chapter 13

            I woke late in the evening in an unknown bed. I opened my eyes and looked around me. I was in a hotel room. It took a minute for my brain to register as to why I was sleeping in a hotel bed and not my own. Then, I remembered: Maddie.

            I flew out of bed just as Colt was walking out of the bathroom, with a towel wrapped around his waist.

            “Hey, sleepy head,” he said smiling at me.

            “Have you heard anything about Maddie?”

            “Hillary called a little while ago, there is no change. The swelling was going down, but it has stopped, so they are keeping her under for another day or so.”

            “Damn. I hate that. I hope she pulls through this so I can break her other arm and leg for being so damn stupid.”

            “I think her mama wants to do the same thing. She is so mad, and she feels bad for being mad. She’s tore up,” Colt said, sitting beside me on the bed. I rested my head on his shoulder.

            “I want to go back down there.”

            “Not tonight, visiting hours are over, so why don’t you take a long, hot bath and I will order us room service?” Colt suggested.

            “That sounds good,” I said. I got up and pulled my toiletry bag out and headed into the bathroom. I didn’t bother closing the door, Colt and I were so comfortable with one another, I didn’t care if he saw me undressing for my bath.

            I started my bathwater and dug through my toiletry bag and found a bottle of lavender bath oil and poured some into my bath.

 

            The next morning we went back to the hospital. Amanda and John were sitting in the waiting room when we got off the elevator, looking older than ever. There was still no change in Maddie, I could tell by the strained, tearful expressions on their faces.

            “How is she?”  I asked, sitting down in an empty chair beside them.

            “Same as yesterday. The doctor is in with her now, checking her brain activity and swelling. Hopefully it has gone down enough to start waking her up, but we aren’t sure yet,” Amanda said, wringing a tissue in her hands.

            “Let’s hope all goes well,” I said. “Where is Hillary?”

            “We sent her home last night and she hasn’t made it back yet,” John Smith said.  

            "Code Blue. Room 217. Code Blue. Room 217," sounded over the intercom.

            "Oh my God! That's Madison's room!" Amanda cried, running in the direction of her daughter's room.

            I was frozen where I stood. Code Blue is not good; I wasn't sure exactly what it meant, but I knew from the chaos that ensued after the announcement that something was terribly wrong with Maddie. I didn't even realize I was crying until Colt held me in his arms and I saw the wet spot my tears made on his shirt.

            "Shh. Everything is going to be fine. Maddie will pull through this," Colt said, trying to soothe me.

            "I hope so," I muttered, my voice already hoarse from crying. "I don't know what I'll do without her.

            Colt finally got me to sit down on one of the cold, hard chairs in the waiting room, but I couldn't stay still. Hil. I had to get ahold of Hillary. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed her number.

            "Harleigh? What's wrong? " Hillary answered after three rings.

            "Its Maddie. They called code blue to he room fifteen minutes ago and I still haven't heard anything."

            "I'm on my way," Hillary said, hanging up.

            five minutes later, Maddie's parents came back to the waiting room looking pale as ghosts. I knew before they even said it....Maddie was gone.

            "No!" I cried, running into Amanda's open arms.

            "I know, Harleigh. I'm so sorry, baby, but she's gone," Amanda said, rubbing my back.

            "What happened?" Colt asked.

            "the swelling in her brain caused her to have a aneurism and her beat up body couldn't take it," John explained, rubbing his eyes with his monogrammed handkerchief.

            The grief overcame me and my knees buckled and I started going down. Colt caught me and carried me back to the chairs to sit down.

            "Do you want to see her?" Amanda asked.

            "Not until Hilary gets here. I called her a few minutes ago and she is she was on her way," I said through my tears.

            The elevator dinged and we all looked up to see Hilary stepping off, practically running in our direction, but she stopped short when she saw that we were crying.

            "I'm too late, aren't I?" She asked, looking at our four sullen faces.

            "We lost her," I said, getting up on shaky legs. "I was waiting for you to get here before u went to tell her goodbye."

            "I feel like this is my fault," Hilary said, sobbing into her hands. "If only I had kept her keys...."

            "Stop right there," Amanda said. "As much as I love her and am going to miss her, I know that Maddie did this all on her own. It was her choice to get behind the wheel. No one can stop Madison once she sets her mind to something, you know that." She held Hilary tight.

            "Do you want to go see her now?" John asked.

            "Please," I said, gripping Colt's hand for dear life.

            "I'll go talk to the nurse," John said, walking towards the nurse's station. He came back a few seconds later. "You're good to go."

            "Do you want me to go with you?" Colt asked.

            "No, I'll be fine," I lied, letting go of his hand to take Hilary's.