Episode 209...

AJ turns off the TV and stretches slightly before standing up and walking over to the window. He wonders where Jade is. She had told him earlier about her plans to go see Brian but then she would come back to eat with him. He checks the clock – it’s just gone 1am. No way in hell is she still at Brian’s. Not the way their relationship has been lately. They can barely look at each other without hurting one another. He grabs his phone and dials Jade’s home number. There’s no reply, the phone just ringing and ringing. He dials Ali’s number. Jade had stayed with her a few nights last week. It rings and rings and he’s just about to hang up when Ali answers.
“What?!” she grumps. “It’s like 1am and I’m asleep!”
“Sorry Ali,” AJ says. “Is Jade there?”
“No. Why?”
“Uh, I just wondered. She was gonna come here.”
“Oh yeah, she told me that. After seeing Brian right?”
“Uh huh. I dunno where she is.”
“Maybe they made up,” she says hopefully.
“Doubtful.”
“I know… You worried?”
“A little,” he admits. “I’ll try her cell. Sorry I woke ya Ali.”
“It’s cool. Call me when you get hold of her.”
“Sure,” he hangs up and tries Jade’s number. It rings through to the answering service. AJ listens to the message before speaking. “Hey Jady, it’s AJ. Didja forget you were comin’ over here? Just gimme a call when ya get this and let me know that you’re ok. Bye.”
He hangs up and sits back on the couch. He’s getting seriously worried about Jade now. He’ll give her another hour and then he’ll call Brian and see if anything happened.

The shrill ring on the phone cuts through the darkness and Brian rolls over with a groan. He has been trying to sleep for the past few hours but his mind just won’t shut down. All he can think about is Jade and the way she had looked when she had given him back his ring. His heart had broken all over again and he doesn’t know what to do now. He wants to be with her but he needs to know that he’s more than second best to her. The phone keeps ringing and he grabs it.
“Yeah?” he mumbles but it’s dead. He stares at the handset as it keeps ringing and realises it’s his cell phone. He stumbles out of bed and grabs the cell phone. “Yeah?”
“Is this Brian Littrell?”
“Yeah,” he says, wondering how a fan has gotten hold of his number and if they possess a clock to tell the time by.
“I’m calling about your wife Jade Littrell,” the woman says.
“Jade isn’t my wife anymore,” he says, thinking that Jade has got a friend of hers to call and hassle him. “So just go tell her to butt out of my life and maybe we’ll ALL be happy.”
“Uh, I’m sorry but you’re down as her emergency contact,” she says nervously. “Is there somebody else I can call?”
“Her parents live in Atlanta,” he says and then realises something is going on. “Emergency contact?”
“Yes. Uh, could I have their number if you’re not…”
“She is my wife,” he says, sitting down heavily. “Please tell me what’s goin’ on here.”
“Your wife was in a car accident last night,” she tells him and he screws his eyes up tight, praying that she just has a few bruises or something. “She was brought here several hours ago and has just been moved onto my unit. I wanted to let you know.”
“Is she ok?”
“Uh, it would be better if you came here and talked to her doctor,” she says.
“Please, I need to know,” he begs her. “At least tell me she’s not dead.”
“She’s not dead,” she says. “But she is still unconscious.”
“Unconscious?” he repeats slowly. “Oh God. Which hospital?”
“St Paul’s.”
“I’ll be right there,” he hangs up and gets dressed as quickly as he can. He grabs his car keys and races out to his car, speeding away from the house. He gets there within twenty minutes and runs into reception. “Uh, my wife was brought in a few hours ago. Her name’s Jade Littrell.”
“I’ll just check for you sir,” the receptionist looks at her computer and types in Jade’s name. “She’s in intensive care. That’s up on the fourth floor.”
Brian runs up the stairs two at a time. Jade is in intensive care?! What the hell has happened to her? He finds a nurse on the fourth floor and asks her where intensive care is. Five minutes later he has found the nurse who called him.
“If you come with me, I’ll get the doctor to come and speak to you.”
“I want to see my wife.”
“It would be best if you spoke to the doctor first,” she says gently and he shakes his head.
“I’m goin’ crazy here. I need to see my wife.”
“Fine,” she says after studying him closely. “I’ll take you,” she leads him down the corridor. “I need to warn you that she’s hooked up to a lot of machines.”
“Can’t she breathe on her own?”
“The doctor will talk to you about that,” she says firmly and opens a room door.
Brian steps in and sees Jade. His face pales and he feels his legs go weak. She doesn’t look like his Jade, lying in the hospital bed. She is deathly pale and hooked up to two machines. There’s a tube down her throat and a steady hum as the machine breathes for her. A monitor shows her heart rate and she has a drip in one arm.
“Oh God,” he whispers as he sits in the chair by her bed. “Jady…”
“Are you ok? Would you like some water?”
“I just need to talk to her doctor.”
“I’ll go and page him,” she leaves him alone with Jade.
“Oh god baby,” he gently touches her pale face and then reaches for her hand.
“Mr Littrell?” a doctor walks into the room. “Hello, I’m Dr Paget.”
“Hi,” Brian shakes his hand quickly before sitting down again.
“I’m looking after your wife,” he sits by Brian.
“What’s happened to her?”
“She lost control of her car on a corner and smashed into a concrete barrier,” he says and Brian flinches, going even paler than he is already. “She was lucky in that her seat moved backwards on impact so she wasn’t trapped at all. However, she hit her head hard on the wheel. She’s had a brain scan and there’s a lot of swelling which is why we think she’s in a coma right now. Hopefully, the swelling will go down in a few days and she will start to come round.”
“If she doesn’t?” Brian asks quietly, squeezing Jade’s hand tightly.
“Then we will do a brain stem test and find out if there’s anything going on.”
“Why is she on these machines?”
“Her heart stopped in the ambulance and again in the ER.”
“Oh…” Brian whispers, feeling incredibly scared and helpless. His wife had nearly died.
“But we brought her back. The machines are to help her breathe. After a week, we will turn the ventilator off and hopefully she will breathe on her own.”
“If she doesn’t?”
“You will need to decide whether we let her go or resuscitate.”
“You can’t let her die.”
“Let’s just get her through this week first,” Dr Paget says calmly and stands up. “Is there anything else you want to ask me?”
“Uh, no,” Brian shakes his head and the doctor leaves. He looks at his wife’s still body and strokes her hand. It feels so unreal, like a nightmare that he’s going to wake up from any minute. And if he does, he’s going to go and see Jade and tell her how much he loves her. He had told her he didn’t, that he didn’t care if she lived or died… If she dies, his world will die with her. She can’t die. He can’t live his life without her. He bows his head and kisses her hand.