The Promise, Part 6

James

         I woke up to Reuben curled up in a ball beside me, basically hugging me. She was in a fairly deep sleep, so I decided to sit in the chair. I was just afraid that if I moved that she’d wake up…. I looked up to the clock; huh, one thirty. Maybe she would stay asleep, as long as I didn't move too quickly. I gently lifted my arm off her shoulder and managed to shimmy my way out from underneath her, without waking her. There’s a success, Haha. I looked at her monitors, and it showed that she was stable, so that brought some relief, because I actually began to think she was dead. Just then, one of the doctors walked into the room to check on Reuben. I took this opportunity to quickly walk to my room and change into more comfortable clothes. I put on a pair of sweatpants and my class T-shirt from high school that said Rogers on the back. I hadn’t seen this shirt in a while, and it brought back a lot of high school memories. Right as I walked out of my room, I ran into my dad.
         “James, what are you doing here? I thought you were Reuben.”
         “It’s okay Dad, there’s a doctor in there checking to see how she’s doing.”
         “What? There isn’t a doctor here until later in the morning.”
         “Are you sure?” Then it hit me. That ‘doctor’ wasn’t really a doctor.
         “Then who’s with Reuben?” I said aloud to myself. I sprinted down the long corridors with Dad close behind, and ran into what used to be an organized room. Reuben was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, and there was no sign of the ‘doctor’. Instantly, my eyes glazed over with tears, as I knelt down and felt for a pulse. There was a pulse, but it was very weak. I picked up Reuben and ran to the elevator.
         “James, where are you going?”
         “The hospital. We can’t help her here, because we have no idea what the hell we’re doing. Reuben saved me, so I’m going to save her.”
         “You’re going to need someone to drive” Dad said as he stepped into the elevator. I hadn’t realized that dad was still in street clothes until just now.
         “Dad, have you even slept?”
         “I got some rest, but I was about to go for a quick walk.” He said as the elevator ding came on. Dad ran over to the car and opened the back door and I gently put Reuben down, and walked over and got in the other side. I couldn’t even tell the extent of her injuries, because there was too much blood to tell where any cuts or incisions were.
         “James, you need to call the hospital and tell them we’re on our way to the emergency room.” I took my phone out of my pocket and turned it on, and it was then that I realized how much blood there really was. I could hardly see my screen because of how much blood was on my hands, but I managed to dial 9-1-1 and inform them that we were on our way to the hospital.
         “Pull into the emergency room entrance for the ambulances, they’re waiting for us there.”
         “We’re five minutes away, how is she doing?”
         “She’s still breathing, but she’s lost a lot of blood and she’s really pale. Even paler than before. She’s also really cold, and… and her lips and beginning to turn blue.” We took a sharp turn into the emergency bay, where four or five people were waiting out there with a gurney. Dad could even put the car in park before I had reuben out of the car and on the gurney. The were already wheeling her in with me close by them when they started shouting orders. They were saying things like ‘multiple stab wounds to the abdomen’ which i wasn’t all that worried about, but then they said ‘Two G.S.W.s to the chest.’ That’s when I began to lose myself. I just continuously paced back and forth, and put my hands on top of my head. This was my fault, I never should have left Reuben alone with that person. This was my job and I failed, just like i do with everything else. I should have just left her alone, and let Tony or someone else stay with her. This was my fault, and not only was Reuben at risk of dying before, but now she probably has three times that chance. That risk factor was because of how much of an incompetent imbecile i was. I hadn’t realized Dad came in and was trying to get my attention until he stopped my pacing by grabbing my shoulders and looking me dead in the eye.
         “This was not your fault. Any of us would have thought they were a doctor, and you thought you were doing the right thing by taking the opportunity to stretch your legs while Reuben was still in someone's supervision. You were being responsible.”
         “Yeah, and that responsibility cost Reuben her chance of living through this.” I say as a tear runs down my cheek. Dad’s eyes were filled with sympathy, and for the first time, I watched as my father left his sternness in the dust, and comfort his son. He pulled me into a hug, and that’s when i let go. I was just silently sobbing into my father's shoulder. God I wonder what reuben would say if she saw my like this. She’d probably call me an idiot.