Chapter 3

As soon as they arrived at the emergency room, Ryker got out of the car and carried her in.
“Can someone please help us.” Ryker shouted as he ran in.
Blood dripping through his fingers that was holding the gauze on her head. When they saw him, two doctors and nurses ran right to them. The nurses knew who he was the second they saw his face. They quickly took them to a private room, after seeing everyone in there taking photos and videos of him holding an unconscious girl in his arms. One of the nurses noticed how tightly he was holding her. She was a big fan of his and knew he was always single, but could tell she was someone important to him. They laid her down on a bed and started to examine her while one of the interns asked him questions about what happened.
“Alright, tell me again what happened.” He asked.
“I already told you three times.” Ryker shouted. “Just help her!”
“I just want to make sure I have everything right. Especially how long she was unconscious and not breathing. It’s extremely important to know how long she was without oxygen.”
“Her little sister accidentally hit her really hard in the head with the lacrosse stick right at the edge of the pool.”
“The right temple, correct?”
“Yes, the right temple. She fell into the pool and hit her head hard on the bottom. I dove in the second I saw her start to fall. I pulled her to the surface and Nate helped me get her out of the pool. She wasn’t breathing, so I gave her two rescue breaths. She came to after that.”
“How long did all of that take? From the moment she hit the water until she started breathing again,”
“I don’t know… maybe two or three minutes. I was too busy trying to save her life to pay attention to the time.” Ryker shouted. “Ask Nate! He’s in the damn waiting room.”
“Sir, you need to calm down. We’re doing all that we can for her right now. But that little bit of information can be the difference between more severe brain damage or not.”
She started to slowly wake up. Ryker rushed to her side and grabbed her hand. As soon as she saw him, she thought she was seeing things. Everything was blurry, and there was a loud ringing in her ears, everything sounding muffled.
“Ryker?” She mumbled.
“Andi, can you hear me? Are you okay?” He pushed some of her hair behind her ear, holding her cheek in his hand.
“Don’t… don’t let…” She stumbled starting to close her eyes again.
“Don’t what Andi?”
“Them find us…” She mumbled.
“Who? Who are you talking about?”
“Mom and Dad. They won’t understand why I still love you…” Her eyes shut, and her heart rate dropped.
“Andi? Andrea please wake up!” He begged.
The doctors started to push him away, trying to get him out of the room. “Sir you need to wait out here. We will come get you when she is in less critical condition.” One of the doctors said. “I need you to fill all of this out the best you can. How do you know her? Do you know how old she is?”
“She is a friend… she’s 17.”
The doctor ran back into the room. “Get a pediatric surgeon! She is 17.” The doctor yelled into the room.
“Surgeon? What do you need a surgeon for?” He asked nervously
“We have to take her for some imaging and then possibly surgery if there is still bleeding. Now get ahold of her parents. Get them here now.”
“They are on their way. There was an accident on the road, so they are probably stuck in that traffic-” A couple of EMT’s rushed behind him pushing a gurney, followed by another one. He looked at who was on the gurneys, as the clipboard slipped through his fingers. “Those… those are her parents.” His words shook as he spoke.
“Are you sure?” The doctor asked.
“I’m positive. I’ve known them my entire life.”
“Does she have any other relatives that are over 18 that can vouch for them?”
“Yeah… a sister and brother…”
“Call them now, for all three of them.”
Ryker called Lexi, he knew he had to explain what was going on. “Lex, it’s Ryker. You need to call Dani or Matt. Have one of them get here now.”
“Why? Where are my parents?”
“I just saw them rolled in on stretchers. They are unconscious, they need a relative who is over 18 for Andi. Please call them both.”
“Are you sure it was them?” She started to cry.
“Lexi, I know what your parents look like! You guys have been my next-door neighbors my entire life. Now hang up and call Dani and Matt. Have Mrs. Andrews watch you and Jase until either your parents or siblings come get you.”
“Alright.” She cried.
“Lex, it will be alright. No matter what happens it will be alright.”
“Don’t leave her side. Please. Stay with her until they get there.”
“I promise I will. And I will text you updates. Now call them.”
Lexi hung up the phone and called her siblings telling them to get to the hospital as fast as they could.
“Sorry, I don’t have her older sibling’s numbers anymore, but her little sister is calling them now.”
“Thank you. Your friend said she was out for nearly 5 minutes from when she was hit in the head until she came to. Was she acting differently when she woke up?”
“No. She was her normal stubborn self. Trying to refuse to come here.”
“Why?”
“She had to get her siblings to their lacrosse and soccer practices. Then she collapsed again.”
“Did she hit her head again when she fell?”
“No, I caught her.”
“Alright, follow me to where her recovery room will be. You can wait in there until her family arrives. I will make sure that you are updated on the parents as well until then, so you can inform her siblings that are on their way.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m not supposed to give you any actual medical information. But I can inform you if they are alright. That is the most I can do. You are not family, and she is a minor.”
“I understand. Thank you.”