Wanted

“Jesus Ellie what the hell is wrong?” Ari asked as I flew up out of bed and started to throw on a pair of jean shorts and a UT t-shirt.

“It’s Jefferson! He’s hurt or knocked out or something! I don’t know!” I started to say in between my sobs.

“Jeff is hurt? Oh my god how???? Wait….let me go get dressed!” Ari flew out of my room while I went and brushed my teeth and threw my hair up in a pony. Please Gu

I was putting my sneakers on when Ari busted through the door again. She was already dressed.

“What’s going on Ells?” Ari said with tears in her eyes.

“I’m not sure…..I mean I was talking to Gu

Ari took me in her arms. I saw her wiping away tears from her face as she rocked me back and forth.

“It’s okay sweets…..don’t worry. Gu

My cell phone rang.

“Gu

“Ellie sweetheart, he is awake now but he is really confused. He has a big gash in his forehead and he is going to need stitches. I’m taking him to the ER right now.” Gu

“What do you mean he’s confused? Which hospital are you taking him to?” I saw Ari’s face when I mentioned hospital.

“Seton main, but please be careful driving here Ellie okay sweetheart. Why don’t you make sure Ari drives okay? I have to go so I can drive.”

“OKAY! Please get him there fast Gu

“ARI! We need to get to the hospital now!” I shouted at her.

She jumped up and ran down the stairs. We both ran right into Ari’s dad.

“Hey….whoa what is going on girls? Why are you in such a rush and why the hell are both of you crying?” Mark asked.

“Jefferson! He’s been hurt and Gu

Mark pulled out his cell phone. “Okay….well there is no way either one of you is going to drive this upset. Let me get Brian to pull the car up and he’ll take you both.”

Next thing I knew, we were heading to the hospital and Ari was just sitting in the back seat with me staring out the window. I managed to stop crying when I got a text message from Gu

My heart was beating so fast. I had not talked to Jefferson since Sunday morning and I never even said goodbye to him when I left. The last thing we did was yell at each other. Oh my god…please….please dear God I will do anything……Please just let him be okay.

We pulled up at the ER and I jumped out of the car. I turned around and Ari was just sitting in the back seat still. “Ari? Are you coming honey? Did you change your mind about coming with me?” I asked as she turned to look at me. The tears where just pouring down her face…..she shook her head no and started to slide out of the car. I thanked Brian and told him we had a ride home.

I rushed into the ER and the first thing I saw was Gu

“Shhh…Ellie sweetheart it’s going to be okay. Don’t cry baby……please don’t cry.” Gu

“What’s going on? How is he?” I said between sobs.

“Honey they won’t tell me anything because I’m not family so I don’t know what’s going on. Let’s head over to the nurse and let her know you are here okay?” Gu

I looked at Ari and she was sitting down. She had stopped crying and had wiped her face clear of any evidence that she was ever crying. You could tell she had been crying though because her eyes were red. I smiled at her and she smiled a weak smile back at me.

“I will just sit here and wait if that’s okay?” Ari said so quietly I almost had to strain to hear her.

I saw her take her iPod out of her purse and put her head phones in. I heard Colbie Caillat’s “Realize” start up and my heart broke…….shit……Ari must be feeling even worse than me. How did I not even think about how this was affecting her?

Gu

The nurse told us that Jefferson had a mild concussion and that he was confused about what had happened. He didn’t seem to have any memory loss that they could tell but because he was a football player the doctor wanted to do a CT scan. He also had a pretty big cut above his eye that they were putting stitches in.

I asked if they needed me to fill out any paper work but she told me Gu

“When can we go back and see him?” I asked the nurse.

“Once he comes back from getting the CT scan I will take you back there. If the scan comes back normal we will start the process of discharging him.” The nurse said with such a sweet smile. Of course I did notice how she kept eyeing up Gu

I thanked the nurse and walked over to where Ari was still sitting. She had her eyes closed and her music was blaring out from her iPod. She was going to end up with a massive headache if she kept listening to the music that loud. I sat down next to her and touched her arm. She jumped and opened her eyes. As soon as she saw me she pulled the ear buds out.

“Well? Is he okay…..will he be alright? Do we know what even happened to him? What did they say?” Ari and her nervous jabber.

“Um….well….he is okay. He has a mild concussion and he is a little confused but they don’t think he suffered any memory loss. He has a really bad cut that they are putting stitches in. They did take him to do a CT scan just because he’s a football player and the doctor just wants to make sure everything is okay before they discharge him.” I saw Ari’s whole body relax just a little and she let out a small sigh.

“So he can go home today?” She asked as she looked up at Gu

“Yes, if the scan comes back normal but I’m sure it will. I have seen him take a lot harder shots in the head then what he took today.” Gu

“What happened? What is he doing fighting?!” Ari asked Gu

“Yeah, what is this all about…has he been sparing every day? I didn’t think Jefferson had boxing as part of his workout routine.” I said as I reached for Ari’s hand.

I pretty much already knew the answer before I asked it. I remembered Jefferson sparing in high school to let out steam. It was always after our mother had gone on one of her drunken escapades. Jefferson took a bad hit once and walked around high school with a black eye the whole week. I asked him to stop doing it and he did. That is until Sunday morning.