Be Strong for Me

I slowly blinked awake, my head feeling foggy. “Kellin?” someone asked, startling me. I looked over, relief filling me as I saw Mike.
“Hey,” he said and moved to sit on the edge of my bed. “Hi,” I choked back, tears already pooling in my eyes.
He held me gently, both of us crying quietly. “I’m so s-sorry,” I sobbed, Mike shaking his head.
“It isn’t your fault,” he said and stroked my hair soothingly. “Yes it is…he-he turned so it wouldn’t hit me-e,” Mike rocked me gently while I ruined his shirt.
“What if—“No. He’ll be fine. He has to be,” I rubbed at my eyes, looking up at him. “How is he?” I asked, reigning in my tears before they put me to sleep again.
“Stable, I guess…. They didn’t tell you?”
I stared at him, my heart racing on the little monitor behind me. “What?” I asked as Mike rubbed at his eyes.
“He-he’s in a coma, Kell. They don’t know if he’ll wake up,” I choked on my tears again, Mike lying down on the bed with me. We held each other as we cried, my whole body aching with every breath.
“Mom and dad are with him now,” Mike said, his voice breaking. I just held onto him tighter, ignoring the excruciating pain in my chest.
This was so much worse than a few broken bones. ~

Mike held me until his parents came in, and then his mom held me. “Can I see him yet?” I asked, desperate to get out of this bed.
“I don’t know baby, you’re hurt too,” she said. “I don’t care. I just want Vic,” I cried, letting her pull me into her arms.
“I’m so sorry sweetie,” she cooed, petting my hair. “Victor, could you talk to the doctors about it?”
Their dad nodded and walked out into the hall. I hated crying in front of people, but I couldn’t not cry. Vic was everything to me, and I didn’t know what I would do if he died.
“Vivian,” their dad said, leaning in the doorway. She stood up and walked out of the room with him, leaving Mike and I alone. I lay back against the pillow, trying to stop the searing pain in my chest.
It hurt to breathe, cry, and move, and that’s all I had been doing. But I didn’t care if I was in pain; I just wanted to be with Vic.
Mike sat down by my feet and leant his head on my legs. A doctor walked in, followed by Vic and Mike’s parents.
“Hello Mr. Fuentes, how are you feeling?” he asked kindly, and way too cheerful.
“I want to see him,” I said determinedly and wiped at my eyes. “Yes, so I’ve heard. But I do have to take into consideration that you are also injured. I don’t believe that you are in well enough condition to move around, and you should be keeping pretty still as it is,” the doctor said.
“Are you married?” I asked and sat up a little more. “Yes, I am, and I know what you’re—“So what if you do? Don’t tell me that if you were in the same position, that you wouldn’t do everything you could to see them,”
He sighed quietly and tapped his hand on his clipboard. “Let me examine you first, and then we’ll talk about moving you, okay?” I nodded, pleased that at least someone was willing to compromise with me.
“If you’ll excuse us,” the doctor said and looked around at our family. His parents left, closing the door behind themselves, and Mike stood up to leave.
“Can you stay?” I asked, not wanting to be alone. He had seen me before, so I really didn’t care if he saw me now.
Mike nodded and sat down again. “Are you sure?” the doctor asked, shrugging as I nodded.
“Alright then, can you sit forward for me?” he asked. I nodded and slowly leant forward, wincing in pain.
He pressed his fingers against the left side of my rib cage, making me flinch. Mike rubbed my leg soothingly, offering me a small half-smile.
The doctor gently moved one hand to my collar and the other to the small of my back, pushing me up straight.
I cringed, biting down harshly in pain. “Alright?” he asked, seeming to know that I wasn’t. “Um, y-yeah, I’m fine,” I said. “Mhm, sure,” he muttered and glanced at Mike.
“Could you lie back now?” he asked, looking at me again. I did as he asked, lying back slowly until I was rested against the pillow. He undid tie on my side, moving the side of it to my stomach. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“Checking the cut on your side. There was quite a bit of glass in the car, and a particular piece of it was stuck in your side when you were brought in. Luckily it wasn’t very deep, and simple to stitch, but I was told the other doctor didn’t check it,” I shook my head.
I hadn’t even known about it. His fingers probed my side, making me flinch away as a flare of pain shot through me. “Sorry,” he said quietly. “It looks alright, although it should be covered,” I stared at him as he readjusted my ‘gown’ to cover my bare skin.
“So can I see him? I—“We’ll see. For now though, you need to rest. Do you think you can wait a week or two until your bones have had the chance to set properly?” I shook my head, refusing to wait that long. I would go insane.
The doctor sighed and slid his hands into his pockets. “I’ll see about getting you moved to his room then. It’ll take some a little while, but I think we could get you set up with him. Now, I’m going to have a nurse cover that for you, and then I want you to get some sleep. Okay?” he asked.
I nodded slowly, relaxing a little for the first time. I could see him soon…. “Alright,” He left, a nurse walking in a few minutes later. “Hiya sweetie, I’ll only be a minute,” she said cheerily. I sighed and moved my arm so she could dress my cut.
She took a few minutes to wrap up my side, and then quickly left, leaving Mike and I alone again.
“Get some sleep Kell,” Mike said softly. I sighed and nodded, shifting in my bed to get as comfortable as I could. “Are you going to his room?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ll let you know how he is when you wake up,” I nodded and smiled a little as he kissed my hair. “Love you Kell,” he said quietly. “Love you too,” ~