Shattered on the Ground

Reese wasn’t quite sure how it happened. She was dazed and confused and she found she could not form a coherent thought.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Reese and Ashley were just supposed to go to some party a kid name Casey was throwing. Ashley’s boyfriend had been out of town and she was depressed so Reese suggested going.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Reese and Ashley were not known for their party scene lifestyle or their drinking capabilities which proved the party to be a dud for the sisters. Ashley had found two friends amongst the 50+ kids crammed into the house and had clung to them. Reese, who out of the two, was the drinker. Fifteen minutes into the party and Reese had been sucked into a whirl wind of drama. It had always been like that for Reese, she didn’t have to cause the drama to be apart of it. People were talking about her, they always talked. Reese had reached for the bottle of Southern Comfort and never let it go.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Ashley had driven home, having not taken even a shot, and Reese had not even been drunk. It was 12:49 am on the little lime green clock in Ashley’s car and it was pouring rain, the sisters were singing ‘It’s Raining Men’ at the top of their lungs.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. It was just suppose to be a night out to cheer up Ashley, it was never supposed to end like this. That vehicle was never suppose to run the red light and Reese wasn’t supposed to be lying under a bed of shattered glass in a pool of her own blood nearly twenty feet away from her sister’s car.

But she was.

Reese was having a hard time comprehending what was going on around her. There were lights and yells, faintly she realized someone was standing over her but Reese’s eyes could not focus on the person, they simply darted to everything around her. She was in shock, she realized, she wasn’t a medic but she knew this must be the word for what she was experiencing.
And suddenly, as though someone had pulled cotton from her ears, there was sound.

“Ohmygod! Call 911!” a woman screeched.

“Can you hear me? Miss, can you hear me?” Reese’s eyes turned wildly to the figure hovering over her. He was a young man only a few years older than Reese, he was slightly muscular and had disheveled brown hair with eyes that mixed with worry and care.

“Ohh,” Reese groaned in a whimper. What had happened? She couldn’t remember. She remembered singing with her sister, she remembered sticking her head out the window to feel the rain on her face, but she didn’t remember how she had ended up on the ground.

Pain was the next thing to return to Reese, following her hearing. Pain, white hot and merciless, coursed through her body. She couldn’t pin point were the pain was coming from for it was everywhere. At first she thought it was coming from her legs, but then her side would overrule that pain. Convinced it was now her side causing the pain her head began to tell her otherwise as a headache hit her with blinding force. She tried to move but found that even if the man above her had not ordered her not to move, Reese found she could not.

Panic followed the pain. Reese had skipped the stage of crying and screaming in pain and had jumped to panic. She was hyperventilating.
She couldn’t move. Why couldn’t she move?
She was in pain. Why was she in pain? What had happened?
Where was her sister? A stranger hovered over her but her sister was no where in sight.

Then the worst feeling began to settle itself in the pit of Reese’s stomach and suddenly she found she did not want to know why her sister was not beside her.

“The ambulance is coming,” The man told her. She did not know who he was but found herself thankful for the man’s calmness, it clashed against the woman who had yelled for 911’s scream.

“You should be a doctor,” Reese chocked abstractly.

“Med student,” he admitted with a weak smile. His hands moved desperately within his lap, refusing to touch her but knowing he could probably asses Reese’s wounds if he did.

“What happened?” her breathing was getting shorter and more labored, not to mention pain seared through her every time she took a breath. She was getting tunnel vision and her hearing was fading as an undeniable urge to sleep filled her. But Reese knew what would happen if she slept, so she tried to speak with this stranger, to try for just a little while to stay conscious and ignore the pain.

“The woman yelling,” He began in a slow calm voice that eased Reese, “her boyfriend hit you and your friend’s car. I was across the street, he ran the red light.”

“Are they okay?” Several emotions flashed across the man’s face.

“Her boyfriend is passed out drunk now. I’m sure she has a concussion but she’ll live.”

“Where-where is my sister?” Her breaths were coming in gasps and she coughed several times.

“Shit,” The man murmured his hands flitting over her.

“What?” Reese began to panic.

“You coughed up blood, I think you have a punctured lung.” He looked torn and Reese couldn’t understand why. Her eyes must have reflected this, “If I turn you on your side it might give you momentary relief to breath easier but I don’t know the extent of your injuries and touching you could be worst.” Relief flooded the man’s face as bright lights suddenly filled their surroundings. “The ambulance is here.” Suddenly several people were standing over Reese, all of them in uniform, all of them wearing business like expressions. They listened attentively as the man quickly recounted the story to the EMT’s and gave his thoughts about Reese’s injuries. After careful precision and evaluation the EMT’s strapped a neck brace to her throat then swiftly transferred her onto a gurney before she had even realized what had happened. Her vision was blurring with a whole new set of pains but before the EMT’s could whisk her away, Reese, despite the agonizing pain, reached out to grab the mans arm.

“What is your name?”

“Michael.”

“Thank you, Michael.” She murmured before her vision fell to darkness and her eyes closed against Reese’s wishes.