Why Me? Tell Me

Cam's POV

“MOM!” I screamed, as I suddenly opened my eyes. I was lying in a hospital bed. I had an IV stuck into my left wrist. My body seemed to hurt all over. Someone was holding my right hand. I looked over, assuming it was Nick. Yet surprisingly, it was Joe. He pulled a chair next to my bed. Nick, however, was sitting on a chair near the table where a vase of roses was located with a balloon, saying “Get Well Soon!” Both Jonas boys were fast asleep. It seemed to be nighttime for the blinds were close and only the lamp was on.

Joe stirred, from my sudden outburst. His hair was sticking up in all directions. If I wasn’t as upset I was, I would have laughed at his silliness. “Oh Cam, thank God you are awake. How are you? You are in the hospital. You have been unconscious for five days. I was afraid you weren't going to wake up. I’ll wake up Nick,” he said, as he started to pull his hand away from mine.

“No!” I yelped, pulling him towards me. “Joe, please stay here. Please. My mom, Joe, she’s gone. She’s gone. She left me alone. She is gone.” I started to sob, clutching Joe’s hand to my chest. “Why, Joe? Why?” He sat there, quiet, stroking my hair.

“Shhhh, it is okay, let it all out. You are okay now. You are safe here,” Joe whispered. I just cried and cried until I fell asleep. “I’m here for you, Cam.”

Later that day

I opened my eyes once again. I was still at the hospital. It wasn’t all a dream. I still had Joe’s hand clutched to my heart and he was still sitting on the chair beside my bed. Nick, however, was no where to be seen. “Joe, Joe, wake up,” I whispered, pulling my hand out of his. He woke up, rubbing his eyes. “Thank you, Joe. For being here for me. I guess it wasn’t all a dream,” I said to him, quietly.

As Joe was about to say something, Nick came into my hospital room. “Camillion!” Nick yelled his unusual nickname for me, as he ran to my bedside. Joe closed his mouth and moved away, letting my bestfriend see me. “How are you? I was so worried. What happened?” Nick’s questions seemed to come to me all at once. I quietly chuckled at my bestie’s quirkiness.

“Nick, please shut up,” I laughed, as I stuck my tongue out at him. He was too hyper at the moment. “Why are you so hyper? Usually, I am the hyper one. And you are the quiet one. You can’t switch that on me! I am not the quiet one!” But suddenly, everything that just happened came flooding back to me.

I got quiet. This wasn’t a dream.

“Nick, tell me my mom is okay. Tell me she is alive and doing well and that she will see me as soon as she is better,” I whispered. I wasn’t able to look him in the eye, because I knew what the answer was. When Nick suddenly became quiet and didn’t answer, I said “Joe, please. Please, tell me that I am wrong and she isn’t dead. Please, she is alive, right? Please.” I turned to look at Joe. But he couldn’t look me in the eyes. Tears forming in both boys’ eyes.

I sat up in the bed. It felt like an empty whole in my chest, yet I couldn’t cry. I just my body was just done with crying. I knew she was gone, but I didn’t want to admit it. The silence of the room was painful, because I knew Joe and Nick didn’t know what to do. I was just sitting there, looking at my hands.

“I am so sorry, Camille,” Joe said, walking towards my bed. Nick wordlessly also came up to the other side of my bed. They both slipped their hands into mine, squeezing them, trying to comfort me. “She passed away, right when you woke up. The doctors said she was slipped away and she died painlessly. She is in a better place now. She is looking over you,” Joe continued.

I breathed in and sighed. I shut my eyes and remembered the conversation I had with her while I was comatose. “I know, Joe. I know. I just didn’t think God would take her away so soon, ya know? I am just fourteen. My birthday is coming up. My fifteenth birthday! And I am just a freshman! Highschool is just beginning and who am I going to talk about with my problems? Apparently, my father is a psycho maniac and is alive! Ha, alive can you believe it? I always thought he was dead, but no…he is just a crazy person who almost killed me and killed my mom. What am I going to do?” I just babbled. I close my eyes, refusing to let the tears pour out. Yet, a single tear streamed down my face.

“What am I going to do?”

Joe let go of my hand and lifted my chin so I could look him in the eyes. He said, “Camille, I don’t know what is going to happen to you. But I promise you that Nick and I and our family will be here for you, no matter what. We all love you and we will help you get through this. We all know you are strong and you will be okay. We will help you. I can promise you that.” Nick nodded his head, agreeing with his brother.

“Thank you, guys,” I choked. “Thank you so much. And Joe, thank you for coming to my rescue. I know you were the one I called when my dad attacked my mom and I. Thank you. Without you, I probably would have died.” I let go of both their hands to wipe the tears off my face and to comb my hair back. “Oh gosh, I probably look like death right now, don’t I?” I tried to laugh, but it came out raspy and forced.

Nick said, “Cam, I know this is a lot of stress on you but could you tell us what happened? You said your dad hurt you? And he is alive? You always thought your dad was dead.” I nodded and I told them what happened from the point of when I got home to what happened between my mother and I to what was happening right now.

“Wow,” Joe and Nick said at the same time as I finished my story. I nodded my head, exhausted from the whole thing. I just wanted to go home and find that letter my mom was talking about. I wanted answers. I needed to know what happened.

“How much longer do I have to stay in the hospital?” I asked them. For what they told me, I was at the hospital for almost a week now and I was recovering nicely. I felt really sore all around, but I don’t think anything was seriously wrong with me anymore.

“You can leave tomorrow afternoon. You just need to be checked by the doctor, and our mom can bring you home,” Nick stated. “Joe and I have been here everyday since the accident. Only yesterday did the nurses let us sleep here in the hospital. It was only because we both already fell asleep. They knew we wouldn’t do anything bad.”

“Thanks, Nick. Thank you both for being there for me and watching over me. I don’t know what I would do without you guys. But I think I am going to take a nap. I am tired again. You guys can go home if you like. I bet your mom would want you guys home. Maybe take a shower, because you guys are stinky!” I laughed. They nodded and promised they would be back later. Then, Joe and Nick left.

“Okay, so tomorrow I am finding that letter,” I thought to myself. I laid back into bed and closed my eyes.

“I deserve answers and tomorrow I am getting them.”