“Hello?”
“Kevin? This is Brian. I’ve got to tell you something, but you can’t freak. I want you to stay as calm as possible. Okay?”
“Yeah, fine. What’s up, B-Rok?”
“There was an accident. Dani and Angie were on their way to Sandra’s house and apparently, the driver wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing. He ran into the opposite lane and they got hit by a car. We’re at the hospital now and we need you to get here as soon as possible.”
Kevin’s breath caught in his throat. He sat down on the nearby bed and started crying softly.
“How are they?”
“Dani has a lot of scrapes and bruises, but she should be okay. They’re running tests now. Angie is a lot worse. She’s in surgery right now. The doctors won’t tell us what’s wrong right now.”
“I’ll be right there,” he said, hanging up the phone.
Jane walked over to Kevin, who was deathly pale, “What’s wrong, Kevin?”
“There was an a-“ he started, but choked on his words.
“It’s okay, calm down a little and tell me,” she soothed.
“There was an accident. Angie and D-Dani are in the hospital. Lori and Brian are with them,” he said and started crying again.
Nick heard Angie’s name and spun around, “What’s wrong with Angie?” he damanded.
Jane looked over at Nick, “She and Dani have been in an accident.”
Aaron flipped out, “NO! ANGIE CAN’T BE HURT!” he wailed.
“Honey, please don’t yell. Come on. We’re going to the hospital.”
Lori went to the hospital chapel to pray for Dani and Angie. Brian waited for Kevin and Sandra to arrive. He paced the floor, talking to God under his breath. Kevin, Jane, Nick, and Aaron walked into the room and hugged each other tightly. Brian and Kevin went to a corner of the room and sat down to pray. Jane, Nick, and Aaron went to another corner to pray. Lori walked in a few minutes after they arrived and joined Brian and Kevin’s prayer. They all cried silently.
The doctor walked in about 20 minutes later.
“Are any of you with Danica LaCaze?”
“We all are,” Kevin answered.
“Are any of you family?”
“No, but I’m her boyfriend. Her mother is on the way.”
“Miss LaCaze has a concussion, a few broken bones, and some internal bleeding. She should be fine.”
“When will we be able to see her?” Kevin asked.
“In about half-an-hour when she wakes up.”
“What about Angela Corgan?” Nick asked.
“She’s still in surgery. Other than that, I can’t tell you. As soon as she’s out, I’ll get back with you.”
The doctor walked out of the room and they resumed their prayers. Sandra walked in a short while later.
“Mom,” Lori said, getting up to embrace her. Sandra just hugged her, letting silent tears fall on her shoulder.
Ann walked in the room, silently cussing at the doctors. She walked over to her son and hugged him.
“Have you heard anything?”
“Dani’s gonna be fine. She’s got a concussion, some broken bones, and some internal bleeding. Angie is still in surgery.”
“Oh, Kevy,” she said, holding him tighter, “I’m so sorry.”
“Me too,” was all he said.
A.J.’s cell phone rang on the other side of the room. He turned off the stereo and ran to catch it.
“Hello?”
A.J., this is Lori. There’s been an accident and we need you at the hospital right now.”
“What happened?”
“Dani and Angie were in an accident. Please hurry.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes.”
He hung up the phone, grabbed his stuff and ran out the door. Instead of going to the elevator, he ran to Howie’s door and banged on it, yelling at him to wake up.
A groggy Howie opened the door.
“What’s up, Bone?”
“Dani and Angie were in an accident. We need to get to the hospital right now.”
Howie pulled his shoes on and ran for the door, not bothering to fix his hair or put on a decent shirt.
When they got to the hospital, everyone but Ann had gone to the chapel to pray.
“Ann, how are they?”
“Dani will be fine. Angie’s in surgery.”
“When are we gonna find out how Angie is?” A.J. asked.
“As soon as she’s out of surgery.”
Howie fell to his knees and started to pray.
“Dear Heavenly Father…”
A.J. sat next to him and began praying himself.
Ann looked at the guys and a single tear fell from her eye. She knew that Angie and Dani were gonna be just fine. She didn’t know how she knew, but something told her that they would be fine.
-30 MINUTES LATER-
They all sat in the waiting room, not saying much. The doctor walked into the room and everyone jumped to their feet.
“Is Miss LaCaze’s mother here yet?”
“Yes,” she said, stepping closer to him, “How is she?”
“She’s awake and you can go see her now. She’s very tired, but we can’t let her go back to sleep. She has a concussion.”
“Thank you so much, doctor,” Sandra said.
Before the doctor could leave, Nick asked him how Angie was.
“She’s still in surgery. We have to reconstruct the bones in her leg. Other than that, she’s about the same as Miss LaCaze.”
