Enthused

Taylor came back down into the basement a couple hours later.

"What happened?" I asked still crying.

"He's dead," Taylor said.

"Really!?" I yelped.

"Nah, not quite. They don't know how long he actually has though. I'm going to untie you so you could go see him. I feel really bad about this. I mean... I killed a person. Fuck, I'm going to hell," Taylor said as he untied me.

I sprang up and ran to the stairs.

"Wait!" Taylor said, "Do you want a ride. It's the least I could do." I nodded my head. If he was going to kill me it didn't even matter anymore, so I didn't really have anything to lose by accepting this ride. He actually did drive me to the hospital. "Before you go," Taylor started, "Here is my phone number. If you ever need anything, call me. It's the least I could do. Sorry for killing your boyfriend." I just took the piece of paper and ran through the doors of the hospital.

"Hello," The nurse at the front desk said, "How can I help you?"

"I'm here to see Thomas DeLonge," I told her. She typed things into her computer.

"Oh, he's in critical condition. Only family is allowed," The nurse told me.

"I am family!" I shouted.

"Oh, what is your relation to him?" The nurse asked.

"I'm his sister," I lied.

"Name?" The nurse asked.

"Kari DeLonge," I lied again. Things might get sticky if Kari actually comes, but we could take care of that when we get there.

"Okay. He is in room 182, first floor. Just go right down that hall way," She instructed me and handed me a visitor pass. I walked down the hall way scanning for room 182. I found it and cautiously walked into the room. I looked over at Tom. He was hooked to many wires. Seeing him like this made me cry. I wanted to know everything that was wrong with his body. The nurse walked in.

"Um, excuse me..." I said timidly.

"Yes hon?" The nurse asked.

"What injuries does he have exactly?" I asked.

The nurse picked up a folder, "Um hmm let's see. He has 12 broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken arm, a broken collarbone, a broken leg, and a shattered shin."

"Can he live?" I asked.

"Well, it's hard to say. He came early enough for us to prevent infections for his punctured lung. He did suffer some major bleeding. There is a chance that he will survive. He will be in a lot of pain though. At first, he wasn't looking too good. We thought for sure he would be gone. Looks like he is coming out very lucky though," The nurse said then smiled.

I smiled at this flicker of hope. "Is he in a coma?" I asked.

"Yes sweetie. I'm sorry. He is on life support, and probably will be for a while," The nurse confessed.

"What about the ribs?" I asked.

"Well, people have come through worse. It was a rib that punctured his lung. So we probably didn't even need to worry about infections, but we did just to be safe," The nurse explained.

"When will he be conscious?" I asked.

"Hard to say. He could be in a coma for a while. Does Thomas play any violent sports or things of that such?" The nurse asked.

"No," I said.

"We found some old trauma. His rib was slightly cracked. It sort of looked like... he was beaten," The nurse said.

"Oh my gosh," I said trying to act surprised.

"To be honest, it didn't really look like he was ran over by a car. It looked more like he was brutally beaten," The nurse confessed.

"Oh" I said. I hoped the nurse didn't realize I was lying. I knew he was beaten. I knew who did it. I just didn't know if I should tell.

"Yeah, we are going to discuss that with your mother when she comes. Is she on her way?" The nurse asked.

"Oh, I don't know," I said realizing the nurse thought I was his sister.

"How did you know he was here?" The nurse asked.

"My friend told me," I said, "Can I hold his hand?"

"Sure, hon. Just be gentle," The nurse warned. I picked his hand up gently. He had a black nail. I can't even imagine how painful that must of been. I just watched. I just sat there and watched! The heart rate monitor started beeping faster. I couldn't help but smile. "You aren't his sister, are you?" The nurse asked.

"No," I said, looking down. She was probably going to kick me out now.

"Yeah, I figured. It'll be our little secret," The nurse smiled, "Are you his girlfriend?"

"Yeah," I smiled and blushed.

"That's very sweet you came. I'll warn you when his family comes," The nurse said before she walked out. Nurses are always so sweet. Well, most of them.

I looked back at Tom. His face didn't look so bad. Just a bruise on his cheek. His hair was a little messy. His neck had a few bruises. There was a cast on his right arm, bruises all over his other. I couldn't see the rest of his body. Just one cast on his left leg. I assumed the other had a cast too for his shattered shin.

