in the crash. I think it’s broken. I don’t know.”
Steve nodded. “I’ll call his parents and-”
“I already did,” Dora broke in and swallowed hard. “Definitely not the way I wanted to talk to them first, but they are on their way.”
“Good. Thank you, Dora.” Steve pulled her to him and hugged her gingerly around her sling. Dora turned her face into Steve’s shoulder as tears started to stream down her face. “It all happened so fast,” she whispered, her shoulders shaking. “One second we were laughing, and I was messing with the radio and then this car, this car...it-I, god, it was so fast, and then we were flipping. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Hey, it’s ok. You’re alright.” Steve soothed her, quietly. “Nothing to be sorry for.”
Jordyn wrapped her arms around herself, unsure of what to do, but she was satisfied to see that Steve was finally speaking now that his attention was on Dora.
“I shouldn’t have distracted him, and then maybe, maybe he would have seen the other car,” Dora cried. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say that.” Steve drew back enough to look down at her. He leaned close to her until they were looking one another in the eyes. “Don’t blame yourself, Dora. This—this is not your fault. You weren’t the drunk driver. You didn’t do this.”
Dora nodded, tearfully, and Jordyn stepped forward to hug her best friend. The two were holding on to each other when a nurse approached them. “Are you Steve Ryans?”
“That’s me. I’m here for Jamie Barstow,” Steve replied, stepping close to the nurse. “I should be listed as the emergency contact.”
The nurse nodded and gestured to Steve. “He’s listed you as his next of kin. I can take you back to see him,” she said, but she took a step back when Dora rushed forward, her hands reaching out.
“Just tell us how he is!” Dora said, her voice on the edge of tears. “Please!”
Steve neatly caught her in his arms, and gave her a smile. “I’ll tell you everything as soon as I know, ok? Just stay here with Jordyn, and I’ll be back as soon as possible. Someone is going to need to be around in case his parents show, and they already know to look for you, right?” Steve gave her an encouraging smile, and after a moment, Dora nodded and fell back into Jordyn’s arms.
“It’s going to be ok,” Jordyn told her friend, trying to forget what Steve had told her earlier about anything possibly happening. She gave Steve a quick nod before he turned and disappeared with the nurse through a set of doors.
“Here, sit down.” Jordyn led Dora to a row of chairs and pushed her friend gently into a seat. “I’ll go get us some coffee, ok?”
Dora sniffled, but she nodded as she sat in the plastic chair. “Okay.”
Taking a deep breath, Jordyn turned and headed off in search of a coffee machine. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found one and returned as fast as she could with the two cups of steaming coffee. The two of them sat, drinking their coffee in silence for a few minutes before Dora put hers down and broke down in sobs.
“What if he doesn’t wake up?” She tearfully asked, her eyes frantic. “What if this is it?”
“Shhhh, shhhh.” Jordyn wrapped her arms around Dora. “He’ll wake up,” she said as convincingly as she could while Dora wept. Jordyn continued to hold Dora until she eventually dropped off into sleep. Jordyn closed her eyes, and before she knew it, she was following Dora and slipping into sleep. It was only when the Barstows burst into the room that the two friends awoke.
“I’m Mr. Barstow. My son was admitted here.” Jamie’s father’s voice rang through the silent waiting room, waking Jordyn. She looked down at her watch and rubbed her face. It was almost 11:00 a.m. She couldn’t believe that she had slept that long in the waiting room. All around them, the room was bustling with patients and nurses, but none of it had woken them. She frowned while Dora moved to stand. Why hadn’t Steve come to see them before now? They’d been here for nearly 2 hours.
“Mr. Barstow? Mrs. Barstow?” Dora approached them, her voice weak.
“Dora?” Jamie’s mother, a woman with a short brown bob and brilliant green eyes spoke. “We talked on the phone. You were with Jamie when the accident happened?”
Dora bit her trembling lip. “I’m so sorry.”
“It isn’t your fault,” Mr. Barstow said, quickly, as a nurse rounded the desk with a file in her hand.
“Thank you for calling us,” Mrs. Barstow breathed before sweeping Dora to her in a hug. “We wouldn’t have known if you hadn’t.”
“Steve is already back there with him.” Jordyn offered, and the two parents gave her a thankful nod before they followed the nurse away and towards Jamie’s room.
Dora let out a frustrated sigh and glared at the swinging set of doors. “I fucking hate those doors,” she muttered, her uninjured hand clenching.
“I know. I’ll text Steve and see what’s going on,” Jordyn said, nodding back to their seats.
Once they were sitting, Jordyn fired off a text as fast as she could to Steve.How is he?
She bit her lip and looked at her friend with a concerned expression. It had to be killing Dora to not know what was going on with Jamie. She knew that she would be a wreck if it was Steve behind those doors. Jordyn had just put her arm around Dora’s shoulders when her phone pinged with a text from Steve. She sat straighter while Dora leaned in to see it.
