I Saw Your Heart as It Overtook Me
Can't Buy Back Time
Matt's POV
We had finally arrived at the hospital and as soon as the cab came to a stop we all rushed out the door like a bunch of mad men and hurried towards the entrance of the emergency room. Damn ... who would have thought I'd be back here twice in one day. Within an hour even. Fuck.
Zacky and I reached the doors at about the same time and flung them open, nearly taking out an EMT who was taking their break with the damn things. Johnny, who was right on our heels, stuttered an abrupt apology to the man as he passed and we continued on to the desk. Zacky got there before I did and he skidded to a stop, grabbing a firm hold of the receptionist's wrist to get her attention (as if his skidding hadn't done so already).
"Please ... my sister ... " Zacky trailed off, trying to catch his breath. "Lauren Baker, where is she? Is she going to be alright? Please, tell me she's going to be just fine." He begged, not even bothering to keep the tears from falling.
"Sir, please, l-let me ... " The receptionist trailed off, trying to pry her arm away from Zacky's grip.
Zacky, however, just tightened his hand around her wrist.
"Zacky, come on." I said weakly, pulling him back a little.
He instantly let go of the lady's wrist and took a step back from the desk, looking down as if a bit embarrassed about his actions. The receptionist gave Zacky an uneasy look before she started to type some stuff into her computer. Her eyes followed the screen back and forth as she typed.
"Um, I'm sorry sir. My files don't have a Lauren Baker in it a-"
"Holy shit! Lauren Baker!" Zacky burst out. "We were just here with her less than an hour ago. She's about this high," he held up his hand to indicate how tall she was, "has green eyes, black hair, tan complexion ... please, I know you remember her. You can't tell me she's not here, please." Zacky said desperately.
I bit my lip and tried to hold back my own tears, but knew I failed because of the little bit of warmth that seemed to trail down either side of my face. I sniffed a little and reached up, wiping them away before wrapping an arm around Zacky's shoulders.
"Zacky, she's here, and she'll gonna be just fine." I whispered, trying to calm the both of us down. "I mean, the hospital called you Zacky, so she had to be here. Come on man, just stay positive."
Although Zacky took a deep breath and nodded his head, the tears still continued to fall in a continuous line down either side of his face. I sighed to myself and kept my arm around Zacky's shoulders before I turned back to the receptionist to find she was still looking for Lauren in her records.
"Zacky, maybe you should go take a seat and -"
"No, I'm fucking staying right here." He retorted.
"Alright man." I said quietly.
"Ah, here she is sir." The receptionist spoke up. "She's currently in the intensive care unit on the fourth floor."
With these few words I felt my heart hit the floor. The fucking ICU? No, no, no, this couldn't be happening. It couldn't.
Lauren is my fucking world and if something ever happened to her ... I swear I wouldn't even manage to make it through.
Before I even realized what were my feet were leading me, I was inside the elevator pressing the button for the fourth floor repeatedly. I didn't notice that Zacky, Jimmy, and Alyssa were telling me to stop because of the fact that while I was trying to get the doors to shut, Johnny was stuck in between them while Syn and JB were trying to pull him through [dude, that's happened to me one time ... except they were intentionally shutting the doors on me, grrr].
Finally JB reached over and slapped my hand away before he pressed the button to open the doors and let Johnny through. I narrowed my eyes at Johnny's figured as he stumbled through the threshold and reached over once again to press the button for the fourth floor. There was an uncomfortable silence in the elevator even with the supposedly 'soothing' music that was drifting out of the speaker on the ceiling.
The elevators slowed to a stop and I let out a frustrated sigh when I saw we were only on the third floor. The doors soon opened to reveal a male nurse standing behind a patient in a wheel chair.
"Oh, wow." He said, seeing our company. "We'll catch the next one.
I somehow managed to muster a half smile to show him my appreciation just as the doors started to close. I glanced down at the patiently and actually did a double take, seeing that it was Lauren.
"Oh shit. Lauren!" I yelled, sticking my arm through the little opening to stop the doors from closing.
I managed to pull them open and I rushed out, wrapping my arms carefully around her shoulders to give her a gentle hug.
"Lauren, baby, I love you so much." I whispered, kissing her cheek. "Fuck baby, I-I thought." I trailed off when I realized that Lauren didn't even acknowledge me in anyway.
She didn't embrace me back, offer any words of comfort to assure me she was gonna be just fine, fuck, she didn't even look at me. I blinked back the tears as I slowly pulled away from her and took a step back as to let her brother give her a hug.
I took the time to study her, searching to see if there was anything visibly wrong with her. There was a little gash along her hairline that looked as if it had to be stitched up as well as a busted lip. She had another deep cut on her right forearm and a dark bruise on her right shin. Oh, and of course she still had her lovely air cast from earlier.
