cseven

    After dinner that same night, Belle went to her room to do her homework. She was soon done and looked at her watch-it was five till seven. Shawn had said that he would call her before seven but she figured he had either gotten busy or had just forgotten. She grabbed a magazine and headed downstairs. It was quiet there, with her mom reading over some papers on the couch, so she settled down and started to read. At seven thirty, she got tired of waiting and decided to call him. She grabbed the phone and called the Brady house but let it ring 7 times before she decided that no one was home. She hung up, thought for a minute, and then called his cell phone. It rang a few times before someone picked up.
"Hello?" a female voice said. "Who is this?"
"Umm...this is Belle" she said, unsure.
"Oh, Belle" the woman said, and then it sounded like she was crying.
"Hope?" she asked, confused.
"Yes" she said, in between sobs. "Belle, honey..." she started, stopping and Belle could hear her crying.
"Hope? What's wrong?" she asked again. Marlena looked up and saw Belle's confused look. She hurried over and took the phone.
"Hope, this is Marlena, what's going on?" she heard her mom say. Her mom was silent for a minute and Belle saw her face visibly sag.
"Ok, stay right there, we'll be right over" she said, already grabbing her purse and keys. She hung up the phone and turned to face Belle.
"Mom, what happened?" she asked. "Why is Hope all upset"
"Belle, sweetie, I don't know how to..." she started, and took a deep breath. "Honey, we're going to go to the hospital"
"The hospital?" she asked. "Mom, what happened. Tell me!" She put her hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"Honey, Shawn was in an accident" she said, quietly. Belle looked at her mom, unable to speak.
"What?!?" she said, once she got her voice back.
"I don't know exactly what happened, Hope was too upset to talk" she continued. "But she's alone and we need to be there for her"
"Oh, God Mom, Shawn was on the bike" she said, still in shock.
"I know...we better go" was all her mom said. Belle quickly grabbed a sweatshirt and followed her mom out the door. They quickly drove to the hospital and went up to the emergency room. They turned the corner and saw Hope standing in the corner, holding onto Little John tightly.
"Hope..." Marlena said, and Hope turned to them with a tear-stained face.
"Oh, thank God you're here" she said as they hurried over to her.
"What happened?" Marlena asked, gently taking John from Hope, who started to cry again.
"We don't know for sure...he lost control, I guess" she said. "But they won't tell me anything! They called and brought me down here and took him in but they won't tell me anything"
"Ok, let's see if we can find anything out" she said, taking her arm. She handed the baby to Belle, who was still standing in shock next to them. Belle took John and hugged him tightly to her as she watched her mom talk to the nurse. Belle looked around the crowded waiting room-Shawn's grandparents were huddled in the corner and Mrs. Horton was sitting near them, talking to Lexie. She paced back and forth for a few minutes, too nervous to stand still. *I have to find out how he is* she thought to herself. *I just can't stand here, I'll go crazy* She looked over at the desk where her mother was still engaged in a conversation with the nurse.
"Belle" she heard someone say and she turned to see Mrs. Horton. She went over to them. "When did you get here?"
"Just a few minutes ago" she said, distractedly. "Hey, would you mind watching him for a few minutes?"
'No, not at all" Lexie said, and Belle hurridly handed the baby over.
"I'll be back" she said, slipping into the corridor. There, she quickly started down the hallway to the patient area. Ahead, she heard a commotion and watched as a group of nurses and a doctor began working on a patient.
"He's not breathing!" someone shouted.
"Let's get him up to OR, fast!" another one shouted and Belle's heart jumped into her throat. The team hurridly started rushing the patient down the hall and silent tears began to fall down her cheeks. *Please God, no, don't let it be him* She stood leaning against the wall, as if all strength had been pulled from her, as they came closer. They rushed past her and she snuck a peek in between the crowd and breathed a sigh of relief-it was a blonde.
     She continued her way down the hallway, peeking into rooms as she went, and tears continued falling down her cheeks, which she impatiently brushed aside.
"You're not allowed back here" she heard a voice say and she hurried past but the hand caught her.
"No, please, you have to let me" she begged, the tears now coming harder. She turned and immediately recognized the nurse from candy-striping.
"Belle?" Elizabeth said. "What are you doing here?"
"My friend..." she said. "He's here, he was in an accident"
"Oh, Shawn" she said. "Yes, he's here"
"Please, I need to see him" she said. "Please"
"Belle, it's a restricted area" she said. "Even his mother hasn't been allowed back" Anger flowed through her strongly.
"Either show me where he is or I'll just find it myself" she said, ripping her hand from Elizabeth's grasp. The nurse stared at her tear-stained face. She had known that she and Shawn were friends and had often seen the sparks in their petty arguments. She sighed hard.
"Ok" she said, quietly. "I'll show you were he is-but you can't stay long. He needs his rest"
"Oh, thank you so much" she said, and she started running down the hall. Elizabeth ran after her and caught up with her.
"He's right down here" she said, pointing and Belle took off running again. She turned the corner and brushed back the curtain and there he was. He was lying on the bed with machines hooked up to him. His arms had a few visible scratches and bruises on them and a large, white bandage covered the upper part of his forehead.
"Oh, God" she said, leaning hard on the edge of the bed. She quickly tried to compose herself. "Elizabeth, is he going to be ok?"
"We don't know yet, hon" she said. "He has a lot of bruises and he hit his head pretty hard-he's really lucky that he was wearing a helmet. But they gave him painkillers as soon as he got here and we won't know the extent of the damage until he wakes up"
"The damage?" she said, her voice breaking, as she collapsed into a chair next to the bed.
"Since he wasn't awake when they brought him in, we don't know how he fell or where he hit his head" she said. "There could be damage that we don't know about"
"What aren't you telling me?" Belle asked, staring at her hard.
"Well, like I said, we don't know" she said. "But there is a chance that he did nerve damage that could impair him. It might impair his ability to talk or remember...or even walk" Elizabeth's heart broke as she watched the terror spread across Belle's face. Tears began pouring down her cheeks as she took Shawn's hand in her own.
"Shawn, you have to wake up" she begged him. "You have to...please..." She started crying uncontrollably as she laid her head on his arm and the tears ran down his own arm and pooled on his hospital gown. Elizabeth stood at the doorway and wiped away a few tears of her own.
"Belle, honey, I'm going to leave you alone for a few minutes with him" she said. "Talk to him-he can hear you. Maybe you can be the one to wake him up." Belle barely heard her as she turned and pulled the curtain shut behind her. Belle lifted her head and looked up at him-he looked so peaceful asleep, his lips were drawn across his mouth and his eyes looked like he was just sleeping. It relieved her to know that he wasn't in any pain. She reached up and brushed his soft, dark hair off his forehead and then gently ran her down his arm. His stillness was unnerving-she had never seen him this quiet, this still before. He was always joking or laughing or moving-he never just sat still.
     She looked to her right where the clothes had been wearing were quickly thrown over another chair. Her hand ran over his dark jeans which were covered with mud and had rips in them. His shirt was lying next to it, also torn at the sleeve and with a few sticks and rocks stuck to it. She picked it up slowly and set it on her lap and stared at him. *Shawn, what happened* she thought. *You've never had trouble keeping control on the bike before. And you promised me you would be careful* She brought the shirt to her face and breathed in, smelling the combination of his cologne and other smells. Tears came into her eyes from the familiar scent. "You promised me" she said out loud, once again breaking down into tears.