by Ann Lister
“I’m sorry sir, but you can’t leave your car there,” the officer said.
“I know that guy,” he shouted, adrenaline pumping through his veins. “I know the owner of that car!”
Michael didn’t wait for a reply and forced his way through the crowd of rescue workers. He was twenty feet from the smoldering car when he felt the bottom fall out of his stomach. The bloodied body of Sammy was still slumped over the twisted steering wheel. The driver side door was caved in to a point that Michael wondered what could be left of his friend. Three firemen worked on the passenger side of the car with the Jaws of Life, cutting through the mangled roof as if removing the lid from a tin can.
“Why aren’t they getting him out of there?” Michael screamed.
A fireman to Michael’s right turned to face him. “That guy is already gone. They’re trying to get the girl out while she still has a chance.”
“Shit! Annie!”
“Believe it or not, there’s a passenger in that mess.”
Michael raced around the side of the car as the EMT’s were preparing to remove her from the wreckage.
“Hey, get the hell out of the way, pal!”
“I know these people,” Michael screamed but no one seemed to want to listen.
Then he saw the blood-streaked face of Annie appear from the debris, as the EMT’s gently eased her onto a stretcher. She was still wearing the same clothing from the night before. What remained intact was torn, bloody and dirty. The boot was missing from her right leg and the shin and ankle were grotesquely disfigured. Her lifeless body lay still on the stretcher while the medical workers desperately tried to keep her breathing with chest compressions.
An anguished cry of pain rose from his toes, shook through his torso, then finally rocketed from his mouth.
“Annnnnnie!”
“You know her?” A police officer asked, frantically holding Michael out of the way.
“What the hell do you think I’ve been trying to tell you people? I know both of them!”
“What’s your name?”
“Michael Wade. Can I see her?”
“Sorry, Mr. Wade. I can’t let you over there. Were you a witness to the accident?”
“No! Look, I need to see her,” Michael demanded, attempting to shove the officer aside. The last thing he needed was a chatty police officer.
“Is she your wife? Girlfriend?”
“No, yes - for Christ sakes, just let me be with her!” With every ounce of fight he had, Michael pushed the officer back and darted around him. From above, he heard the propellers of a helicopter slicing through the afternoon air.
“Is she ready for transport?” an EMT yelled to another rescue worker. “We got Life Flight coming in now. Ger her stabilized then MOVE!”
Michael’s face was white. The voices around him blurred. The emergency crews bounced about as if he were invisible. Never before had he felt so helpless and inadequate. Annie lay before him, not a trace of life left on her delicate face. An EMT raced passed him with another medical bag and Michael grabbed his arm.
“Is she going to be all right?” he asked, his body frozen in fear, his skin bathed in a cold sweat.
“Sorry, it’s too early for me to tell. Are you her husband?”
Michael opened his mouth to respond but nothing audible could be heard.
“Come on,” the EMT instructed. “You can ride with us.”
Behind him the helicopter landed in the middle of the highway. Traffic on both sides of the Mass Pike was halted. Michael followed the stretcher and helped hoist Annie in through the cargo door. Then he hopped in himself and took a seat beside her head. The two-man medi-evac team worked simultaneously hooking Annie up to several different machines and running an intravenous line into her arm quicker than Michael had thought possible. Never raising their heads, they exchanged medical information in a language Michael found alien.
“Yeah, this is Medi-Evac One. Do you copy?” the medical technician rambled into a small telephone.
“Go ahead, we copy,” a voice came through on a connected speaker.
“We have a female patient in route. Multiple injuries as follows: head trauma, compound fractures to the…”
Michael tuned the man’s voice out and reached for Annie’s hand. It was cold to the touch. He didn’t need a medical degree to know that Annie was slipping away, and there was nothing he could do about it. With tears biting at his eyes, he lowered his face beside Annie’s ear and fought to contain his emotions.
“Annie, please don’t leave me now,” he whispered. “I need you in my life.”
“Blood pressure is dropping! I’ve lost a pulse!”
“I love you,” he said, and kissed her bruised cheek, the blood from her head wound smearing his face.
“Okay, we’ve got a flat line! Lean back,” the EMT instructed Michael. Working faster than before, the two technicians cut through the front of Annie’s shirt and prepared her for the shock from a heart defibrillator.
“Charging…clear!”
Annie’s body jolted and came to rest as lifeless as before. Three times Michael watched in panic as she lurched off the stretcher.
“Please, don’t let her die,” he pleaded.
“We’re doing everything we can!”
“Wait, I’ve got a pulse! It’s faint but it’s there!”
Michael released a heavy sigh and bent again beside her head. “Come on, baby, stay with me! I love you. Did you hear me? I said the words!”
Another medical team waited near the heliport at the UMass Medical Trauma Center and quickly rushed Annie into the facility. Michael was told to wait outside the swinging doors beside the exam room. Once again, he was an outsider looking in and he hated it. Ten minutes later the room evacuated in haste, pushing Annie down the hall.
“Where the hell are you taking her now?” he yelled after them.