I heard Zacky apologizing to her a million times over but judging by the blank expression on Lauren's face, all his words were going in one ear and out the other. She looked over Zacky's shoulders and locked her eyes with mine. It seemed as soon as she did, a whole new wave of hurt washed over them and they soon filled to the brim with tears. She blinked a couple of times to suppress them and tore her eyes from mine.
"Zacky, get off of me." She mumbled, using her right hand to push him away.
"B-But."
"I'm still fucking mad at you." She said angrily, narrowing her eyes at him.
It scared me a little to see her so angry like this because it reminded me of when I first met her.
"Sister, please, I'm so sor-"
"Fuck off." She spat. "I don't want to even fucking see you right now. If it weren't for you I probably wouldn't even have been on the stupid cab in the first place or have this damn air cast on."
Her harsh words seemed to travel all around the busy hallway, silencing everyone in the vicinity and directing their attention to our company. I held my breath as Lauren turned her cold stare to me and I actually debated whether or not I wanted to take a chance and open my mouth. Well, I decided to chance it and the result was ...
"Don't you even dare say a word Mathew Charles." She snapped. "If I didn't have two broken ribs, a fractured ankle, and open cuts that need stitching, I'd kicked your fucking ass right now."
Well ... that's one way to get me to shut my mouth in an instant.
The nurse who was escorting Lauren looked nervously around at us and scratched the back of his neck.
"S-So, um ... ma'am, we should really take you to the fifth floor and get you stitched up."
"Sure, whatever." She mumbled. "Just keep them," she motioned to me and Zacky with her air cast, "away from me."
"Er ... well, you can have one person with you in the room so if you'd like for someone else to come with you ... "
Lauren shrugged her shoulders and the nurse took it as an 'I don't fucking care.' He took a look around as us still standing somewhat in shock and started to push her into an open elevator.
"Johnny, come with me." Lauren said, her tone a lot softer than when she spoke to Zacky and me.
I watched Johnny as he joined them in the elevator and frowned to myself. Here I was, fucking happy that my girlfriend was alive and well, but then again I was still hurting like a motherfucker inside. Why? Because she's still fucking pissed at me from of our earlier incident.
I was able to catch Lauren's eyes one last time before the doors shut and I felt the tiny daggers puncturing my heart repeatedly. I wished I could turn back time and fix everything that had gone wrong today. But we all know that it's impossible to turn back time, and the only thing you can do is sit back and wish for the best.
End of Matt's POV
We had finally arrived at the hospital and as soon as the cab came to a stop we all rushed out the door like a bunch of mad men and hurried towards the entrance of the emergency room. Damn ... who would have thought I'd be back here twice in one day. Within an hour even. Fuck.
Zacky and I reached the doors at about the same time and flung them open, nearly taking out an EMT who was taking their break with the damn things. Johnny, who was right on our heels, stuttered an abrupt apology to the man as he passed and we continued on to the desk. Zacky got there before I did and he skidded to a stop, grabbing a firm hold of the receptionist's wrist to get her attention (as if his skidding hadn't done so already).
"Please ... my sister ... " Zacky trailed off, trying to catch his breath. "Lauren Baker, where is she? Is she going to be alright? Please, tell me she's going to be just fine." He begged, not even bothering to keep the tears from falling.
"Sir, please, l-let me ... " The receptionist trailed off, trying to pry her arm away from Zacky's grip.
Zacky, however, just tightened his hand around her wrist.
"Zacky, come on." I said weakly, pulling him back a little.
He instantly let go of the lady's wrist and took a step back from the desk, looking down as if a bit embarrassed about his actions. The receptionist gave Zacky an uneasy look before she started to type some stuff into her computer. Her eyes followed the screen back and forth as she typed.
"Um, I'm sorry sir. My files don't have a Lauren Baker in it a-"
"Holy shit! Lauren Baker!" Zacky burst out. "We were just here with her less than an hour ago. She's about this high," he held up his hand to indicate how tall she was, "has green eyes, black hair, tan complexion ... please, I know you remember her. You can't tell me she's not here, please." Zacky said desperately.
I bit my lip and tried to hold back my own tears, but knew I failed because of the little bit of warmth that seemed to trail down either side of my face. I sniffed a little and reached up, wiping them away before wrapping an arm around Zacky's shoulders.
"Zacky, she's here, and she'll gonna be just fine." I whispered, trying to calm the both of us down. "I mean, the hospital called you Zacky, so she had to be here. Come on man, just stay positive."
Although Zacky took a deep breath and nodded his head, the tears still continued to fall in a continuous line down either side of his face. I sighed to myself and kept my arm around Zacky's shoulders before I turned back to the receptionist to find she was still looking for Lauren in her records.
"Zacky, maybe you should go take a seat and -"
"No, I'm fucking staying right here." He retorted.
