Flash

Dad is in the ICU
The doctors told my mom that he was hurt pretty bad, but I assumed that was what ICU inferred.
I still haven't gone in to see him, but mom has gone in a couple of times.
"Why don't you go in to see him, honey? I think he'd like that," she tells me.
I look at my mom, taking in the sad expression on her face. I wonder if she'd be so broken up if she knew why he was in the accident in the first place.
I don't argue with her.
"Okay. I'll be back."

I don't go to see him. Instead, I wander the halls looking in on
people with gun shot wounds and
kids who got stabbed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Then, I see a boy.
The one from earlier.
I see his face and recognize him as Nick.
Nick from Spanish class.
It's weird seeing someone so alive only hours earlier and then...
he's almost dead now.
"Excuse me..." my voice cracks when I call a nurse over.
I point at the boy; at Nick.
"What happened?" I asked.
She doesn't ask who I am, or why I'm here looking at people I hardly even know.
"Car accident," she says, the eyes me carefully for a few moments. "You're Andrea right? Steven's daughter?"
I nod, not bothering to ask how my father is.
"Yeah... he was in your dad's accident. Brain damage and mess of broken bones."
I want to cry, but I hold it all in. I look at Nick, and think about all of the things he could have done with his life if none of this had happened.
If Dad hadn't been cheating, if his friends girlfriend hadn't been puking in the backseat...
"Will he make it?"
The Nurse shakes her head. "Don't think so... it doesn't look too good."
A sadness sweeps over her face and I'm not sure what to say or what to do.
"He was only seventeen."
She says it like he's already dead. He might as well be, but he isn't.
The machines are keeping him alive.
The nurse sees me crying and furrows her brow.
Now, her face is a little confused, not not so much sad.
Death probably doesn't faze her too much.
She points at Nick. "Did you know him?"
I wish she'd said "do" instead of "did."
He isn't dead. Not yet.
I look into his room and all of the wires connecting Nick to a whole bunch of machines I'd probably never even heard of.
The Nurse repeats her question, this time a little louder.
I wipe my eyes and take in a deep breath, shaking my head.
"No... at least not until now."