A hospital intern came up beside him. The front of his white lab coat stained with Annie’s blood. “She’s on her way into x-ray and then into surgery, sir. A doctor will be out as soon as possible to give you an update.”
“How bad is she?” Michael asked.
“They’ll know more after they operate,” the intern replied and turned to leave.
Michael grabbed the intern’s arm. “What kind of answer is that?” he spat.
“Listen. It’s too early to tell! She’s lost a lot of blood but she’s young and clearly a fighter.” The intern jerked his arm away from Michael’s grasp.
“Look. I’m sorry,” Michael apologized.
“Like I said, as soon as possible a doctor will come out and give you an update on her condition. In the meantime, you may want to call her family.”
Family? She had no family. Instead Michael called Brian.
“Hello?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” Michael paused, rubbing at his aching head while searching for the right words.
“What’s going on?” Brian asked.
“It’s really bad.”
“How bad? Is she going to be okay?”
“I don’t know yet but…she’s in rough shape,” he wiped at his eyes.”
“Mike, I’m really sorry to hear that.”
“Sammy…, was driving,” Michael’s voice cracked. “He didn’t make it.”
“Shit.”
“Can you call his parents for me and have them come up here? They’ll have to identify…” Michael choked on his emotions. “I’m at the UMass trauma center in Worcester.”
“Of course. Anything else you need?”
“Yeah, have Bull get my car for me. It’s on the Mass Pike, just before the Millbury exit. He has a set of keys.”
“I’ll give him a call.”
There was a long pause. “I can’t believe this happened,” Michael sighed.
“I’m on my way, Mike. Hold tight.”
Michael nodded and hung up his phone. Nervously, he began to pace the waiting room. He had already lost a close friend of nearly twenty years
and now, Annie’s life was hanging in the balance. His heart ached at the possibility of having to say good-bye to Annie. He was helplessly in love with her. There was no way this could be the end for them.
For the first time in years, he thought about the drugs he used in another lifetime to dull the pain. If he could have one drink, he thought, just to take off the edge. Maybe that would cloud the reality of the situation. He raked his fingers through his long hair and felt a burning knot begin to boil in his stomach. Glancing at the clock, he realized it was almost dinner time and he hadn’t eaten all day.
“Where’s your closest bathroom?” he asked a nurse behind the admittance desk.
“Around the corner and to your left,” she answered. “Are you all right, sir?”
Michael didn’t wait around to give her a reply and bolted to the bathroom. With seconds to spare, he threw up the one cup of coffee he’d consumed earlier that was now gnawing through the lining of his stomach. When he was finished, he found a chair alone in a corner of the waiting area and hung his head between his knees.
“Can I help you, sir?” the admitting nurse asked Brian. Hearing her voice, Michael lifted his head.
“Yes, I’m looking for Michael Wade.”
“I’m over here,” Michael said, staggering to his feet.
The expression on Brian’s face reflected shock and concern. “You’re covered in blood.”
Michael glanced down at his shirt and hands and realized what Brian was referring to. “It’s from Annie.”
“Hey, I’m really sorry. Is she…okay?”
“She’s still in surgery. I’m waiting for a God damned doctor to come out and talk to me,” Michael said, raising his voice. Then his knees began to buckle beneath him.
“Whoa, sit down,” Brian insisted. “Do you know what happened?”
“I don’t know. By the looks of it, Sammy must have been driving Annie home. She was still wearing the clothes she had on at our gig last night. Jesus, Brian, you had to see it! I can’t get the images out of my head,” his voice cracked and he bent his head to hide his emotion. “She died right in front of me, Brian. I saw the life drain from her body and she flat-lined. Three times they used the paddles on her. Three fucking times before the EMT’s got back a heartbeat,” he said, looking up at Brian again. “You know, out of all the music we’ve created in the last twenty-five years, hearing the beep of her heart on that monitor was the best God damned sound I’ve heard in my life.”
Michael stood and began to pace again, his steps teetering. “This is my fault, you know.”
“How the hell do you figure that? You weren’t driving the car and, until we see an accident report, we don’t even know if Sammy was at fault. Maybe someone cut him off or something.”
Michael sat back down beside Brian. “You don’t understand. After the photographers left the dressing room last night, Annie and I got into a fight. Actually, it was more of a screaming match. I wasn’t mad at her. I was pissed off at myself. But she got into my face and gave it right back to me. And you know what she said before she walked out?”
“What?”
“She told me to go to hell.” He dropped his head again between his knees and exhaled loudly. “Do you realize, if she dies, that fight will be the last memory I’ll have of her.”
“Don’t talk like that, Mike. She’s not going to die.”
Michael ran his fingers through his hair and tipped his head back to rest against the wall. “If we hadn’t gotten into that fight, she wouldn’t have left with Sammy. Maybe then the accident wouldn’t have happened and Sammy would still be alive.”
“Mike, you can’t think like that. This isn’t your fault.”
Michael drew a deep breath and glared right into Brian's eyes. “I love her Brian. I'm in love with her,” he said slowly, exaggerating each word. “How many times have you heard me say that about any of the women you've ever seen with me?”
