Walk for Christmas

Chapter 4

Roxy POV

'Mom?' I tried to call out, but something stopped me. Only a gurgling sound came out. My voice did not exist. I started to choke on what was stuck in my throat, trying to get it out, and I started to panic as I fought against the thing stuck in my throat.

A beeping sound filled the air, and I had no idea where I was. I could not move.

My panic started to escalate, and suddenly, a woman's voice was in my ear as she placed a hand on me.

'It is okay, sweetie. The doctor is coming. He will take that out of your throat, and then you can sip water.' Her voice was pleasant, and there was no sign of worry. She was firm and sure as she tried to calm me down. It was difficult as I struggled with whatever was in my mouth and the restrictions on my body.

'Welcome back. Your family will be so glad to see you have woken up.,' a deep male voice said politely. His hand touched my shoulder to reassure me, pushing me back onto the pillow; I had not realized I had tried to lift my head.

'I am going to take the tube from your throat. Try and relax a little bit; I know it is going to be hard for you to do that, but please try.' I felt his hands on my face, and he fiddled about at something. I still had my eyes closed, not wanting to know what they were doing to me. I was scared. I did not understand what was going on. I thought my throat was on fire as I felt something moving in my throat and being pulled out with a burning sensation, causing my eyes to fly open in shock at the pain in my throat.

An older man's face appeared before me, and his breath was so close to my face that I could feel it on my face.

He smiled down at me when he saw my eyes open and then returned to what he was doing just outside my line of sight. A long tube was pulled out of my mouth. I was shocked at how long it had been; it seemed to take forever to stop coming out.

The man gave the tube to a nurse beside him and tenderly touched my throat, palpitating before nodding to himself. He seemed satisfied with what he felt. However, it was on fire to me.

'Here.' The man, whom I assumed was the doctor, helped me and then placed a glass of water on my lips. He had yet to introduce himself, but then I guess he could not stop what he was doing just to say hi and give me his name.

'Take small sips to start with,' he warned as he tilted the glass against my lips, holding my head in one hand while he held the glass steady. The water was cool and soothing but painful when I swallowed it. While I was drinking, he spoke kindly to me.

'I am Doctor Mitchell. Be careful, take small sips.' he said as I tried to take a larger sip.

'We have let your family know you are awake, and they will be here soon.' A nurse said beside him, and I was still confused about why Mum was not there yet. Maybe she is in a hospital bed nearby, and she had the most impact of the accident.

They took my blood pressure and shone a light in my eyes. I was thinking about what happened.

'Why can't I move?' I asked. I could not shift at all; my legs were like lead, refusing to move. I was still groggy and thought I might be too tired.

'You are eighteen, so I can talk to you about your condition without your father's consent. You had swelling in your brain and have been kept in an induced coma for three weeks. We stopped doing that about a week ago. You have two broken vertebrae but did not sever the spinal cord. You have a broken left arm and left leg. You have a cracked cheekbone. You will need to do a lot of rehabilitation to get your strength back. Your muscles have deteriorated, and, believe it or not, you will need to learn to walk again. But you need to get that arm and leg healed before you try, but I am sure the physio can help with muscle strengthening exercises from the chair.' The doctor mentioned other things, but I lost it after he said I had to learn to walk again. My legs were not working at the moment; it scared me, and I wanted my mum to hug me and tell me everything was all right. I wondered where my family was. But then I remembered he said I had been asleep for so long; I cannot be selfish and expect them to sit here all day waiting for me to wake up.

The door flew open, and Lincoln and Kennedy raced in. Their faces turned from frowns to huge smiles as they looked at me, and they could see I was awake and watching them run in. They reached the bed and hesitated until the doctor moved to allow them to close.

'Sis, you are awake.' Yep, he always states the obvious, but then I guess they had waited for what felt so long that it was a relief that I had awoken at last.

'Hi.' I croaked out with my raspy voice, unsure what else to say.

'How do you feel?' they chorused together at me.

How do I feel?

'Confused, scared, where are Mum and Dad?' I asked, looking at the door, expecting them to follow them in since they had run to reach me.

'Dad is at work, like always,' Lincoln said bitterly, turning to look at Kennedy as if asking him something. They nodded to each other. Dad must be unable to come now; he is a busy man.

'Yeah, Dad is always busy, and Mum? She is normally the first to get here, and I need her.' From what little I can remember, she was in a bad way. I am surprised I remember the accident at all. I am told you usually forget stuff like that. My friend who was in an accident doesn't remember it at all, and from what I can recall, I wish I did not remember any of it.

Why do I remember it?

It was as clear as the moment it happened. I am never going to forget seeing Mum's head hitting that window, the splatter of blood before the window shattered, and the truck was now where her head was.

'Mum took the brunt of the accident. I am sorry she did not make it.' Kennedy said as he sat beside me on the bed. A tear rolled down his cheek, making it clear that what he said must be true because he never cried.

'She is gone?' I sobbed out, taking in what they said. Mum was gone; that truck hit her hard, and all that blood.

'Yeah, according to the coroner, she died at the scene almost instantly; she would not have felt pain for a long, if at all.' Kennedy tried to soften the blow, but I broke into tears. He wanted to position himself, so he was cuddling me as I cried, and Lincoln came around the other side and sandwiched me between them, allowing me to cry. Mum was gone. I was never her favorite, but she was still my mum, and I loved her like most children love their mother; she could be nurturing when she wanted to be, usually when you were not well and needed the attention to get better, and at the moment, I needed her.

'You missed the funeral, having been asleep for nearly a whole month now. I thought you would never wake up. I was so shocked when we got the call. Grandma and Grandpa are on their way. They will be here in the morning.' Kennedy said, still holding me in his arms as best he could. With the cast on the left side, it could not have been comfortable.

'Are they going to drive all that way?' I asked if they lived over ten hours away. They are not spring chickens anymore. That is a long way for them to drive.

'Yeah, they will drive until Grandpa is tired and then stay in a motel before continuing to us. Should be here around lunchtime.' Kennedy said. He was still rubbing my back for comfort. I felt it was more for him than for me.

'It was a shock to hear Dad still drove in that weather; he would have been better to wait a day or send you on the bus than drive in that storm. The truck driver walked away without a scratch, though he did try and give help in the accident. The police took Dad's and the truck driver's dash-cams to better understand what had happened. He did not even try to break or slow down at the stop crossroad. The police thought he was suffering from fatigue and was nodding off, having driven for over fourteen hours. If he had crossed the road, he would have taken out the primary school on the other side, which would have been worse. He could have killed a load of children rather than just a mother.' I heard what he meant: one life was better than many. I guess there is a silver lining to this tragedy, but it did not feel like that at the moment.

I tried to listen to what they were saying, but sleep found me unexpectedly.