"I'm sorry," I whispered knowing he probably couldn't hear me. I just felt like this was my fault. I picked up a note card and pencil from the side table. I wrote, "I'm sorry, Tom. I love you- Dahl," I looked for a place to put it so he would see it if he woke up. I put it under his pillow, sort of sticking out. I hope he would find it, or someone would and show it to him. I want him to know I was here.

I sat there for about another thirty minutes just holding his hand and crying a little bit. I wasn't sure if he was going to wake up. I didn't want to upset him by crying. The nurse came back in and said, "His mother is here,"

"Thanks," I said before running out. I avoided his mother, because if she saw me, she would know I was here. I didn't want her to yell at me or anything. I walked outside and it was raining. I reached into my pocket to get some quarters and walked over to the pay phone. I called Erica's house.

"Hello," Her mom answered.

"Hi, it's Dahl. Is Erica or Garrett there?" I asked.

"Erica is. I'll get her," Her mom said.

"Hello," Erica said.

"Hi. I need a ride home," I said.

"Where are you?" She asked.

"The hospital," I told her.

"What?! Why?!" Erica shouted.

"I'll tell you later. Just get someone to come get me. Oh, and bring a sweatshirt. I'm drenched and cold," I complained.

"Okay. I'll call Garrett and I'll be there as soon as possible," Erica told me. I knew if I didn't tell her what happened right away, she would get me quicker.

I looked around for somewhere to stand where I could be protected from the rain. There was, but I had to walk down a long path to get there, and that wouldn't really help me. I sat on a wet bench and shivered.

I finally saw Garrett's van. He slowed down when he saw me. I ran up to it and Erica opened the sliding door. "Dahl, what happened?" She asked while handing me a Rancho High sweatshirt.

"Tom's in the hospital," I cried.

"Why?!" Garrett asked.

"Jen found him!" I said while putting the sweatshirt on.

"Did her friends beat him?" Erica asked.

"Yeah, with metal bats," I sobbed.

"Is he okay?" She asked.

"I don't know. He is alive, but I don't know how long he has," I said crying even more.

"Wait, what the fuck are you guys talking about?" Garrett asked.

I told him the whole story about Jen and Taylor. I also added in the part about Taylor giving me a ride here.

"Holy crap. What a crazy bitch," Garrett said in disbelief. We arrived at my mom's house, "You have to tell Anne what happened." I nodded and got out of the car.

"Dahl, what happened?" Anne asked when we walked in. She must of been with Garrett when Erica called him.

I had to repeat the whole story about Tom, Jen, and Taylor.

"Whoa... That's such a fucked up story," Anne said shaking her head.

"I know," I said.

"Is Mark here?" Erica asked.

"No, he is out with Jill and Travis," Anne explained. I groaned knowing I would probably have to explain that Tom is in the hospital to more people.

"Don't worry, I'll tell them," Erica said and hugged me, "I can't believe that bitch did that. And made you watch! She's a psycho!"

"Yeah, Dahl. Are you okay?" Garrett asked.

"I don't know. I mean, if Tom dies, I won't be. If he lives, I have no idea how I'll be," I explained.

"We are all here for you," Anne told me.

"Thanks," I said.

"What are his injuries?" Anne asked me.

"Twelve broken ribs, broken collarbone, broken arm, broken leg, shattered shin, a punctured lung, and... He's in a coma" I weakly said.

"Fuck..." Garrett said.

"I know, and it's my fault. If I have never met him, he'd be fine right now. Jen wouldn't even need to beat him. And if I broke up with him, he wouldn't be in this condition. I did so many things wrong," I admitted.

"No, that's not true," Erica said, "Jen probably still would have beat him. And if you broke up with him, he'd be in a much worse emotional state. She would still have beat him for other things after you broke up. He would have died eventually from her. You did the right thing. Now, you have to tell the cops the truth."

"I can't! They won't believe me!" I exclaimed.

"They will. And don't you want justice for Tom if he dies?" Anne asked me.

"He'll live," I said.

"Yes he will," Erica encouraged me.

"I'm gonna go put on some dry pants," I announced and went to my room. When I walked in so many memories came back. I haven't been in here for such a long time. I remember the last time Tom and I were in here. We were just talking on my bed. He looked so happy. I remembered being so happy. I think we were talking about tour. He said he wanted to take me. This was before everyone decided that Jen would go.

I shook the memories away. They would just lead to me crying on the floor or something. I put on dry pants. I looked back down in the drawer. There was a note. It said, "Dahl, no matter who I'm with, I'll still love you- Tom," The date written on the top was the day they left for tour.