Just Another Love Story

The paramedic jumped into action starting CPR, as Ryan sat by and watched in horror. After a few minutes, Casey was still flat lining; the paramedic grabbed the automated external defibrillator and set it up. He ripped open Casey’s shirt, before removing her jewellery, which he handed to Ryan, placing two sticky pads on her chest and returning his attention back to the machine at his side.

“Stay clear,” He said to Ryan who nodded to show that he understood.

The machine shocked Casey twice, before the flat lining tone changed into a steady flow of beeps, and Ryan took a deep breath.

“Is she okay?” Ryan asked his voice shaky and quiet.

“She’s back with us for now, but the doctors will be able to tell you more, once they’ve examined her,” The paramedic replied.

Ryan’s mind was so focused on Casey that he hadn’t even realised that they were at the hospital, until the paramedics opened the doors. They rushed Casey into the hospital, and through some double doors, Ryan tried to follow, but was swiftly ushered into a large waiting room by a nurse.

He paced for a few moments before dropping down into a seat, and putting his head in his hands, fighting back tears. For the next half an hour, Ryan sat staring at his bloodstained hands, until Bam and the others arrived pulling him back to reality.

“How is she?” Bam and Jess asked at the same time.

“No ones been out yet, she died in the ambulance, but they managed to get her back, then they rushed her through those double doors, and I was brought here.”

Bam and Jess were silent, their sister had died, she had been dead, and that in itself was the scariest thing they had ever heard. Everyone sat down apart from Jeff who went off to get everyone some coffee, and the room fell silent. Two hours past with no news, and everyone was getting agitated, finally the doctor walked in looking less than positive.

“Are you the family of Casey Margera?” He asked.

“Yes, we’re her brothers,” Jess announced standing up with Bam close behind him.

“Your sister sustained a serious head injury, as a result of the car hitting her, which required us to operate. Although the operation was successful, Casey fell into a coma, and has yet to wake up,” The doctor explained.

“How long until she wakes up?” Bam asked.

“It’s impossible to tell you when she will wake up, everybody is different, however I can tell you that the longer she stays in this coma, the worse the prognosis will be.”

“Is there a chance that she won’t wake up?” Ryan inquired causing everyone to look at him, but the truth was it was the one question on everybody’s mind, and he needed to know the answer.

“I’m not going to lie, there’s always that chance, and all we can do is hope for the best. We’ll keep her comfortable, and I’ll be paying her regular visits, of course when you visit, you can talk to her, and it may help.”

“Can we see her?” Jess asked.

“Of course, one at a time though,” The doctor said before leaving the room.

Bam was the first person to see her, freezing in the door of the room, when he saw all the wires leading to machinery. He took a deep breath, before walking over to the bed and taking Casey’s hand.

“Hey Sparks… god… I don’t know what to say, for once I’m speechless,” Bam choked wiping tears off his cheek, “Just… get better, that’s all I ask for right now.”

He sat with her for ten minutes in silence, before kissing her head, and heading back to the waiting room, surprised to still not see Ape and Phil. Jess next in, he kissed Casey’s hand as he sat in the seat beside her bed, and for a few minutes he just stared, unable to speak.

“I’m so sorry Casey, I’m sorry for not being around much in the last year, and not being around when you really needed me. I promise I’ll do better, even if I have to Skype you every damn day from the tour bus. Just please… wake up.”

Jess knew that him being away all the time was hard for Casey, but he also knew that she understood how much he loved his job, and that she supported him in that. He looked at her one last time, before leaving the room, and heading back to the waiting room, where he discovered that everyone had gone home apart from Bam and Ryan.

“Still no sign of mum and dad?” Jess asked Bam who shook his head.

“They said they’d be here as soon as they could,” Bam replied a little angry at his parents for not being there.

Ryan stood up, looking at Bam who nodded, and watched as he left the room, making his way to where Casey was. As he walked in the room his heart broke, seeing Casey lying there, battered and bruised, it was hard. He debated leaving for a few minutes, but instead he approached the bed, and gently kissed Casey’s pale cheek.

