An Excerpt from a Writing Project

From Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

​Brody was still lying on the gurney. He knew where he was; however, he wasn’t quite sure what had happened. Poor kid. He couldn’t remember anything that had happened a few hours ago. Brody closed his eyes and listened intently to the heart monitor in the background. In a weird way, he was very relaxed. He was aware of his heartbeat, which gave him some relief there. In another weird way, he was very stressed out. Not remembering anything could really stress anyone out.

The boys’ dad and older brother were still with him. Just to make sure that he was stable. Dawson was completely speechless; he felt god-awful for Brody, since he was the one who took all of the impact of the car accident, and the culprit was not going to take any responsibility for it. That was probably his nature to begin with.

Oh well.

The culprit, whose name that Dawson and Brody were probably going to forget sooner or later, was out of their lives. Probably a good thing.

While trying to get the culprit off their minds, no one said anything for a little while. Mr. Ingram and Dawson were still keeping a very close eye on Brody. They noticed that his eyes were still closed, and he was breathing through his mouth. Apparently his chest hurt too much for him to breathe normally. This would probably need to be brought up to the nurse, who actually came back within a few minutes, just to make everything was going well.

“Hi, Brody,” the nurse spoke softly to the injured young man, who slowly opened his eyes in response.
“Hey,” Brody responded softly.
“How are you feeling?”
“Sore.”
“I know,” the nurse remarked sympathetically. “Can you rate it for me, with 10 being the worst pain?”
“Eight or nine,” Brody replied in a seemingly nonchalant manner.
“Good to know. I’m sure the doctor will want to prescribe some pain meds for you.”
“Cool, brah.”
“Of course, you know that you broke your right hand and bruised your sternum, so at least it’s not worse than that. Are you right-handed or left-handed?”
“Left-handed.”
“Also good to know.”

The nurse left the room to speak with the doctor about her findings. About thirty minutes later, Uncle Alan and Kellie Wickes spent some time at the hospital. The rest of the Wickes family could not make it to the hospital right now because they were in Plymouth, visiting some friends. They might be able to make an appearance some time later, as long as Brody was still in the hospital.

Chances were great that Brody would be released within a couple hours, as long as he was stable. Right now, things were fine; only his chest hurt a lot. That was the one thing that kept him from being completely relaxed. It was nice seeing that his family was willing to pay him a visit in the ER. Brody’s best friends would have stopped by as well. But Andrew was busy tonight, and Adam and his family had left for New York for a few days. And, since John Garfield lives in Valpo, it would take him a while to get to the hospital where Brody currently was. At least Kellie was here to pay him a visit for now.

“Hi, Brody,” Kellie greeted her cousin.
“Hi,” Brody answered softly.
“How ya feeling?”
“Like a bus ran over me. How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. I’m sorry that this had to happen to you!” Kellie remarked.
“I am, too,” Brody replied. He was very tempted to pull the heart monitor pads off his chest and run as quickly as he could out of the hospital. Really, he just wanted to get out of here. Brody felt very helpless at this point.
“What exactly happened?”
“I can’t remember. All I can remember is that I was driving my car, and a truck ran into us.”
“You remember nothing else?”
“I can’t remember anything.”

Uncle Alan, Mr. Ingram, and Dawson ended up conversing amongst themselves. Brody and Kellie, however, didn’t say much to each other. Brody couldn’t think of anything to say, and Kellie didn’t want to converse if Brody wasn’t up to it. Instead, she put her hand on Brody’s shoulder, just so that he would be made aware of her being there with him. Brody didn’t mind this at all. As a matter of fact, this made him even more relaxed.

Brody couldn’t think of anything; he was mostly concerned about the level of pain that he was in. Kellie wasn’t really thinking about anything either; if she was thinking about anything, she was probably thinking mostly about what had happened in the car accident. Of course, she didn’t know all of the details yet. The only ones who really knew what happened at the moment were Dawson and Brody, since they were both involved. Brody, of course, couldn’t remember anything, and Dawson didn’t really want to open anything up to anyone yet.

“What were you guys going to do tonight?” Kellie asked.
“I can’t remember,” Brody replied.
“You’ll be fine, though. All you have is a broken hand and a bruised sternum.”
“Serious?”
“I don’t think it’s too serious,” Kellie remarked with a wink.
“I hope not,” Brody stated.
“Are you wondering about Dawson?”
“Yes.”
“He’s fine.”
“Did he break anything?” Brody asked.
“No. I guess he didn’t get hurt, so he actually refused medical treatment,” Kellie replied.
“Good for him. I’m glad he doesn’t have to deal with this.”
“I wish you didn’t have to.”

