AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“About the accident?”
Janessa didn’t want to talk about the details of her dream, so she just nodded and closed her eyes again. “Still tired.”
“The pain meds they’ve given you are probably causing that.”
Before she could fall back to sleep, a nurse walked in. The next several minutes were taken up with the woman checking the various machines Janessa was hooked up to and asking her questions. Her mom stayed quiet, even though, as a doctor, she could have offered insight into how Janessa was doing.
“The doctor will be in shortly to speak with you,” the nurse said. “Is there anything you need?”
“I don’t think so.” They couldn’t give her the things she wanted. Most especially a rewind button.
Her mom had remained silent throughout Janessa’s interaction with the nurse. While in the past, Janessa had appreciated her parents’ relatively hands off approach to their lives once they reached adulthood, right then, she would have loved her mom to take over.
“Do you think you might feel up to a visitor after the doctor comes by?” her mom asked when it was just the two of them again.
Janessa lifted her gaze, not even realizing she’d zoned out, staring at her hands. “A visitor?”
Was Will well enough to come see her? Was it possible that he hadn’t been injured as badly as she’d been?
Janessa couldn’t allow herself to hope. And she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
“Jay really wants to see you,” her mom said. “As do the rest of your siblings, of course.”
Janessa dropped her gaze to her hands again. Could she handle seeing her brother? Knowing that his best friend had also been in the accident?
“Janessa, darling?” her mom prompted softly.
As much as she was afraid to see Jay, she also longed to have him close. That longing finally won out.
“I’d like to see Jay.”
“Okay. Once the doctor is done here, I’ll let Jay know he can come spend some time with you.”
“Can I have something to drink?”
Her mom got to her feet and brought a glass with a straw to Janessa. She held the glass while Janessa sipped some water through the straw. It relieved the dryness of her throat, but the knot of anxiety and fear remained.
After she’d finished drinking, her mom set the glass back down on the small table that sat across the bed. Janessa lifted a hand to touch her head, wishing she could focus better.
Never before had she felt so mentally scattered. It felt like her mind had broken. She didn’t know if the painkillers were causing it, or if it was the concussion. Or, most likely, the fear was messing with her mind.
Her medical training was failing her, too. She’d never been a patient, so being on this side of things was a new experience. One she didn’t want.
“How long have I been here?” Janessa asked.
“They brought you in last night,” her mom said. “So almost twenty-four hours.”
Before she could ask anything more, there was a knock on the door and a doctor stepped in, along with a nurse and someone Janessa assumed was a resident.
She tried to focus on what the doctor was saying, answering him as best she could. Her mom once again stayed quiet, but when Janessa gave her a desperate look, she stepped up next to the bed and took Janessa’s hand.
After she introduced herself—including her role as a doctor—she fielded a few of the questions Janessa was struggling to answer, and she asked questions Janessa hadn’t even thought to.
By the time the doctor left, Janessa was even more exhausted. She couldn’t recall most of what the doctor had said, aside from him telling her she’d need to stay in the hospital for another day or two.
“Jay should be here in a couple of minutes,” her mom said once they were alone. “Are you still up to seeing him?”
Janessa wasn’t sure. She felt as if she was teetering on the edge of an emotional breakdown. Tears were just a blink away, and she hated that. Normally, she wasn’t so emotional, but there was a crack in her control, and everything she felt was right at the surface.
