Stay With Me

We all stood there in the parking lot starring at nothing in particular. The sirens had faded a long time ago but none of us had the will to speak a word or walk a step.

“Jason,” a hand rested on my shoulder while another rubbed my back up and down. “We should get going. Olivia need’s us.” I turned to see my friends still with tears in their eyes. I nodded, not knowing the right thing to say.

The drive to the hospital was silent. No one talked. No one whispered. No one coughed. Only the sound of the wind whipping itself around outside and our breaths coming out more like gasps for air. Everyone’s tears had died down to sniffles. When my eyes met someone else’s in the car all they could do was pull up a corner of their mouth to give me a small smile.

The car passed Trinity Hospital as Chris drove into the parking lot. One by one we stepped out of the car and quietly walked to the elevator. Silence embraced the parking lot until we all heard a ‘ding’ from the elevator. Weakly, I lifted up my hand and pressed 1 on the elevator buttons. With another ‘ding’ we stepped out and walked towards the front desk. At first the lady working at the counter looked shocked to see us. Probably because of the way we all looked. But she quickly snapped out of that phase and smiled.

“Hi. How can I help you kids?”

“Our friend Olivia Oassay was taken here awhile ago. We were wondering if we could all visit her…” Jody trailed off with a sniffle.

“Oh yes Olivia Oassay.” The lady drummed on her keyboard, “Her room number is ‘567’. She isn’t in there right now though. The doctors are still… doing tests on her.” She fumbled on her words, obviously hiding the things they’re probably doing to her. “You’re free to go wait in her room though. The doctors will tell you her condition once they return. Do you know where her family is?”

“Her parents are on a business trip right now… It might be hard to reach them right now.”

We proceeded to room 567 only to walk into an empty room. Making the best of our time in her room we settled on the couches and chairs and tried our best to get some sleep, praying and hoping that Olivia was going to be just fine. Everyone passed out quickly. I dialed both of Olivia and my own parents informing them what has happened. They both cancelled the meeting they had in the next town. It wasn’t long before all four parents entered the room.

“Where is she?” Olivia’s mom asked frantically.

“She’s right here,” a voice stated from behind them. He pushed a bed into the room and on that bed laid Olivia. “Your Olivia’s parents and friends?” he asked looking around the room full of people. Nodding, he continued to deliver the news. “Olivia is doing just fine. Everything looks perfectly fine.”

“But?” I asked, knowing that wasn’t all.

“But,” he repeated, “She is in a state where no one can reach her.”

“Coma!?” I shouted a bit panicked. “How is that even possible!? She wasn’t shot or anything.”

“True young man. But she suffers from some severe bruises from being slammed into something we suspect. I’m sorry. She’s doing just fine. All we can do now is wait for her to come back to us.”

That’s it. Olivia was in a coma. My Olivia laid right in front of her. But this wasn’t the girl I love. This was just a limp body. Her heat still beating but she was lost in ‘sleep’. Somewhere that no one could help her get back. She was all alone to find her own way back home to us.

I took Olivia’s hand and squeezed it before intertwining my fingers with her motionless ones. I kissed her forehead then her cheek. “Olivia; Stay With Me.”