Rum and Coke

“Hello, Ms. Haner” the nurse said as he walked in. He had sandy brown hair and warm, green eyes.

“It’s Patterson. My name is Ellie Patterson,” Ellie immediately corrected.

“My name is Logan,” the nurse went on.

Ellie nodded. “Hey,” she croaked out.

Logan smiled, showing off his dimples. “You and your friend were hit by a drunk driver. You’ve been out for the past seventeen and a half hours.”

“How?”

“You have a broken arm, a few cracked ribs, and a fractured tibia. We don’t know the full range of damage, since you were unconscious, but, from what I see, nothing else is seems to be wrong. You’ll make a quick recovery, especially since you have such great supporters,” Logan added, motioning over to where a sleeping Brian was taking up residence on a fold up cot.

“Oh, wow, I didn’t even notice him.”

“He hasn’t left the room since you got here. One of the night-shift nurses forced him to sleep.”

“Oh, ok. What about Ryan? How is he?”

Logan took a deep breath and walked closer to her. “He’s not good. He received most of the impact. It- it will be a miracle if he can walk again, let alone get out of this hospital alive.”

“I want to see him.”

“You are not-”

“Let me re-phrase: I’m going to see him. Now, you can either take me to him, or I’ll find him myself.”

Logan nodded. “Let me get you a wheelchair.”

Ellie shook her head. “No need, I’ll walk,” she said while peeling the blanket off of her and swinging her legs over the side.

“Ms. Patterson-”

“Ellie-” Brian gasped, awakened by Logan’s protests.

Ellie stood up with shaky legs. When her legs gave out, she let out a slew of curse words and grappled for the bed railing.

“Ellie, Sweetie, you’re awake,” Brian smiled, still in a state of shock and awe.

“Yes, I am. And I’m about to fall again. Are you going to help me or what?”

But Brian did not hear the scathing in her tone.

“Ms Patterson,” Logan said, grabbing one of her elbows and setting her in the wheel chair. “I’ll show you to Ryan’s room now.”

Ellie grumbled, but submitted herself to his help.

“Now, we have a few questions concerning Him. Does he have any family? Both of your cell phones were destroyed in the impact.”

“Oh, I bet my father is furious,” Ellie muttered to herself as she made a quick mental note to buy a new one as soon as she was able. “My step-father, you dolt, about my phone. He calls me at least twice a day. I bet he’s panicking right now- thinking I’m dead and all.”

“We were talking about Ryan.”

“Right, yea, so he only has his aunt and uncle on his mother’s side. Geez Louise, Amy is going to find a way to blame me. I just know it.” Ellie looked over at Brian. “Be useful and get me a phone. I don’t care what kind. Just make sure I can call and access the web at the same time. Gracias.”

By that time, they had arrived at Ryan’s bed. He was hooked up to several more machines than Ellie had been. Ellie was comforted by the steady beating of the heart monitor; the pumping of the oxygen tank; the dripping of the IVs. The Sanders family sat by his bedside, patient and tired. Ellie motioned for Logan to leave before she cleared her throat.

“Oh, Ellie, you’re up,” Matt said, leaping out of his chair to hug the girl.

“Yes, well, that’s obvious. How is my brother? My twin?”

“He’s…alive. That’s all we can really say right now.”

Ellie nodded and wheeled herself over. Setting her face into an expressionless one, she took Ryan’s hand in her own. It was cold from poor circulation. The lump of flesh felt odd in her hands, like it was just a prop made from a blend of rubber and plastic- a prop that she had used years before.

“We’ll leave you alone with him for awhile,” Val said with a small smile as she ushered her husband and daughter out of the room.

Ellie, her face still stony, wobbled out of her chair and somehow managed to get into the bed next to her twin. She laid comfortably by his side and began to sing.
“Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around.
Nothing's gonna harm you, no sir, not while I'm around.

Demons are prowling everywhere, nowadays,
I'll send 'em howling,
I don't care, I got ways.

No one's gonna hurt you,
No one's gonna dare.
Others can desert you,
Not to worry, whistle, I'll be there

Demons'll charm you with a smile, for a while,
But in time...
Nothing can harm you
Not while I'm around[color]”

Unbeknownst to Ellie, Ryan’s eyes fluttered open. He smiled, though it pained him to do so. He began to choke on the tube in his throat.