"Alright man." I said quietly.
"Ah, here she is sir." The receptionist spoke up. "She's currently in the intensive care unit on the fourth floor."
With these few words I felt my heart hit the floor. The fucking ICU? No, no, no, this couldn't be happening. It couldn't.
Lauren is my fucking world and if something ever happened to her ... I swear I wouldn't even manage to make it through.
Before I even realized what were my feet were leading me, I was inside the elevator pressing the button for the fourth floor repeatedly. I didn't notice that Zacky, Jimmy, and Alyssa were telling me to stop because of the fact that while I was trying to get the doors to shut, Johnny was stuck in between them while Syn and JB were trying to pull him through [dude, that's happened to me one time ... except they were intentionally shutting the doors on me, grrr].
Finally JB reached over and slapped my hand away before he pressed the button to open the doors and let Johnny through. I narrowed my eyes at Johnny's figured as he stumbled through the threshold and reached over once again to press the button for the fourth floor. There was an uncomfortable silence in the elevator even with the supposedly 'soothing' music that was drifting out of the speaker on the ceiling.
The elevators slowed to a stop and I let out a frustrated sigh when I saw we were only on the third floor. The doors soon opened to reveal a male nurse standing behind a patient in a wheel chair.
"Oh, wow." He said, seeing our company. "We'll catch the next one.
I somehow managed to muster a half smile to show him my appreciation just as the doors started to close. I glanced down at the patiently and actually did a double take, seeing that it was Lauren.
"Oh shit. Lauren!" I yelled, sticking my arm through the little opening to stop the doors from closing.
I managed to pull them open and I rushed out, wrapping my arms carefully around her shoulders to give her a gentle hug.
"Lauren, baby, I love you so much." I whispered, kissing her cheek. "Fuck baby, I-I thought." I trailed off when I realized that Lauren didn't even acknowledge me in anyway.
She didn't embrace me back, offer any words of comfort to assure me she was gonna be just fine, fuck, she didn't even look at me. I blinked back the tears as I slowly pulled away from her and took a step back as to let her brother give her a hug.
I took the time to study her, searching to see if there was anything visibly wrong with her. There was a little gash along her hairline that looked as if it had to be stitched up as well as a busted lip. She had another deep cut on her right forearm and a dark bruise on her right shin. Oh, and of course she still had her lovely air cast from earlier.
I heard Zacky apologizing to her a million times over but judging by the blank expression on Lauren's face, all his words were going in one ear and out the other. She looked over Zacky's shoulders and locked her eyes with mine. It seemed as soon as she did, a whole new wave of hurt washed over them and they soon filled to the brim with tears. She blinked a couple of times to suppress them and tore her eyes from mine.
"Zacky, get off of me." She mumbled, using her right hand to push him away.
"B-But."
"I'm still fucking mad at you." She said angrily, narrowing her eyes at him.
It scared me a little to see her so angry like this because it reminded me of when I first met her.
"Sister, please, I'm so sor-"
"Fuck off." She spat. "I don't want to even fucking see you right now. If it weren't for you I probably wouldn't even have been on the stupid cab in the first place or have this damn air cast on."
Her harsh words seemed to travel all around the busy hallway, silencing everyone in the vicinity and directing their attention to our company. I held my breath as Lauren turned her cold stare to me and I actually debated whether or not I wanted to take a chance and open my mouth. Well, I decided to chance it and the result was ...
"Don't you even dare say a word Mathew Charles." She snapped. "If I didn't have two broken ribs, a fractured ankle, and open cuts that need stitching, I'd kicked your fucking ass right now."
Well ... that's one way to get me to shut my mouth in an instant.
The nurse who was escorting Lauren looked nervously around at us and scratched the back of his neck.
"S-So, um ... ma'am, we should really take you to the fifth floor and get you stitched up."
"Sure, whatever." She mumbled. "Just keep them," she motioned to me and Zacky with her air cast, "away from me."
"Er ... well, you can have one person with you in the room so if you'd like for someone else to come with you ... "
Lauren shrugged her shoulders and the nurse took it as an 'I don't fucking care.' He took a look around as us still standing somewhat in shock and started to push her into an open elevator.
"Johnny, come with me." Lauren said, her tone a lot softer than when she spoke to Zacky and me.
I watched Johnny as he joined them in the elevator and frowned to myself. Here I was, fucking happy that my girlfriend was alive and well, but then again I was still hurting like a motherfucker inside. Why? Because she's still fucking pissed at me from of our earlier incident.
I was able to catch Lauren's eyes one last time before the doors shut and I felt the tiny daggers puncturing my heart repeatedly. I wished I could turn back time and fix everything that had gone wrong today. But we all know that it's impossible to turn back time, and the only thing you can do is sit back and wish for the best.
End of Matt's POV