“What room is Danica in?” Kevin asked, anxious to see his girlfriend.
“Room 312.”
They all rushed out of the room and ran straight for Dani’s room. One of the nurses yelled at them for running. When they reached the door, another nurse told them to be quiet and that there was limited space. Kevin, Sandra, and Ann went in first.
Danica tried to sit up in the bed, but her head was pounding too hard.
“Don’t try to get up,” Kevin said, almost in tears again.
“Please don’t cry. I’ll be fine. How’s Angie?”
“She’s still in surgery. But the doctors say she’ll be fine,” Ann said.
“Mom, I need a hug.”
Sandra smiled at her daughter and gave her a hug. She couldn’t say anything because she was too afraid that she’d start crying. It didn’t seem fair that this had to happen just when Angie and Dani's lives were getting into order.
“It’s okay, mommy. You can cry,” she whispered.
Sandra couldn’t handle it anymore and walked out of the room, crying harder than ever. Ann followed her out. Kevin walked over to her and picked up her hand. He wasn’t crying, but from his red, swollen eyes, she could tell that he had been crying.
“You look so small in that bed.”
“You look so big from the bed,” she said, trying to crack a joke.
He smiled at her, “I love you, Dani.”
“Love you too, Kev.”
Her eyes started to droop a little.
“You can’t go to sleep. The doctor said no.”
“Want sleep. Tired.”
“Too bad.”
The doctor walked by the room and poked his head in.
“She’s trying to go to sleep.”
“Miss LaCaze, you can’t sleep. You have a concussion. You’re already in danger because of the painkiller we gave you and for letting you sleep for what little time you did.”
“Funny doctor.”
“I see the painkiller is taking effect,” he said, “Mr. Richardson, try to keep her awake for as long as you can.”
He walked away and Danica giggled.
“What?” Kevin asked.
“The doctor said to keep me awake.”
He smiled at her, “Not here.”
She put on a pouty face, “Why not?’ she said with mock anger.
“Dani, we can’t. We’re in a hospital and our moms are right outside.”
“Fine then. I’m sleeping.”
“No you’re not.”
Danica giggled some more, “Kevy funny.”
He looked at her and smiled. The painkillers were definitely taking effect.
“Kevy cute.”
Kevin took her in his arms, just wanting to hold her. She kissed his cheek.
“Kevy scruffy. Dani like Kevy scruffy.”
Kevin nuzzled her neck and kissed her softly.
“Dani likes Kevy.”
“I like you too.”
“Will Kevy marry Dani?”
He looked over at her and smiled. He knew she probably wouldn’t remember any of this, so he decided to play along.
“Yeah, I’ll marry you.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
She snuggled closer to him and sighed.
“Where Angie?”
“Angie’s in surgery. She’ll be back soon.”
“Tell Angie hurry up. Tea’s coming.”
“What?”
“Tea’s coming. In a big teapot. It’s gonna spill all over us and go into these little bitty cups that no one can drink out of.”
Kevin was getting scared at how freaky she was sounding. He pressed the call button without her knowing it. A few moments later, a nurse walked in.
“Baby, let me go talk to the nurse. Don’t go to sleep.”
“I sleepy.”
“I know that, but if you go to sleep, I won’t be able to marry you.”
“Kay. I’ll stay awake then.”
Kevin walked out of the room to talk to the nurse.
“Yes, sir?”
“My girlfriend was given some painkillers, but these are making her act very strange.”
“I think they gave her morphine. I can’t be sure though. I’d have to check her chart.”
“Thank you.”
The nurse walked away and Kevin walked back into Dani’s room. She was talking to the walls.
“Hey! You can’t do that! The purple elephant is supposed to be next in line!”
Kevin sat down by Dani and waited for the nurse to come back.
“Sir?”
“Yes?”
“Could you come here for a second?”
Kevin walked into the hall with her.
“She’s been given codeine. That’s a little stronger than she needs. But it looks like the reason why she’s acting this way is because she has some sort of allergic reaction to it.”
“Oh. Do you know anything about Angela Corgan?”
“She’s out of surgery now, but she can’t have any visitors right now. She’s in the recovery room.”
“Could you please tell me when we’ll be able to see her?”
“Certainly.”
“Thank you.”
He walked back into the room and sat in the bed with her.
“Hey, I just found out that Angie is out of surgery.”
“Want to see Angie.”
“You can’t see her right now. She’s in the recovery room and no one else is allowed to go back there besides doctors and the patients they put in there.”
“Want to see Angie,” she said, pouting.
“You can see Angie in a little while. You get to see me for now.”
“Dani like that.”
“Kevin like that too,” he said, kissing her softly on the forehead.