Startled, Ellie worked quickly to get the device out just as the nurses rushed in.

“Ms. Haner, what are you doing in here?” a large, black nurse asked. “Here, get off this bed, now!”

But Ellie wouldn’t move. “No, I’m staying here- with my brother.”

“You stupid girl, at least get off the damn bed so that we can work,” the nurse said as she drug Ellie off of the bed. As she wrestled Ellie into the wheelchair, the other two nurses diligently worked with removing Ryan’s breathing apparatus, as well as checking his other vitals. When everything was clear, the nurses left the room and Ellie returned to her spot next to her twin.

“You always did have the voice of an angel,” Ryan gasped out. His was flushed due to the excitement and there were beads of sweat on his forehead.

“Don’t you dare do that again. You scared me.”

Ryan winced through his smile. “Hey, what are brothers for?”

“I would punch you if you weren’t in this bed.”

Ryan made a move to shrug, but thought better of it. “What happened?”

“We were hit by a car. That’s all I know. Both of our cell phones were killed-”

“How much you wanna bet that Adam is calling every police station in this town right now?”

“Shut up, I don’t want to think about it. He worries too much about me.”

“That’s because you don’t worry enough about yourself- ow, don’t get that close again.”

Ellie muttered a sorry and moved so that she was almost off the bed. “You hurt when I brush by you?”

“I hurt when I’m looked at.” Ryan sighed and leaned his head further into the pillow. “What’s plaguing that foul little mind of yours?”

“Nothing,” Ellie smiled. “Just a dream- a really odd dream.”

“You’re not one to dwell on dreams- well, at least anymore.”

“That was a very sophisticated sentence for you,” Ellie smiled, trying to steer the conversation to better subjects.

“What was it about?” Ryan prodded with his voice.

“It was a musical number. Well, more like, a Le’ Mis’ medley.”

“A Le’ Mis’ medley?”

“Yea, it was the damnest thing. We were all there- you, me, Avenged Sevenfold, Kay, Val, Adam, even the Berry twins. And, when we finished, we rushed forward and pushed him out the window.”

“Pushed who out the window?”

“And then we all jumped out of the window- it wasn’t very far down- though I suspect it’s really a story or more in real life. Anyways, we jumped out and started beating him.”

“Who?”

“A-and I delivered the final blow. I killed the President of the United States.”

“Wha- whoa.”

“Yea. Like I said, it was the damnest thing.”

“You know, ever since the Golden Age of Musicals, songs and dances are meant to move the plot along.”

“I know, who can forget Oklahoma?”

“Well, maybe that’s what your dream is- a way to accelerate our campaign.”

“You think?”

“It’s a hypothesis.”

“You know, you should suffer from trauma more often- it makes you smarter.”

Ryan just stuck out his tongue.

Ellie groaned and got out of the bed.

“What?”

“We have a show tonight.”

“I’m sure the guys have already cancelled it.”

“Most likely, but I hate to disappoint the fans.”

“Ellie, not to state the obvious, but how do you plan on playing? With just yourself and Ren?”

Ellie scrunched up her nose. “No clue.”

“You should get the guys to help you.”

“I should. Matt’s not doing anything- he can play accompaniment on the keyboard.”

“You should.”

Ellie sighed. “I can’t even stand. Stupid legs.”

“You look very stylish in that chair.”

“I know, I’m planning on decorating it. You know, paint some flames and stick some jets on it.”

“I think you should.”

“I will,” Ellie said before wheeling herself to the door.

“Hey, Ellie?”

“Yea?” she asked, nearly through the door.

“We’re not dead, are we?”

“No, we’re not dead,” Ellie smiled.

Ryan nodded. “Well, since apparently we’re invincible now, will you sing the song that started it all?”

Ellie smiled and nodded. “I think I will.”

“You should.”

“I promise. I’ll send Kay in…and then call our parents- boy, that’s going to be fun.”

Ryan smiled. “Don’t have too much fun without me.”

Ellie scoffed. “Like I could!”