All or Nothing

Brian stared at Eliza across the room from him. He’d refused to leave her room, even when visiting hours were over.

She’d been admitted to the hospital merely minutes after coming into the emergency room. They pumped her stomach and sedated her. Brian heard something about brain damage and he hadn’t left her side since then.

He looked her over now. She looked like a child lying there. They’d removed all of her jewelry from her wrists, neck, and face. Her makeup was gone and her hair was pulled behind her head. Her eyes were closed and a bit of purple coated underneath them.

He’d cringed as he watched them push the tube down her throat, making sure she didn’t have anything in her airway or throat if another seizure happened, saying it was to help her breathe since she wasn’t on her own. She looked so awkward lying there with her mouth opened around the huge tube. His eyes rose to her forehead and the swelling was still there. The cut on her head had been stitched shut but it was still purple and blue from bruising.

She had an IV in her arm and she was hooked up to a huge vital machine that constantly beeped, making him painfully aware of how insane he was going. His eyes remained on her but they didn’t focus on anything as he replayed everything in his head.

She hadn’t done drugs, but the doctors mentioned several different ones in her system. He’d been able to see her the whole night and know there was no way she hadn’t done anything unless it had been on her way to the house. She’d tested positive for a sedative that was used in severe cases of insomnia and then coke. They’d found traces of the pain pill and Xanax that she’d done the night before the concert, but he knew about those. She was going to have to go through detox, maybe even a rehab center to get clean and he promised with everything in him that he would get her the help she needed.

They also said that with the amount of alcohol and drugs in her system that when she hit her head, it triggered something in her brain that caused the seizure. Several different electrodes on her head that lead to a brain wave monitor. They said that she was lucky she hadn’t had a seizure for longer than two minutes because that could’ve caused brain damage, but seeing the machine still gave Brian the chills.

“We aren’t sure if the seizures will continue, but there’s a chance that when she wakes up she’ll have a bit of amnesia. If she wakes up while one of us isn’t here, then be careful at how you approach her. Don’t bombard her with questions. Start off slow and work your way up.”

The picture of the doctor telling him that flashed in his mind and he sincerely wished she would wake up. He felt as if she weren’t really there.

His breath expelled as he stood up and stretched. He looked out through the blinds and realized it was dark. Looking at his watch it was almost after one in the morning. He rubbed his hands over his face and looked back at Eliza.

An image flashed through his eyes of a girl sitting by a hospital bed telling her dad about a new tattoo she’d gotten and he felt tears sting his eyes. Her beautiful pink hair flowed around her shoulders, and even after her father passed and she went into her depression, she still looked beautiful. He couldn’t remember how long they spent sitting with her dad in his coma, and here his daughter was, in a hospital in almost the same condition. He wished he could go back to those times, where everything was fine, and the only thing he had to worry about was getting through the day so he could see her again.

He moved so he was sitting on the side of her bed and lifted her hand to hold it in his.
“Eliza, I need you to get better. You can’t do this to me anymore, princess,” he said and tears fell from his eyes. “I miss you and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I always fuck up our relationship. I’m sorry I compared you to Amber and called you a drug addict. Come back to me, baby, so I can tell you all of this for real. Please, Elizabeth, come back to me. I need you.”

Letting her hand fall back to its place on the bed, he covered his face in his hands and cried. When he was done, he turned around and curled up at her side, instantly falling asleep.



“You told me you wouldn’t fucking hurt her,” he screamed as the door slammed against the wall behind it. “This has gone on too fucking far. She’s in a god damn hospital!”

“Is she dead?”

“No, she isn’t, but she very well could have died.”

“She isn’t dead; I don’t understand why you’re so upset.”

“I’m upset because you almost killed her. She lost too much fucking blood. This isn’t a game anymore, you bitch.”

The evil smile just crept back to those red lips.

“You’re just mad because I’m winning.”



Brian yawned and his head rolled over before his eyes opened slightly.

Sleepily, he glanced at Eliza who was looking at him. Around the breathing intubation, the corners of her mouth lifted a bit. Her eyes crinkled and she closed her eyes.

“I love you,” he whispered before he fell asleep again.