Brody wasn’t really thinking much about who would come in and pay him a visit. As a matter of fact, he didn’t really even care. All he cared about at this moment was to feel better. His hand wasn’t bothering him, but his chest felt as if someone had just punched him hard with brass knuckles.

That would’ve really hurt.

However, there were people who came in during the short amount of time that Brody was most likely going to be in the ER. The boys’ grandparents, on both their mom’s and dad’s sides, were at the hospital for about thirty minutes, and then they left. But someone that Brody was not really expecting showed up at the hospital. It was his girlfriend, Candace Seales. She stayed for an hour and then had to leave because her family was going to have a late dinner.

“Hi, Brody,” Candace said as she walked into the room.
“Candace?” Brody replied softly, somewhat shocked that she would come all this way to see him, and also that she actually knew about what had happened.
Dawson must have called to let her know.
“Hey. So, I heard that you and Dawson were in a car accident this afternoon.”
“We were.”
“Nothing too serious, I hope?” Candace remarked.
“I broke my hand and bruised my sternum,” Brody answered, still very softly.
“Ouch. Does it hurt?”
“A little.”
“Hopefully it doesn’t hurt too much.”
“I hope not.”

At least Candace was here to pay him a visit. While she was here, Brody closed his eyes and tilted his head toward her. She stroked his hair while sitting with him. Brody was trying to remember the times that he and Candace would be together and they would both lie on his futon and take the goofiest selfies. Then, Candace would do something completely different from what they had been doing. Brody would play on his portable gaming system dating from 2005, which would normally be on the table next to his bed. Most of the time, Candace would put her head on Brody’s chest so that she could listen to his heart beating.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, Brody, but I need to get going now,” Candace said after fifteen minutes of absolute quiet.
“Aw, really?” Brody asked.
“I need to get home. I’m staying with my mom tonight, and since she lives in St. John, it’s basically a straight shot from here.”
“Take me with.”
“I wish I could, but you should probably rest up for a few days,” Candace remarked.
“I hope this will all end soon,” Brody stated.
“Don’t worry. It will.”
“I just want to get out of here and sleep for a few days.”
“You will get out of here soon, and you’ll be able to sleep for as long as you’d like. I guarantee it. Now, my mom’s expecting me soon. Love you, Brody.”
“Love you, too, Candace.”

Brody couldn’t remember anything at the hospital, except for the fact that the nurses had kept a very close eye on his vitals, as he was put on a heart monitor for the time being, and he had a pulse oximeter clipped to his left index finger. This was a very long few hours for Brody, especially since he couldn’t remember anything that had happened: the crash, the ride in the ambulance, and the time spent in the Emergency Room.

At midnight, Brody was finally able to come home. However, they had to go to the police station to fill out a report, which took some time. When they all finally arrived back to their house in Crown Point, Dawson and their dad helped Brody into the house. It took some time for Brody to get comfortable, but he lay on the couch and was probably going to fall asleep there.

Dawson went to his apartment to get a few things, and then he came back to spend the night with Brody. It took all but ten minutes. They then decided to watch two of the four movies that Brody had picked out at the store (nothing in the trunk was damaged).

“Hey, Brody,” Dawson tried getting his younger brother’s attention.
“Hey,” Brody replied sleepily.
“We’re going to watch your favorite movie now. Just you and me.”
“Great.”
“A few hours late, but at least nothing in the trunk was damaged,” Dawson stated.
“Huh. Interesting,” Brody remarked, pretty certain that he was going to instantly fall asleep anyway.
“How are you feeling?”
“Oh, you know.”
“Would you like some tea?”
“No.”

Regardless of the fact that Brody did not want tea, Dawson went on ahead and made himself a cup of English Breakfast. In a matter of minutes, Brody fell asleep with his left hand on his chest. It was a reassuring feeling for him that he could feel his strong heartbeat and his breathing and that he and Dawson escaped any serious injuries in today’s car accident. Dawson fell asleep sitting up. Brody’s pillow was close by, so Dawson put his hand on Brody’s chest, which was another reassuring feeling for him.