The Hospital

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BLAZE*

Vega and Jace took off like a bat out of hell. Tanner and I were left there in shock. What were we supposed to do?

"What do we do?" Tanner asked.

"Well," I said because I had no idea what to do. I am the most level-headed one out of all of us. I'm not thinking clearly. So I walked off to clear my head and glanced out into the pasture. Cars approached moments later; I looked down at my Rolex; everyone in the family had arrived ten minutes early. Most of the time, I would have loved the fact that they were all early, but right now, at this moment, I wished they had run late. I took a deep breath and walked back to Tanner.

"We do the viewing of the home, hand over the keys, and then reach out to Jace. It's the only thing we can do," I said and then tried to gather myself. What else was I obligated to do right now? I just now met Vega, and we talked for what, twenty minutes amongst ourselves. However, I know Jace loves Vega, So I know that Tanner and I needed to be there for him.

***

We had made it through half of the house and hadn't even been outside yet when Jace called Tanner.

"Hey Jace, how is Lyra doing?" Tanner asked Jace.

"Oh man, I'm sorry. Where are they taking her?" Tanner asked.

"Ok, Blaze and I are still here at the ranch, but we will try to get there as soon as possible," Tanner said and ended the call.

"Jace said that Lyra's heart had stopped and that they had loaded her up in the ambulance and took her to Covenant," Tanner said after I had excused myself from the family for a moment.

I couldn't help but feel bad for Vega. She seemed like such a sweet girl; it was awkward with the dream. Tanner and I let the family know what had happened, and they let us go on our way after handing over the keys.

LYRA*

Everything had gone dark, and all of the pain had vanished. Out of nowhere, a light bled into darkness. I was floating, and the scene before me was spectacular.

My family and I were at a beach; a wedding was taking place, and everything was set up beautifully. White chairs lined in rows had rose petals and ivy laced through them. A beautiful wedding arc was down the way, also decorated with ivy and rose petals; it was gorgeous.

I looked and saw Jace and the man from my dream facing the audience; both men were in black tuxedos with silver dress shirts. Two men stood to the side of them with Tuxedos and red dress shirts; I had no idea who they were. My cousins Leann and Veronica; wore beautiful red bridesmaids' dresses.

Adiemus by Karl Jenkins played in the background, and then I saw Vega and me walking down rose petal-covered sand.

Vega and I had on gorgeous silver wedding dresses that matched. Our dad was between us, linked at each elbow. When we reached the two men, my dad first kissed Vega and gave her to Jace; then he turned to me, pecked me on the cheek, and gave me over to the guy of my dreams.

"You ready, beautiful," he whispered and winked.

Suddenly, the scene faded, and I heard sirens, but I couldn't open my eyes; the excruciating pain had rushed back into my body.

"She's back; we're almost there, Lyra; hold on," I heard coming from a voice I couldn't place; I felt a hand grasp mine.

"Lyra, it's me, Vega; I'm here, don't leave me again. I don't know what I would do if you left me; I would be so lost; hold on, ok," Vega said.

My hand twitched; everything was jumbled up, and all I could feel was unimaginable pain; all I could do was groan.

VEGA*

Once inside the ambulance, the fireman and paramedic worked feverishly to get Lyra's heart pumping again. Once she returned, they cut her clothes off and got an IV going into her right arm. Her left arm and leg were disfigured; it wasn't easy getting Lyra out of her car while trying not to move either one; the fireman had held them upright.

It didn't take us long to arrive at the hospital. The accident scene wasn't but just down the road, which was a plus. We were greeted by my dad and a whole team of doctors.

"Get her to the CT machine STAT," my dad yelled.

The ambulance driver had kept them in the loop on every drug administered and what had been going on since getting Lyra out of the car. My dad stayed back with my mom and me due to hospital policy.

Sometime later, an intern walked up to us.

"Dr. Riley, sir, we took Lyra straight to surgery. Her brain was swelling, and there was an active bleed. She lost a lot of blood, so if any of you could donate blood, it is needed. I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to come to you. There were complications during the CT; Lyra will have to undergo extensive reconstruction of her left arm and leg. She had a few broken ribs, but somehow her pelvis was intact and undamaged. I'll get a nurse to help all of you with the blood, but I must get back. I'll give frequent updates. Don't worry, Dr. Riley, you know we have the best of the best working on your daughter," He said as he got a nurse for us and walked away.

I left Jace with my mom; he had arrived shortly after we had arrived at the Emergency Room. My dad and I were the only ones with Lyra's blood type. I'm doing my best to keep it together, but it's a challenge.

We've learned that the guy that caused the hit and run had been highly intoxicated, crazy since all of this happened at ten in the morning. If my sister died, he would wish he were dead himself after my family and I got to him.

