The Hospital
Shit was completely crazy in the emergency room. Rachel could hardly keep track, it felt like two minutes or two years since the car accident but she was somehow in a room with with Andrea on one bed and Maya on another and Rachel could hardly stand to look at them but also could hardly stand not to, it felt like being the worst friend in the world not to be at their side, she kept trying because she was fine and had basically nothing else to do, but the doctor or nurse or somebody kept saying to sit down and the boys were also in there somewhere but she didn’t know where, they seemed mostly okay, but then every second when she thought that she’d immediately think oh, shit! and remember the accident. Andrea was really bloody, she was getting cleaned up now and Maya had been screaming, her face was all swollen and Rachel herself was shaking but the paramedics had checked her and told her she was fine and just go home but she had insisted on coming along, that was what friends did, but she was also in such deep shit with her mom, probably, she kept texting her to update on where they were being taken and her mom was activating the, like, parent network, but nobody was here yet and it was up to Rachel to be the, like, support person for everybody and God, she wished they had just never, never, ever gone to that stupid party.
Andrea felt like complete shit, that was all she could think, like, she wasn’t in that much terrible terrible pain? But just after all that drinking and that weirdass party and that asshole guy Jonathan and then, after all that, a fucking car accident? Fucking seriously? It was like, what the living fuck, God, why do you have it so much out for me?
Maya’s head didn’t hurt so much now, they had given her something in the tube in her arm and she was feeling like she didn’t need to scream so much, she felt stupid about that, but then she felt super super completely stupid about the accident, why why why didn’t she look or let someone else drive or something? And her mom was going to fucking kill her, oh my God, she stole the car in the first place and then to smash it up and almost kill everyone? It was like, oh God, let this next month just somehow go by, can I fast forward please please please I hate my life so much right now. So much.
The doctor said to Andrea, “Well, that was a lot of blood, but I think we’ve got you cleaned up pretty well.” She seemed so proud of herself and Andrea was like, well goody for you, you clean up blood so great, good job. You go, Meredith Grey.
The doctor was pretty young and tbh pretty hot probably all the guy doctors were into her. She typed on her computer for a while and then said, “The skin on the forehead is very thin. Whenever you get a laceration, it bleeds all over the face for a while, but it’s actually not that serious a long term concern.”
Andrea said, “OK.”
The doctor said, “How do you feel other than that?”
“My whole body feels kind of bruised up.”
“Well, that’s because it is, of course. And you’re coming out of shock, so you’ll start feeling more of it. But we’ll get you some painkillers as soon as I get a toxicity report.”
Andrea thought about that. “Do my parents have to see that?”
The doctor said, “I don’t have to offer it to them, but parents have a right to all of a minor’s medical records. Is that a problem?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, will there be negative consequences if your parents learn about your health?”
Andrea smirked. “I was drunk and stoned at a party, yeah there’s gonna be fucking consequences.”
The doctor smiled an annoying little smile. “Fair enough. It’s just that I wanted to ask you another question here and I just want to know if you can expect to have support from your parents.”
Andrea sighed. “I mean, they’re parents? They’ll be all mad at me for messing up, but they’re not, you know, gonna beat me? If that’s what you’re asking?”
“Understood. That helps. Because there is a question I do want to ask before we get your medication going. Is there a chance you could be pregnant?”
Rachel, overhearing the question, looked away, embarrassed.
Andrea saw her turn, and surprised herself by suddenly crying softly, silently. She nodded at the doctor.
The doctor pulled the curtain all the way around and said quietly, “We’ll take a test. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves,” but at that moment Andrea knew, she just knew, and it was like, it was like … the whole fucked up world that was so fucked up just got even more fucked up and now what? Now what? Now what?