“Anna!” Maryanne called. “Honey, I’m going to get Chinese. You want to come?”
I walked out of my room and onto the first step of the stairs.
“No. But could you get the noodles?” I asked, clasping my hands into a prayer position.
“Sure.” she had walked over to the bottom step of the stairs, and was holding a clear, plastic bag from her littlest finger, grinning sheepishly.
“Mom, what is that?” I grabbed the bag from her. Inside was a silky, violet colored dress.
“Do you like it?” she asked, jumping up and down like a child.
“You know I hate dresses. And I’m not going to prom.” I shoved the dress back into the bag and threw it on the kitchen table.
“Anna. Come on now, you’ll have so much fun. You never do anything. Your practically older than me.”
“It’s just the way I am.” I jumped up onto the counter, grabbed a bag of crackers and started munching.
“Fine. Just think about it. I don’t want you to miss out on this. It’s a once in a lifetime experience.” she was throwing her rain coat on and fumbling around the kitchen looking for something.
“Mom.” I hopped down off the counter, grabbed the keys that were hiding under the newspaper, and gave them to her. “You go then.”
“I would if I could.” she laughed, and walked through the front door, shutting it lightly behind her.
Instead of going back upstairs, I lounged on the sofa. I could see the gray, rain filled sky, the blurry streaks of red being made by passing car headlights, and droplets of water splashing into puddles through the window. No matter where you went in this state, the weather would be unpredictable. Just yesterday it was hot and sunny.
Suddenly, I heard the door slam shut, and a man yelling my name. I realized I had fallen asleep on the couch.
“Anna! Anna! Come, on!” I recognized the voice as my Uncle Ayden.
“What?” I asked lazily.
“She’s fine-but your mom was in a car accident. Hurry up. Get your jacket on.”
My heart shattered into a million pieces. The pain of feeling totally helpless seared through every part of my body. My skin tingled everywhere, as though there were a million needles falling down on me. Without processing it, I was tugging on my jacket, and running after my Uncle faster than I thought was possible. We were in his Jeep, and he was driving very fast.
“Where is she?” I asked, noticing that I was crying.
“She’s at Park Medical Center. She’s doing fine right now, but I want to get back. She’s not waking up.”
His words raced across my mind, stabbing me with every syllable.
‘She’s not waking up.’
“What does that mean?” I asked, as he quickly sucked in a deep breath.
“She may be in a coma. But they said that is normal when you have had a tragic experience- because it’s the way the brain can help protect itself.”
“Will she wake up?”
“They assume she will once her body has time to work over what just happened.”
We pulled into the hospital parking lot, and as I was about to dart across the street, Uncle Ayden grabbed my wrist, holding me close to him as a car zoomed by.
“Anna, I don’t want you hurt too.” his grip loosened, and I could feel his eyes on my back; I refused to look at him. I would only suffer more.
As we entered the hospital, there was a crowd of people. Was there always this many people?
“The stairs.” Uncle Ayden said, and held the door that led to the stairwell open for me. As I looked up into his face, tears raced once again down mine. His eyes were red, and his lips were pulled into a straight line. I could tell he was in deep pain. As if he could read my mind, he gently placed his hand on my shoulder, forcing my body to face away from him. We raced up the stairs. Him being taller, I had to take two steps at a time to keep up. As we reached the third landing, the air was cold, and the harsh environment of illness seeped up around me, pulling me deeper into a state of depression. I stood there surrounded by people, but feeling completely alone. My hands shook, and my eyes were blurred. I needed to find my mom. I glanced around, and saw that nurses were strolling patients into a room behind white double doors.
“Anna. You can sit right over there.” Uncle Ayden said, pointing to a gray leather seat in the corner.
“No! I want to see her!” I yelled, refusing to be treated like a child, yet somewhere in the depths of my mind, I knew I was acting exactly like one.
“Anna, listen to me.” he placed both his hands on my shoulders. “Your mom is not in good condition right now. I will let you know as soon as you can see her.”
“No.“ my voice came out as a whisper. “I do not want to be treated like a child. She is my mother.” I shrugged out from under his hold, and ran through the white double doors. The room was filled with injured bodies. My legs were unable to move as I heard various patients screaming-whether in pain or not-I didn’t know. I could taste the copper and rust mixture, which I knew was the smell of blood. I had just glimpsed at what I thought was her blond hair, when a young, male nurse grabbed my arm.
“You can’t be in here.” he said. He grabbed my arm sternly and steered me back through the doors. Uncle Ayden was standing right in front of the doors, apparently talking to someone.
“Anna!” he said, and turned away from his conversation.
As I saw him come closer to me with his arms open, I lost all control.
I fell into his embracing arms and cried as hard as I could. He picked me up, and brought me over to the gray, leather chair. We sat there through the night, until finally I fell asleep.