“Come on baby; don’t give up… not now. You have people who need to around, what am I going to do if you’re not here with me? I want a chance to tell you that I love you more than anything in this world; I want to hold you in my arms, and tell you how much our relationship scares me. I know that all those reasons are selfish, but I don’t care because it’s not your time,” Ryan said as a nurse walked in.

“Don’t mind me, I’m just going to do some checks,” She explained smiling at Ryan who nodded, waiting until the nurse had left before continuing.

“I have no idea if you can hear me, you know I don’t believe in miracles or anything like that, but I do believe in you, and you’ve always been a fighter.”

Ryan allowed the tears that he had fought back, to roll freely down his face, as he held Casey’s hand, and kissed it. Slowly he felt himself drifting off to sleep, and after the day they had had, he welcomed it.

It had been just over a week since the accident, when Casey finally woke up, at first she didn’t know where she was, but after giving her eyes time to adjust and focus, she realised she was in hospital. Looking to the side, she saw Ryan asleep in the high-backed chair beside her bed, she was about to call him, when a nurse walked in, smiling when she saw that Casey was awake.

“It’s good to see you awake Casey, here drink some water, your throat will be dry. I’ll go get the doctor,” The nurse said handing Casey a glass of water, which she took in shaking hands and sipped.

The nurse woke Ryan before she left, and it took him a little while to realise, that Casey had woken up.

“Casey,” He stated as a huge smile spread across his face, and he moved to the edge of the bed.

“Hey,” Casey replied her voice hoarse and raspy.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a bus, and then dropped off a cliff just for good measure. Why are you crying?”

“Just happy to hear your voice again is all,” Ryan said leaning over to kiss her forehead.

“Ah, Miss Margera, I’m Doctor Shaw. I’m just going to do some routine checks, and then I will get out of your way,” The doctor explained as he walked in the room.

“I’m going to go and call the others to let them know, I’ll be right back,” Ryan stated kissing her cheek gently and leaving.

Half an hour later the doctor finally finished prodding and poking her, leaving her and Ryan alone to talk.

“I was out more than a week huh?” Casey said rubbing her thumb over the back of Ryan’s hand soothingly.

“Eleven days, the longest eleven days of my life,” Ryan mumbled looking at her sadly.

“I’m sorry,” Casey whispered looking down at her lap.

“Why are you sorry?” Ryan asked sounding confused.

“For everything, the stuff with Josh, this… I just screw everything up, and I hate seeing the people I care about, hurting because of me.”

“Baby listen to me, none of the stuff with Josh was your fault, you didn’t make him sleep with your friend, and you sure as hell didn’t run yourself over and take off.”

“You’d think that after eleven days in a coma, I would be wide awake and full of energy… I’m exhausted though,” Casey said feeling suddenly tired.

“Get some sleep before the others get here, I’ll wake you up when they arrive.” Ryan promised.

“Will you stay?”

“I’m not going anywhere, I’ll be right here.”

A few hours later Casey woke up, to find Bam, Jess and Johnny sitting around her bed, reading her magazines that Ryan had bought up for her. She looked over at Ryan who was sleeping, and smiled.

“How long have you been here?” Casey asked making them all jump.

“Only about half an hour,” Jess said handing her a glass of water, and kissing her on the cheek.

“You should have woken me up,” Casey added as Johnny and Bam kissed her cheek as well.

“You looked peaceful, so we figured we’d leave you, we was however going to give Ryan one of our special wake ups, but we decided against it,” Johnny replied making Casey laugh and grab her ribs when pain shot through them.

“You okay?” Bam asked looking worried.

“I’m fine, laughing just hurts, as does breathing and moving.”

They sat talking for two hours, before visiting hours were over and they reluctantly left. Casey hated being alone in the hospital, but she didn’t have much choice, and besides the boys had promised to be back early the next day.