AN HOUR LATER*

After an hour, Tanner and Blaze entered the ER waiting room. Blaze gave me another weird look like I'd grown two heads but then quickly recovered and forced a smile. Jace stood up, and Tanner walked over to him and hugged him.

"Any word on your sister?" Tanner looked over at me and asked.

"She's got a brain bleed, and her left arm, leg, and ribs are broken. She's in surgery, but other than that, we have not been updated yet." I said as tears streamed down my face.

"I'm sorry," Tanner said.

Jace sat back down next to me and pulled me into a tight hug; Blaze and Tanner sat across from us.

About thirty minutes later, the intern from before walked up to us.

"Dr. Riley, sir," He stated as he shook my dad's hand. "They have managed to contain the brain bleed; the swelling in her brain has also started to go down. Ortho is about to step in and start reconstructing her arm and leg. I'll be back to update you as soon as possible," He nodded and walked away.

BLAZE TWO HOURS LATER*

It's now well past lunch, three o'clock to be exact, and I knew that if I'm starved, everyone else must be as well.

"Maybe we should go get everyone something to eat, Tanner," I whispered. Tanner nodded, and we both stood.

"Mr. and Mrs. Riley, Tanner, and I would like to go get lunch for everyone, if that's ok?" I asked.

They all looked at us and nodded. Vega still had her head buried in Jace's chest. She fell asleep while she cried; Vega and Lyra must be close; however, I don't know much about her and her family.

"Yes, son, that would be great; anything would be fine," Mr. Riley said.

"Yes, sir, we will be back shortly," I said over my shoulder as Tanner and I walked out the door. We hopped in my truck and made our way to Burger King.

Once Tanner and I returned, we handed out all the food and bottled water. We were unsure what to get everyone to drink, and water seemed the safest bet.

We all sat around and ate our food; Vega only ate half of her food and then got up and paced around the room. Jace got up and put an arm around her, and followed her around the room. I wished I could do more for her, but I knew I needed to stay away. It was all just a dream, Vega and I, and nothing could come of it.

VEGA TWO HOURS LATER*

After we had all eaten, the intern came in to let us know that Lyra was stable but that the surgery was going to take quite a while. For a few hours, at least, he spilled a bunch of doctor jargon about rods and pins; I was too tired to even ask my mom and dad about it.

Blaze had decided to get over whatever it was that bugged him about me. He came over and started asking me more about myself; then Blaze began asking questions about Lyra. I told him about us being twins and how we were both getting our psychology degrees.

It wasn't until I pulled out my phone and started showing him pictures of Lyra and me together; that he began to get that glazed look on his face. When I got to a picture of Lyra and Steven, he asked who the guy was. I explained what I knew about them breaking up last night; Blaze got up suddenly and walked towards the bathroom. "I'll be right back," Blaze had said.

'What in the world is going on with him?' I thought to myself.

BLAZE*

About an hour ago, I had decided to get over my awkward silence and go over and talk to Vega. It wasn't until she told me that she and Lyra were twins that a coldness crept in. I'm sure the color had drained from my face. I tried to keep tears from welling up in my eyes, but Vega started showing me pictures of her and Lyra together. Oh my goodness, they weren't just twins, but identical twins. When Vega got to a photo of Lyra and some guy, jealousy kicked in.

"Who's that guy with Lyra?" I asked.

"Oh, that's Steven, her ex-boyfriend. They broke up last night. They were together for about six months. I haven't had a chance to talk to Lyra much about it, though.

It wasn't Vega that I had dreamt about last night; it was Lyra, and she was currently in surgery, and I couldn't do anything about it. All I could do was get up and go to the bathroom.

Tears welled up in my eyes, I hadn't even met Lyra face to face yet, but I felt as if someone had run over me. I shut the bathroom door and locked it, and I let the tears flow; after splashing some water on my face, I walked back into the waiting room.

I walked back over and sat on the other side of Vega. Jace had gone with Tanner somewhere an hour ago, which was why I had gotten up the nerve to talk to Vega in the first place. Vega wasn't the one I had dreamt about, and it was so much easier to be around her now. Vega is such an amazing woman, and I can't wait for Lyra to wake up so that I can meet her. Vega and I sat and talked for an hour, making each other laugh.

It was now seven o'clock; there had not been any word from the doctor. The Riley's had gone to their house to grab some essentials so that they could stay in an OnCall room to stay close to Lyra, so it had just been Vega and me for the last hour.

We talked for a bit longer until the Riley's and Tanner arrived, and it was about that time three doctors walked into the room.

WRITERS NOTE:

Thank you all so much for reading! You're the best! Let me know your thoughts on this chapter in the comments. Hugs, Sapphirian J❤