Pieces of Me

I woke up with George carrying me to the inside of the parking lot. My uncle ahead of us walking awkwardly fast. Marcy had her hand on my lap as I was being bounced up and down by how fast George was walking, he was almost bouncing. Marcy was holding what looked like a soaked red towel.

But as I picked up my head a little I could see it was a towel alright but it wasn't originally red. It was soaked in my blood. Sophie was holding my head trying to soften how I was being bounced up and down.

"That's a good girl," Marcy said.

My head felt like someone had hit me with a steel baseball bat. The sun shown brightly and warmly, but I was still so cold. I shivered as I looked up at Sophie. Tears were falling down her pretty face and onto her shirt.

"Hey Roxy, how you doing?" she said trying to control her voice. I didn't answer but looked at my uncle as we came into the emergency room. It was a familiar sight, a familiar smell. My Uncle went to the little window where another lady was sitting behind glass talking to a doctor. George sat down on a chair and Sophie continued to cradle my head in her hands. Kirk now was holding the already soaked towel to my foot.

My foot was numb so was my leg and it was so cold.

"You're going to be fine," Sophie whispered to me.

"Then please stop crying," I said and closed my eyes. Her voice felt like someone slamming a brick to my head over and over again. But I didn't want to tell her that.

I tried to sit up but George held me firmly.

"I don't know if you should," he said.

"I'm not dying," I say as I get up, putting a hand to my head.

I was able to sit up. George kept me steady on his lap by holding his hand firmly on back and waist. The nurses wheeled out a stretcher and George swept me up again and placed me on the stretcher.

They wheeled me into one of those sections of the emergency room where the only thing that is separating you from the person next to you is a curtain. They had cleared the bed and moved the stretcher to where the bed should have been.

I laid there trying to massage the pain away from my head. A doctor and two nurses immediately came in.

"Oh goodness sweety," I heard the doctor say.

I looked over at her as a table of medical instruments was passed to her. She picked up a shot and began to put it into my foot. I couldn't feel any of it, my foot was numb from all the blood that was gone.

"You've been to the hospital many times before," A nurse says to me from the computer next to me.

"And from quite a few places," she says.

"Do you like to travel Roxanne?" the doctor said as I heard the tiny pieces of glass drop on the steal table. It felt as if those pieces were bing lodged into my skull. I groaned in pain.

"Don't worry we're almost done here. Edna, please get an I.V in her, we may need a blood transfusion." I heard the doctor say. I shot my eyes open.

"No!" I almost screamed.

"You've lost so much blood sweety," the doctor says.

"This won't hurt I promise," The nurse said as she took my left hand.

Gerard always promised when I had to go to the doctors that what they do wouldn't hurt. Thought it did. He was always there though for me to hug when I was done. I hope they got a hold of him. I hope th- OW!

I yelp in pain as she slips the I.V into my hand. I hated this part.

They had to take out around seventeen pieces of glass that had just about shredded my foot. They had to put in forty stitches. They bandaged it and I was so out of it. They had me stay in a room and told me to stay.

Sophie had stopped crying and now was leaning against my bed. I don't know why they insist I stay here. I can feel my toes now.

"Did you get ahold of Gerard?" I asked.

"No word from him or anyone at the wedding," Frank said as he stepped over.

"Just focus on soaking up that blood." he said and looked over at the I.V that was pumping someone else's blood into me. Just the thought gave me the chills.

Now most everyone was in the hospital, I felt bad that I had made the whole thing stop. But I still wanted to know where Gerard was.

"Did you try calling him again?" I asked.

"About a thousand times," Sophie said.

"Don't worry he'll call," Mikey assured me.

My headache was gone thanks to the pain killers they had given me. I really hated the fact that now only Gerard's family was at the party.

"Go back,'' I said suddenly.

"Huh?" Jamia asked.

"Go back to the wedding. You shouldn't miss your own wedding because of me Uncle," I said looking over to my uncle.

Uncle Steve looked at the floor then over at Marcy.

"We do have guests there still," Marcy said.

In the end they decided to go but said they would only be there five hours at the most. I hoped that when they got back Gerard would be there. Why does this crap always have to happen to me?

I wanted to dance at the wedding. It was supposed to be all of us dancing. We were supposed to have fun...and maybe Gerard was supposed to have chosen me. I sighed and leaned my head against the pillow listening to my own heartbeat on the monitor.

It made me think of when I first woke up. I had felt like a little girl, wondering where I was, where was my mom and dad and why I was there. I was still in my dress. My now torn and bloody dress. I looked down at myself. What a mess.

My strap kept falling off of my left shoulder exposing my black strapless bra. I didn't like to wear strapless bras, I only wore them when I had to. I looked up at the bag full of blood. I'm pretty sure I don't need all of that.

I looked up at the ceiling hoping that I would soon get a call that Gerard was there at the wedding or had at least given them a call. I closed my eyes and rifted off to the picture in my mind that he was having fun at his "supposed to be" wedding.

***

I opened my eyes and look up at the bag of blood. It was almost gone. I looked down at my hand and groaned in anticipation. I wanted that thing out of me.

"Don't fuss," I heard a familiar voice say. I looked up and smiled.

Gerard was sitting in a chair his head leaning against the wall with his left hand resting on his lap the other holding a cup of warm coffee, I could smell it from here. My stomach rumbled in response.

Gerard laughed and just that made me feel warm. "Here," he said standing up and walking over to me. I grabbed it and took a sip. Gah! Not enough sugar.

He laughed again "Sorry it's not warm sugar water," he said and took a sip himself.

"Where were you?" I asked.

"Walking," he said. This was another thing I didn't like about Gerard when he ran away for a short period of time it would be in the most obvious place. But it was so obvious you wouldn't think to look there.

"You're a fast walker," I said as he pulled the chair over to the side of my bed. He nodded and smiled quickly.

"I wanted to get out of there," he said.

"Why?" I asked. He looked up at me with his hazel eyes that were now golden.

" I wasn't just going to stay there," he replied. I nodded in understadement.

"So now tell me, why did you have seventeen pieces of glass in our foot?" he looked at me with a stern face. All sense of silliness was gone.

"I was looking for you," I admitted.

"Barefoot!?!" he said and gave me a look as if I was crazy. Well, maybe I am crazy for wanting to stay at that church than come to the hospital just to see if Gerard was okay.

"I gave my heels to Marcy," I said and smiled. He didn't smile back.

"Then why the hell did you go look for me, how did you get out with out being noti-" but he stopped himself.

"Frank had a part in this didn't he?" Gerard said.

"No!" I said and snapped myself forward.