“Never,” Brian quickly answered.
“That’s because I’ve never been in love with anyone before Annie. Not even my God damned ex-wife! I can’t lose her now. It took me too long to find her.”
“Trust me, you’re not going to lose Annie. You’ll see. She’ll pull through this.”
A long silence fell between the two men until Brian finally spoke.
“Listen. I called Sammy’s parents. They’re going to meet me here. I told them Thrust would pay for all the funeral arrangements,” Brian said, his voice a somber whisper. “I thought it was the least we could do for all the help Sammy has given us through the years.”
“I agree. How’d they take it?”
“Not too good. I think they’re in shock. Sammy’s older brother is going to drive them here so at least they won’t have to come alone. Before I left, I also contacted everyone else I thought needed to know about the situation. Hopefully, the press won’t get wind of this. Otherwise, we’ll be dealing with a major circus event here.”
“Shit. I hadn’t even considered that. What about Annie’s band?”
“I was told someone from the promotion office would contact each of them.”
Suddenly a man dressed in full surgical attire stood before them.
“Are you the man that came in with Annie Logan?” a young doctor asked Michael.
“Yes, I’m Michael Wade,” he replied attempting to stand.
“No, please sit,” the doctor insisted, and took a seat opposite Brian and Michael. “Annie is out of surgery,” he sighed, then he shook his head. “I’m sorry, I wish I had better news for you, Mr. Wade.”
“Please, I want you to give it to me straight.”
“Okay. Annie has sustained several serious injuries. Any one of them could have killed her. But she’s young and she’s still hanging in there. She has a skull fracture and there is some swelling of her brain; which we’ll have to watch. If it continues to swell then we’ll have to consider another procedure to reduce the pressure before there is brain damage.”
Michael sighed softly. Skull fracture, brain damage, he couldn’t even consider the reality of it.
“She received severe blunt trauma to her stomach area, probably from wearing her seat belt. I was able to repair a substantial laceration to her liver, which stopped her internal bleeding. But we had to remove her spleen.”
“Does she need that?” Brian asked.
“No, thankfully, you can live without a spleen,” the doctor answered, then returned his eyes to Michael. “I’m not sure if you noticed her leg injury?”
“Yes, I did.”
“At this point, that has me the most concerned. Usually, when the injury is that substantial, we are unable to save the limb.”
“What are you saying? Did you amputate her leg?”
“No. For the moment, we’ve stabilized the bones in her ankle by surgically implanting steel plates and screws which are literally holding all the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle. Hopefully, it will be enough to stimulate the healing process but I can’t guarantee normal mobility or that she will be able to walk on it again. And if the bones don’t show adequate healing, we may have to consider other options.”
“Can I see her?”
“Well, she is still under anesthesia, but if you keep the visit brief.”
Suddenly, the doctor pulled the beeping pager from his pocket and quietly read the message. “I’m sorry, Mr. Wade, but your visit with Annie will have to wait.”
Michael turned to Brian, anger and frustration distorting his facial features. “I can’t take much more of this. Either someone is going to let me in to see Annie or I’m going to find her myself.”
“Let them do their jobs,” Brian tried to soothe.
Moments later, Sammy’s parents arrived through the emergency room doors. Brian escorted them down to the morgue to identify their son, leaving Michael alone to wait for word on Annie. Two hours later the same doctor reappeared. Michael stood up to greet him.
“Annie had a seizure in the recovery room and has
slipped into a coma,” the doctor said cold and matter-of-factly.
Michael fell back into his seat. “So, what does that mean?”
“There is swelling of her brain. We inserted a drainage tube into her skull to try and relieve some of the pressure. Tomorrow we should be able to give you a better prognosis. But for now, it’s a wait and see situation. In most cases, once the pressure is released, the duration of the coma is a matter of a few days. But like I said, we’ll know more tomorrow. The next twenty-four hours for her are critical.”
“Can I see her now?”
“Yes, please follow me,” the doctor instructed.
CHAPTER TEN
The doctor took Michael down a cluttered corridor and stopped outside a swinging door. “She’s in intensive care so we can monitor her injuries around the clock. But there are other people in this room, so please keep your visit short.” With that said, the doctor opened the door and motioned Michael inside the room. “Annie is in the third bed on the left,” he said. “If you’ll excuse me, I have another emergency coming in downstairs.”
Michael stood frozen for a moment. Beeps, buzzers and other mechanical noises echoed throughout the room. Several nurses and doctors rushed about attending to the dozen or more patients. Suddenly a nurse whooshed back the white curtain surrounding Annie’s bed and then moved to her next patient. A narrow crack remained open in the curtain, making Annie visible to Michael. He stood outside the curtain and stared at her for several minutes, unable to move. He swallowed hard and balled his hands into tight fists.
Annie lay motionless; machines were doing everything for her from breathing to eliminating waste. Her mangled right leg now hug in traction above her bed, heavily encased in a white cast. The right side of Annie’s face and head was obscured beneath heavy gauze. What skin he could see was deeply bruised and puffy.